The first of (hopefully) many posts!

Sooo now I’ve been in Rome for about 3 weeks and I’m just now starting this journal. I’m a bit of a procrastinator, what can I say? But I keep hearing that this is something I will read for years and years to come, so I better start it now rather than the last weekend before I leave. Because Rome is way too awesome to forget about. (I might do a retroactive journal of Sorrento and Capri . . . I took notes to start a blog that week, but that never happened. I still have the notes though.)

Let’s just start with a Top Ten list of Rome so far. (These are in no particular order, just the way they came to me)

1. Nutella. I’ve seriously had a whole jar (it was little) of this stuff in the last three days. Amazing. I just wish peanut butter would find its way across the Atlantic so that they could make the perfect almost-healthy-but-incredibly-delicious sandwich together. Maybe someday. . .

2. Pretty old things. Today I was doing my art homework, which consisted of sitting on my balcony attempting to sketch the buildings across the street, when I realized how incredibly intricate and pretty they were. I don’t know if you will ever see the picture I drew, but it definitely does not do them justice. All the gorgeous intricate decorations are just scribbles in my version. Check out the photos off my balcony though. It’s a pretty awesome view. Anyway, that’s just one ancient apartment building on the outskirts of Rome, to say nothing of the billions of ancient churches, monuments, gorgeous old government things, and fountains. I love just wandering around. There’s too much pretty stuff to even see it all on your way to class past it.

3. Italian. It’s such a fun language. I seriously hope that I leave here with more than the 100 level version of it. It’s hard to practice (almost everyone gives up on me and speaks broken English) but I’m going to keep trying.

4. Its proximity to the rest of Europe. I love Rome, but I’m so incredibly psyched to travel. I’m going to try to go everywhere I can—so far it’s going to be to Ostia, Sicily, Brussels (!!!), Greece, Florence, Tuscany, London, and Paris (!!!). And I still have the weekends of Oct 4-7 and Oct 31-Nov 1 open, if any fellow study abroad-ers would like a traveling partner to anywhere at all. Oh, and I already went to Sorrento and Capri, an awesome seaside town and a beautiful island, both near Naples on the west coast of Italy. (Just trying to help out people who struggle as much as I do with geography.)

5. Lack of drinking laws. It’s pretty awesome to be able to chill in a piazza with friends and people watch while splitting a few bottles of wine. Or to actually be able to go to bars. America, you need to get on this policy.

6. Art history classes. Yeah, I know we have those in the US too. But it’s not the same as when the teacher says “and we’ll see this in Florence in a few weeks. . .” or “this work is housed in the Vatican museums” and you realize that means its about a 15 minute walk from the classroom where you’re sitting. I haven’t gone to the Vatican museums yet though, other than when I was in Rome few years ago. I have seen St Peter’s three times now though, once running, once drawing (my class), and once less than sober and searching for Castel Sant’Angelo (it was supposed to be open till 2am for Notte Bianche, but the posters were filled with lies.)

7. THE FOOD. How in the world did I get to number 7 without thinking of the food??? I guess Nutella is food, but just because I was eating a spoonful when I started number one. Oh where to start. . . pasta, panini, pizza so much better than meal plan Domino’s that it’s hard to remember they are technically the same type of food, GELATO (gelato might get a separate entry after this, as a tribute to it’s amazing-ness), and just pretty much everything. Not to mention, expensive European chocolate is cheaper than Peanut M&M’s here. And I think there might be a chocolate shop in Trastevere (that’s my neighborhood of Rome). I need to investigate the shop soon. I’ll report what I find. But anyway, let me just list a few of the amazing pastas I’ve had, if only for myself to remember in 5 years when I reread this thing.

• · Gnocchi Sorrentina (On my first day here. I think Katie rather enjoys this dish, seeing as she orders it EVERYWHERE),
• · Fusilli with mushrooms and truffle oil (at Elizabeth’s birthday dinner. Also amazingly delicious),
• · Ziti with eggplant, sweet pepper, and cherry tomatoes (seriously the best pasta I’ve ever had. It was at San Antonio’s Pizzeria in Sorrento),
• · Spaghetti carbonara (it’s got eggs and bacon in it—I just bought the ingredients to try to make it myself. Wish me luck.)

. . . and that’s all the pastas I can think of at the moment. I’m sure there will be many more.

8. Gelato. Because I said it deserved its own bullet point. The best place I’ve found is the Sicilian place on the corner of Francesco a Ripa and Viale di Trastevere. For one euro, you can get two flavors of gelato (I recommend cioccolata fondente and cocco—dark chocolate and coconut) and a little cookie. They completely overfill the tiny container and it is amazing. I love these people. Also, they will serve hot chocolate starting in October. I am beyond psyched.

9. The laid back atmosphere. Class doesn’t have to start on time, no one’s competing for participation points, discussion isn’t forced. You can also wear whatever you want (I kind of like European fashion—anything goes) and almost anytime you buy anything, the price isn’t set. They will let you haggle or round down (in the case of L’Insalta Ricca, they always round down. I love those people. A full dinner with wine for 7 euro? Awesome.)

10. I can’t think of another specific thing at this moment in time. So I’ll just reiterate the food.

I should probably get back to doing my government reading now that I’ve procrastinated it long enough. Hopefully, this won’t be my only entry. I’ll have more homework to procrastinate tomorrow night, so maybe I’ll type up that bit about Sorrento and Capri. In conclusion: Rome is fantastic despite the lack of peanut butter.

(Hint: Peanut butter in the mail would be an amazing birthday present. I would be the sender’s best friend for life. November 17^th, people.)