adventure is out there!

The past couple days have been very exciting. Thursday I had class early and it was the first rainy day, so I decided to take the bus to school instead of walk. Note to self: never take the bus on a rainy day. I waited at the stop for 45 minutes and ended up being almost 30 minutes late to class. Uh oh! Luckily I had The Alchemist with me so I got some reading done while I waited, and I ended up dropping the class later in the day so it wasn't a big deal. Final schedule: Mondays I have a photo class in the midafternoon, Tuesday is Roma Aeterna and Oil Painting, and Wednesday is Northern Italian Renaissance Art and Fresco Painting. Weekends begin at 5pm on Wednesdays!! I'm excited because that gives me lots of travel time.

completely casual park job by the smart car.
way to squeeze in there.

I came home after I dropped the class and ran some errands and relaxed for the rest of the day. Exciting news! : on the walk home someone with a map in one hand and a cellphone in the other looking very confused stopped me and starting speaking in Italian, asking me how to get somewhere. Unfortunetly I panicked once again and didn't know how to respond (I had no idea what she was saying, I just knew she was lost), and said something like "I don't know do you speak English" in Italian. She understood and continued to the next person to get help. But she asked me first!! That means that I am starting to look like a local! WOO!! Next step: actually being able to give directions in Italian when asked.

Kaylie and Debbie left for Barcelona for the weekend and Tara headed to Switzerland, so Ashley and I have the apartment to ourselves. It's so quiet with just two of us! We researched travel plans, Ashley did some laundry, and planned an amazing dinner for the night. One of my saving graces here is www.supercook.com - a website where you put in the ingredients you have in your pantry/fridge and it gives you yummy recipes that you can make. It's awesome. We decided on chicken parmesan with grilled veggies and of course, vino.

view of Piazza Del Popolo from reaaally high steps!

We forgot one small problem: any time the washer is on, nothing else can be on. As soon as I turned on the oven, the power went out. Again. Twice in one week..we really need to work on remembering that! We tried to figure out what to do - Maria was going to be so upset! - and ended up calling API to get them to tell Maria. We waited it out for 30 minutes or so until Maria came by and flipped the switch. Hopefully that'll be the last power outage for the week. We let the laundry finish up before turning the oven back on, then finally could make our wonderfully planned dinner. It was so late by the time we finished - close to 10pm! But it was absolutely amazing. Who knew I was a cook?

Friday was deemed "Adventure Day" by Ashley and me. We got up, had a quick bite to eat, then headed out. First stop: Villa Borghese. We took the metro to Piazza del Popolo and headed up some ancient steps toward the park. It was a beautiful walk. Trees everywhere, bikers and runners abound.

We passed lots of pretty houses and mini parks along the way before reaching Borghese. WOW! I didn't realize how much I missed parks. Last fall before it got too cold I would spend two or three hours in parks every day - I liked to practice and plan out my yoga classes there. It was so nice to just wander around and enjoy the scenery. There was so much to see! We did a big loop around Villa Borhese which took about an hour. We passed the Galleria Borghese, lots of villas, Musea di Zoologica (ZOO!), and lots of interesting people along the way. One of my favorites: the typical pidgeon lady (see left). Classic.

After our big loop around the park, we walked back toward the Spanish Steps. We were craving a capuccino (mostly just to keep our hands warm, it was chilly today!). At the bottom of the steps there was a cute little place that we decided to try. We both got a nice drink and I tried a pre-lunch pastry. Yum! The barista decorated our capuccinos so beautifully:)

One of our main goals of the day was to go to the book store to get our books, but we realized that neither of us brought the directions. Oh well! We decided to just walk around instead. We knew the bookstore was between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, so we decided to walk towards the fountain and if we happened to run in to the bookstore, so be it. If not, there was a yummy pizzeria (the best, according to our tour guide from the 1st day) right near the Trevi.

We walked down Via del Corso, a famous shopping street, to get to our destination. Stopped in a few stores (mostly to warm up), then continued on our way. We made it to the Fountain, checked out a creperia, decided we're DEFINTELY doing lunch there tomorrow, then looked around for the pizzeria. We found it, and it was obvious that it was the best one to go to because it was hopping with locals! Ashley and I squeezed our way in and ordered. Since it's too hard to figure out what's in each one (and even harder to understand them if you ask), I have recently decided to just point at one that looks yummy and say "Vorrei.." (I'd like..). It's worked out so far, the pizza I chose today was AMAZING! Ashley decided it was some sort of meat and mushrooms. Yum. They do the funniest thing here, instead of eating a slice of pizza it's more like a pizza sandwhich. They cut a rectangle piece off for you, cut that in half, fold it, then wrap the bottom in a napkin for you to hold. It's actually really good and easy to eat on the go. I may bring this tradition back home to the states...

