Buongiorno, Roma

The last couple of days my friends and I have been trying to finish up our last week of classes. Unfortunately, that doesn’t leave much time to be out and about in Roma, but I did manage to swing by Via del Corso for what might be my last time.

Via Del Corso is the main street that runs through downtown Roma. It’s close to all the major historical sites but is mostly known for its shopping. I have done pretty good this semester with shopping and haven’t really bought myself anything. I decided to splurge a little and got a top and some sandals.

Anywhoo, today on my way back from my last class I witnessed a little fender bender right in my apartment parking lot. Our parking lot is pretty small and basically cars can only leave or come in at different times. So a bunch of people were reversing out of the lot when one guy going at an unreal speed for no real reason all of sudden rams into another parked car. He was going so fast that he ended up taking this guys entire bumper off. He seemed totally unaffected by the situation and merely gets out of his car, checks the damage, moves the bumper out of the street and then gets back into his car to drive away.No, Italy that’s not acceptable. But the best part was, no one around him even seemed to mind or be surprised by the action.

Italian drivers are generally crazy and the norm here is very different from America. For instance, two cars exploded (yes literally exploded, blown to bits) on the main street seconds away from school and apartment. But get this, the remains of the car are still on the street as if the Italians did not think it was necessary to remove. In America, the minute there is a car accident within the hour all evidence of there ever being an accident are removed. Here people turn heads and stop what they are doing when they hear sirens (very different, from say Manhattan), but when a car that exploded has yet to be cleaned up by Italian officials, they act as if it’s not a big deal. My roommate took pictures so hopefully I can show you within the next couple of days.

Last night, we attempted to celebrate Cinco de Mayo but it just wasn’t the same. I still had a good time though and was really happy to see all five of my roommates out together because that’s a rare occurrence.

Until next time,

Ciao Ciao

So, it’s officially two weeks until the semester is over and thus my time in Rome. As the days go by, I begin to feel more and more at home and the idea of leaving this city is a bit overwhelming. I definitely miss Summit, Maryland and America but at the same time, I have gotten so comfortable here I won’t know what to do with myself when I no longer will be walking down quattro venti past the guy at the corner store who no matter what will scream a Ciao, or hear my neighbors blasting “Wavin a Flag,” in preparation for the World Cup or even the overly friendly Egyptians at the fruit market.

Not to sound too cliche, but it definitely feels like yesterday when my parents and brother were dropping me off at Newark Airport for my flight out to Rome. I remember walking into security and thinking, this is it, everything from this point on is all on me. I got the gate and met Adrienne, a girl who I briefly spoke to on facebook prior to our departure. She was in the same boat as me, not knowing many folks on the program and I think we found comfort in each other realizing we weren’t alone. Soon, I would find out that not only would she become my neighbor but consequently one of my best friends. 

I’ll miss my apartment and everyone in it. They say living with five girls can cause an absurd amount of mayhem and after this experience I wholeheartedly agree. But thing is, I wouldn’t have traded it in for anything. We’ve all had our ups and downs with each other, but at the end of the day it’s what made this experience what it is.

My closest friend in the apartment, Primo has been a godsend (here name is actually Emily, but I live with three Emily’s and only refer to them by last name). Without her, I think we both would’ve gone mad. As the weeks go by we have grown closer and closer to each other and the idea that I won’t be down the hallway from her in a couple of weeks is upsetting. But the good thing is, we live close so each other back in the states, I know that we’ll be hanging out a lot this summer.

Like I said, we have two weeks left. My friends and I have been concocting a list of places we need to see, things we need to do and restaurants we need to eat at before our time is up. Since I have been doing such an awful job of updating, I can promise that my last two weeks here will be documented. After Rome, I head off to Turkey and Greece where a whole new adventure will begin.

Until then,

Ciao Ciao

It has almost been a month since my last update and I could give you a list of reasons why I have been unable to sit down and finally write about my spring break but you wouldn’t care. So, on to the good stuff.

