A process of adjustment.

It’s official—I’ve been in Rome for 3 weeks now. During these first few weeks, there have been a variety of things that I’ve had to adjust to as a result of living in Rome/at the JFRC.

These include, but are not limited to:

military time, living in dorms again/eating in a cafeteria for my meals, not using my American cell phone, paying to do laundry, not using a dryer (most of the time), no wireless internet in my dorm room, taking public transportation everywhere, shampoo/other toiletries costing twice what they do at home, not really eating breakfast, stores being closed for siesta times, marble floors everywhere—not just in nice places, and of course, the obvious language barrier.

And last but not least, finding a balance between schoolwork, traveling, and all of the other miscellaneous things I have to do (laundry, going in the grocery store, keeping in touch with people from home, writing in my journal/this blog, etc.).

I say these things not because I view them in a negative light, but rather for the sake of reflecting upon the differences between cultures/residential situations.

With that said, the hardest/worst thing is definitely not eating breakfast. I look forward to the day when I’ll be able to have my cereal and orange juice every morning again.

....

Random other updates:

- I now have an Italian cell phone. It’s pink, and I’m not a fan of that. However, I have text messaging (for free!) for the first time in my life, and I do like that.

- I bought Harry Potter 7 yesterday in Italian. Now my collection is up to the American, British, Chinese, and Italian editions of the book!

- I’m done with my second week of classes now, and Art in Rome is officially my favorite class, even when means getting up early.

- No Friday class tomorrow, so I’m taking off really early to catch a 6:00am train to Cinque Terre with a few other girls! We’re spending the weekend there, then leaving early Sunday morning to stop in Pisa on the way back to Rome. I'm really excited for this.

To classes ending on Thursdays!

-megan