First Day In Rome

After two flights (including a four hour layover in Charlotte) I am now safely in the Eternal City!

Rome is beautiful, just as I imagined.  My apartment, while featuring much smaller beds, chairs, and appliances than I'm used to will be feeling like a temporary home in no time.  I will be living with four other girls for the next six weeks and much of this early afternoon was spent getting to know each other over a lunch of the most delicious mushroom pizza.  We sat outside a restaurant and marveled at the closeness of the Roman drivers to each other and to the railing of our covered patio.    Our apartment (or flat as the Italian woman who gave us the keys called it-I'm hoping someone will be able to explain the difference to me) is located down the street from where the morning market will be and across the street from a church that keeps chiming the hour, ensuring we do know what time it is.  It's a cozy place, made perhaps more cozy than I would like by the lack of A.C. (I've been assured that I'll adjust quickly).  Honestly, with the windows open letting in the sounds of the city it is a perfectly acceptable temperature.  In just a bit all of the UF in Rome group will be meeting up to go to dinner together.  I'm looking forward to meeting everyone that I haven't yet.  Adjusting to this new place will be a lot easier knowing there are 34 other people going through the same transition as me.

Until next time,
Allison

Pre-Departure

Welcome to my blog for my study abroad trip to Rome, Italy!

I am about to embark on the trip of a lifetime to Italy, where I will get to live in Rome for six weeks.  I'll be taking two classes: Beginning Italian 1 and Daily Life in Ancient Rome.  Basically I get to learn Italian and study Roman customs while living where the Romans lived and seeing the remnants of their civilization.  I'll be living in an apartment with other University of Florida students who are on the same trip as me.  There are about 35 of us total, plus three UF professors.  I want to share my experiences with everyone back home so that anyone reading this can see some of the beauty of the Eternal City.  

In addition to living and going to classes in Rome I will be making some weekend trips to other parts of Italy.  There will be group excursions to Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli, Florence, Pompeii and Naples, and Ischia.  So far I am also going to Venice with a handful of other students.  

I leave June 28 and return August 8.  I couldn't be more excited for my trip, but I'm nervous at the same time.  I have never been to Europe before and I know absolutely no Italian so communicating will be difficult at first.  I am worried that I'll forget something important when I pack, but then again I always worry about that when I travel.   In addition my family is moving to Florida a week after I leave, which has complicated packing since I need to pack for the move as well as Europe.  I already had to say goodbye to my younger sister, Bridget, because she has been at her college orientation for the past few days and won't get back before I leave.  She will also be leaving for the fall semester before I get back, so I probably won't see her again until Christmas.  I'm really close with my family, so I have a hard time saying goodbye not knowing when I'll see them again.

Despite the goodbyes and the packing woes, I am looking forward to Italy.  I can't wait to see the places I've learned about in my Latin classes.  I can't wait to visit the ruins of Pompeii, a place I've wanted to visit since I was in fourth grade and first learned about it.  I can't wait to try new foods and meet new people.  I can't wait to experience Rome firsthand.  My mom and two of my sisters have been to Italy and have told me so many stories and shown me so many pictures.  I will finally be able to join them in exclaiming, "I've been there!" anytime a movie or t.v. show features a scene from Rome. 

I'm brand new at blogging, so this will be a learning experience for me.  I'll try to give updates a couple of times a week.  

Stay tuned for more about my summer abroad!

Allison