First days in Rome

Well, I'm officially in Rome now. This process has been so much easier than India was- I was able to fly and do all of my visa paperwork out of Philadelphia. Yet somehow my brain seems to be stuck on India- I still have to catch myself and stop saying "Ha" instead of "Si" (or even yes!) and

The sun sets at the Philly airport just before departure.

I'm living in a flat with four other girls- one from Emory (Rachel), two from Boston College (Sophie and Mayra) and one from American (Kelly). We've all gotten along well together- seems like it's going to be a smooth semester in terms of living situation.

We also live above a pizza shop, which is both entertaining and rather handy. (They don't just sell pizza, of course, which is even better- it means that I can pick up an entire roast chicken and side of potatoes or green beans and have that for dinner. I have even (very slowly) been learning to cook. (I can even work our gas stove.) This may not seem like such an accomplishment, but as someone who once burned soup this is a big step for me.



Mayra in our bedroom as we were unpacking.

 Note the very stylish airplane sheets that come with all of our beds for some reason that I don't understand. Even when I go to other AUR students' apartments they have the same sheets.

And now some photographs of the city itself!



A cafe around the corner from AUR, which is the brightly colored building in the background.

A pretty fly statue.

View from the bridge.

Me, obviously.

Mayra.

Don't ask me why they have Duff beer here; I've seen it in multiple places.

Trajan's Column.



Three AU girls: Leigh, Kelly and me.

 I'll finally give myself a chance to publish this.