Ughhhh, I guess I DO have jet lag after all.

I went to bed at 10pm, it is now almost 3am and I am STILL awake. So I got out of bed to come in the hallway and blog. Our computer keys are SO LOUD though, so I have to type in really, really slow motion. My room roommate, Danielle, had the same problem I do, but I think she fell asleep about half an hour ago...

Time out. Went into the room to get my laptop so I could be quiet in the common room. Woke up Danielle. Oops. I meant to grab my camera too, so I could upload all the pictures, but I forgot, so you'll have to wait until another time for those.



Yesterday we slept in, which was nice. I woke up at 11am and then got distracted online for a while. Then one of my roommates, Lindsey, and I headed to AUR for all the registration stuff. When we got to the school though, everyone had left for their lunch break, so we decided to wander the area around school. We went to the park across the street which was cool, but really old. It was super muddy too because of the massive amounts of rain they've been getting here. Then we wandered in search of lunch, but just ended up in a really residential area. Turned around and went to a Pizzaria right by school. It was sooooooo crowded with Italians and I basically stopped traffic when I ordered. I realized I knew NO Italian and the lady was asking me all these questions and it was just embarrassing and bad. Eventually I got my hot pizza with tomatoes and mozzarella and life was good.

We went back to school to get our permits to stay in Rome and it took everyone else about 5mins, me FOREVER. First I needed to have my whole passport copied. My mom copied the front and last pages of mine, but not the like 14 in the middle. So I had to stand in line to use a little home copier and it took about 500 years. Then I got in line. Finally get up to the person who's registering me and tells me someone with my last name just came through. Hmm, that's cool. Then he looks me up and panics and tells me he's put someone else's info in my file. So he leans over to the guy next to him and they're talking in Italian, then the guy comes and looks at our computer and then they get all frustrated and keep saying my name and I have no idea what's going on. Then they figured out there is another person with my EXACT name. First, middle, last. So we had to use my birthday to figure out which one I am. The guy is talking about how insane this is and then the girl next to me is like "Hey! That's my roommates name! She's right there!" So then the guy announces to the whole room that this girl and I have the same name and she and I both turn bright red and no one else thinks it's exciting and it was just ridiculous. So I finally get all registered and then I talked to the other MKO and it's insane that we're both in Rome at the same time. She's from California and goes to Arizona State. So that's just crazy.

After that, we got our IDs and class schedules and blah blah blah. We ran into our other roommates so we waited around for them to do all their things. After that, we had been at school for about five hours so we went to a bar (coffee shop-ish?) to get some food. While we were there, some boys from MSU came in, so we invited them to join our table. We all got to know each other a little bit and made plans to go out later.

Stopped on the way home to buy our first Italian wine!! Yum. We all just hung out, I gave my MSU roommates a tour of my apartment through Skype and I got to talk to Sav too! Eventually we got ready and the boys found their way to our place to meet up. We hung out here for a while and tried to figure out where to go. We decided to just wander to an area we heard was good. So we all set out on our adventure.

Me, being the most graceful person EVER, fell down some stairs for the millionth time since I've been here. (I trip getting in the elevator EVERY time and I fall on every single landing when I go down the stairs). I rolled or sprained my ankle or something, but I have to walk everywhere, so I've just been wearing tennis shoes and kind of ignoring the pain. I know it's not broken, so it's fineeeeeeee. One of my roommates accused me of being drunk (no, Mom, I wasn't) because I fell, while one of the other girls I moved in with just laughed and said it was nothing compared to when I tripped my first time getting into the elevator and flew full speed into my suitcase, falling over and coming about 2seconds away from smacking my face on the wall. Yes, I've made some great impressions. I really should learn to walk at some point in my life.

ANYWAY. We walked for a long time, ith no directions, and eventually found the street we were looking for. Except there was basically nothing there. It's a giant street. We wandered some more and eventually found an empty bar/bar bar/gellato place. There was an Irish couple there, and that was it. We each had a beer and just hung out some more. We all get along great.

Walked home, went to bed, blah blah blah.

We woke up this morning and Danielle had to go to AUR to do all the stuff we did yesterday, I had to go get my phone, and two of the boys had to go because they forgot half their stuff to register yesterday. So we all met at our building this morning to walk to school together. It was sooooooooooo nice out!!!! Really sunny and warm! After school stuff, we went to the pizza place I was at the day before because some of the AUR staff recommended it. There was no one in there this time, much less intimidating. I was SO excited because I had practiced all the stuff I didn't know yesterday and was going to be a pizza-ordering-pro. But then the guy serving me spoke to me in English! I kept trying to respond in Italian, but he was having none of that. Which was annoying. Oh well, I have much more time to practice.

