adventures of traveling to Rome

Soooo... flying was pretty uneventful. I arrived at the Phily airport on time and went through security and check in pretty flawlessly aside from the fact that i had to rearrange my massive suitcase into two separate bags in the middle of the airport. My flight to Dulles was barely in the air for 25 minutes unlike my 8 1/2 hour trip to Rome which was actually made pretty bearable thanks to a friendly fellow IES student who offered me some Dramamine.

My first day at Rome was AMAZING!!! I was the first (aside from my Italian roommate, Flavia) to arrive at my apartment. I drove past the Colosseum on the way to my apartment. I cannot wait until you guys see the pictures of my apartment on facebook or wherever I get to post them eventually. It's so European. It has really high ceilings, all wood floors, very simple beds, closets that go clear to the ceiling. I have a small balcony off of my room. We have an entry way, kitchen, living room, two bathrooms, and two spacious bedrooms (other than Flavia's). Flavia said that we live in an upperclass neighborhood, and that we probably got one of the best housing assignments. However, upon arrival we did not have ANY hot water the first day. I waited til the last possible moment to take a shower and I mean it was cold! Like, ice cicles coming out of the faucet, shivering even when i got dressed after, cold.

I have four total roommates. Two (Anndel and Jessie) go to different universities in South Carolina and are friends from home. They are very cute and say "y'all" a lot. Anndel is very outgoing and giggly and Jessie is a little shyer but sweet. My other American roommate and the girl I share a room with is Katy. She is from LA and goes to the University of Michigan. She is very verbose and says what she means. Shes been pretty down because the airport lost an important piece of her luggage but she seems nice. I think my favorite roommate so far is Flavia! She is great she is 23 and speaks English very well. She's so much fun and is always laughing at me for my American ways. While Anndel and Jessie were taking a nap Flavia took me around to some shops around our neighborhood to buy some towels and such. On the way back we stopped at her parents house for lunch because it is very close to our apartment. They were so kind and cute, and insisted on feeding me lots of Italian food. They didn't speak a word of English so it was frustrating not being able to thanks them properly.

At night we went out to a pizzeria with other IES students to eat dinner (it was so good). We didn't go out afterwards because everyone was so tired but I think we will go out soon!!
Anywho, that was about the extent of my first day apart from the fact that I couldn't sleep like at all because of the time difference and am now exhausted :(

Next post to come soon!!
Ciao
Liz