arrivederci america!

And I'm off!

On Friday, Jada and I threw a combined going away party (she's studying in Valencia..just across the Mediterranean from me!) for some friends and family. Activities included Beach Bonanza, whipped cream eating contest, pinata, and lots of eating. Beach Bonanza, a game I learned from amazing family friends the Millbergs, was quite a hit. We had the whole party playing! And the whipped cream eating contest turned into a whipped cream throw-in-eachothers'-faces contest, which was absolutely hilarious.  It was so good to be with everyone one last time before I left. I felt so much love and joy that night:)

Two days, countless goodbyes, and one long plane ride later I'm an official study abroad student in Rome! I'm emotionally and physically exhausted from all the goodbyes and traveling, but I made it...just barely. I almost missed my flight from Dulles to Rome because I was sitting at the wrong gate. OOPS. Luckily I heard them call my name over the loudspeaker and ran over just in time. The flight was long and grueling. I was on the aisle, so my neck is hating on me for the 8.5 hours of trying to sleep sitting up. I watched a movie, listened to an amazing playlist on my ipod made for me especially for my plane trip, and picked at the vegetarian option food I ordered. I thought ordering veggie would give me a better/healthier/yummier meal. Dinner wasn't terrible, but my breakfast consisted of applesauce and a packaged slice of bread that was about 2 inches by 2 inches while my neighbors dined on croissants and yoplait yogurt. Oh well! At least I have lots of meals in Italy to look forward to.

Arrived in Rome around 7:30am local time. We're 6 hours ahead of Virginia, so I was beginning to drag a little. By the time we made it to the hotel with the whole group, it was going on 5am yall's time. Aka I was a complete zombie. I was planning on emailing everyone right when I got here, but the bed took priority. I napped a couple hours then met my roommates, who are absolutely amazing. (Sidenote: we're staying in a hotel the first 2 days then heading to our apartments after that. I have 4 roommates who all happen to be from Massachusetts. Curious.). They all seem extremely nice and are actually pretty similar to me which is neat. Names (just for future reference): Kaylie, Debby, Tara, and Ashley. We chatted it up for an hour or so, then they all took a nap while I headed downstairs to email, blog, and check in with my American life. We have our first official group meeting in 2 hours, then a yummy dinner at a restaurant down the street. YUM.

I can't believe I'm actually in Rome. It still hasn't officially hit me yet that I'll be living here the next 4 months. Perhaps once the zombieness of running on zero sleep runs out I'll be able to comprehend everything. For now it's time for a much needed shower. Missing everyone dearly, sending love and light from across the ocean..