La prima settimana

I arrived on Tuesday, September 1 without incident. Flew from Seattle to Philadelphia to Frankfurt to Rome. That last leg meant flying over the Alps, which was unbelievable.

My apartment is in the Trastevere neighborhood (so named because it's across the Tevere a.k.a. the Tiber River), and I can walk and/or take a tram and/or catch a bus pretty much anywhere I've needed to go so far. It's three bedrooms/two bathrooms, and there are five of us living here.

Tuesday night our program directors took us out to a welcome dinner consisting of ten courses. Most of us were not prepared for that.

Wednesday we had initial meetings for obtaining a permesso di sogiorno (Permit to Stay). In the afternoon we had program orientation followed by a bus tour and then a walking tour all around Rome.Yesterday morning we visited the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, both of which I've seen before but both of which are amazing no matter how many times you've seen them. In the afternoon my roommate and I came home and promptly had a siesta away from the oppressive Roman heat and humidity. Last night we ate pasta with pesto we got at a little shop next to our apartment, then sat on our balcony watching the sun set over the hill.

This morning I got to Skype with my friend Veronica, who is currently in Australia. Then we had orientation at the university, which they breezed through quicker than I'd hoped. Oh well. I found the rooms my classes are in, so that's a start. I'm hoping I can figure things out as they come.