All Settled

I apologize for not posting yesterday.  It was just a hectic day.  Well, I finally have moved into my apartment for the summer.  It is a fairly nice place that has two bathrooms and three bedrooms.  I have six other room mates: Aaron Raney, Trent Witt, Luc Vosberg, Travis Larson, Eric Doll, and Caleb Dvorak.  The apartment is a twenty minute walk from my studio.  The train runs right in front, so beginning tomorrow, I will probably begin riding that on a steady basis.  I have never walked so much in my life.  We measured the distance that we walked a few days ago, and we figured out it was approximately 8 miles.  My calves still hurt.  I'm hoping I will be very much in shape by the end of the summer.

Classes also began today.  Everything was just an orientation, so we will actually start class work tomorrow.  I will let you know exactly what is going to happen in my classes when we get into the nitty gritty.  Anyway, tomorrow we are meeting at studio and going to the Pantheon for an exercise.  I have homework to complete yet tonight, so I should probably get that started.  Everyone in Landscape Architecture is currently over at my apartment.

Earlier, I went shopping at the local grocery store.  That was quite an experience.  Everything is packaged in Italian labeling, so even if something looks familiar, it is probably isn't what you think it is.  Well, I'm gonna run and talk with everyone outside.  I'll post pictures tomorrow of my studio and apartment.  Ciao!

Day Two! The Pink and Black Invasion.

Okay, let me clarify what I mean by this.  I'm not a big fan of soccer, but something big is happening over here with soccer and a team, I believe Palermo, won a game last night.  Anyways, fans of this team have been taking over the city of Rome today.  We were walking around the city again and from several blocks away we could hear people singing and chanting.  We went and checked it out and the Spanish Steps were covered in people waving their team's flag and dressed in the team's colors.  It was cool to see how into the sport these people get.

Last night Trent and I went to eat at a restaurant close to our hotel.  Four people walked in and sat down next to us.  I could see the men were wearing Wrangler jeans so I said, "I'm going to assume you guys are from the United States."  They were all shocked that I knew that, but I should have waited because when they replied you could instantly tell they were from Texas.  That probably would have blown their minds if I guessed that!  They were going on a cruise around Italy.  We had a good talk with those guys.

We went for another walk this morning around the city.  I don't know how far we went exactly, but I now call Trent the walking slave driver.  He just does not get tired, but that changed today!  We visited the Pantheon, our studio, Trevi Fountain, and caught a glimpse of the Vatican City.  It was cool to see people see the Vatican for the first time.  They would get really excited and start pointing and walking faster.  We finished our walk by stopping to eat.  I ate Finnata Pinnatta (I know this is spelled wrong) which was a bread meat dish.  It was very good.

We retired back at our hotel and I fell asleep again.  An interesting side note though, we had hundreds of little winged bugs crawling on our window blinds before I fell asleep.  When I woke up, they had all died and ants were carrying their dead carcasses out through the crack under our door!  I don't even want to know how many were crawling on my face while I slept.

Finally In The City!

This morning Trent Witt and I finally made it to our new hotel in the center of the city of Rome.  We spent last night in a nice little hotel in the town of Fregene.  The room was nothing like we are used to in the States, but for the cheap price, I was impressed.  The guy at the front desk was a very nice man.  We could actually talk to him and gave us useful information about how to get around.

We left the hotel at 10:00 this morning and tried to get on a bus to take us to the train station.  Well, at 11:30 and after a failed attempt at talking to a woman at a smoky tabachi shop, we finally gave up on trying to get on the bus and walked back to the hotel we were staying at.  When we walked through the door, or little front desk man knew exactly what happened.  Feeling sorry for us, he put us in his car and took us to the train for a really cheap price.

The train took us to within three blocks of where our new hostel is.  We were able to walk with our suitcases and check in.  Another American stopped us on our way and asked us if we needed to know where we were.  I was not happy with that, we were trying to blend in.  Guess it wasn't working!  We were early for our reservation, so we reluctantly left our bags with the woman at the front desk and went to grab a bite to eat.  The pasta I had was amazing.  It was a spinach ravioli dish drenched in sauce.  We went back to the hostel and got all situated.  I was exhausted so I fell asleep for a little while.

When I woke up, we went for a walk to go explore the city.  We got a general idea of where stuff was and just headed out.  After we almost got hit by several cars, we made it to the Coliseum.  I didn't really know what to expect, but the Coliseum was absolutely amazing.  I really don't think we could construct something that would be even close to how this thing is built.  It blows my mind.  Once again, we were instantly picked out by another American foreign exchange student, Trish.  She was from Indiana and talked so fast, I could barely get a word in.

We finished our walk by checking out the Roman Forum.  We just missed Trevi Fountain by a block on our return trip.  That made me mad, but I guess it's just another excuse to go out and explore.  Well, that's what happened today.  Ciao!

I have made it to Chicago! Everyone from ames, i hope you were outside and looking up at 2:10 pm, because i flew right over Ames. I leave Chicago at 6:15.

I made it through security at Omaha. Now the wait begins. My flight leaves here at 1:42. I will go to Chicago and then to Frankfurt. Then finally Rome.

The Bags Are Packed. Lets Go!

Well, I finally put the last article of clothing in my bags.  I hope I have everything that I need.  I have gone through my list of needed items a thousand times now.  If I forget something, I guess I'm out of luck!  I have been in contact with and watching the status of some of my other friend's who are also studying abroad this summer.  I talked to Lauren Briggie, a friend from Iowa State, earlier this afternoon.  I think we both were just about as nervous about this as the other was.  She is flying out of Des Moines at 7:00 am tomorrow.  I am glad I don't have to be up that early!  My flight leaves Omaha at 1:42.  Trent Witt and I will be flying to Rome together.  That is keeping me calm, as I would hate to fly to Rome by myself.  I will probably leave home at 8:30 so I can get all checked in.  My whole family is going out with me.  I know my mom is going to bawl like a baby on the way home.  Thank goodness I won't be in that car ride!  I keep hearing that there have been many delays in Chicago's O'Hare airport.  Tonight, there was a 6 hour delay.  I hope we won't have to deal with that mess.  Well, the next time I post from a computer, I will be in Europe.  I will try to post small reports on my travel status from my phone tomorrow.  So keep in touch for that.  Well, I'm gonna hit the hay now.  Wish me luck!

Only a Few Days Until I Leave

It's a gorgeous Iowa night as I start my first post.  The wind has died down and the birds are chirping in the trees.  My neighbor got his sprayer stuck in a ditch near our house.  He and someone else are working on trying to get it out.  I know that I will be seeing none of the sort when I am finally in Rome.  In an odd way, I think I'm going to miss the little things that happen out here in the sticks.  Anyways, to keep everyone posted on what is going on while I'm gone, I wanted to keep a blog.  Well, I just checked the countdown on my homepage and it says I have 2 days and 16 hours until I will be on a plane and heading for Rome.  I have almost everything laid out and just need to get it packed in my suitcases.  I'm kinda starting to get a little nervous.  I have been to Italy before, but the first time we had a tour guide that could translate for me.  Not this time!  I hope I catch on to the language quickly.  Well, I think I will close, but hopefully I will get my suitcases packed and be ready to head out.  Keep checking back often.  I will try to keep daily posts.  That's the plan anyway!