From Slightly Terrifying to Fairly Charming

Showers. Nice, warm showers. Nothing beats rolling out of bed and into the lovely comfort of a shower...unless the shower is in Rome. I know this is only my third day, but I have already grown to dread taking a shower in the morning. No matter if I'm the first or the last, I quickly shiver through washing my hair and practically jump into my thin little robe. We have decided to ask the company that handles the university housing if this is normal and if there is anything we can do to fix it, but we can't do that without the desktop computer that is currently in our closet and will be set up "soon." Until then, number one on my shopping list is a big, fluffy towel to replace the table cloth-like thing that I'm currently using.

Ok, that was my one complaint for the day and probably my only complaint concerning the entire apartment. This amazing place more than balances it out. (See below)

Slowly but surely, I seem to be getting my bearings. Last night we met up with our group from night 1 plus all of the new roommates. University of Maryland got in yesterday and we doubled in size. So the 15 of us decided to wander out for dinner. We walked up to school and then down the hill where we found picturesque cobblestone streets and small restaurants. We worried no one would seat such a large group until one waiter swept us off our feet and escorted us to the back of a little hole in the wall. The staff were singing and joking with everyone there. It didn't take us long to realize we were the subject of many of the jokes (the sign that they hung over our section reading "Office of Immigration" kind of tipped us off) but it was all in good fun and the food was so good we didn't mind. I had Spaghetti Alla Carbonara and it was heavenly!

Today was sleep day. The shutter locks on our windows kept the sun out until I woke up around noon. We were hungry, but by the time we were ready, all of Italy was in Siesta mode. The entire country just shuts down from 1pm to 3 or 4pm every day. As soon as we could, we headed to the super market and stocked up. We also visited the fruit stand and bread and cheese shop just down the block from the apartment. Guess where Emily will be getting most of her food from now on.

All six of us decided to stay in tonight and cook. Dinner was brushcetta (made by yours truly) and pasta with sautéed veggies in a tomato sauce. Yes, that is my spare airplanes bed sheet provided by the university that we're using as a table cloth. Roman quiet hours prevent us from setting plates and glasses directly on our glass table. I topped off the meal with a few dried apricots and a couple pieces of chocolate.

Delizioso!