I asked if I could take a picture of his doing his art
(it was really cool),
and he made me get in the pic. new bff?

It was getting dark (and colder ahhh) so we made our way back to the metro and headed home. The metro is sooo easy to use, I love it. It's also the most unsafe way to travel, though. You have to be careful of your bags at all times. We've gotten the system down, and as long as you're with someone else and it's day time, it's completely fine. But just a heads up for those of you planning on coming to Roma - keep a hand on your bag at all times when in the Metro!

We got back to the apartment ready for a little naptime. I did a nice yoga practice (i'm working on perfecting the full Natarajasana and Handstand, and today was a success for sure!), then relaxed for a few hours.

Tonight the plan is to try Gnocchi (Ashley is set on it), eat near the Trevi for dinner, then perhaps grab a gelato at a recommended gelateria near the Pantheon. I'm excited to see these amazing works of art at night, I'm sure they'll be beautifully lit up. Still need to throw my 3 coins in the fountain, but that's a story for another day..

ciao my loves, hope the states are treating you well!

miscommunication, if you will

And the classes continue! It was so hard to wake up this morning. I'm looking forward to catching up on some sleep this weekend. Snoozed my alarm a few times, then talked myself into getting up for yoga. Regular routine again: made a little breakfast, stopped by the cafe for a cappucino with Kaylie and Ashley, then walked to school for class. Once again, it was a chilly morning here in Roma! I wasn't looking forward to my morning on-site class outside in the cold weather. I got to my classroom and there were only a couple other students there. We chatted, made some small talk, then waited for the professor. And waited. And waited. 15 minutes later, the lady from the front desk walked in exasperated, explaining that our professor cancelled the first day of class.

Most people would be annoyed that they woke up at the break of dawn and walked 40 minutes to school just to have the class cancelled, but not if you're in the Eternal City! I headed back to the apartment, enjoying the beautiful Tiber River and the morning hustle and bustle. It was a nice morning, I had time to do some laundry which was much needed. I'd been putting it off because we don't have a dryer, just a washing machine and a drying rack plus a string outside the window to hang things up. I was a little intimidated, but I made it through fine. Did a little meditating since I had the apartment to myself, confirmed my flight to Madrid for spring break, then made a quick sandwich and headed back to school for Fresco Painting.

my favorite dome on the walk home

What an amazing class! Debbie is in the class also, as well as Alyssa (the girl who showed me the abandoned cats website from the first post). This is the class that I'm most excited about for this semester. How cool is it to say you've done fresco painting before??? As an art/art history major I find it awesome, but maybe yall don't share in the delight. We're visiting museums to give us ideas and to learn all about frescos, then we each get our own section of a wall in the studio to make the plaster, paint, or whatever you do to make the masterpieces (I'll learn soon I'm sure). The teacher is suuuper chill and pretty interesting-seeming. His names Petit, so I'm guessing he's from France? Who knows. At least this class isn't going to be crazy expensive like my other painting class. The only semi-requirement is a pocket sized watercolor set and a sketchbook to paint "whenever we feel the urge". AWESOME.

We got out early so I headed to the main campus with Alyssa to chill out for awhile before my doctor's appointment at 5. I'd been scared all day for this appointment. It's mandatory to participate in JCU activities or use the gym, and since I'm teaching I guess that fits that category. I'd heard what the process was from other girls who had already had their appointment, and it included getting an "electric shock" with "wires attached to you everywhere" and "weird beeping noises". Uh oh. The stories weren't far off..it was such a weird experience. I don't know exactly what the procedure was, but apparently everything was okay because the doctor told me I was "perfecto!" Thank goodness that's over with.

I headed to the apartment around 6 after a crowded bus ride (literally I felt like a sardine), and decided to stop in our favorite little shop since it was on the walk home. I ordered a croissant to hold me over until dinner, and then one of my dreams came true. The man behind the counter (who makes me my cappucino every morning) asked, "Basta? Fini? No cappucino?" HE REMEMBERED ME. Best. moment. ever. Goal #1: accomplished.

room "decorations" above my bed!

(hopefully after my art classes I can put up some canvases and drawings..)

