Bonjourno! Umm, ehh, errr… Si! Gratzie! AH! Sorry…

I found the person with the sign, I was put on the bus, and I got to my apartment in one piece. It’s BEAUTIFUL! There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a living room/kitchen/dining room, all with tall ceilings. We also have not one, but three terraces! Everything is minimally furnished, probably by Ikea. The beds are very firm but I was warm and cozy and I slept well, probably thanks to jet lag and exhaustion. We’re about 1.5 miles (yes, I’m clinging to standard) from the university but there is a convenient bus that gets us there. All in all, I’m excited.

Yesterday my two roommates and I walked, er, hiked up to school and looked around. AUR is at the top of one of the highest hills of Rome and the view is fantastic! Later, we met up with some other students and had dinner at a little place called Eden. The menu was completely in Italian so we knew we had scored and when I took the first bite of my real Italian pizza, it was confirmed. The night was topped off with a good, heavy sleep.

I awoke today and made my first breakfast: toast with Nutella. I felt incredibly proud that I could function in Italy well enough to make breakfast. After that, things got a little jumbled. I read in one of my travel books that Italian women never leave the house with wet hair. The Italian grandmothers say wet hair out doors will make you sick and not have children. This is a little bit of a problem since my hair is rarely dry. In fact, I leave the house almost every morning with wet hair. So I shrugged it off as a dying superstition and rushed out of the house for registration at around 10. I had only walked a few yards before I met an elderly women walking towards me. She stopped. Her jaw dropped. She stared at my head as I walked quickly by. I guess it’s still very much alive.

I must have been frazzled because I hopped on the wrong bus and had to switch. While waiting, I realized I had forgotten my passport. I ran back to the apartment where I quickly met our three new roommates, grabbed my passport and headed for the door again. I paused, grabbed my hat, and left.

Oh boy.