My First Week in Rome

It all started back on New Year's Day. I boarded the airplane, just like any other time, but this time I was on my way to a new adventure in life. I was going to Rome for three months to study abroad. The airplane ride I have to admit was extremely scary, not because I was all that nervous about going away at the time, but because there was so much turbulence. There were six of us girls on the flight from Seattle to London who were in the program and our professor. When we arrived in London, eight and a half hours later we were all tired and extremely thirsty. We only had an hour and a half before our next flight from London to Rome so we quickly got our first foreign meal in the London airport. When we arrived in Rome it was already night time and the airlines had lost Lauren's luggage. After pulling out our first Euro's from the Rome airport, we all boarded our bus that would take us to the Rome center. We dropped our stuff off at the Rome center for the night, and the six of us girls set out to find our appartment that we had rented on the other side of town. We took the bus for the first time in Rome and had our first experience of asking directions to people who knew no English and us who knew very little Italian.

After going to many hotels and asking if we were close to our hotel, we finally found our six bedroom hotel for the night. It was extremely fun to get to know the girls and refreshing to start feeling comfortable with my new friends.
The next day we traveled back to the Rome center to check in with the office and to get our keys to the appartments. Laura and I are the only girls who do not live with the only nine girls. Their appartment is right next to the Rome center and our appartment is about a 15 to 20 minute walk to the Rome center. I like living on the other side because we cross the river everyday and we are better familiar with a broader area of Rome. Laura and I moved into our appartment with the help of the other nine girls helping us carry all of our stuff across town. Then after unpacking, we both took really long naps. Apparently I was talking in my sleep and when my alarm went off, Laura tried to wake me up for like 5 minutes before I really woke up. We all met up at Lisa's for our first dinner and had lasagna, vegetables, bread and a delicious dessert.
On Friday we went to the city of Tarquinia. After riding the bus to the train station, I went on my first train ride of my life.


The train ride was extremely amusing and fun. We first went to the painted tombs, out to lunch, and then to the museum. The artwork was incredible. It is so unique, I've never seen anything quite like it. After this adventure we went out for Gelato and then met up with my friends from California who came to Rome to visit me. We went out for dinner as a group and had a wonderful Italian dinner.

On Saturday, we went to the Roman Forum and stayed there for about three hours. After this meeting the girls and I went out for lunch and Meridith and I shared a pizza. It was delicious. We worked on homework until about six and then Laura and I walked back to our appartment. We had a brilliant idea of watching the movie "Wedding Crashers" but ofcourse I fell asleep within the first half an hour. I crashed at about seven at night and did not wake up until nine this morning. I was exhausted and when I woke up I felt like a whole new person. Laura and I went to meet Hillary and Matt this morning for breakfast and then we went shopping for a little bit. After walking around Rome for a while, came back to work on homework for a couple hours and to make some phone calls back home. I met up with Hillary and Matt again for dinner, I tried the steak here and it is delicious! Wonderful dinner. The week has definately gone by fast because we've been so busy. And looking at the week ahead it seems just as adventurous and full of excitement. I'm looking forward to what's ahead. I'll keep you posted!