January 12-13, 2009- Day 1- My Journey to Rome

Ok….so it’s actually my third day in Rome, but after meeting some nice, cool kids last night who encouraged me to keep a log of my journey, I decided to start blogging. My first day in Rome was basically a mess. I was jet lagged, feeling queasy, uneasy about my introduction to my roommates, and kind of wanted to go home. I thought “Goddd what have I gotten myself in to? 3 ½ months…can I really last that long?” I was kind of depressed, felt alone, and was completely exhausted, and missed my mom and Roger more than words can say.

My journey to Rome was quite easy. I left from JFK with the help of my parents and $90 for two overloaded suitcases (each 70 lbs…one was originally about 80 lbs and I had to empty it into the lighter suitcase and into a bag my parents took home)…and achieving the “Heavy” tag on the suitcases was my first accomplishment. When I left my parents at the security gate, I went up to my terminal and actually ran into Jason Kirschner (from high school) because he’s studying abroad in Israel and had a flight around the same time as me. We chatted for a bit, I wished him a safe visit there and told him not to get blown up, and we went our own ways. On the plane, I slept for a bit, ate twice, and watched “Breakfast At Tiffanys” and “Vicky Christina Barcelona.” I was soooo disappointed at BAT…I thought it was this amazing classic NY movie and it was just…nuts! She’s a dumb gold digging idiot and a party girl….so? And VCB was okay, but mostly because Javier Bardem is pretty damn fine. He reminds me of a Latino Robert Downey Jr. so those of you who know I’m obsessed with him know this can’t be a bad thing! My connection in London was okay too, it just took forever to get to the next terminals and go through security again. I stopped at a duty free store and sprayed myself with perfume because I stunk, and then I stopped at a Tiffany and Co. store in the airport to ask why my Carly heart charm was a weird color. I walked to the gate and nobody was there, and I looked up to see a sign saying “flight closing.” I kind of panicked for a minute, ran to the desk, and the women there told me it was OK and they were still waiting for 13 more people. I got on the plane, and slept the whole time until about 10 minutes before we landed. When I got off the airplane in Rome, I saw lots of other kids that seemed to be Temple type students. I didn’t talk to them but we all kind of knew we were there for the same reason.

I went to get the van for my transfer to the residence, met some girls, and got on the van after a few Italian men struggled to fit all of our huge luggage into the trunk of the van. It was quite hilarious to watch and we all took pictures! I got to the residence, saw my roommate asleep, took a nap, got up and met my roommate Lauren, the third girl, Kellen, then arrived. We all went to the pizza party at school after walking around and getting lost a few times in the rain. The pizza was cold, but we met more kids and were exhausted. We were approached by a nice woman named Renee, a 30-something student from Temple who had quit college, returned now, and was abroad for the semester. She was really sweet and friendly even though Lauren and I both looked like hell. I was in a pretty bad state, feeling uneasy, queasy, tired beyond belief, hungry, anxious, etc. But I soon went back to the room and spoke to Roger and my mom and things were a little better though I was feeling a little depressed.

So, below is my first account of how I felt in Rome on the day/night I arrived. This was actually a Facebook message I wrote to my mom since it was too early to go on Skype and speak to her. This sums up my first day pretty quickly.


“Hi mammmma. I'm here in my apartment and going to shower and go to bed soon and its only 10:30 here lol. I'm exhausted and I still feel kinda sick...a mix of nerves, being nauseas (cant spell it), hungry, tired, and missing everyone etc. I really LOVVVVVVEEEE the little photo album you made me! It's perfect and I totally didnt expect it but it made me smile and made me VERY happy! The apartment is OK but pretty small. I heard compared to some others it sucks lol. Our couch looks like a bed while other people have leather couches. and 2 beds are bunked while others have all 3 separate and spread out etc. but oh well, what can u do. at least i didnt get the bunks! lol. i unpacked everything tonight and there's plenty of room for everything even though we might have to spread stuff out into other closets in the livingroom etc. The roomates are OK...both are nice and agreeable overall, one is kinda meh shes not even planning on travelling cuz she said she has no money. the other one said she is and is here for fun etc but she knows some people here and has kinda ditched us tonight. so im feeling kind of alone but talking to the lame-ish girl and its ok. I saw my friend Mia today at the pizza party thing so that was good to see a familiar face. the walk to the school was FOREVER so i think im going to take the subway and the bus from now on. theres a bus that stops across from school and leaves us off a few blocks from the residence. and the metro isnt far either. the monthly pass is 30 euro but im going to buy it in february because it only lasts within the month u buy it (not 30 days from when u buy it). so i'll just pay the indvidual price now until february. tomorrow i have lunch at the school at 1 pm and then a meeting from 2-4ish. then im gona have dinner at some point with samantha if we can get in touch lol. anyway, hope all is well with you. ill speak to you tonight or tomorrow"