Day One

This place is incredible.

We've only been in Rome for 12 hours and I am already falling in love with the city, the architecture, the people and the food. I can't believe this is home for two months.

Getting here was one of the easiest trips I've ever had. The four of us who traveled together (there is a grand total of 11 from school ) met up at the gate in Newark Airport. We all shared our goodbye stories, which certainly helped allay any of the lingering nervousness and anxiety; it was nice to know that we were all feeling it. Personally, I somehow must have blocked the mental apprehension, but I knew I was nervous because my honey nut cheerios that morning went down my throat like lead. Either way, we got the the airport and got to discussing the trip. What some of our expectations are, what we hope to do and see, what we hope to gain from our students and schools and the overall experience. Everyone seems to be on the same page that this is going to be a life changing opportunity, certainly unforgettable.

Our first flight left Newark and flew directly to Logan International Airport in Boston. It was a 38 minute flight. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I had the opportunity to listen to only two songs on my ipod ("L 'ultima Notte" and "Un Giorno Per Noi" both by Josh Groban) Notice the Italian theme! Before I knew it we were in Boston and walked what felt like 9 miles to our next gate. Our connection flight wasn't boarding for 2.5 hours so we decided to walk around a bit. I started reading my Teacher's Tackle Box book for class--the homework definitely distracted me from the ever enduring threat of anxiety. Time flew by in the airport and once again it was time to board. A few last minute phone calls and text messages and it was time to find our seats!

I arrived at my seat (20D) and was pleasantly surprised to be in the aisle! (I had an absolutely stunning view out the window on the first flight. I've never flown over New York before, I've always taken ground transportation, so that was a great sight to see!) As I approached my seat I noticed a younger looking girl in the chair next to mine. She was speaking Italian on the phone and I was happy to recognize a few words... not that I was eavesdropping. Just sort of a test run at the difficulties I may encounter with the language barrier.

After she hung up she kind of nudged me and pointed to her right, where there were TWO empty seats. We were in the middle aisle which contains four chairs. I assured her that I would not be offended if she moved across the seats for optimal stretching out ability to which she chuckled and responded in English. Alright, my first bi-lingual encounter! We exchanged pleasantries and got to talking a bit. Her name is Gabriela and it turns out she is from Hunterdon County, NJ and was born in a city which is literally minutes from my house. What a small world! Even better, she is living in Trastevere in semester. She works from John Cabot University, not as a teacher but for their housing department. We had a lot to talk about and I really hope to run into her while we are out on the town (she mentioned that the likelihood of this happening was very high)

The plane took off, the flight was smooth. We had not one but two fantastic (well, they were very edible, I'll say) meals and two in flight movies. I caught the tail end of The Social Network and then watched this wonderfully hilarious Italian comedy "Benvenuti al Sud" (Welcome to the South) I did my best to listen and use the subtitles when necessary.. unfortunately they were pretty necessary. I'll get there.

Other than a crying infant (who I felt very bad for, it must be scary to be on a plane for that long) the flight was one of the best I've been on. It did not feel like 8 hours, and I only slept for about 2 of them. We got off the plane and hopped on to a shuttle bus which took us to customs--no stamping though :( and to the baggage claim. Ritiro bagagli was one of my key phrases to remember for the airport and sure enough, there it was as we walked in!

We found our luggage (thought we lost Elena's for a little while) and met up with two more of our trip-mates, Dominique and Maria. They arrived slightly before us and were able to find our driver, who was great. All six of us took a van drive through Italian countryside from Fuimicino Airport right up to our beautiful cobblestone street, Via Della Luce. I will post pictures of the street and our apartments as soon as I can!

After a very brief tutorial of some of the amenities from Massimo our landlord (who is incredible, by the way) we decided to take Trastevere by storm and explore. Granted we--meaning the 8 of us who are here so far--walked only about two blocks, but we already started to get a feel for the culture here: cars and motocycles zooming by, a gelato shop on every corner and such breath taking architecture!

We stopped in a small panini restaurant on Viale Trastevere and I had some pizza bianca with what I believe was spinach (spinace?). Served with some fresh parmigiano... molto bene! We finished lunch and went back to the apartment to unpack and rest up--we were approaching the 24th hour of being awake. I was able to unpack my 62 pound (28 kg) suitcase and fit everything in my tiny room with little hassle, take a shower and have a nice nap before dinner.

We met up for dinner around 8:00pm, which is actually early for Italians. After walking around the streets of Trastevere a bit we found a delicious little restaurant hidden away from the heart of the city. It was called La Scaletta which I'm still working on finding out what it means. Either way the food was fantastic. I stuck with the Pizza Vegetariano and of course devoured the entire thing. We also split bottle of the house red wine which was delizioso and cheap! Only 5 euro for the whole bottle. Also, midway through the meal un uomo showed up with a guitar and serenaded us during dinner. He.was.hilarious. People just seem so lighthearted here and they enjoy joking around and being silly. I could definitely get used to this.

Our next stop was to 'Blue Ice' across the walkway for our first of many gelato experiences. Absolutely fantastico! Italians seem to have this odd obsession with Nutella, so I plan on trying the nutella gelato next, but tonight I stuck with good old fashion dark chocolate--definitely a great choice. We finished eating the gelato while walking around (I have to post pictures, the lighting and the buildings are beautiful). We were all wiped from the day's travels so we decided to call it an early night and have since been hanging out on the top floor just getting to know one another. The people here are really great and we already have a fun group dynamic. Maybe I'll create mini 'get to know you blogs' for each of my fellow global student teachers. Anyway, this was probably the longest blog I'll write while here, but I do not want to forget any moment of this wonderful day.

Funny stories to remember:
The lady sneezing 80,000 times on the plane
Not knowing how to operate the paper towel system in the public bathroom
First entering my broom clos... apartment (which I have since grown to love!)
Digging through the garbage to 'find my receipt' when in reality I was searching for the girls' room key
The guitar player/singer at La Scaletta
"Killing" the slug in Alyssa in Katie's room

Words of the Day:
Day: Giorno
left: sinestra
right: destra