 Evenings are so nice here. I hung out with the roomies, caught up on my research workbook, "decorated" my room (we can't put tape on the walls so I was confined to sticky notes only), and found some amazing new taylor swift songs to get ready for March 18 (AH I CAN'T WAIT). I didn't realize how late it was getting until I looked at the time and realized it was past 9 and I hadn't eaten dinner ah! Of course when I thought of food, I had a huuuuge wave of hunger come on. Thank goodness for the pizzeria across the street.

I ran over (literally 14 steps from our front door..I counted) and it was in full swing. I forget dinner for these people is in the middle of the night practically. I ordered a pepperoni pizza to go and played tetris on my ipod for the 8 minutes it took to be ready. Starving to death, I gave them the money (SO CHEAP I LOVE THIS PLACE) and ran back to the apartment. In the elevator I checked out my meal...only to realize that I had a pepper pizza! I need to work on my Italian pronunciation I suppose. Oh well, it was yummy nonetheless, and now I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. And probably the next day, too.

tempo per la scuola

Classes have begun! Tuesday was a very long day, my energy was starting to slowly diminish as the day went on. I started out Tuesday with the normal morning routine, then walked to JCU with Kaylie. We stopped by the cute little place down the street (of course!). Mornings at the cafe are so much busier than afternoons! We squeezed in and drank our cappucinos at the bar then headed out. It was very chilly, probably the coldest morning we've had so far.

My first class was Roma Aeterna: The Eternal City through the Ages. It's an on-site class, so we met in a classroom to go over the syllabus then walked around Trastevere (the neighborhood where the school is). It's so crazy how EVERYTHING is ancient. You don't even realize it while you're walking around (well..you sort of do. but i'm already getting used to it haha). We literally stopped 10 feet outside on the entrance for school and our teacher went on for 20 minutes about the buildings all around us - how old they were, their history, etc. We actually walked by some buildings that we passed the night that we were trying to find the Colesseum last week! Our class also walked down along the Tiber River, which was cool. There are steps that take you down so you're right beside the river next to all the street art on the walls. It was pretty muddy and gross because our professor told us that last month the water was waaay higher - about 20 feet higher. "We would all be under water if it was last month" she told us! It's because all the snow melted and November/December are their rainy months.

While we were walking around, my professor gave us some of the best advice I've gotten while I've been here.."When you cross street, most important thing is make eye contact. If not, they run over you." Good to know! She's from Austira. It's interesting because I have to reeeeaalllyyy listen to understand what she's saying. It's good because it forces me to pay attention (or zone out, but I'm striving for the first option).

I had a couple hours betweeen classes so I met up with Debbie and Kaylie for lunch. We talked around the streets by school and found the cutest little panini shop. They were SO nice and it was a really good price - plus it was absolutely amazing food! That's definitely going to be a regular lunch spot for me.

My painting class was at 2:15 at the Art Building, which is up the river about 10 minutes. After an amazing panini at a little shop by school, I left super early to be sure I would be able to find it on time. And of course, I got lost. Luckily, while I was staring at the map and walking in circles another girl from JCU came up to me lost as well, looking for the same place. So we searched some more and after getting directions from 3 different Italians, one of them actually led us to the building. It was right in front of us the whole time, we were just overlooking it! It's weird because it's not like American Universities where the buildings are obvious with huge signs and big entrances. They're just old buildings from like 100s of years ago that the college owns now. So everything looks the same, it's a little tricky!

Painting seems like it'll be cool, the professor was really chill. He doesn't have an accent so I'm guessing he's from America? But we have to buy all of our supplies so that kind of stinks. It's looking to be a little pricey, but at least it'll last me all semester. I got really into painting on my own last semester, so I'm excited to take a real class!

Finished up early so I met Debbie back at the Guarini campus - luckily I didn't get lost getting back. Since we had a couple hours to kill until Kaylie and Ashley were done, we figured we'd head to the art store to get our supplies. QUITE the adventure. Trastevere isn't the nicest part of town, and we got lost. AH. The area that we were in was definitely the ghetto of Rome, from what we've seen so far. We somehow made our way out of the alleyways (I wouldn't let Debbie hold the map out since it drew too much attention) and spotted 2 policeman walking down the street ahead of us. We spent the rest of the walk directly behind them to be safe, then finally found the art store! The man who owned the shop helped me get all my supples and I was right - there were a lot of expenses. Not fun. We went the safe way home, and met up with Kaylie and Ashley to get our textbooks.

cool street art, sketchy area

The bookstore was supposedly on the other side of the river, close to the Spanish Steps. I only need one book for class (well 2, but Debbie and I are splitting the one for Cities, Towns, and Villas and we found it used at school). I guess the money for art supplies is okay because it's still cheaper than what I pay for all my textbooks usually. We got lost getting to the bookstore. Surprise surprise. We're becomming experts at getting lost, there's just so many little streets and alleys and so much to see, it's easy to get distracted! After about an hour and a half of walking around and trying to figure out the bus system, we made the mutual decision to give up for the day and head home. It was getting dark, so we figured we'd just go to the bookstore over the weekend instead.

