Welcome to the Neighborhood!
Wow! It’s been such a crazy week. Since landing in Rome Wednesday morning we’ve been going going going, experiencing the campus, Rome, a bunch of sites, and just getting to know one another! Since arriving Wednesday the SLAs (think of them as RAs but different) have been encouraging us to get lost in the neighborhood and city and discover Roma for ourselves, which we have done!
I’ll tell you mostly about the area around campus for now, because we’ve already done too much for just one post!
Campus is located in Monte Mario, and our campus is surrounded by this cute little neighborhood with tabacchis, kinda like tiny convenient stores that sell a variety of little things like bus passes, cafes, shops, supermarkets, and tents selling everything from dresses to sunglasses to underwear (only in Rome?) It’s so tempting to buy it all up, but I’m trying to resist! And the wonderful thing about the tents, or any street vendor, is that you can barter down the price! I have my eye on a dress that I’m going to try to get down to 5 euros…wish me luck!
All throughout Rome you see a ton of graffiti, much more than what we’re used to here. But even when defacing buildings and walls Romans somehow find a way to make it beautiful. For example, on a wall by campus someone has written, “Non posse vivere senza ditte….ne oggi ne mai,” which roughly translated to “I can’t live a day without you…not today not ever.” It might be all over the city but occasionally it’s really beautiful.
In the neighborhood, and all through Rome, they have these fountains on the side of the road with the freshest, best tasting water I’ve ever had. I’m constantly filling up my waterbottle outside instead of using the filtered water inside, it’s just so good! And we all feel quite Italian stopping for a drink while walking to the supermarket, or the bakery!
Speaking of the bakery, I’ve already stopped by the one near here and it is fabulous. The people working there are so friendly, and just smile while I try to order in my butchered Italian (it’s getting better, though!) Everywhere we go people seem to be really appreciative of the fact that we try to speak Italian, and it’s helping us learn new words.
Speaking of food (this may just end up being a food blog, it’s all so good!) we had a group dinner in the neighborhood on Friday night and it was fantastico! We sat there for two hours eating vegetables, lasagna, different meats, and a fig-type dessert while sipping on vino and talking. Truly living la dolce vita! The life here is certainly less rushed than it is at home, but it’s making us have richer experiences. Every moment is enjoyed, and I’m already getting used to slowing down and enjoying every part of the day.
Well I think that’s it for now. I’ll post more later about the campus and seeing all the sites. Till then!