This was supposed to be posted last night, but the wifi in our apartment isn't working for some reason. So here you go, my (half) first day in Rome!!
So this morning I whiled away the time in Amsterdam until
Jennifer and Kasey (the other two students studying at AUR this term) got there
to keep me company, then shortly after we boarded the plane and I was not able
to keep my eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time until we landed and
the adrenaline kicked in again – some much needed sleep after none on the first
plane. We grabbed our luggage and were greeted by AUR student representatives
who made me feel surprisingly very comfortable right off the bat.
We were driven to our apartment that Kasey and Jennifer are
both living in as well, and there were two thoughts I had right away: this
looks a lot like an American city, and the driving here is crazy! For the
latter, I just had to remind myself that this is simply a different culture
with a city full of history and ancient architecture that have been built
around to form this winding city unlike anything I have seen. The roads seem
chaotic and confusing to me, but I am determined to learn them well enough to
wander on my own by the end of my trip. And as far as looking like America, boy
was I off. Granted there are things that look very similar, and certain areas
that don’t look anything like the picturesque beauty of Rome that everyone
paints in your head, but all I had to do was walk a little bit further.
When we got to the apartment, one of our new roommates was
already there, and the other two to make a total of six arrived about an hour
after we did. We got our rooms settled in for the most part, and decided to
adventure out to see if we could locate the campus of the American University
of Rome. I can’t say we got lost because we eventually made it there, but we at
least tripled the amount of time it should have taken by taking a loop around,
stopping to look at a map more times than I can count on both hands and both
feet, and asked several different people for help. I almost felt rude because
we didn’t know how to ask anything in Italian, and they didn’t know any
English, but they were very nice and eager to help us find our way! Despite
being somewhat lost in a completely foreign city, I never once felt overly
stressed or anxious, and was actually kind of enjoying the experience. I plan
on taking a day to simply walk around Rome with no destination in mind and let
moments of quick decisions create my path by choosing left, right, or straight
at the last second, similar to a game my roommates from CMU called Left Right.
After we finally made it to campus, my roommates got pizza
at a little pizzeria near campus (I wasn’t hungry, my stomach hurt a little
from the plane food), and then headed out on a brief tour of the historic parts
of the city which are all very close to AUR.
It. Was. Breathtaking.
I now understand how people can fall in love so easily with
Rome and all its charm. I am looking forward to learning more about all of the
places we visited and spending more time at each one to really appreciate all
their beauty and glory. The history is just fascinating to learn, and to feel in each location. I know this
might be the initial euphoria of culture shock and my complete lack of sleep
talking, but I’m already missing calling this city my home when I leave on May
12th…
Observation of the Day: You can't slow down when you've only just begun. I was so exhausted from not getting any sleep on the plane, so basically pulling an all nighter, but we didn't take time to rest after we unpacked and headed straight for our adventures. The ResGrads took us on a walking tour of Rome, so my eyes stayed wide open the entire time trying to soak in all the beautiful things we saw!
