Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Pompeii Weekend

This past weekend was an interesting one. It definitely not what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting to spend the entire weekend on the beach, but that is not what happened. Get ready for a very good blog entry.

It all started on Friday morning. We had to wake up at 5:45am and left the apartment at 6:15am. We had to hop the tram and walk over to the Piazza to get on the bus, which left at 7am. It was an extremely early morning and I was tired and crabby. We were only 20 minutes into the bus ride when Bliss got motion sick. She puked up her breakfast (an apple). Then said she was feeling great. Not even 10 minutes later she puked again. We finally moved Bliss to the front seat of the bus. As in front seat I mean a little pull out seat next to the bus driver. This was the first time that I have felt home sick since coming to Rome. I would have given anything for mom or dad to be there to take care of Bliss.

After getting to Naples, we took the ferry to Capri. It was raining. And continued to rain. We were supposed to take a boat ride to the blue grotto once we got to Capri, but that was cancelled because of the weather. Stephanie (our tour guide) decided that we would take the bus to our hotel. The buses in Capri are about a fourth of the size of a normal bus. And you have to wait in line for a long time to get on the bus. The taxis drivers kept driving to get us to go with them, but Stephanie refused. However, after an hour and no bus showing up, she finally gave in to take the buses. Apparently all the transportation on the island is run by one family. So basically there was a caspiracy to get us to take the cabs (which are convertibles) and spend more money. At this point in time, it was still raining.

We finally made it to the hotel. It was in Anacapri, not Capri. Se we were on the outskirts of the main city. Capri is basically on a huge hill. Bliss and I got our own little villa. Which was kinda cute, but nothing special. The hotel was located a long distance from any food or shopping. And all the food and shopping was located on the top of the hill. Which was a really long hike up the hill.

We ate lunch at a pizzeria which was on the top of the hill. Transportation was not provided by our tour guide. So we had to walk all the way. And the food wasn't even anything amazing. After lunch we went to a shoe shop where I bought a pair of handmade sandals. We got to pick out a sole and the color of the straps. There were 45 different styles to choose from. We also got to taste limonchello. This is a lemon alcohol drink that is drank after a meal for digestion. And it is extremely strong.

After limonchello and shoe shopping, we did a little more shopping around Anacapri. When we walked all the way down the hill back to the hotel, Bliss, Tim, and I all took a nap. Then had to wake up to go to a group dinner down the hill. It was a three course meal. The appetizers included calamari, which had actual tenticles. It was disgusting. And my main course involved a steak which was cooked in tomatoe sauce. Which also was kind of disgusting. There was also rice with clams, shrimp, and more tenticles (puke!)

Now we move onto Saturday. Saturday started with breakfast at the hotel. Tim as told he couldn't eat because he was in a villa that wasn't associated with the actual hotel. We were all extremely pissed off about it. So we planned to sneak Tim food out of the hotel. But he ended up eating with the couple who owned the villa that he was staying in.

After breakfast, we took a shuttle to to downtown Capri. This area is known as designer heaven. We were given the opportunity to do some shopping, but of course I don't have the money to shop at Prada, so we skipped out on the shopping and got some donuts. We were charged a sitting fee to sit and eat our donuts. Before we got our donuts, we went to a park that had a nice view of the sea. Let me point out that it is still raining. When we were walking down the stairs from the park I fell down the stairs. My flip flop went flying all the way down the stairs and everyone laughed at me. Which is okay because I was laughing too, since I kept telling everyone I was gonna fall.

After we met up with the rest of the group, we took a trolley cart thing down to the port. Stephanie informed us that our ferry to Postiano was cancelled because of the weather, so we were going to take a bigger ferry to Sorrento instead. Our original plan for the morning was to go to the blue grotto, but that didn't happen either. Our plans have changed a ton of times already, and it was only Saturday morning. Again let me point out that it is still raining.

Once we got to Sorrento, we had to walk to the top of this mountain in order to get to the town. Again, transportation wasn't provided. I thought I was going to pass out and die before I reached the top. Once we finally made it to the top, Tim, Bliss, Tynisha, and I had lunch at Restaurant Aurora. In the dessert menu, it said "the trolley." Which instantly reminded me of Harry Potter, "anything off the trolley?" :) An Italaian woman asked us if it was okay if she smoked (where we were sitting outside the restaurant). She was probably the most considerate Italian person I have met.

After lunch we did some major gift shopping. Sorrento is a great area to do cheap shopping. We caught the last ferry ride back to Capri. We waited about an hour for the ferry to come. It was till raining and the weather was bad. The ferry that we took back to Capri was smaller than the one we took to Sorrento. The ferry ride was absolutely crazy. It was so wavy that I was flying out of my seat. There were a ton of people on the ferry puking. I was enjoying myself up until the end. The noise and smell of all the puke was really getting to me. I just got a little weezy.

Once we landed in Capri, we tried to take the bus again. We waited 45 minutes and finally gave in to get a taxis. At this point I had a terrible migraine. I thought I was going to die. When we got back to the hotel, I took some migraine medicine and attempted to take a nap. Bliss, Tynisha, nd Tim all went to get some wine so that I could have a little bit of quiet time. My migraine just continously got worse, so I took even more medicine and eventually passed out.

When everyone got back, we went to dinner. We had to hike up the hill to get to the restaurant. And again, I am not sure if it was worth it our not. I ended up going to bed right when we got back from the restaurant.

Our shuttle left at 10:45am Sunday morning for the port. We were supposed to take a ferry to Naples, but that got cancelled due to the weather. So we ended up taking a ferry back to Sorrento, where our coach bus was going to meet us. We had to wait an hour for the ferry to Sorrento to come. And the ferry was 20 minutes late.