As we walked home, we saw a market for fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, and fish. One of the boys pointed it out and Danielle and I took off speed walking so they had to follow, haha. Everything is SO FRESH. I think I'm going back this morning, maybe?

We parted ways with the boys and went back to meet up with our other roommates. We decided to spend the day exploring the city and it was a fabulousssssss day (I wish I could post pictures right now). At the end of the road where AUR is, there is a GIANT fountain which overlooks the most gorgeous view of Rome! You can see forever!!! It's sooooooooooooo pretty!!!!

We walked down the next street and found a Spanish school that led down into the area we had been overlooking. As we walked down this gorgeous ramp, I noticed the Stations of the Cross were in the wall. It's reallllllllllly cool. Once we got to the bottom, we just wandered.

Where we were was exactly what I was expecting from Rome, not like the area where we live in. I think we live in like the ghetto of Rome or something. I don't know what's going on. It's not scary or anything, just lacking the old, colorful buildings and cobblestone streets and stuff. The place we were walking though, was soooooo amazing. I can't even believe it's real.

I'm still never coming home. This time 1. to avoid the plane ride and 2. because I LOVE it here. The Italian is catching on pretty quickly, I would say. I mean, I've only been here like three days and I've picked up quite a bit. I've learned to cross the street without getting honked at and fearing for my life. I love, love, love how everyone relates to each other here in hurried, but really polite, nice conversations. I like how it's insanly busy, but super laid-back all at the same time. I love, love, love, love, loveeeeee the scenery. Everything is just perfect. So yes, I'm never coming home.

The only thing I don't like is how obvious it is to spot Americans. I also hate that I can tell people are mad I don't speak Italian, but it's not because I don't WANT to, I just don't know HOW to. And I'm working on it! Everyone can tell from a mile away though, it's ridiculous.

Back to my day. We grabbed some MORE pizza (I got lasagna this time, tooooo much pizza for me!) and ate at a little place. Basically we didn't realize this place that was insanely narrow and crowded with pedestrians was a STREET and our table almost got hit by two cars! Out of control. I also saw a man who's feet/legs were ruined by arthritis or something. He was all cramped up. He was homeless and pushing himself with shoes on this hands as he sat on a skateboard. It was really really sad to see. He kept having to stop and it was just terrible to watch. I actually saw quite a few homeless people today, my first in Rome.

After we ate, we decided it was time to head home. We had no idea how we had gotten to where we were, we just kept walking toward the giant fountain with the great view because it sits way above where we were. We figured out where we were eventually, but still took a different way home to see more of the city. I really can't even explain to you how amazing it is and my pictures can't even convey it either.

Once we were near our apartment, two of the roommates went back and three of us went in search of a grocery store. We got really distracted on the way and went into a million shops and things. Everyone here asks if were from New York and constantly says "Obama! Obama! Obama!". Ridiculous. Obamarama is out of control. Also, roommates: I have a glorious surprise for you once I get pictures up. You will most likely have a "OMP! FMIMS!" (those are codes) moment. Eventually we found the grocery store and proceeded to walk home since it looked like it was midnight even though it was only 6pm. It gets dark toooo early!!!

On the way home, we thought we were taking a short-cut, but instead just got lost for 2.5hours. Way.to.go. I actually didn't mind, I like getting lost in big cities. It's how I learned my way around Chicago. After a while though, it did get old. We finally asked for directions, then realized we didn't know the words for right, left, turn, etc. Finally the message was conveyed, however, and we found our way back. We had wandered soooooooooo far away!!!!

When we got home, the boys called to see if we wanted to go across the river (where we had spend all day) to check out the nightlife. We were EXHAUSTED though, so we said no.

ALSO. We have a new roommate! We were all told we only had five, and then a SIXTH arrived today! So that's exciting.

Another thing I wanted to talk about is communicating here. For some reason, I can never understand the words people are saying to me in Italian, but I always know EXACTLY what they're saying. I know this, because we eventually figure it out, and it's exactly what I knew when the person first said it. It's crazy, I don't know how to do it. I think it's just because I'm so observant, I've learned to read people very well. Plus, journalism probably helps. I mean, I know how to ask questions to get people to say exactly what I want them to say and I think I've just learned I don't know what. This is harder to explain than I thought it was. Anyway, even if I have no idea what the words mean, I always know what people are saying. Which is pretty awesome.


So now it's 4am. I'm still not tired even though I was EXHAUSTED at 10pm when I went to bed. I have to wake up at 7:30am because I have to shower before orientation, so I'll be getting like 3hrs of sleep tonight, max. Tomorrow we have our orientation, then I think I want to walk to the Vatican/Trevi Fountain/etc. At night, we're doing the Colosseum bar crawl, so that should be sweet.

Buona Sera!