Surreality

Let me just start by saying I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW!!!! 


Recap of my past 24 hours:

Last night around 6 we headed from our apartments in Trastevere to the a student bar/cafe near our school (in the heart of Rome) for a little happy hour with our group and some free beverages. After a knocking back a few Euro beers and I headed out with some people in our group for some roaming around Rome.

We wandered around little cobblestone alleys with lights and balconies, through piazzas (including Piazza Navona which is beautiful), and eventually found the Parthenon. Yea no big, I go to school by the Parthenon.

Jet lag set in quick though so we decided to tram it in early back to the apartments to save our first big night for tonight.

This morning we got up and met at the cafe again for some Italian coffee... espresso. It was intense, most of us had to chase it with a pack of sugar, but we're told we'll love it by the time we're done.

After that we went to visit school.

Me and Mags at school

After that we had a delicious lunch of a pasta dish and then some chicken. However, I later found out that what I though were chicken chunks in the pasta sauce was in fact RABBIT. Oh well too late now. 

Food Porn

After lunch it was time for our Scavenger Hunt Around Rome. Yea that's right. We were split into five different groups, given a map and 13 places to find and after that we were on our own. We all took off sprinting, running around asking random Italians for directions. The 2 & 1/2 hour adventure was so surreal. Here we were wandering in every direction in one of the oldest cities in the world that was going to be our home for the next four months.

At one point while reading the map and walking at the same time (which obviously is difficult for me) I ran into a pole, typical. No worries, I'm alive. I figure it will be the first of many clumsy moments, especially with all of the cobblestone streets and confusing cross walks.

But anyway back to our challenge. We went everywhere in Rome, little piazzas, the American Embassy, the Spanish steps, Via Nationale, past the Colessuem, and around random ruins which seem to appear everywhere in this city. My group ended up winning!!! We got 9 out of 13, mostly in thanks to our of our group members Gina who knew some Italian. She would ask the questions and the rest of us would chime in with some "grazies" and "ciaos". Our prize was each a bag full of biscuits, croissants, and Nutella...mmmmmm.

Sideways Nutella

So after purchasing the necessary hairdryers and straighteners from the electronics store we headed back to the apartment, cooked some pasta and are now getting ready to all go out for our first night in Roma!!!! Stories to come later....