I ate some leftovers for dinner, booked a flight to Madrid to see Taylor Swift in concert there (Jada and Raphi are meeting me there, and we're staying with Greg!! SO EXCITED.), then went to bed nice and early. It was a loooong day and my feet were pounding from all the walking - not the best idea to wear my boots on a big walking day haha. Now I know! Once again, it's all about learning from experience:)

Market Day

Today was the first day of classes. Unless you have my amazing schedule and don't have classes Mondays or Fridays! I got up early anyway, because I had a lot of fun activities planned. Did my regular yoga and meditation practice, then made a yummy breakfast in our lovely kitchen. Debbie doesn't have class until late Monday evenings and Kaylie's first class wasn't until the afternoon, so they got up early and we decided to head to the local market for some fresh fruit. The closest market is a few blocks away. We didn't know what to expect (how much it would cost, how big the market was, if it was just food or an assortment..), so we just headed towards our destination with no expectations.

It was incredible. We got there and there was soooo much to see! The market was tucked into a little street/alley type of thing along the road. There were clothing stands, fresh bread tents, meat stands, kitchen supply stands, and most importantly...HUGE fruit stands! We tried to figure out what the stand people were telling us about the directions for getting fruit, and after lots of gestures and words we semi-understood we got started. There was so much to choose from!! I was soooo excited because i could live off of fruit and veggies and had definitely been lacking them in my diet lately. We stashed up on lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, bananas, snow peas, etc. etc. etc. The vendors were so helpful and helped us reach when we couldn't quite grab something, bagged our food for us, and threw out the bad fruit that we accidently grabbed. I tried to have a conversation with the man helping me..I think we were talking about where I was from, but I can never be too sure. After we got everything we could imagine, we went up to pay. It was very cheap, I was so surprised. Only a few euro for all our goodies! Definitely making this trip a weekly routine.

We walked back to the apartment and dropped off our goods, then headed out again to get some school supplies. Everything's pretty expensive here, so I just opted for a single notebook until I went to my classes to see exactly what the professors want us to have. On the way home we stopped by the international food store to top off our pantry with a little peanut butter and granola (food we can't find in stores here), then were done with our errands. Hooray!

Debbie at the fresh market

As we walked in the door, Luis (our doorman who barely speaks inglese) jumped out of his office and waved a big package in front of us - OUR MODEM FOR THE INTERNET!! He helped us set it up and after soem struggling with the language situation, the internet started working in the apartment. Finally!! It's such a relief to be able to check class schedules, emails, and of course .. facebook and twitter. The girls on the floor below us who had been letting us use their internet were relieved, too. No more random appearances at their doorstep begging for 30 minutes of internet access!

Kaylie had class at 2, so I decided to take a bus to John Cabot University (our college) with her to check up on a few things before class tomorrow. All of my art history classes are on-site - we meet at different places around Rome - so I wasn't sure where the first classes were. Luckily there was a big sign with all the on-site classes meeting places right at the entrance of school so I wrote down everything and was all set to go. I headed into the computer lab and switched around some classes. I changed into a painting class instead of a 4th art history (the mandatory weekend trip for the class was when India and my dad are visiting..not okay), so I'm SO happy with my schedule now and cannot wait to start classes!

I decided to walk back, it's such a beautiful walk it's hard to bus by it. The walk to and from school is all along the Tiber river, with the gorgeous bridges, passing by the Castel Sant'Angelo and Saint Peter's Basilica, and so many cute bars (cafes), shops, and parks. I love it. It's a good 30 - 40 minute, walk, but it's definitely worth it. Check out the pics below - they're all from that walk.

st. peter's basilica

Got back to the apartment but not before stopping by my favorite cafe down the street to grab a cappucino. They gave a free pastry today! Hopefully that means one of my goals is being accomplished: they're beginning to recognize me and remember me from stopping by so often. Then again, I honestly have no idea because they speak zero english. Come to think of it, that pastry may not have even been free... i suppose next time I'll ask "E gratiz?" to be sure.





