When in Rome...

Oh my gosh!! I have been so busy the last three days and this is the first time I have internet.  I guess I will start with Day 1 on the plane.  I left my parents around 5am and I was surprised because I didn't cry as much as I thought I would.  The flight to LA was short and Rachel and I just talked the whole way.  When we got to LA, Rachel and I had to navigate our way to the bus to go to terminal 2 and then we had to use the machine thing to get our tickets.  It was super confusing, but we managed to do it by ourselves!! We found our gate number, got lunch, and then we pretty much did nothing for 7 hours.  About 20 minutes before the flight left, the other exchange student showed up and there was a lot of confusion, but we finally got on the plane.  Rachel and I weren't sitting together and our original plan was to ask somebody to switch but I think we were both so stressed that we just sat down and didn't bother.  I ended up sitting next to this really great Rotarian couple who were going to Italy to travel around some of the small towns for two weeks.  We talked a lot and it was very nice.  Then we had dinner and went to sleep.  By "went to sleep," I mean, curled up in a ball and periodically dozed off for about 7 hours.  I think I slept about a total of 2 hours.  There were individual tvs on each seat and you could choose your movie.  They had movies like The Avengers, The Lucky One, etc. but mine didn't work, of course, so I just listened to music.  Then we had breakfast and the plane landed about 2 hours later.  This is when things got difficult.  Rachel, the other exchange student, and I had to make a good guess as to which train thing we had to take to the baggage claim and flight connections and then we had to part ways.  I found my luggage by myself, which made me proud! Then I walked around to the exit and my host parents were waiting! We hugged and stuff and they took all of my bags!  We went to this food place and I got pasta and pesto rice and I pretty much stuffed myself because I thought it would be rude if I didn't.  I couldn't even finish the plate, and they kept asking if I wanted more!  After that, we got to the car and drove to the center of Rome where the hotel was.  

I had heard that Italians don't normally wear seat belts when they are in the backseat, but I always like to where a seat belt.  When I got in, I looked around and I saw that they had taken it out!  It was terrible! I felt like I had no protection whatsoever.  Especially with the crazy driving.  It's so hard to explain, the driving I have seen and experienced is soooooo crazy! Everybody drives really fast, even on small roads, and they stop super close to each other.  Sometimes, I don't even think there are lanes because cars are just swerving in and out through the traffic and there aren't lines on the road.  Pedestrians also cross the street everywhere and cars barely stop for them.  When the people are barely past the car, they speed up again.  And holy smart car!! I have never seen so many of them in my life!  I guess people drive them a lot because they are so small and easy to maneuver through small streets.  And a bunch of them were parked straight into a sidewalk like it was a parking spot.  Most of the cars in Rome are tiny, they are a little bit bigger than smart cars and they have a back seat.  When I took a taxi during my tour of Rome, we had to go through really narrow streets, and we were probably less than 5 inches from the parked cars.  I didn't really look, but I would bet that there are probably a lot of scratches on the sides of cars.  

When we got to the hotel the first night, I was really surprised because I got my own room! Once I saw it, I realized why though. I took a picture that I will put up.  I was secretly grateful to have my own room, because I needed some alone time after the stressful day.  We went out that night to shop, and since I am not much of a shopper, I was just looking at all of the buildings.  It reminds me a lot of San Francisco or New York, but more ancient looking.  Then we ate dinner around 8:30pm, which is the normal time Italians eat dinner.  

So,  there hasn't been a moment when I am hungry in Italy.  Italians eat SOOO MUCH, but everybody is skinny here!  I think I will probably gain weight.  They have breakfast, which is normally a lot of bread and sweet stuff.  Then they have a snack before lunch, which is like fruit or something, then lunch, which is basically an American dinner, another snack, and then dinner.  Whenever I would eat something, I would be stuffed even before I had finished one plate, and then they would keep asking me if I wanted something else! I finally learned the work "Basta!" which means "I'm done."  But the food is very very good here, and healthy too.

My first night, I woke up a couple of times to change the temperature of the room and because I had a headache and I had stupidly forgotten to bring advil.  I was even drinking a lot of water. When I woke up, I still had a headache and after breakfast, we went to the pharmacy to get aspirin. I took it later in the afternoon because we started walking to the metro after buying it, and I didn't have time to figure out how to take it (it is way different that what we have in the U.S.)  It looks like those little packages that you use to make kool-aid or flavored water, and you pour it under your tongue for it to dissolve.  It tasted like a pixi stick and it made my headache go away really fast.  

When we got off of the metro, we met our personal tour guide (who spoke english for me!) and right in front of me was the Colosseum!  It was absolutely amazing!!  We did so much stuff that day (9-7-12) I can't possible explain it all, but I will say the main things.  After the Colosseum, we went to another place that I can't remember... I can't remember a lot of the places, but they were big and beautiful and I have pictures of them all!  We went to the Vatican and saw the Sistene Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, oh and the Pantheon.  I threw a coin in the Trevi fountain!! We got lunch at this restaurant in this narrow street and it was really pretty! I had delicious spaghetti! I also had my first gelato in Rome! After 10 hours of touring, we went to dinner and then back to the hotel to sleep.  

Colosseum and host parents 

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Spaghetti!

Today, we drove 3 hours to Fabriano and the drive was amazing.  All of the hills and mountains are so green and the villages on the hills are so cool! I even saw some castles!  When we got to Fabriano, I got a tour of the apartment/condo, which is very cool and then I went to the supermarket with my host mom, Lorena.  It was very different.  For all of the fruits and vegetables,  you have to weigh them and use this computer thing that prints out a sticker with the bar code on it.  It is fairly easy to use.  Lorena kept asking me what I wanted to buy but I kept saying "I don't know" because I can't read anything!  When we got home, I unpacked and Lorena made lunch, which I explained it basically an American dinner.  We had roast chicken, potatoes, and strawberries.  Everything was delicious, but very filling!  Now I am blogging and I might go out with some people my age later tonight, but I'm not sure...

On the drive...

I still can't understand or speak very much Italian and I am soo glad Lorena speaks English, but I need to learn fast!  

Well, ciao for now! 

~Devon