Adjusting to Rome (May 24th-May 28th)

On Thursday, I, along with seven other University of Florida students as well as some St. John's University (New York) arrived in Rome. But, before I get to the stories so far in Rome, my trip began in the Jacksonville airport.

May 24, 2012

Thursday morning, my parents and I drove down to Jacksonville. After a couple bathroom breaks on the road (not allowed when I drive), we made it to the airport. I was ready to go. I had my two suitcases, backpack, and passport holder around my neck. The previous night, I had checked in online and printed out my boarding passes, so when I arrived at the airport all I had to do was check my luggage and head to the gate....well. The weight limit for checked luggage is 50 pounds and BOTH of my suitcases were over (67 lbs and 55lbs). With a fee of $300 for two overweight suitcases, my dad (with his superior packing skills) quickly rearranged the suitcases so that we only had to pay $150 for one overweight suitcase. What a great way to start the trip...however, everything I brought was a complete necessity, including the many packs of Chips Ahoy, Teddy Grahams, popcorn, Goldfish, and more American snacks. :)

As we arrived to security, we said our goodbyes. My parents watched me make it through the security checkpoint, and after a final wave and "I Love You" hand sign, I was on my own. And off to Rome. Well, Charlotte first. But then Rome! My flight to Charlotte boarded on time and we pulled out on the runway ready to head out. However, the captain's voice came over the intercom and he said, "Good news is we're here and ready to go. Bad news is the Vice President is at the Charlotte airport so it's shutdown completely until he leaves. Could be anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour delay." Immediately, everyone in the plane pulls out there phones and makes their appropriate phone calls. Obviously everyone's upset, but the man behind me was particularly funny (and loud). While on the phone with his significant other I assume, he says, "Well, I didn't vote for him the first time and I sure ain't voting for him this go round!". All of us around him laughed. Across from me sat a college student from London, and during our delay on the runway we shared stories and talked among ourselves. As I've mentioned before, I'm completely captivated by accents, so I was more than happy to talk to and exchange stories with this young man. We both discussed our strong possibilities of missing our flights to Rome and London. With only an hour layover, this hour delay could cause some major difficulties. Luckily, the plane took off after 40 minutes or so and we were on our way. Upon arriving in Charlotte we both speed walked to our gates and boarded the plane immediately. It was a HUGE relief to be on time and not have to worry about making different flight arrangements.

The plane I would be traveling on to Rome, Italy was gigantic. I believe it seated 250 people. Two other UF students were with my on this long flight to Rome, and one of them sat next to me. When I booked the flight, the only available seats left were "Choice seats" for an extra $75. I guess these seats give you some extra leg room, but let me tell you, they were not my choice seat for a 9 hour and 36 minute flight. My choice would have been the giant cocoons in First Class...but then I would be poor. This flight was by far the longest flight that I have been on in my lifetime, and it felt that way. It was particularly depressing to see the plane on the screen in front of you barely moving from the coast of Charlotte across the Atlantic Ocean. I tried to occupy much of my time by watching movies, but when 10 o'clock (Charlotte time) rolled around, I figured I should try to catch some shut eye. No such luck. I tried every position that I could think of, including the fetal position, but I just couldn't fall asleep.

May 25, 2012

As the new day came, whichever time zone you consider, I was still on the plane. They turned on the cabin lights when we were about an hour out of Italy and served us orange juice and a hot blueberry muffin. It was actually pretty good. I forgot to mention the dinner that we ate the previous night, but it was pretty good, too. (For plane food). When we finally touched down in Italy, I wanted to sprint off the plane. Not only was I excited to be there, I really needed to stand and stretch my legs. I made it to the customs line after about a 5 minute walk, and was through customs in under 20 seconds. It was the craziest thing. The lady literally just took my passport and stamped it. Didn't look at my picture, didn't ask me to fill out a form for my intention for stay, nothing. I was in and out in no time at all. All of my luggage (and the rest of the UF students) made it to Italy! That, my friends, was something to celebrate. I pushed/pulled my suitcases through the airport, dodging people and small children along the way to the pick up area where I spotted an Italian man holding up a sign that read "St. John's University". Well that was easy...or so I thought. The shuttle that would be taking us to the school would not be here until 1 pm...it was 10 o'clock am. So, my friends and I set up a camp with our suitcases and sat on the floor and waited for three hours. By the time the shuttle came I had been awake for 24 hours. From here on out, the rest of the day was a blur to be honest. I was the tiredest I have ever been in my life and I vaguely remember the shuttle ride to the school, taking my luggage to my dorm room, and going out to dinner with the entire group of 25 students. I think at one point I finally got into contact with my parents, but after that, I remember sleeping. After being up for more than 32 hours straight, I finally made it to bed. With my memory foam pillow and sleep machine by my side, I was out for the count.