Once we finally made it to Sorrento, we attempted to wait for our bus down by the port. However, the Sorrento mafia stood in our way. In Sorrento, the transportation is also owned by one family. The Sorrento mafia informed us that the bus wasn't allowed to come down to the port. They wanted us to pay to use their buses to get to the top of the hill to get to our bus. They informed us that we would get fined if the bus came down to the port. Apparently their cousins run the police station in Sorrento.

So we had to hike back up the hill with all of our suitcases. I literally thought I was going to pass out. I was huffing and puffing the whole way and could barely breathe once I reached to the top. Once getting to the top, we had to walk all over Sorrento to find our bus, because he wouldn't come to us. I was practically crawling on the ground by the time I reached the bus.

We were then headed to Pompeii. Where we would have the choice to tour Pompeii or hike Mount Vesuvius. On the bus ride there, we were informed that we could no longer hike Mount Vesuvius because the workers were on strike. So everyone had to tour Pompeii.

Pompeii is all about the penis. The penis is considered a good luck charm and also represents fertility. There are penis souvenirs everywhere. When touring Pompeii, the only exciting part was the brothels in the red light district. In the brothels, there are murals on the wall of different sex pictures. When a man came in, he would point at a sex position and that is what him and the prostitute would do on the stone bed.

After Pompeii, we took an hour bus ride to a mozarella factory. The place smelled absolutely disgusting. And I really didn't want to see how cheese was made. I was tired and crabby and just wanted to go home. We finally hoped back on the bus to Rome and didn't get to Rome until after 10:30pm. The bus driver had even taken a feew wrong turns along the way. The ride to Rome was the longest ride ver.

When we finally made it back, we walked to the tram stop and waited 20 minutes for the tram before we decided to start walking. We couldn't figure out why the trams weren't running. Luckily we caught a bus, but we were packed in it like sardines. The bus ended up going way past our stop. So once we finally got off, we had to trek all the way back to our apartment. We realized why the trams weren't running. A taxis had hit a person in the tram tracks. The taxis windshield was all smashed where the persons head had hit.

I have never been so happy to be back in a bed that wasn't mine. It was like heaven. I checked my email for the first time that weekend to find out that one of my flights I booked isn't really booked through the agency. They hadn't sent me a confirmation, so I emailed them prior to leaving for the weekend. They emailed me back to inform me that the confirmation number I had given them wasn't working. I had checked my credit card statement to find that they had charged me for the flight, but apparently my reservation doesn't exist. So now I have to deal with that whole situation.

And to top the weekend off, Michael's mom wrote on his facebook wall. She was asking if he was okay because she had recieved a phone call from Fort Campbell, but they didn't leave a message. And no one has heard from Michael in a couple of days. So now I am panicking about that situation. This is all way to much for me to handle. I just wish this past weekend didn't happen and that Michael would call me. I am stressed to the max and in dire need of some relaxation. Which is sad considering I am living in a vacation spot.

Colosseum & Classes

On Sunday, we went to the Colosseum. I am absolutely in love with it. We decided to do a tour, which was a complete waste of time. The tour guide sucked. The Colosseum is the best monument in Rome. I took a million pictures. :)

Then we toured the Roman Forum. This was also done with a tour guide. This tour was amazing because the tour guide was so animated. She was hoping around as she explained everything. We even got to see Mussolini's Palace on the Palatine Hill. It was the only building that was still fully standing. Because apparently he HAD to build his palace here.

On our way back to the apartment, we got on the right bus on the wrong side of the street. Therefore, we drove around for over an hour longer than we needed to. So we didn't get back to the apartment till 8pm. We decided to reward ourselves by going out to eat at Mrs. Tata's.

Monday was just boring old classes. The only thing exciting that happened was when I went to the sandwhich shop. The guy who took my order drew a heart with an arrow through it with the ketchup on my bun. It was quite cute.

Today we got up early to go shopping before class at 2:15pm. We went to H&M and Zara. I got a cute little black dress.

Tomorrow I have two exams. So I should get to studying!

Not Counting the Day Anymore

I can no longer keep track of the days. They are all running together now.

Thursday night Tim and I went out with the roomies and some of there friends. It was very interesting. One of the guys that came along with us was from Holland. He was a crazy one. He was extremely touchy and Tim went into his protective mode. Everytime the Holland guy came over by me, Tim would put his arm around me. :)  Let me give an example of how weird this guy was. He told Kristen (my roommate) that she looked like a GOAT. When she said she was offended, he said it was meant as a compliment and reassured her that she was a hot goat.

Friday six of us went to the T-Bone Station. Bliss and I got there first and the waiter asked if there was just two of us. When I told the waiter that there would be six of us, he got extremely excited. I got a cheeseburger and fries and it was the most amazing meal I have ever had. Yay for American food. :) This restaurant also has ranch dressing!! Which is the first time I have seen it here.

We went out Friday night as well. Bliss came along this time. It was quite a night. We took the tram to Scholars Irish Pub. When we got off the tram I looked up to the tram driver and I thought I saw him wink at me. I did a double take and he winked at me a second time.

Bliss got a margarhita that came in a martini glass and cost 7 Euro. We have described it as tasting like Ass In A Glass. It didn't taste anything like a margarhita. But the bartender who made her drink was a sexy Irish man. We kept trying to convince Bliss to buy the bartender a drink, but of course she didn't.

Tim ordered a Long Island Ice Tea. The Irish bartender asked, "Are you serious?" Since this is a girly drink and Tim is obviously not a girl. I bought the bartender a drink (not the one that Bliss liked). I kept asking the Irish men to say Dublin, because I love their accents.

