Getting to Rome- First week

First Rome Thoughts

Getting to Rome the first day was exciting. Rome that night not so exciting. It had hit me I was homesick. I missed Lindz, family and the good USA. It is a lot different here. We have two toilets in our bathroom. One for the waste and the other to wash off with (we only use the first one). The apartment is very old and has not had many updates. We have a washer in our kitchen, no dryer, no microwave, no toaster, It is a big transition (I don’t know how to cook without a microwave). The first days were the most difficult. I really wanted to get on a plane and fly home. I am looking at things differently now. I just have to not focus on the length and take it a couple weeks at a time.


On my 3 mile hike to studio back and forth a few times a day I walk past the coliseum among other old historical stuff. Everything around here is old, famous, historical, or something, kind of gets old haha. I thought I had walked just about all of Rome until I started taking the bus. I learned that if you get on a bus that you think is going in the right direction because you’re sick of waiting for the right number is a very bad idea. Dave and I were on the bus about an hour before it turned around then we thought we could figure out where we were to get off (partly because of the BO smell that surrounded us, haven’t seen any deodorant in any store here yet) Well when we got off we walked in about 4 different directions before finding out from an English speaking pedestrian that we were further from studio then we started. Needless to say we had a long day of walking. To make it better we went to get a sandwich at this awesome sandwich place and it was closed. So we did not get anything accomplished except learning never to get on the # 3 bus again.

Backing up a day, there was a festival here this past weekend. Talk about a ton of people. From 10pm until 2 am the museums were all open for free. We hit up a couple of them, and saw some circus ole type of show. There were defiantly millions of people in the streets. On the couple mile walk back it was solid people no room to walk on any of the streets, the craziest thing I think I have seen since being here (aside from the shock of seeing my home for the next 3 and a half months).

Alright one more thing then I will stop writing. I am writing this in Microsoft word then having to post later because the apt has no Internet and studio it’s off and on. The one thing that is pretty nuts here is the way people drive their cars and vespas. If anyone has ever thought they had a ride when they were in the go-kart (Travis’ Corolla) they have no idea. There is no such thing as a lane, red light (well they have them but don’t mind to them) in Italy or Rome at least. Sometimes at a cross walk you could stand for hours and not cross so you have to get some guts and just go for it. I guess as long and your feet are on the crosswalks it is illegal otherwise they can hit you and drive off and feel fine.