supermercato

So...I had an interesting afternoon at the supermarket today. On my way home from school I decided to stop at the supermarket to get some food for my apartment. First of all, the supermarket is located in the basement of oviesse (which is a clothing store like H&M). I hate walking into cute clothing stores cause all I wanna do is shop! I looked around for a bit then proceeded down the steps. I get in this tiny little grocery store and it's actually quite busy. It's all locals..I'm probably the only english speaking girl there. I'm looking around and kind of have an idea at what I want by the pictures..but everything is in Italian so half the stuff I have no idea what it is. I grab crackers, cheese and salami. Good snack food for between classes. I get up to the checkout line (only 2 of them are open) and it's packed. I am standing in line, probably about 10 people back with about 5 people behind me. All of a sudden, this older lady decides to cut in line in front of me! First she stands right next to me..then she kind of inches her cart in front of me and tries to "sneak" in. Excuse me lady..I'm right here..trying to sneak in front of me doesn't really work when I'm looking straight at you. She avoids eye contact..like if she doesn't look at me then I can't see her. Then, the guy behind me starts yelling at her in Italian and she eventually pulls out to the side. Then, my food is on the line with a divider between the girls food in front of me and my food. The cashier gets to the end of the girls food, moves the divider, and continues to ring the food up under the girls tab. I quick grabbed for it and we figured it out, but come on! Why do they even have dividers if the cashiers don't actually use them correctly?? Not to mention-the cashier is sitting down while swiping the food, so it's not like she has much to think about anyway! Another interesting thing about the supermercato...you have to purchase the plastic bags that you bag your groceries in. It's only .05 euros (like 10 cents), but what a good idea! I think we should take that as a lesson...America should enforce it as well...

well, I've had enough crackers, salami and cheese for now..time to walk the 2 miles back to school for Italiano classe!! 

Fotografia

picture time! I'm loving it here...

Colosseum

The famous she-wolf statue (but not the original)

My first pizza in Italy..Margherita! mmmm!! 

2nd pizza...Dialova (with salami) this was the BEST!

The capital of Rome! MN's capital is no where CLOSE to this. gorgeous

Maggie and I in front of the Colosseum

Nuns everywhere! holy city..

you walk down these narrow roads..and cars drive down it as well. watch out for your feet! they will run them over and won't care.. :) 

Mom's cousins...Bruno and Antonella Capponi

My roommate Alyssa and I drinking from the fountain (everyone does this!)

First gelato..Nutella and White Chocolate. yummy! 

Trevi Fountain...my favorite work of art in Rome so far.

Bernini's fountain in Piazza Navona

My roommate Alyssa and a friend from JCU Carolyn

Me, Maggie (traveling buddy from St. Thomas) and Maria in front of the Guarini campus of John Cabot. (There are 2 campuses...Guarini and Tiber)

My awesome roommate (we also share a room) Alyssa

Some girls from JCU before we went out for the night. 

I'm having so much fun!! can't wait to see more of Italy. 

ciao!!

8/29: 2 days until school starts!

Buongiorno!

I've had such busy days these past few days with orientations and meetings and all that. Finally some down time in my apartment to rest the legs and relax! Today we went and did quite a few sightseeing spots..but not all of them! We started out with Piazza Navona..what a gorgeous area! All the cute restaurants and water fountains!  We then went to the Pantheon which is an amazing building. The first and second kings of Italy have their tombs inside which was probably my favorite part of that...and also the huge whole in the ceiling. We then walked on to the Trevi Fountain which was my ABSOLUTE favorite..I've seen pictures of all these things before but pictures don't even begin to capture how beautiful everything here is in person! Of course we moved on to the spanish steps as well and then I stopped into mom's cousins tobacco shop to meet Bruno, Augusto and Antonella. Only Bruno and Antonella were there, but what nice people! Bruno was very embracing of my visit and was super excited..haha I really liked him. We saw a few more monuments and the Vatican from a distance (were going to Vatican City tomorrow so we figured we would just see it then..) I have not seen the Colosseum yet either so that will be also be on the list for tomorrow. School starts on Monday and I'm actually excited to begin classes! especially my Italian class because then I will be able to communicate more with everyone here :)

that's all for now! will post pictures soon.

Ciao!

the blogging begins- 8/27

ciao!! 

It's me...sno...all the way from Rome! :) Tay and I were chatting this morning and she gave me the brilliant idea to start a blog (who would have thought SHE would think of that?????) haha..anyway I thought it was a good idea. I was planning on emailing you all but this seemed more fun and interesting to me and that way you can choose when you want to read my updates :) ill try to get on here as much as I can- like during class when I'm listening to the professor....or even during my downtime of laying around the apartment. My flight went really well...the first flight to amsterdam actually didn't seem that long. After getting to the airport it took us 3 hours to get through everything, find reps from John Cabot and then get our shuttle cab. Waiting for what seemed like FOREVER was the worst part I just wanted to shower and sleep and get to my apartment. It was extremely hot and humid outside so that didn't help. They have crazy drivers on the streets of Rome and of course our shuttle would break down right before a stop light at a busy intersection! it was scary!! After moving into a new shuttle we finally got to school to check in and get the apartment. The place is actually pretty nice and a decent size. I have 2 other roommates who are awesome. I really like them. I share a big room with one of my roommates and there's another smaller room. We also have a bathroom, kitchen, and living area (with a TV). I'll post pictures as soon as I get the chance.  Went to school today to fill out papers and registered for an Italian cell phone with decent rates (still planning on using skype to talk to you all from home!!) I have met so many people already and everyone is so friendly. We have a meet and greet for JCU students in about an hour and a half..until then I am resting my feet! so much walking already my feet are starting to blister!! After the meet and greet a few of us girls are going to walk into the city to see ancient Rome. I absolutely can not wait! 

I wish I knew a little more italian, its hard to communicate here especially when you are trying to order something to eat or ask for directions. they don't speak much english here..I guess I'll learn with time though :) 

All is well and I LOVE it here. living a dream....

Arrivederci!