Today we attempted to do some sight-seeing but the weather wasn't so good. When we were leaving the apartment, our neighbor started yelling at us. He told us that there was no talking allowed in the apartment after 1am. Apparently he can hear everything, including our toilet flushing (which he also yelled at us about).

Just putting this out there, today is mine and Michael's one month. Which doesn't seem like anything special, but it is. :) 

The rest of today was spent laying around and doing homework. As well as napping. :)  Now it is way past my bed time.

Italy: Day 14

My History of Ancient Rome class is still a struggle because of the professors accent. I have an example of the way she talks. And I quote, "I don't wanna confuse to much your head." By the time I figure out what she says, she has said a hundred other things and I fall way behind.

I am also having an issue with my vision. I thought it was just my contacts, so I changed them, but I still can't read the board. I feel like I am becoming more and more blind everyday. :(

The most exciting thing that has happened to me in the past two days happened while I was walking home from the tram stop alone. As I rounded the corner to head towards my apartment, there were two black men walking towards me. One came up to me, tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Escusa, you like my cock?" I was in so much shock that my mouth was probably hanging open. And I just bolted down the sidewalk. He continued to speak to me in Italian as I walked away.

The men in this country are pigs. I haven't found any decent ones. The only "normal" men are from the U.S.. I think I will have a much greater appreciation for American men when I return home. No matter how poorly they come accross, it will never be as bad as the men here. And I don't have much nice to say about the women either. They constantly glare at us like we are some diseased creatures.

Today nothing exciting happened. But me and the roomies are going out tonight. I am super excited. :) 

Italy: Day 11 & 12

Ciao!
Let me start off complaining about how tired I am. Days are very action packed and it is still a struggle to adjust.

My History of Ancient Rome class is still a struggle. I have no idea what the professor is saying 90% of the time because her accent is so strong. I thought that reading the text book would help me understand, but the textbook doesn't make any sense. There are so many grammatical errors in the text. Half of the sentences are incomplete, therefore making it harder to understand than the professor. My theory is that the book was orginally written in Italian and then poorly translated to English. UGHHHH

The highlight of my day yesterday was finally hearing from Michael (my boyfriend). I haven't talked to him in over a week and of course I was starting to get worried about him again. Yet I am just a worry wart. While Michael is gone, I started a "deployment journal." I write about different things in it. Yesterday, right when I was about to write another entry in the journal, he called!! It was crazy. And yesterday was my long day of classes and he happened to call at my only break between classes the entire day. It was perfect timing. I have yet to figure out the postal system so that I can send Michael a care package from Italia.

Last night Bliss and I had dinner with Fedrico (an Italian man who stayed at our house for the Birkie in 1993). We were supposed to meet him at Castel San'Angelo. Bliss wasn't able to find the bus route we were supposed to take, so we ended up having walk the entire way there. I was complaining the entire way.

We meet with Fedrico at 8:45pm. Then we turned around and walked the same direction we had just came from to go to dinner at La Maggio (?)  Fedrico ordered all three of us manchini (spagehtti). It was delicious. Fedrico informed me that I was "a copy" of my mother. :) 

After eating we went on a walking tour of Rome. I wasn't expecting this, and I was about to pass out by the end of the night. We went to several monuments including the Trivie Fountain and the Pantheon. Along with many others. We didn't get home until after midnight. And I passed out immediately.

Today I slept in because I didn't have class until 2:15. I downloaded the new Robin Hood movie and spent the morning watching that. Then hopped in the shower. When I got out of the shower, in my towel, I find three maintence guys in our apartment. I about died as I ran to my room and slammed the door.

Bre and I road the tram together to school. While we were at the tram stop, a crazy old man came straight towards Bre and started touching her and mumbling something. She started to panick so we walked further down the tram stop. But this man continued to follow us. The only word we understood him say was "Africa." Bre is a black girl. We continued to panick and crossed the street back over to the sidewalk and he continued to watch us. We walked to the other end of the tram stop and jumped on last minute.

Bre (my roommate), Megan (Bre's friend), and I went to T-Bone Station for lunch before class. It is the only place I have been at the serves a lot of different meat choices. It was amazing.

After class I came home and did homework. Had supper. And now I am going to bed.

This is from Bliss's 1st night out

Italy: Day 10

Yesterday we did some shopping on the other side of the Tiber River. Unfortunately Italy has an international nap time, so they closed down the stores in the middle of my shopping spree. Although I did purchase two really nice dress for a total of 24 Euro.

It was so hot outside that I could barely get into shopping. All I wanted to do was sleep and have a big glass of ice cold water. Which they don't serve here. I have never once gotten a drink with ice in it. Which is so disappointing.

After shopping we came back to the apartment and took a nap. We were planning on going out to the bars, so we needed to rest up. Bliss made tortellini, which was amazing. I picked it out of course.

I convinced Bliss to dress up to go out. I was the happiest person ever. I was jumping around the apartment and making Bliss try on different outfits (all of which came from my wardrobe). Bliss tried convincing me to let her where a fancy top with her black Columbia fast-drying shorts. I told her that this type of thing wasn't acceptable by society. I finally got her in a skirt and a cute top with a belt around the waist. AND I got her to wear make up. Which hasn't happened since her junior prom.

Before going out, Tim, Bliss, and I did two shots of vodka. Just to get our blood pumping. Bliss had to do her shot over the sink, in case she spit it out everywhere. We met some other people at the tram stop at 11pm. Bliss was actually excited.

