Please Bring Me My Wine

Things that I have learned thus far in Rome:
1. Don’t expect anyone to move terribly fast, because it just isn’t going to happen and you will wind up being disappointed
2. Pizza here is just magnificent. When I had it yesterday for lunch, I think I just about died and went to culinary heaven
3. The real reason that people get on and off the train without punching their cards isn’t because they aren’t paying, it is because they have monthly bus passes
4. Never ever pass up gelato!
5. Wandering is just as much fun (if not more!) than actually knowing where you are going
6. Don’t even think about trying to open a bottle of wine without a cork screw…
7. I am pretty much in love with my roommates!

Welcome to the daily run down of my second day in Rome! Today was not terribly exciting, but important never the less. Today was the first day that we ventured up to the AUR campus. Upon arrival we had asked how long of a walk it would be to get to school – and were told about 45 minutes. So, we decided to take the bus instead of walking.

The 5 of us left the apartment early after trying our hardest to conserve hot water by taking the shortest showers possible. We set out to get our hands on the monthly transportation pass that we need to get around the city. Our welcome packet had told us that they could be bought at any tabacci shop (local convenience store thing), but after walking quite a number of blocks we couldn’t find a single one that sold bus passes. Finally, Sarah (one of the roommates who took 2 years of Italian at G-Dubs) got up the courage to ask someone where we could find a place that sold bus passes and he responded in English by saying “oh! I sell here!” Problem solved.
The bus ride up to AUR was quite simple and took less than 10 minutes, so there is essentially no way that the walk takes 45.

AUR’s campus is tiny – very tiny, but incredibly cute and welcoming. We all spent time (a lot of time!) waiting to get all of our paperwork for getting our permits to stay. The people in charge made the gigantic mistake of not printing the papers out in alphabetical order. Now, if that had happened to me, I would have started to put them in some sort of order as I went through them but not these people! Many of us asked if we could help in some way, but we were always refused. So essentially the guys were going through hundreds of pieces of paper looking for a single one with our name on it. That to me is just plain stupid.
I also got a cell phone during this time. If you want the number, please let me know (or check my Facebook profile)! I get free incoming calls, so I would be delighted to hear from any of you!

Part of the afternoon was spent wandering around the area that the campus is in. We found food, the local café, the pharmacy, etc, etc, etc. The campus is situated in a cute little area with a lot to see, and it is the perfect central location to get to many parts of the city. The other part of the afternoon was spent in the computer lab checking email, sending IMs, checking the weather, and essentially doing all of the things that most of us would have done on a daily basis had we had internet. (Note: In the morning, someone is supposed to be coming to put the phone line and the internet connection in. HOORAY!)

After taking a quick walking tour with some former AUR students, we went for dinner. Sarah stayed in Trastevere and Melanie, Molly, and I came back to the area right around our apartment. We went to this little place not too far from where we live. I had an amazing bowl of vodka a la penne. Yummm! During that dinner, the three of us were in stitches laughing at each other. Molly who is allergic to cashews, almost ordered ravioli with nuts until we looked up what noci means in Melanie’s Italian phrasebook. Wouldn’t that have been a lovely call to Molly’s parents? I can only imagine how it would go: “you’re daughter is in the hospital because she ate something within the first 2 days that she is allergic to.”

We came back to the apartment and decided that we wanted to open a bottle of wine that we had bought the first day at our local grocery store. Yet, we had no corkscrew, so that presented a small problem. But don’t you worry – Melanie came to the rescue with this amazing contraption that had all these different knives on it and other such things. So, essentially we stood in our kitchen and dug out the cork piece by piece in order to get to the wine. It was such a treat to finally get the bottle open and be able to have all of us sit around and have a proper toast to being in Rome together!