The end of the beginning.

Well, vacation’s almost over. Orientation at the Rome Center is officially finished now, and classes start tomorrow (a couple weeks after everyone back at SLU).

As part of orientation, we went on a small trip. Monday morning, we all loaded onto a bus, and drove all day to get to a town named Matera in Southern Italy. Matera is not very big city and not many tourists really go there or know about it yet. It was incredibly beautiful and not a place I would have gone on my own, so I was so glad that it was included as part of our orientation. Fun fact: it is also where The Passion of the Christ movie was filmed!

But what really makes Matera so special is the houses there that were built into the side of cliff; they essentially started caves that were dug out to become homes. They call this part of town the Sassi, which is Italian for stone. Walking around the Sassi was almost like walking through a maze, everything was winding with lots of hidden nooks and corners.

After touring the Sassi in the morning, that afternoon I went on a hike to another hill that overlooked the Matera. The view was so beautiful, and I just loved being there—definitely one of my favorite things I have done thus far on the trip.

Since coming back to Rome from Southern Italy, I’ve really just been working on getting more settled in and exploring the city some more. There’s so much to see just in Rome, and I feel like I’ll never get to half of it. Even the smallest things here are such an adventure, from buying laundry detergent to finishing all of the paperwork for my Italian visa.

Today we have been having wonderful weather—like mid-80’s instead of high 90’s, sunny, with just the right amount of breeze. I spent most of my afternoon just sitting in the JFRC courtyard, reading and catching up on my journaling.

I also had my first experience going running in Rome! Of course, the Rome Center is located on a hill, so parts of it weren’t too fun and it was definitely different than going running back at the track in Perryville. Instead of the track, I was running on narrow, winding streets, dodging all kinds of plants and being careful to avoid vespas. I definitely got a few strange looks from some Italians (I don’t think they really go running like we do), but it was way worth it.

And now classes start tomorrow morning, which will be another kind of adventure in and of itself… just maybe not quite as exciting as the other kinds I’ve been having. However, it will be good to be learning things again, and it will be nice to have some kind of routine.

-megan

Experiencing the Roman life.

I arrived in Rome almost exactly a week ago. It feels both much longer and much shorter. Orientation at the JFRC is already winding to a close, and this past week has been such a mixture of emotions for me.

In the past week, I have:
moved into my room at the JFRC, met many new people, wandered around Rome, seen many of the most famous Roman landmarks, had way too many 3 course meals (I do understand how Italians eat like this on a regular basis), traveled to Southern Italy, looked out over one of the most beautiful views of my entire life, attempted to speak Italian to real Italians, and much more.

It's difficult to describe how it feels to be in Rome again. As I find my way around this city and see all of the sites that I fell in love with while visiting three years ago, it almost feels like coming back home to an old friend that has been neglected for far too long.

Visiting the Vatican last Friday night was one of the best experiences of my time here thus far. Since it was late at night, we obviously couldn't go inside St. Peter's, but we were allowed to wander around the Square, which was almost more beautiful at night. Last time I was in Italy, we visited the Vatican during the day when it was crowded with thousands of people. This time, there was barely anyone else there besides our group, and we were free to wander as we wished, even sitting down and just soaking up what it felt like to be there. That was one of the first moments I really realized that I was in Rome.

I've been around to other sites in Rome as well since arriving--Piazza Navona, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain (a personal favorite). On Sunday, everyone at the Rome Center went to the Colosseum/Forum together, and on the way back, I stopped to eat at a cafe with a few friends. Since it was Sunday afternoon, all of the Italians were there watching the soccer match (and usually passionately yelling at the TV screens). Even experiencing something as simple as that definitely made me feel like I had become clued into something crucial about Rome.

There so much more to say, especially about my time in Southern Italy on the orientation trip, but I'm off to eat lunch, then explore the Spanish Steps. Ciao!

-megan

Getting orientated.

So, I've only been in Rome for a day and a half, but it already feels like it's been so much longer; I guess in part just because there's been a LOT going on.

My journey to Rome went fairly well. I actually had a little bit of trouble with my flight to Chicago, but even that worked out fine. The flight to Rome was long, as expected, but it ended early and all of my luggage arrived safety, so I really can't complain! Side note: on Alitalia Airlines, they serve free wine with your meal. Only in Italy...

Once we arrived at the Rome Center, everyone had to register, then I got to meet my roommate and start unpacking. We had a few other orientation type meetings yesterday, then last night I went with a group of people from here to eat at a local restaurant. The food was wonderful, of course; there was just a lot of it! We also walked around the neighborhood, and I'm trying to get acclumated with the area. Right now, it's still pretty confusing, but I know I'll get the hang of it soon enough.

All of the people that I've met so far seem really nice, and I really think this is going to be a great semester. I'm really excited to be here, even though I am less excited about starting class, but even that should be interesting.

Today we all spent the day the beach, which was wonderful of course! I did get a little sunburnt, but nothing too bad. In a little bit, I'm going to go to get gelato with a group of people near the Vatican! The place we're going to is supposed to be really famous, so I have high expectations for it. I'm honestly surprised that I've made it over 24 hours in Italy so far and have yet to eat gelato, but that will change soon enough. After we get gelato, I think I'm going to go downtown, which I'm equally excited for!

-megan

"Just look at that beautiful boot!"

Just a quick note to say that I have safely arrived in Rome! I'm working on getting settled in, and we have all of this orientation stuff going on, but I'm excited to be here... even if I'm dealing with jetlag at the moment.

Italy is just as beautiful as I remembered (as well as really hot). It's so, so good to be here, but the reality that I'm going to spend the next 3.5 months living in this country has not quite sunk in yet at all... that will likely take quite some time.

More about what's going soon, I promise.

Ciao!
-megan