First Day in Rome

I'm here! And safe...Mom. It's been a long last couple of days but I will try to recap it for you. So we had a flight to Detroit before our direct flight. The first leg of the trip went fine. They told us that our plane was going to have to sit on standby for 20 minutes while we were in the air due to weather. The pilot ended up cancelling the standby so we were right on time, to the minute! How often does that happen?

We met another friend in Detroit and flew the rest of the 9 hours with her. The trip went by rather quickly except for the agonizing times when everyone else on the plane was sound asleep and I was restless. I didn't even finish one movie (The Proposal), that's how distracted and restless I was. Nice try Dramamine.

The group of 6 of us found our way around Fiumicino airport. After waiting around for bags and waiting in line for customs we figured out where we needed to go and waited another 1 1/2 hours for another friend. By the time we found her we had missed the train and opted to take a shuttle to where we were meeting our professors. Our driver looked like George Clooney so that was fun! Found our professors and eventually our future roommates and trekked with all of our luggage through the narrow busy streets of Rome! What an adventure! At one point there were 5 Italian citizens fighting over which direction our apartment was.

Lisa and I moved into our adorable room (pictures to follow). Tonight we went to a nearby market to buy essential food items and the supplies to cook a cheap Italian dinner, pasta. A crowd of other members of our study abroad group showed up for a short but entertaining gathering. That's all for now. Jet lag is harsh.

Basic observations of the day:
1.) No matter how Italian I try to look or act, people know I am an American.
2.) When in doubt, speak in Spanish.
3.) To behave like an Italian you must own a smart car, dress fashionably, and smoke.