I'll start things off by saying this: Rome is different. Not in a good or bad way, just different. Different than what I expected, and much more different than Paris. After all, what can you expect from going from a semi-modern-yet-historic environment to one that is completely, 100% historic? It's not bad, I promise. In fact, Rome is quite cool. But it sure was a quick switch from one to another and it'll just take some time to adjust.
I'm also adjusting to my age. I was born at 5:31 PM eastern time on June 14th, 1994. And since it is about 9:15 here, minus 6 hours to reach 3:15, I'm not technically 21 just yet. But for all intents and purposes I am, so here I am in a new country adjusting to a new age and lifestyle...hello adulthood! It's okay though because for now it seems like adulthood is pretty cool. We have a full day of classes-okay, 4 hours spread between 2 classes with a 4 hour break in between-tomorrow before starting full days of field studies. I'm psyched. Rome is so historic and so interesting, that my friend Melissa told me today that it can be quite overwhelming your first time here to get a lot done in a short amount of time. And because we're only here for 12 days before going to Madrid (insert scream here), there's so much to do that I'm getting a little nervous. How am I supposed to get to know a city in such a short amount of time and still find myself going to class and looking at really cool ancient ruins? Breathe, Hannah, it's going to be fine. Thank goodness for field-based classes that really allow you to see the places you are studying. Case in point: the colosseum. We're going there on Wednesday for class, therefore we don't have to use any of our designated free time to attempt to push past all the crowds of tourists and get in. We'll get in for free with a professor and get to see and learn about it firsthand. Yay. So, overwhelming-ness aside, Rome is pretty cool and 21 isn't as terrifying as it seems...idk if terrifying is the right word, but we'll go with it for now.
My birthday was pretty chill. Well, it didn't start off like that. When you move into an apartment with little to no food and a full kitchen of appliances, it is highly recommended to visit the grocery store upon arrival. Given, we've eaten in restaurants and gelaterias (take one wild guess what that one means) lately, but tonight we wanted to cook for dinner. And we also needed food. So, this morning I went to the Carrefour Express, a small supermarket just down the street from our apartment building with the hopes of getting some things to make/eat while I'm here and not eating in restaurants. But, wow, was I in for a surprise. Everything, I mean everything, is in Italian. Not one plain translation of English. I mean, that's what you get for living in a somewhat residential area close to a touristic one, right? Well, I spent about half an hour trying to just figure out what things meant before I found myself recognizing some American brand foods (thank goodness for Special K is all I can say). I picked up some fruit, Coke Zeros, pasta, bread, deli meat, eggs and tomato sauce along with Nutella and granola bars. Pretty good for a first time, right?
After I got back from the market, both of my classmates turned roommates were awake so we planned out what we wanted to do for the duration of the day. Pizza and Gelato. Of course. When in Rome, right? I've now successfully gone 3 days in Rome eating gelato and it's bliss. Heaven in a cone. Don't believe me? Come for a visit. And pizza. Oh, pizza. It's hard to judge a restaurant's pizza when they all serve the same thing. And I'm one for a good margherita pizza. After exploring for a while with full bellies, we found our way back to St. Peter's Basilica and eventually back home, feeling successful that we have somewhat mastered the area. It's a little hard not having a metro system here like the one in Paris and working hard to find everything on foot, but I think we'll be able to manage. The buses run well here, but there have also been frequent patterns of transportation strikes...so we'll see for now.
This afternoon we just chilled in the apartment...or burned for that matter. It's not even that hot here-well, it is summer, so you be the judge-but boy are the apartments hot. Without overhead fans or air conditioning, there's a lot of reliance on open windows and plain fans for cooling off. Which is fine when there's a breeze. But, today, there was not. But we managed to spend the afternoon doing some reading for class tomorrow, watching Orange Is the New Black during study breaks, before making pasta for dinner. Everyone contributed something, which was nice. I toasted the bread that I had bought at the store and shared tomato sauce, someone made vegetables (which of course I passed on), and then another person made the pasta. A successful Italian family dinner by the candle side, we are energized and ready to finish our readings and start class tomorrow. And because we forgot to pick up dessert on the way home from our little adventure this afternoon, we compromised with a jar of nutella in front of a candle and sang happy birthday. So, while not your typical birthday, it certainly was one for the books. I'm very excited to start class tomorrow, with two really cool professors who I know will teach me a ton, and hope that I will adjust to the Roman life faster than I'm allowing myself to do. Also, sorry for the lack of pictures-phones were used today to navigate our way through the little side streets of Rome and figure out where in the world we were going...but I promise some will be coming soon. Until then, it's off to read about Roman art and museums for me, while you people on the other side of the Atlantic have the rest of your day ahead of you.
Addio, bella!
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