Firsts

I would just like to let you in on some of the "firsts" in my life, two weeks into my journey in Rome:

-being on a big plane

-traveling outside of the US

-using a currency other than US dollars

-using a passport

-riding on a train

-living in a huge city

-speaking italian

-eating gelato

-going to a night club...a legit night club

and the list goes on

if you can think of more, let me know!

Laundry and a Cold

Today was the day. Laundry day. I separated my clothes as usual, but realized that the washing machine was the size of a baseball. How am I supposed to stay fresh when I can't wash my things??! ha but seriously, the smallest washing machine ever, and apparently Italians don't believe in efficiently drying things, so all of my clothes are on a clothesline outside.

Also, I am coming down with a cold. It doesn't help that Italy is 'super cool' (Italian accent) and the people party night and day. I need to take a breather and recuperate.

Ciao!

Rainy Roma

I have officially experienced my first rainy day here in Italy, and man does it stink. I'm not one for the rain as is, but tack on a half hour walk to and from class three times today, and you can see my frustration start to come out. On a happy note, I am loving all of my classes. Today was the first day that I had my Italian Cinema course, and it was fantastic. First of all, the professor is a fox, and all we did today was watch "The Bicycle Thief."

We went to an irish pub last night called Scholars to eat and watch the Jets game, that was a fun experience!

Time to go to the supermarket to get dinner!

Casey

Florence

This weekend was my first travel weekend! I wanted to start out small by going somewhere close, and not jumping right to a far off country. So with that in mind, I walked with my friend to the train station, bought a ticket to Florence, and off I was. When we got there, we all walked around the city center until we found a reasonably priced hotel. I usually don't roll like this, not having any plans, but it was nice to just do everything on a whim. We hit all the big places, like the Duomo, Santa Croce Church, Ponte Vecchio bridge, etc. It was absolutely beautiful.

Here are some pictures from the top of the Duomo, overlooking the entire city of florence, and some other great pictures!

Today was a good one. Started off the day by going to class at 9am, where I couldn't keep my eyes open....class at 1030 and 215 as well. Took two naps today, I don't know why I am so tired!!

After class I made steak, cod, and pasta for the roommates. After dinner, it was nice because all of us sat around for about an hour just shooting the you-know-what.

My late night entertainment was a movie on my friend's computer, and now I am home

Night

Casey

Hey world-

Casey here, just another day here in beautiful Roma~

Today I had my first day of classes, and man were they great, can you say 4.0??

-Human Trafficking and Contemporary Slavery

-Italian Cinema

-Cognitive Psychology

-Child Developmental Psychology

Casey-

Ostia Antica

Today was amazing! We woke up at 8 am, took the tram to our school, jumped on a bus, and made our way to Ostia Antica. This place was absolutely amazing. Instead of letting you in on the secrets of Ostia Antica, check it out for yourself!

http://www.ostia-antica.org/

We then went about a half hour away to a farm for lunch. It was very cool because 1-it was beautiful, and 2-everything that we ate was produced on the farm itself.

Getting There Is Half The Battle...

So with my mom and dad walking out of the airport doors, I knew that I was on my own. My friend and I made our way through security and to our gate, realizing that we had three hours to kill before we could board the biggest plane I have ever seen and fly over 1/2 the continent and the Atlantic Ocean to London. We made it to London just fine, but God bless these girls sitting next to us, because what do I hear as we are landing??? "There is fog ALL AROUND US!" It took every ounce of my energy to resist informing them that we were currently inside of a cloud.

Got into London at 645 am their time, and were expecting to wait until 1035 am for our connection. But no....London got a sprinkle of snow, and the world ended. We got our flight cancelled, then rebooked, then sat on the plane for who knows how long....ended up taking off at 3pm their time.

RECAP-

The trip was supposed to take from 5pm tuesday to 2pm wednesday...

The trip actually took from 5pm tuesday to 930pm wednesday...no sleep!

My room made the wait worth it though. I walked into marble floors, HUGE rooms with a large balcony in each, a full kitchen, shower, tub, bidet (butt cleaner), and tons of other goodies.

Time for bed though, computer is about to die, and who knows how much more time I will have to write because I bought the wrong charger!

Somewhat Packed, Somewhat Prepared, Completely Stressed

This whole "pre-departure" deal is stressful! I cannot believe how much paperwork it takes to go study in a different country! Soon enough though I will be in Rome, Italy!!

Wish me luck, I will be posting quite often!

Casey