We went directly to Scholars (the Irish Pub). One of Tim's roommates was already there and had been since 6pm. He was having girlfriend troubles and wasn't doing to good. So we were keeping an eye on him. Bliss and I each got a sex on the beach. Bliss sipped on hers for the remainder of the night. Before it got too late, we decided it was time to bring Tim's roommate home, so we all left.

I love the music they play at Scholars. It is all from the 90s. Last night they played "Build Me Up Buttercup," which is my sororities song. So I was loving life at that moment.

Today Bliss and I went back to the flea market around 10:30. It was extremely hot out. We each got a couple of things then met up with Tim. Tim bought some souveniers for his friends and family. Then we spent the remainder of our afternoon booking out flights and hostels for Athens, Paris, London, and Frankfurt. This process took a very long time and I was ready for a nap afterwards. So I took a nap before dinner.

We just had dinner a little while ago and I wanted to write my blog before homework. More or less I am procrastinating, but luckily I don't have class till noon tomorrow. I think I am gonna call it an early night and go to bed now. And by early I mean 10:50pm. :)

Italy: Day 9

So this blog is about yesterday. I didn't get the chance to blog last night....because I passed out when I got home.

Yesterday we started our Path of Illumination tour. Which is from the movie "Angels and Demons." I have never seen this movie, so it wasn't to thrilling for me. But everyone else was into it. It involved a lot of walking and a lot of public transportation. We used the metro (underground subway) for the first time as well. It was uber exciting.

We saw the Trivie Fountian, the Spanish Steps, and some churches (that I don't recall the names of). We had supper at an amazing pizza place. I ordered cheese and hot salami pizza. It was the best pizza ever. We also got a liter of wine that we shared between Tim, Bliss, and I. Bliss was ready for bed after her two small glasses of wine.

After supper we dropped Bliss of at home so she could go to sleep. On the tram ride home, a guy with an afro jumped at me and roared at me. I was quite shocked. Then Tim and I met up with a couple of his roommates and we all went out to Campo Di'Fiore. This is the American nightlife hangout place.

We had a few drinks in the square then headed to Scholars (an Irish pub). We had a few drinks here as well. The music played in this bar was American. So four of us got the urge to dance. We were doing a little bit of swing dancing when we got yelled at from one of the employees. Apparently dancing is not allowed in bars. Dancing is only allowed in clubs.

We had to run to the tram stop at 1:45am, because the tram stops running at 2am. So we were booking it to the stop. We made it on time. Tim and I got off one stop too early and had to walk a few extra blocks. Tim made sure I got into the apartment and I passed out immediately.

That was my exciting day. :)   Ciao!

Italy: Day 8

Today definitely made up for the last two days. This was definitely one of the longest days of my life.

We decided last night to go to the Angelo American Bookstore to get our textbooks for class this morning. I crawl out of bed at 8:55am and we meet Tim at the tram stop at 9am. We take the tram to the school and then walk a long ways. We go across the bridge to the other side of the river and walk some more. We finally make it to the spot where we are supposed to get on the bus, and there is no bus stop. It has apparently disappeared. So we continue to walk down the road till we come to the next bus stop. After getting on the bus we go 7 stops to one of the main bus stations. We finally get to the bookstore at 9:55am. Our directions from the school say that the bookstore opens at 10am. Come to find out it doesn't open until 10:30am.

So we walk down the street to grab some breakfast. When it hits 10:30am we walk back to the bookstore to get our textbooks. I spent 368 Euro on textbooks and that is including a 15% discount. Tim spent 88 Euro, but they didn't have all the books he needed (which is unfortunate because this is where the school orders the books through).  After getting all my textbooks into a bag, we walk back to the main bus station. We look for the bus that goes to Argentina (bus 53). We take this bus 25 stops and get off at what we think is the right stop. As we look at our surronding, we realize that we are in the middle of nowhere. I would describe it as the suburbs of Rome (without the houses, everyone lives in apartments).

We have no idea where we are, so we result to calling Lisa (the SAI advisor). She asks what bus we took and after we tell her she replies, "oh I have never taken that one before." Which isn't a good sign, considering she lives in Rome. She says she will find us directions and then call us back. We stand around for what seems like forever before she finally texts Tim the directions. By the time this is all happening it is after 11am and Tim has class at 12pm.

Lisa tells us we need to get on the 910 bus and take it 7 stops. Then get on the 280 bus and take that 20 stops.  And we would end up right in front of the campus. After this long adventure, we finally got back to campus at 1pm. Tim missed his class and I still needed to go back to the apartment and get my stuff for my 2:15pm class. Who would have thought that it would take 4 hours to get textbooks?

I made back to campus just in time for my class. After class I headed right back to the apartment and passed out. When I woke up, I showered and got ready to go out for dinner. We felt that we deserved a night out after the day we had. So we headed over to the pizza place between Tim's and ours apartment.

This restaurant has become my new favorite. The lady (whom we think owns the place) wheres little tank tops and her boobs kinda spill out. We call her Tata (not her real name). We decided to stick with the normal and Tim, Bliss, and I ordered cheese pizza. Tynisha decided to order some lasgna. Tata said, "so four orders of lasagna, si?" We all laughed it off, thinking she was joking about it. NOPE. The waiters brought out four orders of lasagna. We were absolutely shocked by the situation, but the lasagna was delicious.

After getting the food, Tim decided he had to document the evidence. So he was taking pictures of the food. During this time, a waiter showed up behind me and asked Tim to take a photo of me and the waiter. Tim laughed it off and the waiter walked away. Then Tata came back over and gave me a high-five and told me to finish my lasagna (cause apparently I wasn't eating it fast enough). Let me point out a very important fact before I continue. This restaurant is a very nice sit down restaurant. It is NOT fast food. The waiters are all wearing black pants and vests. It is very classy. So what happened next took my by surprise.

