Fino di Lunedi

So. I had an idea somewhere along my run today, that I should write these blog entries at home, and then just copy and paste them when I get to school and have internet access. That’s exactly what I’m doing.

Finishing up what I was writing earlier when Alix and I took off from scuola, a bit more about my family life. First off, I have a food baby right now. This is not abnormal. It’s going to be very important for me to run often in the coming weeks, even though Anna insists that real Italian cooking will not cause me to ingrassare. There’s so much food, and it is so good. Every meal (lunch and dinner) starts with a plate of pasta, and THEN follows the rest of the meal. Grazie a dio this is not the norm at breakfast too, or I’d already be 5 pounds heavier.

Today was our first day of “class”, although it was mostly orientation. We met one of our Italian professors (Paolo) and learned a bit about life in Rome, including cultural differences on account of it being in Italy, and differences on account of it being a big city, and not Hanover. Then we had a lunch break, and went to Campo de’ Fiori for panini and pizza, enjoyed being outside on a gorgeous Mediterranean afternoon, and walked around il mercato for a while. After returning to class briefly, we got a tour of the immediate area, including banks, atms, pharmacies, tabacchi (small little convenience stores) and other various shops.

***Pausa***

aaaaaand continuing. Tuesday morning, we're all apparently so super on top of stuff that today's "orientation" took a half hour less than expected, so I have a bit of time to finish stuff up. After class yesterday, Alix (our TA) was meeting a friend from when she used to live in Italy, who she had not seen for three years, so I went with her to meet him, and the three of us walked around some small streets behind the Piazza Navona, got some gelato (I'm eating wayyy too much of the stuff) and hung out. It was awesome. Going to grab some coffee... more later!

Roma!

OK, as much as I can quickly write before everyone else finishes their business and I have to leave school.

Everything so far has been AWESOME! I will admit that it was a bit of a rude awakening to get out of bed Sunday morning and be greeted in Italian, first thing, about 60 seconds after waking up. But other than that, everything has worked out great. I arrived at Fiumicino on Friday pomereggio around 4:30, got my bags, went right through customs (an unmanned automatic door- very high security around here) and went to get on the train into Rome, only to find that there had been some sort of accident on the line, and the train wouldn't be functioning for who knows how long. Got in line for a taxi, which I had been told could cost an arm and a leg, but having no alternatives I was ready to suck it up... when the woman ahead of me in line turned and asked where I was going. Since she was also going to Stazione Termini (most people were, without l'espresso leonardo), we split the cab. Good deal.

After getting to Termini, I found my hostel without too much trouble, checked in and left my bags, and went to go find dinner. Ended up getting a pizza margherita and un bicchiere di vino rosso, cheap enough, just classic Italian street cafe fare.

OK we're about to go: the rest of my introduction in a nutshell. My Italian parents picked me up Saturday afternoon, gave me a brief tour of Roma, and then we went home. We have a great little flat in Monteverde, very comfortable, and Anna and Claudio are fantastici! (no typo) Anna is a fantastic cook, although she refuses to admit it, and they have done everything to make me super comfortable in the city these first few days, including showing me how to use the tram to get from home to school (which the school pays for- awesome). Last night we had an aperativo at a small little place right near campo de' fiori, and afterwords, the Italian parents went home, and we explored on our own a little bit, including visiting campo de' fiori, piazza navona, and piazza venezia.

ciao e baci!

-Brian

Airports

Suck. And I'm going to be spending a lot of time in them in the next... 24 hours? Something like that. Fortunately, I'm going to be boarding soon. Like, now actually. which is cool. And then I'll be on my way! Might post from Heathrow, just because that would be fun. But now I'm just going to grab a bite to eat, and a starbucks, and get in line. Flying on a 747 which was my life goal as a 12 year old. who'd have thought that it would actually happen....

Gotta go grab that food and board! But I'm feeling pretty optimistic about updating this regularly, so keep checking back!

-Brian

Addendum:

Now I'm in Heathrow, my computer says it's 5:19 AM, and the clock next to my head says it's 10:19am. Weird. Sitting in the brand new BA terminal... which is gorgeous. They're raffling off lamborghinis and maseratis (for 20 pounds a ticket...) Everything is nice and new, except that I couldn't find a drinking fountain anywhere, so I filled my water bottle in the bathroom sink. Usually I have no problem with this, except that the sinks here have lovely warm water for washing your hands, quite unlike the bone-chilling icy blast I got at Logan, so I feel like I'm drinking tea without the tea....

Anyways, I wanted to comment on something that's been nagging me. While on the flight, somewhere over the Atlantic, the flight attendants came around with "breakfast". (I don't usually eat breakfast when it's pitch black outside the window... I'd call that a midnight snack). The woman sitting next to me had gotten up to use the restroom, so I just asked the flight attendant for an extra breakfast box for when she got back. A few minutes later, she returned, and seemed totally surprised that I'd done that. "You were looking out for me! Thank you!" It was one of the simplest things I could have done, and yet it meant a lot to her. I don't know why people don't do that more often. The rest of the flight was pleasant enough, and it kind of drifted out of my mind, but then when I got off the plane in London, everyone was immediately rushing around, tending to their own business, running over people's toes with their rolling baggage, and actually making very little gain because of it. It's what I've come to expect from a major international airport, but I don't see why it has to be that way.

Going back to reading Angels and Demons for now... next post will be from Roma!

-Brian

Starting things off...

So, I'm going to try to keep track of all the super fun stuff I'm doing in Rome, and this will be the easiest way to keep track of me. I'll be on skype as often as I'm online [bseitz234], so if you happen to see me on, feel free to hit me up! It may not be very often... we'll see how things go. Anyways, I have to start packing, but I've been taking inventory and I'm pretty sure I've got everything I need, including a hotel room for Friday night since I won't actually meet my family until Saturday. It'll be a very interesting independence experience.

Ummmm that's about all for now... but at least if you're reading this, it means you've found the blog!

Oh, and I'll try to post pictures here... if not, they'll be on facebook. Those of you who are following this and don't have facebook, just let me know and I'll email you some.

Baci!

-Brian