Spring Break OH TEN Part One:

I left March 18th with my roommate Clara for our flight to Prague. The flight was pretty standard and went by relatively quickly. As we exited the plane I was hit with a gush of cold wind and immediately realized I wasn’t in sunny Roma where the days of 40 and below are over. Afterwards, I met up with my spring break travel buddy and best friend from home, Meera. 

Meera’s older sister, Priya, has one of her best friends living out in Prague. Her name is Farah and she was an absolute wonderful hostess. She is currently in the city teaching English to young Czech students. Her apartment was banging, and right next to the Charles Bridge, which is one of the biggest tourist sites in the city. She took us out, dined us and guided us throughout the city with some major tips. She was definitely the golden ticket to our awesome time in the city.

Prague is literally right of out Disneyworld but at the same time you could still feel the remaining influence of its once communist past. The main Castle was absolutely gorgeous as were the Church and castle grounds. On our last day in Prague, Meera and I hiked up the mountain to catch a beautiful view of the city. We were told to hit up the “fake Eifel Tower,” for the best views, so we went ahead and climbed halfway. Only halfway you might ask? That’s when I found out that me, heights and a shit load of wind don’t mix. Meera was kind enough to quickly snap some pictures and we made our way back down. As we wondered back down the hill we found ourselves on the other side of the city, but still not too far away from Farah’s apartment. It was so bizarre for us to have figured out the in’s and out’s of Prague with only three days under our belt.

We also went to the John Lennon wall, which was really cool and by now I am sure you have seen my ridiculous montage of it on Facebook. Reading all the inscriptions on the wall was really amazing, because even though they were all in different languages, they all had this common underlying love for the Beatles. And as my favorite roommate likes to point out on the regular, I am a major Beatles fan.

The big astronomical clock in the old town area of Prague was an absolute joke. I won’t even go into how that was a waste of ten minutes, but for future reference don’t bother.

The nightlife in Prague is pretty cool and definitely has a different vibe than Roma. What interested me the most about Prague was the insane European diversity. We literally had conversations with at least one person from every country in Europe. Exaggeration? Maybe.

Anyways, I think that Prague is still the undiscovered city of Europe and young people flock to it for a taste of new culture. It was so refreshing to talk to people from all over the continent and get various perspectives. My favorite definitely had to be the Prince of Prague. He wasn’t really the prince of Prague, but I have never seen someone so excited to meet Americans and of course that put a smile on my face, that and he was cute. Oh then there was Michael (pronounced meekell) from Norway. Meera and her alter Spanish ego concocted some absolutely ludicrous story about where we were both from and how we ended up in Prague. If it weren’t for the fact that I was literally running myself in circles trying to keep the story straight, we would’ve pulled it off. Next time champ.

All in all, Prague is definitely a unique city in itself and I am happy I went. Even though I see myself suggesting Prague as a must see, I don’t think it’s somewhere I would NEED to go back to.

I would love to continue on to the next part of my break, but this thing called homework magically decided to appear and I have to go start it.

Until next time,

Ciao Ciao

P.S. I make it back to the U S of A on June 5th. PREPARE YOURSELVES

This has been the week from hell. Not that I don’t usually procrastinate before finals or anything else school related, this semester has been particular hard for me to concentrate on my studies. Classes here are a lot more discussion based; meaning outside work isn’t really that crucial. So, basically when I leave that classroom my brain does not check back in until I return four days later. Sounds awesome, right? False.

We started midterms this week and all I can say is having to study while it’s 70 degrees outisde in ITALY is pure torture. Not to mention the library is maybe the size of my room in Worcester last year, it’s hard to find a place to even remotely concentrate without socializing. And on top of that, everyone is way too antsy to study when in a couple of days they’ll be hopscotching around Europe like its their playground…literally.

Speaking of which, I will be m.i.a from the blog circuit until about march 31st. I am traveling to Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam for my spring break for the next ten days with my best friend from home, Meera. I am beyond excited to explore these cities and I know I’ll have an ample amount of stories to tell when I return.

Until then,

Ciao Ciao

Since I’ve been awfully horrible at this blog business and some of my Maryland biddies have been begging for updates I figured I would give SOME of you guys shout outs of moments that have reminded me of you since studying abroad.