The rest of the afternoon was lazy and relaxing. I finally got a chance to upload pictures to my blog as I'm sure you've seen (enjoy!). Got in a few skype sessions (good luck traveling to Spain tomorrow, Jada!!) and planned a reunion with Raphi (she's in London..we're trying to meet up for tswift's European tour!). Kaylie made an amazing dinner of meatballs and pasta for all of us, while I helped with the homemade bruschetta. I made a yummy bruschetta-like addition with mozerella, salami, and garlic on fresh bread. It was veeeeerry good. Our apartment dinners together are so great, it's nice to sit down all together and enjoy the company.

trees hanging over the Tiber = my fav

After dinner I was SO excited because I had a skype date with my momma! It was a crazy night in the apartment with the dish washer running, all the lights on, internet plugged in, and a load of clothes in the wash. About 2 minutes into my conversation with my mom, our whole apartment turned pitch black. THE POWER WENT OUT. We freaked out and all huddled in our room together calling our landlady, flipping every switch possible trying to get it to come back on with no success in sight. Maria (our landlady) finally got the the apartment but not after we were scared to death from Ashley's comment ("what if we're getting Taken???!). Maria fixed everything, badgered us about being careful about electricity, then was on her way. We'll be more careful next time!

Ended the night with some more skype sessions and figuring out my schedule for tomorrow. It's soooo nice to have internet in the apartment, especially with classes starting up now. Enjoy the pictures that I posted up here! I also put up an album on facebook, so be sure to check those out too. Have a wonderful day in stati uniti today :)

Spagna

Hello hello! It was a nice lazy Sunday here in Roma. I woke up early and had a nice yoga and meditation practice, then took my first shower in the apartment with hot water HOORAY! Thank goodness we figured out that hot water switch, my past couple showers were even worse than the "briskness" of the cowpasture river. Literally I thought my brain was going to freeze inside my head. So yay for not having to worry about that anymore!

Kaylie's cousin was in town for a few days visiting with her high school, so we headed towards their group to meet up. Luckily, they were in a new part of Rome that we had never visited before: Spagna (what they call Spain). This is where the Spanish Steps are and a really cool piazza called Piazza del Popolo. There were all kinds of neat statues there, and the Santa Maria del Popolo churches (some of my favorite buildings so far). When I get enough internet access to put up pictures you guys are going to think I'm SO BORING because I'm just absolutely amazed by all the art and architecture. I think I only have like 2 pictures with me in them so far out of the 334 I've taken! I figure when my parents come visit they'll be all about the "GET IN THIS ONE" pictures, so I'm not worried:)

We met up with Kaylie's cousin's group right around lunch time, so we went into a little bar (that's what they call cafes here). I wasn't too hungry for lunch yet, so I got a small gelato. The flavors are definitely a trial and error kind of thing. Pineapple is a no go, but yogurt and fruit is a YES PLEASE - that's what I got today. The gelateria was crazy, they did this huge art sculpture thing with the cones, check it out below. After looking around for a little while, we headed back towards the apartment.

Debbie and Kaylie took a nap while Ashley and I walked around looking for an internet cafe. Ultimate fail (we searched for almost 2 hours) but the sights were beautiful so it was worth it. We didn't realize that Sunday afternoons are not the best time to go looking for open cafes...literally everything was closed. They have a "siesta" kind of thing here like in spanish countries, where from 1 - 4 a lot of things close down for naptime. We forgot about that, so it made our search a little tough. We tried to stop by our neighborhood bar (where I got the yummy cappucino yesterday) on the way home, but they were closed also. SO we came home and took a little siesta ourselves.

Tonight is the re-do Mexican dinner for Tara's birthday. We're about to head over to the restaurant for a big celebration - I reserved a table for 10! We thought our reservation was at 7, so we walked over there but they told us that they didn't open until 8. I'm still getting used to this late-dinner style that the Italians are all about. I'm getting there, though. The key is eating a late lunch.

Classes start tomorrow, but not really for me, because I only have them Tuesday - Thursday. Lots of time for traveling! I planned my first trip to Venice/Verona at the end of this month, which I'm super excited about. Internet was promised to us so I'm banking that by Wednesday we'll have it for sure. I can't wait to skype with yall!! Have a wonderful Sunday and I'll post again soon. Loooooove

discoteches, shopping, and settling in

Buono sera! Once again, so much has happened in the past couple of days. I feel like I should stop writing that at the beginning of my posts, because every day something new and exciting happens. Starting with Thursday night...

