Safe and Sound in Rome!

After a long flight from Boston to Frankfurt, and then from Frankfurt to Rome, I finally made it! It was a bit stressful, especially when my flight in Frankfurt, Germany landed an hour before my flight left for Rome, and I barely made it on! I was the last person to board and barely had time to breathe before I was off again, this time with a prettier view of the coast on my flight over (versus the dark ocean between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am!). Once I got all squared away with the IES Roma staff, who helped me with getting a taxi to my apartment and gave me my "Welcome Packet", I finally made it to my new home!

I got out of the taxi (I almost kissed the ground--my driver was quick in every way, especially in avoiding NUMEROUS collisions!) and walked into a beautiful courtyard where I ran into my ISC (Italian Student Companion) and one of my roommates on their way out. Apparently noone from my program had called and if I had missed them, I would have been sitting on the curb forever! I ran into them, though, which was good since I had to trek my bags up what felt like a million flights of stairs, and they were able to help me with them.

Out my window

The window in my room

I am sharing my room with the ISC for the semester, and it is beautiful. We have a large window with red curtains that flow in the breeze, and the window opens to about half the height of the wall--with tall ceilings, it makes for a wonderful view. The room is a pretty good size--especially when compared to the "living room" and kitchen. There are beautiful windows in every room of the apartment, and I couldn't help but just stand and look out them for ages-amazed I am in such a wonderful city! The living room/tv room/dining room is very small, with a small table that doesn't look like it should be supporting ANY kind of weight. The kitchen houses our washer, oven/stove and small fridge. There is no dishwasher or dryer, but they aren't missed (yet!). I spent the afternoon unpacking and emailing my parents (I had planned on buying a cell phone in the airport and phoning them, but soon discovered it would be a part of our orientation for the program--whoops!)

Tonight, we had a typical Italian dinner (around 8:30) with pasta, salad with olive oil, fried eggs, and white wine. It was nice, and it gave us all a chance to get to know one another. We laughed and talked, and I know I'm looking forward to future dinners like it.

Tomorrow is the beginnning of an endless orientation process, with seminars, intensive language courses, advisor meetings, and the like. Good news is we get to sign up for a couple of fun activities this weekend, including a night tour of the Coliseum! I cant wait to get to know this city a bit more in the coming months, but especially cannot wait to go out a run (and hopefully not get lost!).

Arrivederci for now!