Tata was walking by and I smiled at her. She came up to me and grabbed my face and started shaking it. Apparently this means she likes me? It was the funniest thing ever. I was in shock. That type of thing would never happen in the U.S. We have decided to make this restaurant our Thursday night dinner place.  OH! And Tata has a little dog that runs all over the restaurant (again this wouldn't be allowed in the states).

Let me throw in the part about Tim and the homeless guy quick. When we were walking to dinner, we came across a homeless guy on the sidewalk. We didn't notice him right away because he was covered in blankets. But as we walked by, he started moving up and down. Tim was the closest to him. Tim got totally creeped out and took off running down the sidewalk. THEN...after we had dinner, we had to turn around and walk back past the homeless guy. At first we didn't think he was there. But then we saw him creeping inbetween two vehicles on the street. Tim swears the the homeless guy was taking a poop on the street. And again, Tim started running away.

Anyways... after an exciting dinner, we head up to Tim's apartment to meet up with the rest of the guys. We were planning on going out and having a few drinks to end our night. It took awhile to get everyone ready and we headed out around 11pm. We were gonna hope the tram and head over to the bars by campus. But last minute the guys decide to go the complete opposite direction. So we run across the street, dodging traffic to reach the tram before it pulled away. Luckily we all made it on.

We got off the tram at the very next stop. None of us had any idea who was leading or where we were going. Most of the guys went inside a cafe while Tim, Bliss, Tynisha, Cuyler, and I all waited outside. When the other guys came out, they said we were going to walk 20 minutes to a discotec. Tim and I weren't to thrilled about the idea. We both had a gut feeling, but we went along with the group.

We literally walked to the ghetto of Rome. Tim became really protective and walked behind Bliss and I. It was really great knowing we had him looking out for us. Tim said he didn't want our dad to get the Marines to cut his balls off if we got hurt.

Well after asking directions from three different groups of people, we finally make it to the club area. This area seemed very Italian. By this I mean, no Americans. We didn't go into the first club because it was really busy and we didn't feel right about it. So we walked down to the next one. This one was a steakhouse, which we felt may have catered a little more to Americans. Cuyler and Antone walked up to the bouncer and the bouncer told the to turn around and leave.

After that happened, Tim, Bliss, Tynisha and I just turned around and left. Everyone else stayed behind, but we weren't having it. We finally made it back to our apartment at 1am. I didn't have so much as a drop of alcohol and it just added to the stress of the morning.

Italy: Day 7

These past two days have been uneventful. On Tuesday I had social psychology. My first impression of the professor was the she was a lazy, crabby bitch (excuse my language). She turned out to be quit friendly, but I was right about her being lazy. She sat the entire class and I couldn't even see her because of the people in front of me.

For dinner, Bliss made pasta and chicken. The chicken had a lot of rosemary on top of it. And for nearly 24 hours, I had a piece of rosemary lodged in the back of my throat. Thankfully it is no longer there.

Today we were supposed to go to a meeting with the U.S. embassy. We were told it was mandatory. But when we got there, they said to leave if we had class, which I did. I guess the meeting was about what would happen if we were in jail in Italy and all the jazz.

It rained for the first time today since we have been here. I was in class while it was raining and it was done by the time I was out of class. I discovered a new snack today as well. It is called Poker. Basically it is a vanilla wafer with a chocolate filling.

Taking Statistics here was the best decision of life. I was so nervous about it, but it is probably the easiest class ever. I am the only blond girl in class and one of three American students. The rest are Italian and they ask many questions. The course is covering the most basic things that I learned in middle school. So hopefully it is like this throughout the remainder of the course.

Thats all I have for now. Nothing has really happened.

Italy: Day 5

I haven't even been in Italy for a week and it feels like I have been here for a lifetime. Today was the first day of classes. I was excited and at the same time, not so excited. Bliss and I took the tram together to school, even thought her classes didn't start when mine did. On the tram, two Italian girls kept glaring at me and Bliss. I glared them down and they started talking in Italian behind their hands. I was about to go over and ask if they had a problem, but realized they wouldn't understand me. Which could have made the situation a lot more exciting.

Anyways....we stopped at a stand to get some fruit for breakfast before heading into the school. I got pinneapple and kiwi. Bliss got grapes. I don't eat pinneapple, but I really wanted the kiwi. The fruit bowl contained almost all pinneapple, except for 5 pieces of kiwi. To my despair, I dropped one of my kiwi slices on the ground. Bliss's grapes had three huge seeds in them. Which made them taste like choke cherries. I guess it wasn't the best use of 2,50 Euro.

After buying the fruit, a man on a moped stopped next to me on the street and winked at me. I panicked and started walking faster. Not even a yard down the sidewalk and another man stopped us and asked us for the time. Funny thing is, he had a cellphone in his hand. After giving him the time, he tried to start a conversation with us by asking if we were Americans. I just pulled Bliss and we kept walking.

My first class started at noon. History of Ancient Rome and Italy. To my dismay, the professor had an extremely strong Italian accent. It was a struggle understanding what she was saying. Which worries me about the rest of the semester. However, I did meet to guys who seem really nice and are from Michigan. One even speaks really good Italian, so I informed him that he was my new best friend.

Intro to Italian was my second course. Bliss and I are both in this course. The professor came into the room speaking Italian. She spoke Italian for almost the entire class and used very little English. It was a struggle the first day, but I hope I catch on. Foreign language courses are not my strong point. And the final exam is part oral.

