June 24, 2007
1:00am Rome time (6/24), 6:00pm Houston time (6/23)
2nd full day in Rome (what happened on 6/23)
Well today I was able to get around Rome a little better then yesterday, but still ended up taking a taxi home because they are doing some sort of service on the metro line & closed it down at 9pm instead of 11pm as I thought…so still don’t have the public transportation down all the way yet. I haven’t figured out the bus system at all & am sacred to just get on a bus. As soon as I figure that out I think I will be much better at getting around & my feet won’t hurt as bad! This morning I was able to catch the metro & go to the Spanish Steps using both metro lines without a problem – went the right way & everything! I will need to learn to allow a lot more time to get places though because I never know how far I will need to walk.
I met up with Jody & her mom again today. It’s so great to be able to spend time with them here! I feel a bit like a tourist here though and that I’m just on vacation with them, so it really hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m staying here to live and work for years and they will be leaving in a couple weeks! I think the gradual transition is better though! J Being able to enjoy my “new city” with a friend is great! Tomorrow they leave to go to Southern Italy for their guided tour, so I’m on my own for several days. On Thursday they come back to Rome as part of their guided tour, but I probably won’t see them until Friday when hopefully they will still be able to attend mass with me! Friday is a Roman holiday – the Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul, so the Pope is going to be doing mass in the morning. Several weeks ago I sent in a fax request for 3 tickets and received a fax back saying I got them. I have to go pick them up 2 to 3 days prior to the mass and that will tell me more details about when we need to go etc. I am looking forward to that mass so much! My sister & I went to an evening prayer service that Pope Benedict presided over when we were in Rome last time, but not to a full mass.
Today the 3 of us went to St. Peters. Every time I got into that piazza and in the basilica I just feel at peace. At night sitting in the piazza just looking at St. Peter’s light up & hearing the water fonts in the background – it’s so relaxing and I just feel in awe of how enormous the basilica is & somehow just feel at ease in the arms of colonnade (designed by Bernini). Tomorrow I think Pope Benedict is suppose to come out and do a prayer at noon, I’m going to try to attend mass at St. Peter’s (or somewhere close by) and then stay a while at the piazza so that I can try to see him. Maybe eventually seeing the Pope won’t be so exciting and where I’m in such awe since I can do it more often – but for now I get excited just thinking about it!
Back to today…
So today we did a lot of walking, shopping, & eating – I think we were pretty “Roman”. I think eventually I’ll have my fill of pizza and gelato…but not just yet! We shopped for hours, but I didn’t buy anything yet…want to wait until I start getting paid in Euros so that I don’t have to deal with the foreign exchange rate. I will have to pace myself though, or I’ll end up spending my whole pay check on clothes before I even get paid! :-o I didn’t bring or ship all my clothes from back home, but gave a lot of it away (about 4 or 5 garbage bags I think). I figured I would want to buy a lot of new clothes here…you know so I fit in and all. ;-) I’m not sure what the dress code is in the office, but once I find out I will also have to buy some more clothes for work as well. I’m guessing it’s business professional, but not sure yet. Guess I’ll find out on Monday!
Going around in the shops today, I found it odd that in most stores they were playing music that was in English. And in the areas where we were, most people in the stores seemed to speak some English…so I find myself speaking English all the time and not practicing my Italian. Also since there are a lot of English speaking tourists in maybe of the spots we’ve gone to, I seem to hear just as much English as Italian. I think maybe I remember more from my class than I think, but I’m so self conscious about it and worried that I don’t know that I find myself not even trying. I need to get better at just trying to say everything in Italian & not worrying about if I’m wrong. I can understand some stuff – like when the taxi driver asked if it was too hot in the car and random signs etc., but still not whole conversations or anything. I need to get even more focused on learning this. In 6 weeks I need to be able to converse like an Italian!
Being without my blackberry, internet service & a cell phone is a bit nerve-wracking for me. For instance, tomorrow I want to go to mass and usually when I don’t know where to go or what time masses are, I go to a website calls masstimes.org & look it up no problem. But now I’m without everything, so no such luck! Guess it’s good to have to be detached from some of those things though...at least for a bit. It will make it a bit hard for me & Jody to keep in touch as she travels around Italy and then we try to meet up later…but we will manage.
Thoughts for the day:
· So far things I’ve enjoyed about Italy:
o the leisure pace of things (I’m sure in some cases this will get annoying when I’m in a hurry though)
o the fact you can eat at a table on the sidewalk at almost any restaurant or bar and just watch everything around you as you eat
o being able to have a glass of wine with your meal and it being almost at cheap as water and it’s actually good wine
o There being so many things to see and you can people watch almost anywhere.