Kaylie and Tara with first official apartment dinner in Prati

We made our first apartment dinner in the apartment, it was so good. Kaylie and Ashley took control and made pesto noodles with chicken. We each had our own bottle of wine which made it even better! (Picture coming soon). Debbie and I tried to work with the hot water. We're supposed to get it although it runs out really quick so we have to space out the showering ordeal. For some reason it stopped working for two days straight!! We all lived with (FREEZING) cold showers for 2 days before finally realizing today that we just turned off the hot water switch in the bathroom. Whoops! Now we know, at least.

we found the Vatican City walls!

Kaylie and Debbie know a few people from their school at home, so we decided to meet up with them. We  headed out in the right direction - we knew we were heading towards the Vatican - but get lost of course. Finally find the Vatican and take pictures against the walls, the fountain, etc. Still lost. I asked a guy we saw closing up his Trattoria (in italiano of course) how to get to Aurealia and he pointed us in the right direction. I'm so glad we live in Prati and not the ghetto where these boys are! We finally meet up with them and make our way to the discoteche. It was very fun, a good experience.

We catch up on sleep on Friday, then head out for a little shopping. Kaylie was focused on finding a nice pair of italian boots, so we walked all over Prati and Storio Centro to find them and finally found a great pair. Magnifico! Still waiting for internet in the apartment..today we were promised that it would be here by Tuesday (there was something wrong with the land line and the modem had to be delivered? at least we're getting it at some point). We got home, took a nap, then my roomies went out for a night on the town.

I was missing my yoga practice like woah (I've only been able to do a little bit everyday/every other day) so I stayed in and did a nice 2-hour long practice of yoga and meditation then got in bed for a good nights sleep. It was so good to get back into my yoga routine, I've missed it so much! Set my alarm early for an exciting day Saturday.

Today was so exciting. I woke up early, did a little meditation, then made a yummy breakfast of eggs with toast and peach jam. I love having an apartment yayayay!! Then I headed over to Castel Sant'Angelo to meet up with my friend Sam. She's into yoga and meditation, and facebooked me before we got to Rome wanting to go on yoga adventures together. Of course I was down, I'm so excited to see what the yoga scene is like here. It doesn't seem big at all...yoga pants are a no-go here (you'll get a Roman boy all up in your space and have to throw a "Vattene" or "aspetto mio fidanzato" - leave me in peace/ i'm waiting for my boyfriend) and I haven't seen one studio or mat. Sam knows someone who owns a studio and one of my students told me about her mentor who also has a studio here, so I should be getting into that scene soon.
SO Sam and I met up outside of the castle at the "angel bridge" - too bad there are 2 angel bridges! We found each other eventually and walked around the St. Angelo park. We found a nice spot of grass by the playground and chatted, watched the little kiddies play, and made lots of exciting plans for the semester. For example: check out all the yoga studios, photo shoot on the carosel in princess dresses, go ice skating, etc. The ice skating idea came in because we found a rink in the park right by our apartment!! I took a picture (Jada, Rohan, Page, AC, Ryan, dontcha worry). It's so funny because they were playing unedited American music there ("Billionare," anyone?) because I guess their little kids don't know American cuss words so it doesn't matter. It was so great to meet someone who had the same goals abroad as I do: take in the culture, be immersed as much as I can, see the sights, travel, learn as much as I can...it was great.

ice skating rink in the castle park..definitely hitting this up later.

We walked back towards my apartment and stopped in a little trattoria near my house. It was so cute - so many yummy pasteries and exciting snacks. They had a little fruit drink by the brand "Yoga"!! I'm definitely making that my go-to cappuccino trattoria. Something to note: drinking your cafe at the bar is usually 1/2 the price of drinking it at a table. So we stood there, chatted some more, listened to the Italians around us talk about us in italian (what language are they speaking? where are they from?), then I headed back after we planned a meeting time for tomorrow. Sam doesn't have a phone and I don't have internet in the apartment so it makes it a little difficult to meet up!

Came back to the apartment, did a little yoga, then headed to JCU (my college here) to meet up with my roommates and get some free BBQ lunch. On the bus, an older man from Ghana started talking to me in Italian. He was talking to fast, I was so overwhelmed! I tried to manage "No parli bueno italiano, me dispacio" (i don't speak good italian, i'm sorry), and he got the picture. He said "You from Scotland??!" and I told him I was from the US. I thought he couldn't speak any faster than he already was, but then he freaked out with excitement and the old Italian lady beside him turned around, both apparently asking me a question in italian. I caught "chiasmo" and "bianco" (name and white), but other than that was completely lost. I finally managed to figure out they were asking who the president was who lived in the white house. When I responded with "Obama", they were smiling SO big. "Hallelujah" and "God bless you"'s were all around. It was a funny experience, my first official completely alone experience navigating Roma!

my favorite building in roma (well, so far..)
it's right by JCU and ACTUALLY looks like a
drawing, when i walked by i had to touch it to
check it's real-ness. i love it.