Third class of the day was also with Bliss. Classical Mythology. So far I think this will be my favorite course. I about died when the professor came in. She is Americana!!!! THANK THE LORD! I have absolutely no trouble understanding her. She seems to be really "strict" about stuff, but in a way that she won't make you feel bad. If that makes sense. She has a great sense of humor. The only downer is that she says "okay" at the end of almost every sentence. I picked up on the pretty quickly. So I kinda tune everything out except when she says "okay" and it makes me cringe.

My last and final course was Statistics I. This is the one course that I was dreading, because I more or less hate math. I was especially neverous that the professor would have a strong Italian accent and I wouldn't be able to understand the lecture. Although the professor turned out to be Italian, his accent wasn't very strong in his English. So for the most part, I think I will be able to understand if I sit near the front of the class. I am hoping the the Middle Eastern guy that sat next to me today never sits there again. He had the worst smelling cologne ever.

Classes final ended at 8pm. That's right. I had class straight through from noon-8pm. I was shaking by the end of the day because I hadn't eaten anything yet. Bliss and I rode the tram back to the apartment. On the tram a crazy homeless guy and his dog started yelling at us. Let me just say....it was the longest train ride I have been on in a long time.

Once we got back to the apartment, Tim and Tynisha came over and we made pasta for supper. We also had a bottle of wine. Well, Tim had a bottle of wine. He basically drank the entire thing by himself. Then me and Tim talked about politics and greek life for over an hour, while Bliss and Tynisha sat there staring at the wall. We didn't even realize how much time had gone by.

On a side note, I learned an interesting fact about how Italians are tested for there classes. Inside of taking a written test, like back in the states, Italians give oral tests. The professor asks a series of questions. If you get one wrong, you are asked to leave and come back once you find the answer. This continues until all questions are answered correctly. Thank god I am going to an American University.

P.S. Ringo treats are amazing. I would say they are a cross between an animal cracker and oreo cookie. It is my new favorite thing.

Italy: Day 4

Well...we started off the morning to a late start. Bliss wanted to try and make the American brunch on campus which lasted from 10-12pm. I got up around 10am and was just about to jump in the shower when Michael called (my boyfriend). Since I rarely get the chance to talk to him, we talked for awhile.Then by the time I had showered and gotten ready, we had about a half hour to get to brunch.

We attempted to get on the tram, but the first one that went by was too crowded, so we waited for the next one. The next one wasn't any better. There was literally no breathing room. We were planning on meeting Tim at the tram stop that is by campus. We got there at about the same time, and realized that we were too late for brunch. So we hoped a train back to where we started and hit up the flea market for awhile.

The flea market starts right by our apartment and is about 2 km long. It was very overwhelming. The first stand we see was selling all kinds of birds. I started jumping up and down like a little girl because they were only 8 Euro a piece. I wanted to buy one soooo bad, but Bliss and Tim wouldn't let me. Then, to my absolute amazement, there was a cage with three CHIPMUNKS!! Never in my life would I imagine having a chipmunk as a pet. One chipmunk was doing blackflips!!

While walking through the market, I had one thing on my mind: a purse. The purse I brought along isn't the type that is safest from being stolen. I wanted to by a shoulder strap one. We finally came along a place where I liked the purses. The guy selling the purses came up to me and said he would give me a great deal, but only for me, no one else. He said it was because I was "hot and irresistable." These sellers don't take no for an answer. Before they tell you the price, they start putting things in a bag for you. Finally I ended up with two purses for 45 Euro.

The only other exciting thing at the market was an Italian man saying "Hello my baby" to me. We didn't really purchase anything, because we just wanted to see what they had. We plan to get up much earlier next Sunday and do some intense shopping.

Then we headed over to the Vatican. We took the tram as far as we could, then walked the rest of the way, since we haven't figured out the bus system yet. When we finally reached the Vatican, I thought Tim was going to pass out from excitement. He comes from a very Catholic family and plans to go to the Vatican at least once a week. As we were walking towards the Vatican, a irrate women was walking down the street screaming in Italian and obnoxiously spitting in disgust about something. No of us knew what she was screaming about.

After taking a million pictures from the outside of the Vatican, we finally decided to go in. After passing through security, we went through another area where they checked clothing. By this I mean, they were kicking women out if their shoulders weren't covered or the knees were showing. I was amazed at the amount of people who were being turned away.

We first headed to the tombs of the past popes. The last pope whom died (sorry that I don't know names, I wasn't raised Catholic), had two body gaurds around his tomb. There was also a viewing area where many people stood and prayed or cried. People also layed roses (only roses, no other flower) and pictures by the tomb. It was amazing how every single tomb was unique. None looked like any other.

We all made it throught the tombs pretty quickly. And we noticed at the end that Tim had disappeared. That last time anyone had seen him he was by Pope John Paul (whom he was most excited to see). After waiting at least five minutes, he finally showed up. He was having the time of his life.

The architecture inside the Vatican is amazing. Everything is so detailed. I tried really hard to get some good pictures, but my camera is hitting the end of if life. So I counted on Bliss to finish taking the rest of the photos. We got to walk inside the main area of the Vatican. It was beautiful. In this area, they have pope's bodies mummified and put in glass cases for everyone to see. That came as a shocker to me. It wasn't something I was expecting.

After we headed out of the Vatican, Tim stopped to look at rosaries and we all kept walking. We noticed he had disappeared so we sat down to wait for him. When he showed up, he was thrilled about his purchase. He has gotten 3 rosaries for 30 Euro. One, to he excitement, had beads made out of rose petals and smelled good. As we continuted walking down the street, we entered a store and found the exact same rosaries for 2 Euro a piece. He definitely got screwed over on that deal!