First up, Teja, hay girl hay! I’ve channeled your inner talent of being able to persuade your way into anything. I don’t take no for an answer, especially when it comes to clubs. Just last night I worked the Teja charm (think that blank look you give people when they say no as if that’s not a good enough answer) and was able to bypass a line of about 50 people as if I owned the place. So thank you for teaching me oh wise one!

Casi, I talk to anyone and everyone while simultaneously staying out til 6:30 AM. Basically, I’m doing what you do at UMD, so just hop on over the Atlantic so we can stop flying solo.

Jaz, whenever I try a new dish I think of you! I keep a running list of foods we need to make together when I get back to the states. How do fried zucchini flowers sound?

Claire, he who shall not be named, remains on my hit list.

Those not mentioned, apologizes, I still miss you!

Ciao Ciao

First off, I’d like to apologize for being the worst updater in the world. I’ll promise to try and be better, but if you know me you know, that’s a long shot.

Three weeks ago, I jet-setted off to Barcelona with my best friend, Molly, who is studying abroad in Paris. I left immediately after my last class Thursday and getting to the main airport here in Rome proved to be the most difficult task ever. Transportation in Rome runs on no real timetable. They want to tell you it does, but anyone who has lived, or even visited here for .25 seconds realizes how extremely frustrating the system is. After nearly missing my bus, misplacing my ticket and then having a train on the track literally stopping for 45 minutes because it could “not move,” I made it to Barcelona around midnight! The flight was packed with study abroad students and I managed to meet some girls who were from Maryland on another program. All in all, the flight was super fast and relatively comfortable, so no complaints. Thank you Vueling for making my first budget airline experience satisfactory.

I met Grace, another friend from home who is currently studying in Barcelona, at her apartment. Apologies to the cab driver who was thoroughly confused by my fusion of Spanish and Italian. I took Spanish in high school and was surprised by how much I remembered, but since I am currently taking Italian courses I’ve learned a lot of helpful travel words. I mixed up dove and donde on numerous occasions and said ciao instead of adios, almost every single time. Sorry, espana I tried!

Friday morning, Molly got in and we met up with her at our hostel, which was in the most legit location ever! We were literally right next to the gorgeous Gaudi house/museum. The street resembled that of 5th Avenue in New York due to the myriad of expensive stores and restaurants. I was really pleased and minus the most awkward roommate interactions ever, Molly and I had a successful first hostel stay. Although, in the future we will definitely be requesting an all-female room.

All day Friday we toured around the city, hitting up Las Ramblas, the Gothic area and the port. It was absolutely gorgeous outside and the fact that we were right by the water only brightened our spirits. That evening Grace took us to a flamenco show where we were served an authentic Spanish meal including tapas and paella. The flamenco show was small and intimate, but definitely worth it. At one point during the dance, she asked a male volunteer from the audience to come up. He was surprisingly really good and absolutely hilarious at the same time. Irish boy can bust a move.

Saturday, Molly and I woke up around 9, got breakfast from the hostel and began our second day of sightseeing. We met up with our friend from home Caroline, who is studying abroad in France. It was so great to see her even if it was for an hour. She is probably the funniest person I know and she gave us a quick recap of her winter break; her life=a comedy movie.

Molly and I then hit up the the best part of our entire trip, LA PLAYA. We could not believe we were sitting there looking out onto the Mediterranean sea. It was kind of ironic because we were dressed in jackets and boots, but the sun was out and the breeze felt good. We spent our entire afternoon there, then decided it’d be cool to ride the cable car that went across Barcelona. Everyone says the views are amazing and we figured, why not hit that up? FALSE. After standing in line for forty minutes, the ticket lady told us it was no longer “posible,” to ride. We assumed there was some sort of technical difficulty and angrily stomped away after wasting so much time. Luckily, we hit up this awesome restaurant two minutes away and enjoyed some burgers and nachos.

Side note: Variety in the Italian restaurant industry is practically nonexistent. It’s the most frustrating thing ever, because you can’t even go to the grocery store to buy some of ingredients either. So I began a list of things I cannot wait to eat when I get back to the states. Numero Uno: Burrito Bowl from Chipotle.

