Rome at Last!

Well, I finally made it to Rome! After arriving at the airport almost 3 hours early, waiting outside of security for about an hour saying goodbye to family (and buying last-minute pop-up maps of Rome), and making it through security in about 2 minutes, 8 of us Wheaton kids were on our way to Rome! As we sat in the terminal at Logan Airport, we kept our eyes peeled for other IES students who might be on our flight, but we only found one, and we didn’t find her until we arrived!

When I checked in and was asked if I had a preference of a window seat or an aisle seat, I answered window. Our flight was relatively empty, so even though a woman was sitting in the seat next to me, she moved to sit by herself, so I actually got to stretch out for the flight. We took off at about 5:45pm (and that’s about when the small child sitting diagonally from me on the plane started crying…and didn’t stop until we landed) and had dinner served at about 7 (a chicken and vegetable mix; lasagna; a roll; crackers and a Mini Bonabel; a salad with a cold cut, a few shredded carrots, and four olives; and four grapes, three cubes of pineapple, and two orange slices). There were televisions on board, and they showed two films over the course of the flight—Where the Wild Things Are, and an Italian film I don’t remember the name of. I decided to watch Where the Wild Things Are, then try to sleep during the other film. Key word there being TRY. At about midnight (although, I had already changed my watch by then, so it was like 6am to me) they served breakfast, and then we landed in Rome at 7. I really lucked out with my seat on the plane, because I had two windows next to me, and at one point, if I looked out one window, it was pitch black, yet looking out the other I could see all the different colors from the sunrise.

Upon arriving at the airport, we went to claim our baggage (we may or may not have stood at the wrong baggage claim area for a good 15 minutes before realizing it—to which we said “Well, we don’t look like the stupid Americans here or anything…”), then were met by IES who gave us info packets, made copies of what they needed, and paired us up sending us off to our apartments. My ISC (Italian Student Companion), Margherita, met me at my apartment, and led me up to the 4^th floor (although unlike my room at Wheaton, there’s an elevator up to the 4^th floor!) where I had the choice of rooming with her, or setting up in the other double. Her room had a balcony, my own set of drawers, and my own closet, so that ended up being the winner. I also figure rooming with her will be good for my Italian. She’s going to school for Communication, and wants to practice her English, so I figure we’ll trade off! Amanda arrived not very long after (she thought her plane got in at 7:40pm when it was really 7:40am), and we unpacked, then made our first lunch together—pasta with pesto and a salad. And by “we”, I mean Margherita made it and Amanda and I cleaned the dishes—but it’s definitely a meal I could make in the future!

Margherita has lived in Rome for about 6 years (she’s originally from about 2 hours from here), so she knows her way around pretty well! I’ll post pictures of the apartment as soon as I can—it’s really cute, and I absolutely love the location, and the apartment complex. And mom and dad, I found some people on my side of the river! Of the 141 of us in the program, 121 live on one side of the river, and I’m in the lucky 20 who live on the other side! We actually went on a short walk tonight and saw the Roman Forum and the Coliseum..they just happened to be on our normal walking route!

Sorry for the long post, but I figured I’d let you all know I’m in safe and am having a great time thus far! I haven’t slept yet, so am thinking I’ll probably crash early tonight…Ciao for now!

The next post will have a few pictures!