Category: Italy

I have finished my first month in Rome. I didn’t write very much during this time. At first everything was really busy and hard, then life seemed sort of everyday and not worth writing about.

My first week all I was doing was trying to find an apartment. It was very stressful. I was hating Rome but trying to withhold judgment. Everything was so hard. I couldn’t understand the Roman accent. No one is friendly. Now I’ve made it my mission to help every lost tourist I can, or to talk to them if we’re somewhere like the Metro. So that they might have a better impression of the people in Rome than I got my first days.

Things got better immediately after I moved into my apartment. I was living in a nicer part of Rome, the historical center, and I had Filippa. I made friends at school, through CouchSurfer, and through Filippa. I met Daniele, who took me out of the touristy zones I had been frequenting. It took a few weeks, but I was eventually able to understand the Roman Italian accent. Live is now pretty good, actually.

I finished my four weeks of language classes; made friends with a few of the girls there. Amy from Texas has been living in Rome for a year and a half with her Italian boyfriend she met back home. Sofi, Hungarian, is here considering going to university in Italy next year. Kimiko, Japanese has moved here to Rome and would like to work in tourism. Chiemi, also Japanese has been living here a year. Now I am studying on my own. Since I have plenty of people to practice with, this is better. I can work on the things I need to improve most. I am still spending plenty of time studying even without the motivation of class everyday. I signed up for the CILS level two (B2) test. This is the same test and level foreigners have to take to apply to an Italian university. It might be a little beyond my level, but I have nothing to lose if I fail.

This past month I have been having different Roman adventures in the afternoon, evening, and weekends.

If I don’t go out at night, I typically walk around my neighborhood, by the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo. There are a lot of designer shops around here with beautiful window displays.

It is maybe a 10 minute walk to the Trevi Foutain or Pantheon. I go there a lot, but it’s a little too tempting to not get a gelato when I do.

My second Sunday here Filippa and I went to the beach. We took the train and it was about 30 minutes away. It reminded me of a city beach in California, nice but you know it is much nicer if you go just a little further away. Unfortunately there are still those horribly annoying venders. So every few minutes you are asked if you would like to buy some sunglasses, necklaces, or some other crap. I was prepared in advance that Filippa wore a two piece because I saw it drying in the bathroom. It also fits perfectly with her Italian personality. That’s old Italy, not today’s Italy with lots of American influence. I mean, we don’t even have a toilet seat, I don’t expect her to have my idea of modesty. She didn’t wear the suit top most of the time we were at the beach, but again, that fit perfectly well with what I expect from her. I’m pretty sure she never wears a bra, so why would she keep her bathing suit top on at the beach?

The following Sunday Filippa and I went together to Porta Portese, but we split up pretty quickly. Porta Portese is a gigantic market every Sunday. Everything you can think of is there. Clothes, shoes, and jewelry, sure, but also furniture, housewares, animals, books, and all sorts of other things. A lot of the same things vendors sell in the center you can find there for less. I would like to go back one more time.

I also made a Pumpkin Pie. It was a little tricky finding all the ingredients here. It was definitely tricky converting the recipe to metric. Not only is it metric, they measure in mass. Cups and the other units we use are all volume. Each ingredient has it’s own conversion rate. And they sell butter in two different size sticks here. It was a fun exercise in 2nd grade mathematics.

[Edit] Link to Rome photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#

I have arrived in Rome where I will stay the rest of this trip to Europe. When I first got here the friend of a friend I was supposed to meet, an Italian girl, changed her mind and decided to stay out of the city for the night with her family. So I had to make new plans last minute. Leaning against the train station wall, looking only at my cell phone, an old gypsy woman walked by cursing at me and making hand gestures. Then when she had finished passing, she mooned me! Buonvenuta a Roma!

My first days were busy starting school and apartment hunting. I was staying near the Vatican (near my school) and not taking time to visit the sights in the center. I had blocked from my memory how difficult it was to find an Italian apartment last time (4 years ago in Milan). There is no single website here like we have back home. Everything is in Italian. Everything moves at the speed of Italy. It really enforces how difficult it can be for foreigners.

But I have an apartment now! I’m living near Piazza di Spagnia (the Spanish Steps) just a few feet away from Via del Corso, a pretty important street. It’s the historical center. I’m lucky to have found a room here for only 2 months. My room is in the apartment of a little old Italian lady, Filippa. She has lived in this apartment for 25 years! She knows everyone in the neighborhood. She does not speak any English and she is determined to teach me Italian. It’s fantastic! Though she smokes, and I forgot how much I hate cigarette smoke. Though I can hardly ask her to stop in her home.

I finished my first week of language classes. The school is smaller than I expected. My language school in Milan had so many students it was so easy to make friends there. Though I have yet to be bored. It is not the best school I have been to, but since I have a full scholarship I have nothing to complain about.

I came here with two main language goals. First I would like to be able to speak Italian with my personality. Now I can only speak simply, it’s not really “me”. Second I am OK at having a conversation with one patient person. But when I go out in a group it is almost impossible with everyone talking faster and all at once. I want to be able to have a conversation with a group of people and hold my own. But these two goals have been forgotten since I arrived in Rome and realized I can’t understand anything. No one told me before I got here that the Roman people mumbled– they are known for “eating their words”. I can hardly talk to one person (depending on how thick their accent is). But I think I am getting better listening to Filippa and my teacher so much. I hope.

[Edit] Link to Rome photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#