That evening, grace took us to a couple of different bars and after a lot of confusion and frustration we ended our night at a club called Elephant. This was place was probably one of the most gorgeous clubs I’ve seen yet. It had a tropical atmosphere with middle eastern decor topped with amazing music. If it was warmer out, I am sure we would’ve spent time in the outdoor garden, but we enjoyed ourselves, dancing the night away until about 5:30 AM.

My flight out of Barcelona was scheduled to take off at 9 AM, so I decided it would be best if I just got my stuff from the hostel and shuttle over to the airport instead of trying to wake up and potentially missing my flight. I was extremely exhausted when I got back to Rome, but it was definitely a nice feeling to get back to a place I have been calling home for the past couple of weeks.

I have been to a couple of European cities before studying abroad in Rome and can definitely say Barcelona has made it’s way to the top of my list. It’s gorgeous, clean, metro-efficient and lively. But for me, it was a great place to visit and just that. I am not sure if I would have like studying abroad there. I know the language barrier wouldn’t have been so much of an issue, but living in Rome has made me realize how much I love city life.

Until next time…

Ciao Ciao

1. Honking every .2 seconds at 7 AM to get some to come outside is unnecessary. If I hear it, chances are they do to.

2. I don’t think you understand what a  pedestrian is, so please familiarize yourself with it before becoming a murderer.

3. There are redlights for a reason.

4. I understand your cars are the equivalent to my Barbie dream car but parking on the sidewalk right in front of my apartment just because it fits is not okay.

5. This goes to the assholes on Vespas too.

Ciao

Yesterday, a bunch of us decided to wake up early after a late night and venture out to Naples, or Napoli as the Italians like to call it. We hopped onto an intercity train with no real goal in mind, hoping that an e-mail from one of Emily’s professors would serve as a sufficient enough guide.

Side note: The train ride was straight out of Harry Potter, Italian style. The trains are set up exactly like the Hogwarts Express and there is even a guy who comes around asking if we would like cafe. Uh false signor, where are my magic jelly beans?!

After two hours on the train, we finally arrived at our destination. Once exiting the station, we were met with guys lined up on the streets attempting to sell us awful Gucci and Coach imitation purses. I am sorry, did I take a wrong turn and get a ticket for Chinatown? We were tired, hungry and severely disappointed. However, we remembered that Emily had a list of places to hit up, one being “Old Napoli.” We bought a map and made our way out of the metropolitan, overly commercialized part of the city.

An hour and some wrong turns later, Old Napoli was finally in sight. This area was exactly what I pictured an Italian city to be like. Small windy roads, cobblestone sidewalks lined up with pizzerias and bakeries, and of course the obligatory gelateria. The three of us, myself, my roommate Emily and our friend Adrienne, decided to hit up a restaurant with the most people standing outside. Sure enough, our pizzas were absolutely delicious and definitely brightened our spirits. I got a regular margherita pizza and the fresh cherry tomato slices were the best I’ve ever had in my life, hands down.

We wandered the streets most amused by the children’s costumes for Carnivale. Madonna, Michael Jackson and an Old Man were some of my favorites. We walked into a pasta shop and were instantly amazed by the ridiculous selection including a bag referred to as “sexy pasta,” by the owner. You can imagine for yourself what shapes were in there.

On our walk back, we realized in our to hurry to get out of the center of the city we missed the breathtaking sight of Mt. Vesuvius. For that split second, I was able to ignore the constant traffic whizzing past me as well as the annoying salesmen who insisted I buy fake rayban sunglasses, and got to appreciate the enormous landscape. I’ve never really been into the environment, per se, but I do think living in Italy for the next couple of months will change that dramatically. I’ve always loved the hustle and bustle of major cities, that I’ve never really had time to appreciate something so opposite.

Napoli had it’s highs and lows and I wouldn’t recommend spending more than a day there, unless you plan on venturing out to Pompeii or areas around, but I am happy I went out of curiosity. Next on my list for Italian cities is Florence, which surprisingly has been my most difficult place to plan. Brdlik, some help please?

