Why Roma? Why Study Abroad?

People have been asking me what brought me to Roma, and I had a little bit of trouble answering it honestly. So the best response I can come up with to that question is this uber lengthy post. And yes i know there are tons of run on sentences, grammatical, spelling errors as there will be in all my posts. It's just the way I think so please bear with me =)

The transition from Irvine to Roma, for me, was pretty intense. Actually, that is probably an understatement. What has drawn me towards Roma for my study abroad semester was learning about how much history Roma has. Moving from a suburban city, with pretty much every building looking like every other building with the history of about 50 years or so, to a city which has the history of a few thousand years was ridiculous. It was shocking to see how much there is to see in Roma. Getting lost on the first day and running into the pantheon just comes to show how Roma is so densely packed with history. I could probably run into over 100 churches, monuments, and piazzas walking across Roma in a single day, and that’s not even me exaggerating. Also, every alleyway I walk down is a completely new experience. The cobblestones on all the sidewalks give the city so much character. And at night it gives it a whole new dynamic. While walking down them on a rainy night makes the cobblestones glimmer a sea of jewelry reflecting the moonlight and the tungsten orange toned city lights. I have studied a little bit of art history, and have had some knowledge of all the famous monuments, cathedrals, and piazzas and all of it has been amazing. However, the little things like the cobblestones, the amazing alleyways, my giant castle key for my apartment, and how all the food and produce here is fresh and doesn’t have hormones or preservatives are all things that I was not prepared to experience. All the little things I have been noticing here in Roma have been very… refreshing. It’s refreshing to see a world outside of the States, and that there are other ways to live. That is the culture exposure that I’ve been craving and will continue to experience.

That was me glorifying Roma, but there are definitely a few drawbacks here. None of which really bother me except for a few… but that is for another post.

This past month of Gennario was definitely the most dramatic change that I have put myself through. Well, in terms of experiencing a whole new type of environment and culture, completely by myself. Even though I've been living on my own for the past 5 years or so, I've always had the convenience of having my home home near me, for whenever I wanted a home cooked meal or to use the gym. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have been blessed with such an amazing group of friends. Ever since I could remember, I’ve always been surrounded by truly good hearted people that have always given me infinite support, no matter what I'd be trying to do, including me coming here to Roma. I’ve just been in need of a change of scene the past year. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade my friends or family for the world. I didn’t come to Roma to get away from my loved ones; on the contrary, I came here hoping to become a stronger and better person so when I do come back home, (wherever home may be in the future) I’ll have more to offer. I have felt, more recently, that what I had to offer to my friends and family was insufficient at times back at home. This is probably because I haven’t truly grown as a person, or as much as I wanted to in the past few years. I’m not going to lie, it is painful to be away from my loved ones, especially after having that kind of support my whole life, but it will definitely be a long term payout for my friends, family, and for myself. I feel that by being completely independent in a different culture will help me learn more about myself and become a stronger person. Gaining new perspectives from different cultural standpoints will also play a large part of my learning experience here. Just living here for the past few weeks has already made me see things differently. It has been a little hectic trying to adjust to the culture, planning trips, learning the language, and just taking care of myself. But it has been rewarding to see that I’ve made it this far in one piece, and I’m looking forward to all the new things I will learn in the next few months. Hopefully I will achieve my main goal during my stay in Roma and become better equipped to deal with and adapt to any situation that I’m thrown into.

Overdue Post from Jan 15th, 2010

I woke up for orientation and took the bus for the first time. It was interesting to see Rome from the windows of the public transport. We got to see everyday workers and commuters and I just noticed that everyone was quite reserved and when they spoke, they were all very soft spoken. Also, when we spoke, I noticed that everyone stared at us because we talked quite loud relative to their standards. After orientation, I got lost in the middle of Roma and ended up in front of the Pantheon. I was quite taken aback because it was so unexpected. From the outside, the columns were just enormous, however, it didn’t seem as big as I had imagined. However, as I walked into the church, I was awestruck. It was even bigger than it seemed from the outside. The dome above was so big that as I looked up, overwhelmed my whole vision. It was about dusk and the giant hole in the middle of the dome illuminated a soft tranquil blue and was contrasting the stone colored coffers surrounding it. I completely lost track of time walking around the Pantheon. Then as my roommate and I walked out, we noticed a sign pointing towards the Trevi Fountain, so we followed it and there it was, about 50 times as big as the imitated one in Vegas. I just sat there for a while and enjoyed the scene. Then we walked towards the Spanish Steps and walked up to the top. It overlooked the skyline and noticed that we were pretty high up. Then we just followed a road where some locals were going headed towards Piazza Dell’Popolo. The view we saw it from was amazing. Then we chose a random street to get lost in and found a few art studios and walked into one and just enjoyed the local art. Then my roommate conversed with one of the artists and asked him what his favorite restaurant was and he showed us on a map. We found the place which was just down the street. The pasta was all handmade and tasted amazing. After eating, we wanted to walk home, but didn’t realize how tired we were so we took a cab back. I was sill fighting jetlag so I tried to stay up a little longer after changing into my pajamas to write this blog but instead, I immediately KOed. Great first two days.

a noteworthy inbetween update

I just had to post this and share. Supposedly, it is very popular here. It was everything I hoped it would be.

To Alcohol: The cause.. and solution to.. all of life's problems.

Roming Around

The flight to Rome just felt like a longer flight to East Coast. After Ariving at the airport, it still didn't hit me yet that I am here. After taking the Taxi to my apartment, I still didn't feel it yet. As I was unpacking my things, still nothing. As two of my room mates finished unpacking, we went down to a local store and I pretty much didn't know any Italian except Ciao. Thank god for one of my room mates who knew enough to get around. Here I am, not even knowing the street I live on, pick a direction to go explore. This was the feeling I was waiting for, knowing that I am entering an entirely different world not knowing what to expect and to being able to be completely spontanious. We chose left and we immediately saw the giant wall surrounding the Vatican. So we just followed the wall down and we saw a group of locals walk down these stairs so we followed. It led us into a very large square with pizzerias, gelatarias, snack bars, random novelty shops, and this giant market selling fresh meats, seafood, bread, cheese, and wine. The market was a bit overwhelming because of the ridiculous amount of shops and I this was when it started to sink in that I was really in Roma. Most of these shops were family owned and one of the Deli's saw us eyeing their prosciutto they were cutting. So they cut off a slice and motioned for us to try. I slowly approached them and pinched the thinly sliced salted pork and tried it. Wow was the only word I could think of and this was the exact moment that I was sure that I was in Roma. We went back to the apt because stores close during the day like siesta. I told myself I would nap for about half an hour or an hour, but we all KOed and woke up about 5 hours after. Then, long story short, we tried finding this restaurant a local recomended but couldn't find it so we ended up getting a pizza from a hole in the wall place. It was amazing, the ingredients were so fresh that you can really taste it. Then for our final stop, we got this amazing gelato and savored it. I couldn't have asked for a better ending for my first day in Roma.