It’s officially been more than a week since first arriving in my new home and it’s even better than I ever remembered. Let me tell you, it’s no Miami, meaning the temperatures are pretty chilly and there are LOTS of hills, but it’s different in a very good way.
Our campus is so freaking cool. It’s this cute little area blocked off by old stone walls right smack dab in the middle of a very “locals only” neighborhood. The buildings are old but renovated into modern-style classrooms, and the professors are as authentic as the cappuccino from the bar across the street (coffee shops are called bars here, something that can get pretty confusing at first).
Let me now tell you about the hike to campus. I say hike because it is quite literally equivalent to scaling a mountain. I cross the street from my apartment, walk a few blocks, turn the corner, and am met with a wall of stairs. 200+ stairs. Every single day. And after walking up that first set, there is another rickety wooden staircase there to greet you. AND THEN AFTER THAT there is YET ANOTHER set of stairs to climb and a slightly inclined street before finally reaching semi-flat stretch of road. If anything, the walk will keep me in shape and prevent me from gaining too much weight on my all-carb diet of pizza and pasta. On the downside, I am always sweating through my thick wool sweaters when I finally make it to class.
Honestly I think the biggest adjustment for me is the fact that Europeans don’t count the ground floor as Floor 1. So after hiking all the way to campus, I then have to trek up to the third floor for my classes, which is really the fourth floor because they don’t count the ground level. It’s definitely an adjustment coming from Miami and South Jersey, which are relatively flat places.
The Roman life is certainly one I will be able to get used to. I already feel a sense of home and it’s only been 7 nights here so far. It’s so entertaining to be in the middle of a city that is both ancient and modern, where you walk past 2000-year-old ruins on your way to the pub. I already love the food (as expected) and have had the best pizza, pasta, and wine in my entire life. One restaurant nearby has an entire personal pizza for 2 euros, which is insanely cheap and really delicious, so we have already been there more times than we can count.
Stay tuned to hear more about this crazy, unreal city and all of the mouth-watering food I’ll be devouring for the next few months!
Ciao!
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