We entered a gelato store to get some bottled water. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the variety of shaped pasta that was for sale. And low and behold, there was penis shaped pasta!! I got very excited at this discovery and had to let everyone know about it. We plan to bring some back home!!

I found a baseball hat that I really wanted. I asked the guy how much it was and he said 1 million dollars. I told him that wasn't fair and he said "For you...only 5 Euro. But for him (pointing at Tim)...20 Euro." I purchased the hat and the sales guy tried to get Tim to buy a shirt. I think the guy thought Tim and I were a couple, because he continued to point out that I was now Tim's EX-girlfriend. Since aparently the sales man thought he had wooed me.

After that little adventure, we walked across the street to see the Castel Sant'Angelo. We decided not to pay to get in, because we were running low on time. So we took some pictures and decided to head back to our apartments. We also decided to try out the bus system. So we hoped onto a bus that we thought would bring us to the tram. At first it drove in the opposite direction that we needed to go. Then the driver stopped and got out. We were very confused. The driver was taking a smoking break!! He just parked the bus on the side of the street and left all the passengers, so he could go have a smoke.

We thought that we were lost on the bus. So we randomly got off at a stop so we could try and figure things out. Amazingly, we got off at the stop right next to the tram!! We got lucky! So we hoped the tram back to the apartments.

Bliss and I had a skype date with mom and dad. Then we headed over to Tynisha's apartment for some pizza. There was a large group of people there, and I met a lot of new people. It was a good time.

Now I am back in the apartment, waiting for my sleeping pills to kick in. Classes start tomorrow. My first one is at noon. And I have classes until 8pm. It is going to be a very long day. But I am excited to start classes.

Italy: Day 3

Well...I am still struggling with the lack of sleep and the horrible time change. I want to sleep during the day and be up all night. It's rough.

Not a lot happened today. We had to go to campus for the President's Welcome at 1pm. Which was a complete waste of my life. They had a bbq....which I was excited for. Free food!!! You can't go wrong there. But the organization of the whole thing sucked. We were at the front of the line...yet we waited forever because people just push there way to the front. It was sooo annoying. By the time we finally got a burger, it was cold. Tim, Bliss, and I were extremely annoyed.

We had a little free time before we had to get our permit to stay. So we sat in the computer lab for awhile. Then we headed back to the apartment and looked up flights and hostels for our weekend trips. We ended up getting a lot of good deals. The cost is extremely resonable and I am so excited.

After all our planning, we got hungry and decided to try a restaurant that was suggested by SAI. We walked over 20 minutes to find out that the restaurant wasn't there anymore. Or atleast it wasn't where we assumed it would be. The numbering on the buildings went from 90 to 92 and skipped over 91. And NO there wasn't any buildings on the other side of the street. So we had to walk all the way back and finally decided on a little pizza place right by the apartment.

Before I even ordered my phone Michael called me for the first time in over a week. I told Bliss what I wanted and went outside to talk to him for about 20 minutes. Bliss came out and yelled at me that the food was done. So sadly, I had to get off the phone with Michael. Come to find out...the food had been done for about 10 mintues. Tim was almost done eating and mine was cold. Thank you very much sister.

Now we are back at the apartment. Tomorrow we are going to the Parta Portese (flea market). This is 2km long and only happens on Sundays from 7am-2pm. Here you can buy anything BUT food. I am extremely excited and I plan on finding some souveniers.

Just an interesting little fact. It is against Italian law to have overnight guests. If you get caught with overnight guests...it is a minimum of a 1200 Euro fine.

Italy: Day 2

I was one crabby person when I had to wake up this morning at 7am. I still haven't adjusted to the time change and I was extremely worn out. We had to meet Tim and Jake at 8am to walk back over to campus to take a bus to Ostia Antica. Let me point out that this bus (a normal sized coach bus) was the largest vehicle I have seen in this city. All the vehicles here are extremely small. Even the garbage trucks look like toy trucks. I still have to get a pictures of one!!

Ostia Antica is a large archeological site that was the harbour city of ancient Rome, which is approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) northeast of the site and close to the modern town of Ostia. "Ostia" in Latin means "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but, due to silting and a drop in sea level, the site now lies 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the sea. The site is noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent frescoes and impressive mosaics.

It was nice seeing all the ruins, however, I could only see so many broken down rock buildings before I got agigtated. I was hot and I was hungry. I was also afraid that a lizard would jump out of the tree and land on my head.

We then took the bus to a farm where we had lunch. We had a full Italian 7-course meal. Which was very good. There was a lot that I wouldn't eat though. Tim and I decided that we are gonna lose weight from not eating. rather than all the excercise we will be doing. And the reason we won't be eating is because we don't know how to order the food. And often times we anger the locals.

When we returned from the farm, we bought our bus pass for 30 Euro. This pass lets us use the bus, tram, subway, and metro for a whole month. It is definitely worth the purchase, considering the distance we are from the campus, as well as the rest of the exciting stuff in Rome. I can only handle so much walking. And the later I can sleep in before classes, the happier I will be. I also got 5 stamps, which the lady wasn't to thrilled to sell me. She informed me that she didn't have very many, but continued to open a folder that was pouring out with stamps. Hmmm....

Then we headed to the market to try and find some food. Which wasn't very successful because we didn't know what anything was. We ended up getting a bottle of wine, some beer, and pasta. Sounds like the perfect meal to me. We are gonna do some research on dishes that we can make. I attempted to find the Italian alternative to Animal Crackers for Michael, but was unsuccessful in that search.

We came back to the apartment and crashed for a couple hours. Then Tim came over and we made Bliss cook us pasta for supper. We are currently waiting for her to finish up the cooking. I will have to inform you of the taste.

