Round 1: here goes

Well, I suppose I did say that I would try one of these. So. Here I am. Huh. Okay. Wow. Do I actually have anything to say?

No, that isn’t the question…the question is rather am I capable of saying anything interesting? That is a much trickier question. But I’m willing to give this a go if you all are.

So. Here goes. I am in Rome. (Not the most interesting beginning is it?) I have been here for nearly two weeks as of this writing. When this actually gets up online is anyone guess. I don’t have regular internet, so unless I can get the free one in the McDonalds to work…it could be a while.

As most of you know, the adventure begins with my interest in digging up old shit. Well, that was the goal of the summer. I have been on this program two weeks and have I dug up any old stuff? No. No I haven’t.

I have toured Rome, on foot, in blazing sun, led by an energetic maniac and fervent lover of all things ancient and Roman (we just call him Dar. He is the fearless leader of my program), who appears to never EVER tire. Which, if you stood in the blazing heat of Rome for 3 hours straight, you too would understand what a remarkable feat this is. Superhuman. There might be a full separate entry on this madness at a later date.

I have gotten sick. Yea. I come all the way to Rome for grand adventures, and thus far the grandest adventure has been catching plague. I will spare you the horrid details, just think the worst cold you’ve ever had, but add a fever and nearly splitting your sternum open. However! Because of this I have gotten to experience medicine in a socialist country, met a very very nice doctor who felt very bad that I had to pay the outrageous sum of $15 on my meds. Wow. Medical services are really different here. I need to learn enough Italian to write him a thank you note, since he fit me in somehow… which is a feat and mini-miracle in and of itself. If the adventures list is short and I’ve been uncommunicative towards emails/facebook blame this cough. I missed nearly a full week of class, which was quite a bummer, as it was the week of actual training…sigh.

I have begun my survey of gelato and the search for the best flavor and best combinations of flavor. Thus far I like melon the best. Though I had a nice watermelon, a very good chocolate/crème/nutella flavor. Cream is okay. Banana was less that satisfactory. Strawberry (fragola) is everywhere, and usually trustworthy. I can’t wait to try the one that translates to “melting chocolate.”

Thus far the favorite part of Rome: Colosseum. Hands down and no questions asked. Through a series of unfortunate, but actually very fortunate events, we didn’t end up going to the Colosseum as a group. We were handed our tickets, told we didn’t have time to go together (our fearless leader had somewhere to be. He is very popular…for some reason…), and that we had to go that afternoon on our own.
I showed up there around 4:00 that afternoon. Beat my roommates there, and just wandered on my own. Spent an hour going through an exhibit on the Flavian emperors and what they did, then spent two hours just oogling the structure itself. Absolutely incredible. It was massive. I mean…huge. The arches alone, even without the seats (all of which have crumbled away) you can imagine how many people fit in there. The halls echo with tourists, what must it have been like with excited people chattering as they looked for their seats, sellers hawking goods, bookies taking bets, and underneath it all, in the subterranean layer the gladiators coming over from the training barracks, the lions being moved in by the slaves, a hive of activity. I overheard one tourist guide telling the British couple he was taking around that the massive entryways were used to bring in the elephants. Imagine the majesty, huge elephants being led in, swaying and trumpeting in response to roars from the crowd and the fanfare of horns. The energy of the space was a tangible thing. I honestly had goosebumps.
My mom asked me if it felt sad there. Considering the bloody activities that went on there, but really, it just felt peaceful. Birds perch everywhere, and small vines and flowers grow through all the cracks. It’s like the Colosseum has decided to enjoy its retirement, and watches amused at the small females like myself who spend two hours wandering around with their mouths open.

I live in an apartment with four other girls in my program. Amazingly enough two of them are from Oregon…none of us expected any others from our state. Another is from the east coast and the last is a native, originally from Milan. Poor Isabella, we abuse her Italian skills to great extents. We live directly above two boys who are also in our program. The neighboring building holds six or seven more girls. The rest of us are scattered in various apartments through the city. More on this cast of characters at another time I suppose. Mostly I get along with everyone, and we play some good games of cards. Though they probably are the ones that gave me the plague…I just got it the worst. Sigh.
My area is very central. I walk by the Trevi Fountain in the mornings. Yeah. The Trevi fountain. They clean it out every morning. It’s rather cool. Exploration has been fairly minimal, and as of yet I have no truly thrilling plans to places far and exotic, but give me time. Blame the sickness and some serious homesickness as the cherry on top.

Hmm. Yeah. You appear to be fairly up for the moment. If you have specfic questions/desires for stories/whatever let me know. Having never done this before I don’t know what will be a) of interest b) even read. So. Feedback?

Cheers.