May 26, 2012 

8 am wake up call. Orientation begins at 9 o'clock. When I woke up, I felt surprisingly rested...but I knew this was too good to be true. There was no way that I got over 6 hours of jet lag that fast. Orientation lasted about three hours and afterwards we had a brief walking tour of the neighborhood. And by brief, I mean very brief (10 minutes). After that we were on our own until classes began Monday morning. Our UF group stayed together and went exploring around the town. We stopped at a local pizzeria for lunch where I had my first taste of Italian pizza. Delicious. This pizza wasn't your typical Italian thin crust pizza. Instead, it was a sauce-less potato topping pizza, thick crusted, cut in half, and wrapped up for me to eat like a sandwich. All for 2 euros. I was happy. When you eat in Italy (unless it's a fancy occasion) don't sit down. You have to pay a 1 euro or more charge for sitting down in restaurants. Luckily, as college students we are used to eating on the go and that wasn't a problem.


As we ate our pizza we headed down the street and began our exploration. We stopped at the Department of Justice building, an enormous stone building with beautiful statues and architecture. There was a concert going on (in Italian of course), but it was the Beatles' songs. We all recognized the melodies and quietly sang along in English. I think the concert was going on all day, so after about 20 minutes we headed around to the front of the building that faces the river. No, I'm sorry, I don't know the name of the river and if I did I wouldn't spell it right. Along the river are dozens of local vendors (some legit, some not). This river flows through most of Rome so there are many walking bridges. We just picked one and crossed it. On the other side of the river you will find more cafes, restaurants, and more crazy Italian drivers. Although the all drive small Smart cars or Fiats, they drive very aggressively. Mopeds weave in and out of traffic and the cars don't necessarily stop for pedestrians. As a pedestrian, you have to be aggressive yourself when trying to cross the roads or you will never get across.

From the bridge, we could see St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican, and many more landmarks of Rome. We didn't tour them, however, because our school will be taking us to many of them for free and we didn't want to spend unnecessary money. Italians don't eat dinner until 8 o'clock, and we couldn't eat earlier if we wanted to. Restaurants don't open until then. So, we waited. And waited. And waited until 8 o'clock rolled around. Finally, we set out to find a cheap place for dinner and ran into some Americans outside of a small cafe. I immediately felt comforted and more at home and we decided that this would be an okay place to eat for the night. Not exactly where the locals eat, but we will have two and a half months to find those places. At the time, we were just starving. We closed the night off with some Italian Gelato. I had a mixed citrus flavor, which included blood oranges and lemons. After a much needed Facetime session with my parents, I headed to bed after another long day.

May 27, 2012

Sunday morning. Most shops and restaurants are closed, so Sundays call for lazy days. Jenn (my roommate) and I slept in until 11:30 and started the morning off easy. The rest of the girls seemed to sleep in as well and it was about 2 o'clock before we headed out on the town to explore more of Rome. The Vatican was on the agenda for the day, and boy was it a sight to see. Although we missed the Sunday morning blessing from the Pope, the plaza was still packed with tourists from all over the world. We witnessed a flash mob in the plaza which made my day. We also drank from one of the fountain looking things, and it was surprisingly good water. I guess only the best for the Pope. We didn't tour the Vatican yet, but plan to return at a later date to witness the blessing of the congregation and get the full tour. As Sunday days are traditionally days for family, we all chipped in to cook a family pasta dinner in our dorm. Chicken and pasta...typical college dinner, but prepared in Italy. Cooking is an easy way to save money on meals and I think we are going to try to make it a weekly occurrence. I got to Facetime my brother and sister-in-law as well as my parents, bonus! Unfortunately, I finished off the night working on some UF homework. Classes at St. John's University would begin the next day, and I wanted to be as caught as up as possible.

May 28, 2012

Without realizing it, I slept in again until 11 o'clock. See, I knew that getting over a 6 hour jet lag wasn't that easy! Today marked the beginning of my one month Italian crash course. Class runs Monday-Thursday from 1:00-5:15....bleh. However, I think that this will be SUPER helpful in my time here and I actually enjoyed learning the beginnings of this language today. Although, it didn't make any of my encounters with Italians during the rest of the day any easier. Not yet. After class, a portion of our group (including myself) ventured down to the Piazza del Popolo and encountered Italian tourist traps at their finest. Men with bouquets of roses approach men and women and give them a rose. Then they ask for your money. I made it away unscathed, though I did have to be very rude and adamant to do so. My friend Jennifer (a different Jennifer) wasn't so lucky. While climbing one of the lion statues, a man climbed up the statue himself and gave her a rose. No matter how adamant we were that she DID NOT want the rose, she ended up paying 1 euro to get rid of this guy. However, during the rest of our journey she wasn't approached by the guys with roses...so I guess that's a plus.

While walking around for an hour or two, we made it to the famous Spanish steps and climbed up to the top for a breathtaking view at sunset. We successfully got partially lost through the streets and ended up stumbling on a local pizzeria for dinner around 8:30 or so. I ordered a crustini with prosciutto and mozzarella cheese and it was pretty darn good. After dinner, we made our typical Gelato run. There are hundreds and hundreds upon flavors to try and I plan to try most of them during my time here in Rome. This time I had two different flavors, lemon mosco and chocolate from some Italian place. It was amazing. Much better than the gelato I had the days before. Mmmm. I can still taste its amazing-ness. Luckily Gelato is pretty cheap, because I am going to be eating a ton of it!



Sorry that post was so long, I have a lot to say! Depending on how busy I am, I might try to blog Mondays and Thursdays. We will see. Thanks so much again to everyone that contributed both financially and through prayers and thoughts!