Does Not Seem Real...

Wow. I made it here. I am beyond exhausted and just took a 3 hour nap.

The flight to Rome was smooth. Michelle and I were in the middle of the airplane and had an empty seat next to us, which was nice. We watched a few movies and slept as much as we could. We also had a little map on the TV in front of us where we could see exactly where we were on our trip. We met a bunch of other people in our program during our flights. All of us has the same feeling...we were extremely anxious. After we landed in Rome, 3am Minnesota time, had a 7 hour time change, and found our school leader, we all got into taxis. Let me remind you. I know about one word in Italian. Seriously. There were three of us in the taxi and we had our apartment address in hand and Euros in the other. The driver did not speak english. Hmm, yea. So we got out our little dictionary to figure out how to say a few words and miraculously we arrived at our apartment after a few near death encounters. Let's just say they don't drive in lanes here. They drive how the please. We just learned to just not look. (Sorry Mom, I'm sure that's just what you wanted to hear)

Anyway, I am here safe and sound! I am currently sitting at the kitchen table at my apartment. I live with 6 other girls. Yes 6. There are two rooms of three and then a single. We are right across the hall from a bed and breakfast which our landlord also owns. The apartment has 2 bathrooms a cute little kitchen and ridiculous views. We live on a shopping street, where there are clothing stores as well as food and cafes. On every corner there are about 2 pizzerias. We already ate at one. I have no idea what I ordered, but it was delicious! In our apartment there are Italian families and we are the only American's I am pretty sure.

Random moment...I just looked out the window and a woman was shaking her table cloth out the window. I've seen that in movies but I never thought I would see in real life! I know, I'm a dork.

Let me tell you about the weather. It is HOT. Not just hot, but super humid. Good thing I am going to be wearing dresses and skirts all summer! After we had unpacked our luggage we all decided to walk around. You walk out the front door and you are instantly bombarded. Culture shock. Not a bad thing, but it will take some getting used to.

As we were walking I started to see more and more priests. Before I knew it we turned a corner and were approaching Vatican city. We are seriously a block from it. Unbelievable. We went in and I was blown away. I could not believe I was here. We did not stay long because we were really hot and pretty dehydrated. Good thing we have 2 months to explore...
I am still having a difficult time with the time change and the times that they eat. I could not tell you what time I feel like it is, but I am tired. Also they eat dinner at 8 or 9 at night. That will be a change.

Tomorrow morning we will all meet at the Accent Center, which is where we take our classes, and have an orientation. After the orientation I guess they give us a little tour of the city and then the rest of the day is ours. This is nice since it is my 21st birthday.

Alright, I am going to get ready for dinner.

Ciao!

<3