Day One!!

I have arrived in Rome!! Traveling by myself in a foreign country wasn’t as bad as I had thought. Everything is in both Italian and English. Sometimes asking questions is a little annoying but most everyone speaks at least a little English!! Getting myself here was quite a chore!! I went home after Christy’s wedding, and had to leave Williston by 2 am. Thank god I had so much help :) I slept the whole airplane ride to Minneapolis where I got off at 6:15 am and had to sit there until 10:30. When in Minot, the lady checking my baggage told me she could arrange to get it all the way to Rome being that I had booked my ticket from Minot to Minneapolis separate from my ticket from Minneapolis to Rome. Hello? Big mistake. Duh. Anyway, when I got to Minneapolis and got my boarding pass before getting on the plane, the lady called down and asked if my bag had been transferred from Northwest yet. She said it hadn’t but that it wasn’t a big deal and she would take care of it. When I got to Charlotte and Philadelphia I asked about my bags and of course, no one knew anything and they couldn’t check on it even though I had my baggage receipt. I’m pretty sure at least point you can figure out what is going to happen just like I did!! In Philadelphia, I met a lady who was going to meet her husband in Rome and he had given her VERY explicit directions on everything!! This lady went way above and beyond. I decided to ask her if I could stick with her once we got there to figure everything out! (Smart move.) Once we landed we met up outside of the walkway thing and we got through passport control and everything pretty easily. She then went on to “change up her act” as she called it. She took a small purse out of her fanny pack (YES!!) and changed her money and passport and put it around her neck and in her shirt. She then tied her fanny pack around her belt, and put on a different shirt over it. Whoah. I get it that there are pickpocketers but this seemed a little extreme!! Anyway, then we went and stood by the baggage claim for about 45 minutes while everyone’s bag slowly trickled in. EVERYONE EXCEPT MINE!! Sure enough, I went to the customer service line and they had left it in Minneapolis. They had, however, realized the mistake and the bag was on its way to Rome and would be there in about 5 hours. This was at 10:30 am and as I write this now, I have yet to see my luggage and it is about 10 pm!! No one seems to be in a hurry to do anything here!! Except drive. (More on that later.) So Debbie left because she had to meet her husband and I stood and filled out a claim forever to get my bag. I finally got up to the train station and got my ticket. I still have no clue how I figured this all out being that I speak no Italian, but I somehow did. I took the train to Termini which is like a City Center of Rome. I then found a taxi to take me to the school. I had planned on taking a taxi from the airport but Debbie convinced me this was the way to go!! I probably saved myself 40-50 euros doing it this way, and I haven’t quite figured out the exchange, but in the airport, 60 euros was equal to $97. So I saved some cash!! The taxi driver almost killed me and everyone on the road every second of the drive but I got here!! It blows my mind that everyone in Italy does everything soooo slow, but when it comes to driving, they are maniacs. Like SERIOUS maniacs. Why drive so crazy to get somewhere and then be so slow?? I don’t get it. Anyway, I am here. I start class tomorrow even though I have no clothes, no books, nothing. I borrowed my roommate Emily’s shampoo and conditioner, etc. so I could shower, and I have been sleeping all day trying to catch myself up! Pictures to come soon!!

Ciao!

PS--the pic is from my room window!