With nearly three weeks down, I am headed to Barcelona this weekend with my best friend from home, Molly, who is studying abroad in Paris. There, we will meet up with our other close friends Cooter Scooter and GPoms. I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am to see some familiar faces from home. It’s always comforting and not to mention that we’ll be in freakin Barcelona together!

Shout out to Maryland, A WHOLE WEEK OFF BECAUSE OF SNOW?! I hope your livers are still kickin and that cabin fever wasn’t too awful. Miss you all!

Ciao

I’ve finally managed to partake in the educational part of my experience as classes began on Monday. I am taking Globalization, The Mediterranean World, International Organizations, Intro to Italian Language and Culture and then Comparative Politics. For those of you who don’t know, I am a Government & Politics major with a concentration in International Relations, so hence the large amount of political classes. It was a bit of a rough start because I had to drop and add a lot, but it all worked out in the end.

Globalization and the Mediterranean World are both taught by this Danish professor, Bjorn! He is incredibly knowledgeable and has a doctorate or graduate degree in politics, sociology, history and anthropology. This eccentric, big ball of energy Amy Rosenthal who has unnecessarily mentioned on more than one occasion that she despises Jimmy Carter teaches comparative politics. She is incapable of being on time for class, which is great for me because I have no intention of being on time for a 9 AM, ever. International Organizations is kind of boring, because I unfortunately do not believe IO’s do enough for the world, so I think I’ll be a bit of a pessimist in the class. Lastly, Intro to Italian, it’s not just learning the language, which I so desperately need, but also the culture. My professor is great and has been so helpful about answering our questions and getting us settled in.

Taking IR classes abroad is going to give me such a different perspective. I’ve already been so surprised at some of the stances taken by professors and students and love the boldness of their opinions. I understand that America is a superpower and being an American, we should be informed at large of our policies, both domestic and international, however, at the same time it’s absolutely ridiculous to think we can live inside this bubble and not care to know about other countries. On top of the fact that IR kids are consistently overly pretentious know-it-alls, I feel slightly out of place when the teacher asks what comes to mind when she says Iran and I think nukes while everyone else is mumbling something about Islamic Radicalism and human rights.

All in all though I was really pleased with my schedule and love that I am a five-minute walk from campus. Across the street is also by far the best pizza I’ve had in Italy. On the same street, called Via Carini, is a sandwich place owned by two Italian brothers. They are so nice and encourage you to try different things. I am really happy about the neighborhood I live in because it’s got that small Italian community vibe even with AUR right in the middle. I feel safe here too and after traveling around Rome, I am definitely one of the lucky ones studying abroad. More posts to come about my sightseeing in Rome, I thought I’d be better at updating. Sorry guys!

Ciao!

Dov’é, pronounced dooh-veH means “where is” in Italian. This phrase has proved to be very helpful when trying to navigate throughout the city. As most of you know, my knowledge of the language stretches out to ciao, bella and arrivederci. At first, I was definitely frustrated with myself for being so okay with not knowing simple words, but with only four days completed I have picked up so many helpful phrases. It’s great to know I’ll learn more Italian while living here, rather than taking a course back at UMD. I definitely think immersion is the best way for me to learn a language.

I’d like to thank Vita, the nicest italian woman ever, who sat next to me on the plane and proceeded to tell me it was her dream to live in Hackensack, New Jersey. She then realized I knew no Italian and began teaching me random words. We bonded over the loud tears of a bambino and how this family was on the exact same flight to the states only a week before with her. She asked me all sorts of questions and with some flailing of the hands and extremely limited Italian, I was able to tell her all about American University of Rome, which is where I am studying.

Today was our orientation and by that I mean a god awful one hour powerpoint presentation of information found exactly in the welcome packets they provided us with days earlier. So thanks for that AUR.

My roommates, neighbors and I then grabbed coffee at the cafe right across the street from campus. It was my first time drinking cappuccino and honestly, I am not sure what my opinion is yet. I don’t drink coffee ever, but this definitely tasted different. I’ll have to give it another try, until then stay tuned for more caffeine adventures.

