MEOW

Day two started out a little rough. Woke up at 8:30am and felt like I had just shut my eyes..my body thought it was 2:30 in the morning. This could take a little getting used to. Luckily I had a yummy breakfast in the hotel with the roomies that included a nice big cappuccino. After our meal, we headed over to an early meeting with API at a hotel down the street. I'm getting so excited to move into our apartment tomorrow! I feel like I will finally be able to comprehend the whole staying here for the whole semester idea once I'm not living out of a suitcase anymore. All the API students (there's about 130 of us) are living in the Prati neighborhood. It's right by the Vatican, in a more quiet and family-centered area than where we are now. The hotel's located in Centro Storico, the historic center of Rome. It's awesome because we're minutes away from the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, lots of famous Piazzas, etc.

After the morning meeting we had a few hours of free time. Debby and I left the hotel where we met and and forgot to pay attention where we were going. Pretty soon we looked around and realized we were completely lost! It was okay, because the buildings were absolutely gorgeous and there was so many things to see. I feel like I'll learn the city best if I just get lost in it. I can already tell that when I go back to the USA everything's going to feel so boring and ugly. All the architecture here is so extravagant yet somehow still quaint. It's like I went through a time machine. Just breathtaking all around. I'm in love.

Eventually we made our way back to the hotel, but only after lots of pictures and new sights. We met up with Kaylie and Ashley (Tara went out last night and still hadn't made it out of bed) and headed to our first Italian lunch. Debby got out her Italian phrase book and we quickly memorized "Prendo una pizza margherita e un cappuccino, per favore" before ordering. Highlight of my day: after I ordered the waiter told me "you speak very good italiano signorina!" Little does he know, memorizing is my specialty. The language is absolutely beautiful. I hope that I'll be able to retain at least some phrases to get by.

After lunch we went by my favorite place so far: Largo di Torre Argentina. It's a site with ancient Roman ruin from about 200 - 300 BC where Julius Caesar was murdered. But that's not why it's my favorite. Real reason: it's inhabited by about 300 abandoned house cats! THEY'RE SO CUTE. We're considering adopting one for our apartment and hiding it from the landlord. This girl I met today, Alyssa, found a website about the cats. It's hilarious, check it out: http://romancats.com/ . Hence, this post's name. Here's a picture I took of one.

Afternoon was spent with a 2 hour walking tour of the area which was sweet. My camera started dying because everytime I turned it off after a picture, I'd turn it on again a few seconds later for another one. I've taken almost 100 pictures so far and I've only been here 1 day. It's looking to be a picture-filled semester! I grabbed my first gelato with some new friends (don't worry we got a picture of the first bite) at the Trevi Fountain. It was so yummy, I got limone flavor. Quick scare when I thought I lost/someone had stolen my camera, but then realized it was in my purse a few seconds later. Typical.

Free night for us, so I'm looking forward to my first taste of italiano vino. Hooray!