Oh!! And we have our electricity back on. Thanks to the maintenence man. Even though he didn't show us how to fix it. So if it happens again, I guess we have to call for help again. Which could make us seem very annoying to the Italians.

Italy: Day 1

Today we had to wake up at 10 am to get ready for orientation. I was exhausted and started off the day with an ice cold shower. After finally getting ready, we decided to walk to campus. We headed the wrong qay initially and had to call the roommates for directions. It was a longggg walk to the campus. We ended up at the wrong campus building and couldn't find the other one. Finally we saw JCU people and asked them for assistance. We still had a struggle, but eventaully made it.

We sat through about 8 hours of boring orientation. Everything was soooo repetitive. They were repeating everything that we have heard a million times over and over again. I was very close to falling asleep. After that torture was finally over, we snuck on the tram (hoping we wouldn't get caught without a ticket) and headed back to the apartment.

I finished unpacking my stuff when I returned. Bliss plugged in her computer and blew the fuse. We still don't know how to turn the electricity back on. So my computer might die soon. I am very agitated by this fact. I guess it gives me a reason to go to bed earlier.

Tim and his roommate came over and the four of us went out for supper at Buchette (?)  It was a bit more of a struggle ordering food this time. The waitress wasn't very patient with us Americans. But the food was great.

After eating we headed back to our apartment and started planning our weekend trips. Below is our current itinerary:

Milan: Sept 18-19
Amalfi Coast: Sept 24-26
Sicily: Oct 1-3
Venice: Oct 9
Athens: Oct 15-17
Germany: Oct 29-Nov 1
Florence: Nov 5
Paris: Nov 12-14
Venice or Ireland (Thanksgiving break): Nov 25-28
London: Dec 3-5

As you can see, we have a lot of traveling to do. Which is very exciting. We tried very hard to be able to attend Oktoberfest, but unfortunately we just couldn't find a way to get there.

I have to go for now. The computer is about to die and I have no way of charging it. Hopefully we can figure it out by tomorrow.

Adventure to Italy

We have made it to Italy. It was quite an adventure.

Let's start with the plane ride to Amsterdam. We were sitting in the Chicago O'Hare airport. We had a little bit of waiting to do before we could board the plane, so I decided to try and connect to the internet. My computer came on and all sorts of error messages started popping up. My first thought and only thought was that my computer was crashing. I have never had a virus on my computer in the two years that I have owned the thing. And it would be just my luck for it to crash the day I leave for four months. Thank the lord that I bought an external hard drive prior to leaving for Italy.

Well we boarded the plane. It was huge and Bliss, Tim and I all sat together in one row. Each seat had it's own tv screen, which I was extremely thrilled about. The thing I wasn't thrilled about was the screaming child two rows in front of us. We hadn't even taken off and I wanted to strangle the kid. The flight was okay, but extremely long. I watched the beginning of several movies, never actually finishing any. I made the bad choice to watch all the war movies....not sure why I thought that was a good idea.

All in all it was a pretty decent flight. Even though sleeping was virtually impossible. We had cajun chicken for supper on the flight...which was extremely disgusting.

After getting off the plane in Amsterdam, we had to go through security again. This time wasn't as smooth as the last. I walked through the security thinger and was told I needed to be padded down. So...I was padded down by a lady. I quit violated. They literally touch EVERY part of your body. More than a little uncomfortable.

Well we got to the waiting area for our flight to Rome. Bliss and I decided to attempt to call our parents. The pay phone wouldn't allow us to use a calling card. It said we had to use a "red phone." We asked a young man at a little concession stand where we would locate this "red phone" and he seemed just as confused as we were. So then we decided to try and use a credit card and make a quick call, just to inform the rents that we made it alive. Well...we couldn't figure out how to get that to work either. We finally resorted to paying for the internet at the airport in order to send a quick email.

Our flight from Amsterdam to Rome was fast. It was a smaller plane and a lot bumpier ride. I was very happy when that plane finally hit the ground. As we got off the plane, I was full on checked out by a teenager in a red shirt (at least this is what Tim tells me). We walked the opposite way as our luggage for awhile, when we finally realized we were headed the wrong way.

After getting our luggage, we were very confused as to where to go next. We walked around, toting our luggage, for quit some time before we were headed in the right direction. Let me tell you...going up the escalator dragging two HUGE rollable bags is not an easy task. If Tim wasn't standing below we...I would have definitely fallen down the escalator, with my luaggage trailing behind me.

The walk from the airport to the Hilton hotel sucked. It was the longest, hottest, most draining walk I have been on. I pulled a muscle in my arm during the process. And barely got my luggage on the moving sidewalks. I was livid that we had to tote all of our stuff that far.

Check in at the hotel went smoothly. We had to wait a while for a shuttle to finally take us to our apartment. It was a long ride. We finally got dropped off on a street in a kinda desolate area. The driver was about to take off without telling me where to go next. He pointed to a door that we were supposed to go to. He spoke no English, which made communication hard.

We had to roll our luggage up two sets of stairs before reaching the door to the apartment building. It took us awhile to figure out how to get into it. And it took us even longer to figure out which apartment was ours. The keys here are about 3 times the size as American ones. And we had no idea how to get in the room. Once we finally got in, we pulled our bags in the room and crashed for a couple hours.

We woke up and went to dinner with our roommates a Sale & Peppe (or something like that). I had my first Italian dinner with a nice glass of wine....or two glasses...ummmm maybe three. After eating we came back to the apartment and unpacked. I was thrilled to find that we have wireless internet in our apartment. AND my computer is working fine.

Tomorrow we have orientation at 12:30pm.

It is time for me to try and get some sleep.