Later, we somehow got ourselves on a quasi rome walking tour. Our tour guide was a AUR student who had completed a semester or two already, and she definitely knew her stuff. However, I saw no major sites with her, which was a bit of a let down. A couple of us split from the group and decided to head to my absolute number one Roman tourist spot: the Trevi Fountain!! I of course made a wish by throwing a euro cent behind my back. I think that’s when I finally realized I was in Rome. Seeing all the different tourists so excited to be close to such a historic monument in Italy was definitely worth that unnecessary two hour walk.

We grabbed some gelati, and I got a mix of coffee and tirmasu, very delicious. I took my friend Jill’s advice and looked for a place where the banana flavor was an off-white/brownish color because as she said that’s when you know it is made from real, fresh bananas. If it is yellow then they most likely added aritificial flavoring.

Even though it’s been raining on and off the past couple of days, I am still getting out and exploring different parts of Rome. We’ve all tried to check out different places each night and today have decided to skip campo de fiori and go to Trastevere where more Italian centered places are. Campo is the definition of American nightlife and definitely not what I came here to do. Thankfully we all have the same opinion and glad we got it out of our system early.

I know this post was really scattered, but I didn’t feel like I added enough specifics before. I hope everyone back home is having a wonderful semester and for those abroad come to Rome, I promise it’ll be fun!!

Ciao!

P.S. All of you who still don’t understand what “Get on skype,” means, I want you to stop being a lazy ass and click the S icon on your computer so you can chat with me, thanks!!

I.love.rome! I haven’t been here for more than two days and I can already tell that everything from the people I meet, to the food, to the sites and shopping will be more than I expected.

I arrived around 8:20 yesterday morning. Minus the horrendous weather, horrible traffic and unbearable airplane ear I was still very excited. The bus picked us up and took us to our apartments right away. While we’re all spread out in different buildings, it’s nice to check out all the various neighborhoods.

My apartment is HUGE. The front foyer, yes we have one, is pretty much the size of most of the bedrooms. We have three bedrooms, two twin beds in each and large closets, two bathrooms, a kitchen, living room and dining room. Needless to say, I am very happy. As of now I only have two other roommates, who I have gotten along with great thus far, but we are all expecting to get more as the week goes by.

Besides roaming the Monteverde neighborhood where I live, I have not taken in the major sites but I plan to in the next couple of days. Today we picked up cell phones and did our first grocery trip. The owner was so helpful and introduced us to all the best pastas, “straight from naples.” Naturally, I am very excited to try that. Also, besides the food being amazing, holy crap is the olive oil unbelievable. It tastes nothing like in the states and I cannot wait to bring some back home for everyone to try.

Our first night we went out to campo di fiori where most of study abroad students hang out. The Drunken Ship was a bit reminiscent of Fe but sans live bands. As we had just arrived in Rome, none of us knew where we were going but with my roommate Emily’s map skills, she quickly got us to our destination.

Like I said, it’s only been two days and I haven’t done too much, but I am adjusting fairly well and definitely eager to explore more of Rome.

I am finally heading off to Rome tomorrow night! My flight leaves Newark International Airport at 5:25 p.m. and assuming no one feels the need to cause a security breach, I’ll be in the eternal city early Tuesday morning.

For many of my friends, their European adventures have already begun. Clearly not learning from the immense amount of pressure they felt while packing for two different seasons, I waited until this weekend to get everything together. Procrastination at its finest. Everything worked out fairly well, and I guess if I really need anything I can just go out and buy it. However, as two of my friends pointed out, one of the most depressing things is exchanging  dollars to euros. I am apologizing in advance to the parental units!

Anyways, I am not really sure how this whole blog business is going to work. I’ll try to follow lonelypandit’s format, but I assure you it won’t be nearly as funny or entertaining. I guess I’ll just update everyone on how I’ve been adapting to my new Italian lifestyle and where I’ll be traveling to. All in all, I am really excited to be going abroad and there’s no doubt in my mind it’ll be an amazing experience.

Ciao, America!