when in rome

The Colosseum

Ruins

Julius Ceaser's cremation site

Trevi Fountain

St. Peter's Basilica

Vatican City

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Sistine Chapel

Wednesday January 23

I’ve always wanted to say that; I’m glad I can now! When in Roma…I eat the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life. I can enjoy a glass of world-famous vino on the outdoor patio of the cafe. I find the most delicioso gelato I have ever imagined (anyone else seeing a pattern here?). Um…I need to hit the gym.

I’m suffering some serious jetlag still and I’ve been here since Monday morning. On Monday night I went to bed around 10 pm, woke up at 2 and 4 am, and had to get up for breakfast at 7:30 am. Because of that, I napped four hours that afternoon and obviously couldn’t go to sleep that night. It’s been the worst and most vicious pattern. Today (Wednesday) I only took a one-hour nap, so after I’m done writing this, I’m hoping for some sleep. And if it doesn’t happen naturally, I went to the farmacia and fought the worst language barrier of my life, but successfully got ear plugs and melatonin. So I WILL be sleeping—whether or not I have to sedate myself is TBA.

Most of the people in our large group of about 150 don’t speak Italian, but I feel so lucky that my roommate does! We get along so well and she teaches me phrases, practices with me, etc. I try to order in Italian at resturants and really any other opportunity I get. I’m also thankful for the fact that I took however many years of Spanish in school because a lot of words are extremely similar or even the same. Some are totally different, but especially in today’s case of the woman at the farmacia not knowing ANY English, being able to use hand gestures and speak Spanish is a lifeline. With that said, it’s only been a few days here and I’ve picked up a considerable amount of Italian already (I literally didn’t know how to say the word “please” before my arrival. Starting from square one here), so I’m actually really excited to start my Italian class and be forced to learn some more! Maybe it’ll stop me from speaking Spanglish to these poor Italians.

Tuesday we took a bus tour of Roma and got to see all kinds of landmarks I had only previously seen in photos. We walked to the Collesseum, saw the ruins and the Trevi Fountain. I wish pictures could do it justice but of course nothing besides seeing it in person ever could. After that I took my detrimental nap and we went out for a delicious pasta (surprise?) dinner.

Today we woke up for the Hotel’s breakfast as we’ve been doing every morning and hopped on the bus to go visit Vatican City! It was pouring rain and they don’t approve of photos in some of the museums anyways, so as hard as it was, I left my camera behind and used my iPhone for pictures. We saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Bascilia—so surreal. I never thought I’d see Michaelangelo’s paintings in real life, a preserved body of an old Pope (oy vey) or where the current Pope walks out to address the public. It’s all so history-filled and beautiful. I also never thought I’d meet anyone who was as much of an expert in anything as my tour guide was in Roman history. She knew everything about everything, even specific people and meanings behind all the paintings. It was so interesting. The painting covering the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel is my favorite. It was especially neat to hear about who people were in the painting, that Michaelangelo HATED painting yet he did it so well, that it took only 4 years to finish it all…everything. You can thank the terrible quality photo of the chapel to the Italian guard walking around and yelling at everyone, “SILENCIO! NO FOTO! NO VIDEO!”…I tried.

After, we had orientation for moving to Florence tomorrow and then my roommate and I went out to the wine bar for dinner. I had the yummiest bruchetto appetizer and tuna, motzzerella cheese and tomato insalata. So much amazing food.

A few noticeable differences between America and Italy so far:

1.     THE INTERNET CONNECTION. Oh my. It’s just terrible and no Italians ever seem to care. When you walk around you never see anyone on a mobile device, which is actually really refreshing. I kind of like that I can’t text during the day while I’m out. It forces you to take everything in around you, and especially here I think that’s so important. It’s a way of life. With that said…at my hotel, I wouldn’t mind being able to Skype people at home or check my email. They give you a 7-day internet card for either your phone or computer. I chose computer, and this morning around midnight skyped for a little bit. Later my internet was completely cut off because the hotel said I used up my allotted bandwidth (or at least that’s what I got from our broken conversation) and it will restart at midnight tonight. What?! And when it does work, it’s extremely spotty. Wifi is so commonplace at home that I don’t even think anyone realizes how much it’s taken for granted. I know I didn’t.

2.     The food. Yes, we’re going back to that. Sorry (not sorry). Italians take so much pride in their food and wine. It’s something to be enjoyed, savored and taken time with. Dinners can last hours and consist of multiple courses. Everything has so much flavor, is so fresh and is no more expensive than at home, it’s just a matter of it being so more important to the culture here. Not complaining.

3.     Yelling and screaming in the streets and the waving of arms and/or other limbs between two people should not be mistaken for actual conflict. There have been multiple instances where I thought a fight was going to break out due to the sheer noise level of a conversation, body language, etc, but just wait it out and laughter will commence. It’s just how they communicate.

4.     The same can be said for the brandishing of rosary beads by old ladies outside St. Peters Bacilia.

5.     Driving/traffic laws. I don’t know if there are any traffic laws, actually. Everything you know about cars staying in a single file lane on the highway or otherwise in America can be thrown away once you get to Italy. Motercycles will drive through red lights, cars expect busses to stop for them when suddenly pulling out of an alley onto the road, vespas zip through traffic like a maze, etc. I’ve almost experienced death by car/pedestrian accident at least 3 times now.

Italy is beautiful and I can’t believe I’m here. Every scene looks like it could be on a postcard somewhere and probably is. The city of love (Roma=Amor backwards) has my heart, but we’ll see if the move to Florence tomorrow changes that at all. I expect it will.