JCU Orientation

After just one night to catch up with the 9 hour jet lag that was plaguing me, Rome was calling. Walking down the massively long stairway to the street was still as overwhelming as the night before. Once outside, the sunshine was something else -- January, and 58F (~15C)! The first thing I noticed was how busy the street was -- the same traffic I saw the night before was  ever-present. The second thing I took note of was how fantastic everyone dressed. I was thrilled I brought my "nice" clothes and only one pair of sweatpants... The last thing I noticed were the narrow cobblestone alleyways, which were no match for the buses and mopeds that sped through, disregarding all obvious signs of perhaps slowing down a little or using caution. Memo to self: Italians are busy, beautiful, and bold.

Our walk to school is only one turn -- left when you get to the river. We all couldn't help but guess where all the alleys were leading and if we could take shortcuts. We finally got to campus for Orientation, and stood in the many lines that starting forming of anxious students: breakfast for croissants and cafe, pickup for our free cellphones, the photocopier for the unprepared people who forgot to read the 15 emails they sent us stating that we needed copies of our passports, visas etc, the computer lab to use the internet to email mom and dad, and many other lines I'm forgetting now. I lucked out. I was first in my most of the lines and didn't have time to get irritated. That was a definite plus.

We went out to dinner the first night, with the girls that live downstairs from me on the third floor. We ordered a bottle of Chianti, and marveled at how incredible real Italian food is. Our waiter spoke English, but I decided to kick off my lack of Italian understanding and attempt to learn how to order in Italian. "Vorrei una botellia di vino rossi, il Chianti Classico, per favore." I figured, when in doubt, wine can always help the rough accent and poor grammar, so at the bare minimum I should know how to order it...

For the next two days, my roommates and I made the trek to Orientation, listening to the talks about safety in Rome and looking both ways (...NO KIDDING!?), Italian men and how they are pretty much "safe stalkers" (whatever that means), the sites, the shopping, and all the rules about our housing arrangements. Once the agenda was finally ticked off, we finally got to explore Roma.