Finding my apartment, via del mirisoni 16

hello everyone! Usually i will not blog this often but since I have a lot of down time now before orientation starts tomorrow I am trying to write as much as possible to share my experience so far!! This morning I woke up around 9 a.m. at my hotel and had the free hot breakfast, which of course consisted of a load of bread and jelly, but at least it was free since everything is SO expensive here. I had to go check in at the IES center which was about a 5 minute cab ride that I could not walk because I had my suitcase, travel back, and regular backpack. I thought I would see a lot more kids checking in, but I only saw one girl with everyone getting in at different times and what not. Then I grabbed another taxi to my apartment which is located southwest of the center. The taxi drivers are insane and drive all over the place even some sidewalks if need-be. I arrived at my apartment and there was no one there to let me in so I went into the "office" where an elderly Italian women tried to help me, she seemed very helpful but of course spoke not a lick of English. I was stuck outside my apartment with no way in! Then finally after about an hour of waiting a kid a little older than me showed up and was from IES, he let me and showed me how to work the electric, washer, fridge, ect. My apartment was incredible, definitely old but had a very big balcony which connects all of our bedrooms and the kitchen; the view is amazing it overlooks several other apartment communities. We also have two bathrooms which is very convenient. I received my welcome packet which stated the next week's agenda for me, which also looks hectic. We have orientation all day tomorrow and then starting Thursday we have intensive Italian for 5 hours; hopefully that will be very helpful.

When i got to my apartment one of my roomate's Eric who is from Virginia was already here sleeping in his bed, most likely tired from the flight. I unpacked all my stuff, having no clue where to put anything at all. After I was all unpacked I decided to go exploring, but before I could go anywhere... I found Pat standing in the middle of the street with his bags, the taxi driver dropped him off and demanded 50 euro and just left him!!! So I walked back with him and he unpacked everything. While all of that was taking place our other roommate Mike from New York arrived and we got to know him a little. Then Pat and I went on a journey for some lunch, we walked all the way to where our classes will be held and decided to turn around and get a bite to eat. We walked into some local sandwich place not knowing if it was okay to sit down or not because here they often charge you a service fee. We both ordered the same sandwich one with pizza bread, zucchini, and cheese along with some tap water. It was actually really good and filling! Then we found our way back to our place. Tonight we are hoping to meet up with some people that Pat met on the plane, but we will see how that goes. My other two roommates are out getting food and walking around now and Pat is sleeping because he is most like still exhausted from the plane!

I on the other hand am still in shock that I am actually here in Rome already, I can't believe this summer flew by so quickly but I cannot wait to see what awaits me and where I travel to in this incredible area. I am finally adjusting to the time change even though I am still a little tired. I am also starting to pick up on a little Italian since everything here is in that language.

Finally here!!

I arrived in Rome this morning at around 9:00 a.m. at the airport and we parked the plane in the middle of a runway, got off and everyone was getting on a bus so I got on! I had no idea where it was taking us, but I truly had no other choice because the whole plane got on it! Once I got into the terminal I anxiously waited for my bags which luckily were two of the first suitcases on the track! At this point I could barely keep my eyes open because the awesome guy next to me and his wife laid on me basically the whole 9 hour flight. I soon found my taxi driver (who continued to not tell me his name even though I asked 9x) and of course he was driving 130 down the Auto-ban the whole time. He was very nice though and showed me a bunch of cool buildings and stuff on the way in! The driver also took shortcuts all over the place, where I definitely thought he was taking me to kill me. Rome is beautiful, I do not even know how to explain it. Finally after about 30-40 minutes I arrived at Hotel Navona, which happened to be on the second floor with no elevator. Once I saw the hotel I thought it was going to be huge and elegant, which I guess it is except for my room is about 8x8 and I can't even stand up straight in the bathroom. I immediately got into bed and searched for a Italian channel to fall asleep too. I slept for about 5 hours and then went exploring. I found the coolest shops with everything you could possibly want to buy. They even have a Ray Ban sunglasses shop right across the street from my hotel. I am back in my hotel now for a little bit just to email home and let everyone know I am here and alive. I found the graffiti ALL over the place in Rome very intriguing, it is everywhere.. I almost wonder if it legal to do. So far from the people I have came into contact with everyone that speaks English is extremely nice and the Italians are too, I have noticed that they try to help me speak their native language and figure out whatever I need, so far they have been very helpful. Tonight I will go have dinner at some local bar and hopefully taste some of this Italian food everyone is talking about. Anyways, I am safe and so excited I don't even know what to do or think. I will blog sooner than later.

Just the beginning of packing..

This is almost everything, without my clothes, I obviously will have no room for anything...

Last week home in A-town..

This week has been to say the least, hectic. I am running all over place to ensure that I have all the clothes, passports, credit cards, photocopies, tickets, hotels, and even small things such as my iPod and camera. I never imagined going into this studying abroad process that it would involve so much time and effort. It was almost as much work as a four credit hour class down at U of I. Today is Wednesday and I have only four days left in the states. I am arriving in Roma on August 30th at 08.05 a.m. where I will be meet by a taxi to take me to my hotel for the night. I plan on dropping off my bags and going exploring by myself... but we will see how that works out because I have no idea what to expect and/or do. I will most likely post while at the hotel the night before IES orientation which is at 10:30 a.m. on August 31st, were I get my apartment keys and all that fun stuff. I will be in touch. Good luck to everyone starting the semester at their home schools, I hope school is not to difficult here in Italy, but at the same time I hope to learn more about myself than I have in the three previous years at the University of Illinois!!