First weekend & first classes in Rome!

So, Saturday during the day we had orientation for John Cabot University. They told us about clubs and sports teams that we could join while here, plus other resources that might be helpful to us. After that, Korissa, Cara, Steph, and I went wandering around trying to get something to eat for lunch. We ended up splitting up and Steph and I went to a restaurant, and I got a salad and some fries. We also had an appointment for our "Permit to Stay" which is required by Italian law to stay in the country. I'm not sure how it differs from a Visa but apparently they won't let us stay if we don't complete the process. We waited in two lines literally for forever -- it ended up taking us about 2.5 hours and we still have more steps to go. Then the four of us wanted to see the Spanish Steps so we walked over the Tiber River and finally found them. I'm not sure what the significance of them are because they just look they regulator steps but it was cool to actually see them in person. It's also pretty looking down at the city when standing at the top. We were all tired of walking so we got back to our apartment but not before stopping to pick up a few things at the grocery store. I just got the ingredients for grilled cheese because I didn't feel like thinking about what stuff I wanted to buy; I still haven't gone back to the Supermercato but I really need to get food so I can eat at home!

Later that night we went over to our guy friends' apartment to hang out before we went out. We planned on going to a discoteca. However, when we got to the trolley stop, our friend Jordan randomly ran into a girl he graduated from high school with who goes to JCU full time. She said she knew of somewhere fun to go and that she would take us there. We took the trolley all the way to the end and then she was like, "Oh, this isn't it", so we followed her all the way back. Then it seemed like we did four laps around the perimeter of Rome until we got there (later we found out it's only a few blocks away from our apartment - ha!). It didn't end up being a discoteca but it was so much fun; they had televisions up that were playing American football. I'm always up for watching football no matter the time or place!

Yesterday, Sunday, we went on the free SAI walking tour of Ancient Rome at 3PM. There were so many people and only one tour guide that it was impossible to hear what was going on. So a group of about ten of us went off on our own and walked to the Colosseum. It was just as cool as I thought it was going to be. It wasn't open to go inside so we could only see it from the outside but hopefully at some point during this semester we'll take some time to do that! We ate at a restaurant around it -- I just got pizza (which they say is the size for one person but it is huge). At all restaurants in Italy, you can't just order tap water. They bring water in bottle and it isn't free -- that's one thing I really don't like at the restaurants here. We walked home after that and got things prepared for our first day of classes which was today.

My first class, Italian 101, was at 1:45 PM this afternoon. I really hate taking languages and always struggled with learning French, but I figured that it will be beneficial to have some knowledge of Italian while I'm here. It's been so hard not knowing more than 6 or 7 words in the language. That class ended at 3:35 and my next wasn't until 5:15. One of my roommates, Sydney, and I both had the same break so we took a walk up to the Vatican to see St. Peter's Square. It was so cool (and so weird to technically be in a different country) and I can't wait to go in and see the Sistine Chapel! I saw the Swiss Guards (who are surprisingly very cute) and having just read Angels & Demons, I recognized a bunch of things from the book.

We went back to campus for our 5:15 classes; mine was American Foreign Policy. I have this class with my friend Jordan so it will be good to have someone I know with me for the semester. The class seems like it will be a lot of work; we have a film review and two book reviews plus a research paper, a presentation, and a midterm but I don't think that the professor is going to be too difficult. We'll see how it goes.

I'm back at my apartment now just hanging out -- more later!