The first week in one entry. Brace yourself.

So I'm getting a bit of a late start on this guy but I figured I better start soon before I have more than a week of activities to catch up on.

First off getting to the airport last week I still didn't feel like I was actually going to Rome for 4 months. My brother decided not to come with my mom and dad, which upset me a little bit but whatever he does what he wants all the time anyway. Once departing my parents I felt more alone than I ever have in my life. Standing on a ridiculously long security line clutching my passport the worst was running through my head. Here I was on the edge of the US and going blindly into the world of Romans and ancient ruins and wine, with no one familiar to comfort me or give me that feeling of stability. Checking my voicemail as i was trying to kill time I hear a message from Kasie who is a girl also going to Rome through API and leaving on the same flight as me, she got my information from my supposed to be roommate (I'll explain that later) and wanted to say that we should travel together and whatnot. So I was saved by not having to wait another hour in the terminal by myself but with Kasie Moriarty from UMASS instantly a new friend. We chatted it up and then boarded our flight. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a drunken Irish man who was in his early 30's and ordered two small bottles of white wine and got me extra pretzels from the flight attendant. We didn't talk at all to one another but shared laughs while watching Ironman and we napped together. There really is something about mutual understanding I think that went on between us. Everytime a flight attendant passed he'd get me more pretzels and more wine for himself. It was nice.

Next we landed in Dublin and had about an hour and a half layover. While waiting for Kasie to come off the plane I met Lindsay from NJ, who is one of my roommates and Jeff from CT, who is also in the same program. We grouped together through customs and searched for our terminal. It was so nice to be picking up travelers on the way who were in the exact same boat, or plane rather, that I was. We shared stories about what we expected Rome to be like and what we'd already heard about the program as well as the usual where are you from and where do you go to college blah blah. Once arriving in Rome we found the API group after getting so worried that we were going to miss the 12pm pick up bus. We made it with some time to spare and with every piece of luggage needed.

After getting to the hotel from the airport Lindsay and I found out that we were staying in a room with Kate from Wisconsin who was also one of our roommates. We dropped our luggage and introduced ourselves to everyone in sight and then just forgot a lot of names and tried to match them to faces unsuccessfully. Later that night we attended a delicious welcome dinner at another hotel and experienced our first Roman meal. After that a ridiculously large group of people all left the hotel together to explore our area and we found the Victor Emmanuele (wedding cake) and the Colosseum. After snapping pictures with all these new strangers/friends we got some gelato and began a hunt for a bar. We ended up at Scholars an Irish pub (I know we're in ROME people) and had some celebratory shooters for making it to Italy and to a great upcoming semester.

Tuesday morning we had complimentary breakfast at the hotel and began our guided tours of the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain, Campo di Fiouri, Piazza Navona and some other nearby attractions. After napping and showering the same group from the night before met again to go out for dinner. We split into two tables and polished off two bottles of wine per table . I ordered spinach and ricotta crepes and shared a mixed plate of brusscetta with Kate. After dinner we wandered over to Campo di Fiori for more drinks and celebration.

Wednesday was move in day so I finally met the rest of my roommates. Kristen is from NJ, Chelsea from CA, Emily from MA and Stephanie from FL. We all unpacked and got settled then went out together to grocery shop at the discount market only a block from our building. Originally there was supposed to be 8 of us in total but as I said earlier my supposed roommate, Christa, couldn't make it. She unfortunately got into a bad diving accident a couple of days before her flight and not only tore ligaments in her neck but fractured vertebrae in her spine putting her in a neck brace for the next couple of weeks, maybe months. So she had to withdraw from the semester but she'll be making a full recovery and coming to Rome in the Spring semester instead.

Thursday was filled with a meeting on John Cabot campus and registration for platform and the permesso di sorgiorno or something along those lines. We also walked around the area quite a bit and found a nice piazza with a fountain and a cute little trattoria to eat at, equipped with an accordion and guitar player to serenade us on the patio. That night we walked around for like an hour or so looking for a new pub in the area and became frustrated because it's still August and a lot of Italians are on holiday still so many things are closed for the month. Down by the river we smoked a little hookah and then returned to Scholars. It's ok for now I guess since we still don't know the area too well but I hope we're not going to be there a lot as the semester progresses.

We were out extremely late that night and I ended up walking home some drunk friends and getting to bed around 5am. As a result I slept late Friday and missed the tour of the API office and of Trestevere area, but my roommates went and gave me a briefing later on so it was all good anyway.

Saturday a bunch of people ventured on the train to the Santa Marinella beach and swam and layed out from about 10:30 to 18:00. It was so beautiful out and there were palm trees everywhere. When in the water up to your shoulders you could still see your feet and little fish swam around your legs. We swam a little ways out to the rock barrier to preserve the shore and hungout there looking at the sea urchins and crabs and sea cucumbers that were all around.

After taking the train back we stopped at the grocery store and bought chicken and pasta and sauce and cheese, string beans, potatoes, eggplant, and three loaves of bread to use for dinner. I made chicken parm, penne al a vodka, macaroni with pesto sauce sauteed string beans and little fried/baked potato cubes and grilled some eggplant and made garlic bread. It was a pretty sweet deal because we all split the groceries, I pretty much cooked with my roommates coming in and out to help between rotating showers. Then after dinner all the boys cleaned up and we sat at the table drinking white wine. I'd say in total we had about 15 people for dinner, including the 7 roommates. Two days before me and my friend Christina cooked dinner (best Italian sausage I've EVER had!) three boys did dishes and two paid for groceries. It's really fun and so much better than eating out all the time, cheaper and more relaxed then trying to find somewhere inexpensive and big enough for everyone.

Sunday I layed low for the most part and we just went to the market down the street. I bought a sweet pair of sunglasses after haggling with an Indian man who spoke Italian. Later that night some of us watched the Departed and I passed out after an exhausting week.

Yesterday I went back to the beach with Lindsay since we didn't have any class and Kate came too after her one morning class. It was way less crowded then Saturday so it was nice to see it emptier and quieter. Last night we went out to the hookah bar again and explored a little further down the river.

So that's the massive update for now and I have my first class in ten minutes. Then two more after that. Today is Rahul's birthday so I think we're planning a pub crawl and tmrw Mike Moore arrives!
Pictures will be coming soon and are already scattered all over facebook if anyone is into checking that.

Ciao mi amici and I'll update again soon!