Vita a Roma

Life in Rome

These first few days mostly consist of orientation things. The first day was basically moving in, meeting people, and we had a walking tour of the neighborhood. I’m glad I took the tour, because they pointed out some places I probably wouldn’t have seen. They also told us which supermarkets were cheaper, which ATMs the best to use, etc. The majority of people went out to a local bar called the Cubbyhole. I’m sure I’ll be visiting there sometime soon, but I was just too tired to do anything.
The second day was a lot better. There are over 100 Loyola students here, so many people know each other, but I met more people, and with my friend Rachel from Marquette and Crew, we walked around our neighborhood, Baldunia, with our neighbors. I’m really glad I brought shampoo, soap, and conditioner with me. Even though they made my bag extra heavy, and took precious pounds away from other things I could have brought, they are so expensive here. Probably triple the price. Everything is expensive. I’m also glad I “accidently” put the towel from my hotel into my suitcase. Another expense saved. Most impressive purchase today for 5 euro: 2, as in TWO, bottles of wine, crackers, cheese, and a pear. 5 euro. Not too bad. It’s ok to be impressed.
We had dinner at local restaurant called Capperi. It was absolutely delicious. There were 100 hundred of us at the restaurant, but my roommate and I sat with some great girls, and then we all decided to go to downtown Roma. (The Romans feel offended when Americans say Rome. They compare it to if they were to go to New York and call it Nuova York.) We stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain and took some pictures. I was very proud of myself when I was able to go confidently up to the carabinieri (the military police) and ask for directions in Italian. I was also very proud of myself for understanding their response. Before heading back we were deciding if we wanted a drink or coffee to warm up, and a bartender was outside and told us if we came in, he’d give the whole restaurant a free shot. They were very nice, and seemed to love us…kept offering us discounts if we bought more, and disappointed that we all only had the one drink. He probably thought we were they stereotypical Americans out for a night on the town. The bartender even juggled all the bottles while mixing us the various drinks. We opted for a taxi on the way home, because the night busses are different, and we aren’t exactly sure of their routes. Our taxi driver was a very nice woman from England who met her husband here 25 years ago and never left. She pointed everything out to us, and gave us advice on where to go. It was basically a very cheap tour of the whole city.
This week, before classes start, we have survival Italian sessions, they separate you based on your level, which meant I was with the most advanced group. Like I said, I’m good at the reading and writing, but speaking is difficult for me. Anyway, we weren’t allowed to speak English at all. Of course, I was able to speak with the people around me quietly in English if there was something someone didn’t understand, but I was hanging in there with everyone, so maybe there is hope for me after all.
The weather here is so warm, probably low-mid 50s and 60s. Most of the Romans are walking around in their bulky, marshmallow like, winter jackets, but it is definitely sweatshirt weather (although, yesterday everyone was in t-shirts it was so warm).
Everyone working here is very willing to help, and even learning our names. It is a bit unorganized, but maybe things will begin to settle down once classes start.
More Random Things:
1. They turn all water off around 2 until 5. That includes toilets, showers, and laundry.
2. We were told Italians think we are loud. The only thing I could think of was my family…maybe it’s an Italian-American thing, but Italians are pretty loud too.
3. Everyone is under the assumption that most Italians speak English. False. Most that we have run into do not. It’s definitely helping me with my Italian.