Got to JCU, signed up for a trip to Venice and Verona at the end of the month and a hiking trip later in April, then the MOST exciting thing (well, almost) happened. Before I got here, I had emailed student services asking if it would be possible to teach while I was here but never heard back. I went up to the athletics table and asked the girl about teaching, and an older man jumped in front of her saying "Kelsey? Kelsey?? Teach Yoga?!" Apparently he had gotten my email and just emailed me back today. Since I didn't have internet, I didn't see it. He was the head of the athletics department, so we sat down and figured out a schedule for me to teach in Rome! I'll be teaching Thursday midday and either Monday or Wednesday evenings. I'm SO excited to be given this opportunity. It's so funny how everything works out! The pay is not much (well, not much at all...), but I don't even care. I love teaching and I'm so grateful that I can continue it over here in Italy.

Walked around some with Ashley this afternoon, then came back and figured out my schedule while all my roommates took a big nap. My classes are going to be so amazing, I can't wait for them to start. NERD ALERT: I missed taking classes last semester! At the moment, I'm taking 4 art historys and 1 studio art but i'm planning on switching 1 of the art historys for another studio after the semester starts and classes open up. Most of my classes meet on-site, so there's no classroom - we just meet at different locations around Rome! SO COOL. The studio class I'm taking is Fresco Painting. I literally can't wait. I'm trying to switch into Rome Sketchbook or Photography, but we'll see how everything works out!

The plan was to eat out at a Mexican restaurant down the street (yes, we're eating mexican in italy - i miss margaritas), but it was sooo packed by the time we got there. Decided on the pizzaria across the street instead which was ABSOLUTELY amazing. It's soo good and literally right across the street from our apartment. Late night, anyone?

Bed time for Kelsey. Sorry these updates are so long, it will be easier when I don't have internet every couple of days so I can do shorter posts more often. The internet is slow in this apartment also, so still no pictures, but I will be adding lots and lots once we get wifi in our house. As always, miss and love you all to Pluto and back.. CIAO

THE collesuem

Ciao! I've been antsy to update yall on everything that's been happening! It's been a craaaaazy few days here with lots of exciting and fun stories to share. Starting out directly after the last post: my roommates came down to get me because we had to get international phones and we wanted to check out the colleseum. Success with the phones, but il colosseo was another story.

We left the hotel and headed in the direction we thought that the famous landmark was. We were SO excited when we ran into an ancient amphitheatre. Naturally, we figured it was the collesseum. There were security cameras everywhere and gates up to stop you from getting close (though there were no signs, was only like 1/4 of a circle, and it wasn't lit up at all for the nighttime..). I took probably 20 pictures from every angle possible, then we continued on our way exploring. As we started walking, we realized that we hadn't seen the Arco di Constantino which Debbie had been so excited about seeing - she's all about the arches. Slowly we put together the obvious pieces of the puzzle: the ruins that we ran into was NOT the colleseum. The best part: Debbie took a picture and tweeted it. People were retweeting her being like "THAT'S SO AWESOME I'M REALLY JEALOUS". SINS (that's for you page and rohan).

the REAL colosseo

We finally managed to get to the REAL Colosseum - THE colosseum haha. The arch told us we were close, we could see it from all the way down the street. It was sooooo beautiful. It was night time so they had it lit up so pretty! Again, we took loads of pictures. At least this time it was the real thing.

Headed back towards the hotel looking for some chow. Luckily we were starting to know the city and remembered the way back from our tour earlier. We were walking down one of the smaller streets and passed by the cutest looking alley..all lit up with sparkley lights and chairs outside with heaters and tents. We just had to stop and eat there. It was a darling little restaurant in the heart of Rome, but it seemed like a well-kept secret since it was tucked away so well. I had the most amazing homemade pasta with a salad, yummy bread, and we split our first bottle of vino italiano. I love how the vine comes with the dinners here, it's AWESOME. Italy was definitely a good choice for me. I don't think I could live without wine.

The plan was to go back to the hotel and freshen up before a night out on the town, but we just couldn't wait. On the way home from dinner we went straight to Scholar's Lounge - the American bar in Centro Storico. Lucky for us, it was kareoke night!! The plan was to just have a drink or two then head home, but the entertainment was too much to leave. I went with a VCR, Debbie got a kamikaze, Kaylie was feeling a Blue Eyes, and Ashley got Blue Hawaiian - I'm loving these drink names. They all split a pitcher after so I did my own thing. Ended the night with an electric lemonade..perhaps the only lemonade I've ever had that was NOT my favorite thing in the world.

