WEEK 1: September 13th, 2009 Rome, Italy – ICCS room

So after an archaeological dig and four weeks of independent travel, I have come to my final destination in Roma. As soon as I touched down into Italy, I felt an immediate release of tension; I was home. I considered why I might feel this way—either it was pure excitement at the prospect of remaining in one place for longer than a week, thus having my own room and closet space, or more simply the extent of my love for Italy. I soon came to the conclusion that it was a mixture of the two. There is nothing more comforting than having a place to call home, wherever that may be and for however long; that place for the next 3 months is Rome, and I could not be more ecstatic about that.

This past week has been filled with the excitement of new friends, new surroundings, and a new routine. The Centro is located in Trastevere, a growing suburban neighborhood just outside of the city center. Many of us have walked around the center and back through the winding streets of Rome to find our way back to the neon blue Madonna from the convent next door. Already, I am able to navigate my way through the neighborhood and beyond; my previous travels have done my general sense of direction some good.

The biggest shocker that I think we all experienced was how much time was required of all of our courses. Monday through Thursday we are in the Centro from 8 to 5 sitting in class; after that we are in the library studying and translating. By no means am I complaining, this is what I came here to do, this program is just not what most other study abroad programs are—with the courses I’m taking, I’m basically taking the same course load and then some as I would at school in LA. I suppose when you sleep, eat, and take your courses all in the same building, its easier to keep your students late. On that same note, I had been considering dropping the Latin class for the beginning Italian class all week, and when today I decided I would do that, I realized that the SC drop deadline passed this past Friday. I have already emailed my advisor, so everyone cross your fingers for me!

Our meals… what can I say about our meals? What can I say that every poet hasn’t already, while staring into the eyes of their beloved? The best part about this, is that I am not even close to exaggerating. For every meal, we have three Italian women cooking the most delicious traditional Italian pastas, soups, secondi, and dessert. I probably have already gained about 10 pounds (which I didn’t gain freshman year, and I’m sure this is my karma now) just because the food is so damn good. The biggest disappointment is that we are only served Monday through Friday. Pina, the wife of our administrative manager Franco, plans and oversees all of our meals. In fact, Franco, Pina, and the entire teaching staff along with their families eat meals with us everyday. Franco and Pina do a great job of making us feel at home, Franco is continually quoted as saying “This is our family… we are all a part of the Centro family… welcome.” We have already had three birthdays at the Centro, and each time Pina brought out a special cake with candles and we all sang to the birthday girl or boy.

We eat all our meals in the basement of the Centro, we take most of our courses on the first floor (where the library and exit to the garden is located), our rooms are on the second and third floor, and we have a workout area on the fourth floor. The girls all live on the second floor, while it is mostly boys on the third. My roommate, Courtney, and I ended up being the only girls on the third floor—apparently there are a few more girls than guys. Our room is on the corner and huge in comparison to most other rooms, it’s a very fair trade. Also, we have a great view of the gate, so whenever we hear people leaving we yell at them to see where they’re going and usually join.

And onto the weather… when we first got here, it was hot hot hot. We were all wearing on our short shorts and flip-flops, and discussing plans to go to the beach. Today, and the past couple of days, we have gotten completely unexpected rainstorms. I feel like the storms make us all feel more at home though. Yesterday, we were barbequing outside when the rain just hit all of a sudden, so we all ran inside and watched a movie together. There was something about this moment that just reminded me of a rainy day at school, seeking cover in a friend’s apartment. All we were missing was the hot chocolate.

Today it started raining pretty early, so when we headed out to find some breakfast I was able to break out my raincoat for the first time. Apparently, I was the only one who found this necessary, because all the East Coasters and Mid Westers wore tshirts, shorts, and sandals. I suppose this would be the first indication that we don’t experience much real weather in Southern California.

Last night we also watched the Notre Dame v. Michigan game. Theres quite a few kids from top 25 schools, so football has become a big topic of discussion. The only Italian thing about last night was the gelato run we made during the first quarter for dinner. Lately, I have been feeling a little homesick; the things we do like this remind me a little bit of home and make me feel a little better.

Being here only one week, I am realizing how easy it is to just stay at the Centro, only leaving for weekend meals. When all your friends are where you live, and when you have as much work as we do all the time, you just get really wrapped up. I’m hoping I’ll be able to drop this Latin course so that my workload will be a little decreased.

As for weekend trips (because I am planning on getting out), my general plan is to stay in Italy. I’ll have my weeklong trip to Spain to see Nicole, and otherwise I’ll be hanging out around here. I have already done a lot of traveling around Europe, and while there are still plenty of places I would love to see, I think I want to focus on having great experiences in Rome and around Italy. Appreciate where I am while I am living there.

Well everyone, I’m signing off.

Ciao