Of course we had to check the list of songs to see if they had "Hey Juliet" (LMNT), but sooo sadly it was a fail. We'll have to brainstorm for the next time. We made friends with Sufi, the busboy (typical) and promised him we'd be back Sunday for the next kareoke night (KAREOKE TWICE A WEEK EVERY WEEK I'M IN HEAVEN). We spent the rest of night trying to remember his name (Sofa? Seafood? Suji? Sophie?) and laughing at all the crazy Americans singing their night away. Definitely going to hit up that place again at some point. Headed home for bed since the next day was what we've been waiting for: apartment move in day!!! I got a few skype sessions in before bed which was nice:)

The next morning we had a nice breakfast at the hotel then packed up quickly and after a long line for the elevator (they're tiny here and only fit 1 person with their 2 bags..and there were 40 of us trying to move out at once), we headed to the Prati neighborhood to see our apartment for the first time. We didn't know what to expect. We were told horror stories, probably just to not get our hopes up, about having to pull a cord for the water in the shower to come out, no washing machines, no internet, living in a closet kind of space, etc.

view from our appartamento

Our apartment is literal the complete opposite of that. It's HUGE. Audra, one of our resident directors, told us that most Roman women would kill to have the apartment that we're staying in. Kaylie, Debbie, and I share a room, but we could honestly fit 8 more people in it. I'm planning on teaching a full yoga class in my extra floor space. It's very open and sooo beautiful, in such a nice neighborhood. Ashley and Tara are in another smaller room together, and we have a dining room, full kitchen, bathroom...it's absolutely amazing. I couldn't be happier. Internet was supposed to be installed yesterday or today, but of course they didn't get around to it (ooooh italians). So we're hoping for tomorrow! The shower's a little iffy, but other than that I'm in love. And even so, I'm STILL in love.

my room!

We unpacked then decided to explore our new part of town for some dinner. After searching for awhile, we settled on Ristorante del Gracchi. Little did we know that "ristorante" doesn't just mean restaurant here...it translates to "fancy, extremely expensive, super dressy, 5 course meal restaurant." Us living-on-a-budget college students were not prepared for what was to come. I can't even explain the awkwardness of the dinner, it's like the ultimate you-had-to-be-there story. Ashley tried to stay calm while we all laughed/broke down/worried about how to tell them we only wanted one course. Debbie turned to whispering because she thought it drew less attention (fail). Kaylie just sat up as straight as she could and tried not to smile. Tara gave up and laughed at everything. It was ridiculous. At least we got free champagne and bread! Oh wait...they put those on the bill too.

We ended up getting away with only 1 course after some sneers and insulting looks from the staff. Again, SINS. Most eventful thing that happened: Debbie didn't realize that "scampi" meant a meal with prawns. She doesn't eat seafood. We sneakily switched dishes 3 times, and by sneakily i mean accidently almost breaking one of the wine glasses and clanging the plates around. Oops! We also learned that you have to ask for the check ("Il conto, per favore") or you'll literally sit there all night, they never bring it out to you. You also can't take you extra food home! So different than the US. Learning from experience is definitely the way to go, though. It provides the most entertainment and is the most fun.

emergency wine stash

We stopped by a wine shop on the way home and loaded up on the cheapest wine we could find to drink the embarrasment of dinner away. Surprisingly, but not really surprisingly, the cheapest wine here is about 4239048302423x better than ones that cost alot more at home. Hooray! We decided the first rule of the house: always have at least one bottle of wine stored away for emergencies. I don't think I'll have a problem with these roommates:)

Thursday (today) was John Cabot University orientation. Boring boring boring BUT we did learn about the activities and excursions that they offer! I think I'm going to sign up for the Venice and Verona weekend trip they offer at the end of this month. Magnifico! After orientation we decided that today was our shopping day. We needed to get food for the apartment, get a few necessities to finish moving in, and Kaylie was avid about finding some black boots. We spent the next few hours shopping around Prati. Only one casualty at the grocery store when Kaylie didn't have exact change and the cashier FREAKED out on her. We need to brush up on our grocery shopping lingo before we go back next time!

I'm feeling very good about my Italian. I'm surprised at how easily it comes for me! Every day I feel like I'm learning or remembering new phrases. For fun we like to sit around and just read phrases out loud from our pocket dictionaries. Somehow, I feel like the phrases are sticking. It must be all those years of Latin and Spanish paying off.