· Things I’m freaked out about now:
o I’m going to work on Monday and have no idea what to expect
o The fact that I don’t know that much Italian and need to learn it quick
o It’s finally soaking in that I’m actually going to LIVE here and am not just on vacation…and that Jody is only here on vacation for a couple weeks and then I’m on my own and not sure when I’m going to see friends or family again (probably Nov. though).
Well I better close now and try to get some sleep so I can go on another adventure (guess that espresso I had earlier today did more than I thought!).
Buona notte!
1:47am Rome (6/24) 6:47 pm Houston (6/23)
(additional photos can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31314&l=68e47&id=800405227 )
1:00am Rome time (6/24), 6:00pm Houston time (6/23)
2nd full day in Rome (what happened on 6/23)
Well today I was able to get around Rome a little better then yesterday, but still ended up taking a taxi home because they are doing some sort of service on the metro line & closed it down at 9pm instead of 11pm as I thought…so still don’t have the public transportation down all the way yet. I haven’t figured out the bus system at all & am sacred to just get on a bus. As soon as I figure that out I think I will be much better at getting around & my feet won’t hurt as bad! This morning I was able to catch the metro & go to the Spanish Steps using both metro lines without a problem – went the right way & everything! I will need to learn to allow a lot more time to get places though because I never know how far I will need to walk.
I met up with Jody & her mom again today. It’s so great to be able to spend time with them here! I feel a bit like a tourist here though and that I’m just on vacation with them, so it really hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m staying here to live and work for years and they will be leaving in a couple weeks! I think the gradual transition is better though! J Being able to enjoy my “new city” with a friend is great! Tomorrow they leave to go to Southern Italy for their guided tour, so I’m on my own for several days. On Thursday they come back to Rome as part of their guided tour, but I probably won’t see them until Friday when hopefully they will still be able to attend mass with me! Friday is a Roman holiday – the Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul, so the Pope is going to be doing mass in the morning. Several weeks ago I sent in a fax request for 3 tickets and received a fax back saying I got them. I have to go pick them up 2 to 3 days prior to the mass and that will tell me more details about when we need to go etc. I am looking forward to that mass so much! My sister & I went to an evening prayer service that Pope Benedict presided over when we were in Rome last time, but not to a full mass.
Today the 3 of us went to St. Peters. Every time I got into that piazza and in the basilica I just feel at peace. At night sitting in the piazza just looking at St. Peter’s light up & hearing the water fonts in the background – it’s so relaxing and I just feel in awe of how enormous the basilica is & somehow just feel at ease in the arms of colonnade (designed by Bernini). Tomorrow I think Pope Benedict is suppose to come out and do a prayer at noon, I’m going to try to attend mass at St. Peter’s (or somewhere close by) and then stay a while at the piazza so that I can try to see him. Maybe eventually seeing the Pope won’t be so exciting and where I’m in such awe since I can do it more often – but for now I get excited just thinking about it!
Back to today…
So today we did a lot of walking, shopping, & eating – I think we were pretty “Roman”. I think eventually I’ll have my fill of pizza and gelato…but not just yet! We shopped for hours, but I didn’t buy anything yet…want to wait until I start getting paid in Euros so that I don’t have to deal with the foreign exchange rate. I will have to pace myself though, or I’ll end up spending my whole pay check on clothes before I even get paid! :-o I didn’t bring or ship all my clothes from back home, but gave a lot of it away (about 4 or 5 garbage bags I think). I figured I would want to buy a lot of new clothes here…you know so I fit in and all. ;-) I’m not sure what the dress code is in the office, but once I find out I will also have to buy some more clothes for work as well. I’m guessing it’s business professional, but not sure yet. Guess I’ll find out on Monday!
Going around in the shops today, I found it odd that in most stores they were playing music that was in English. And in the areas where we were, most people in the stores seemed to speak some English…so I find myself speaking English all the time and not practicing my Italian. Also since there are a lot of English speaking tourists in maybe of the spots we’ve gone to, I seem to hear just as much English as Italian. I think maybe I remember more from my class than I think, but I’m so self conscious about it and worried that I don’t know that I find myself not even trying. I need to get better at just trying to say everything in Italian & not worrying about if I’m wrong. I can understand some stuff – like when the taxi driver asked if it was too hot in the car and random signs etc., but still not whole conversations or anything. I need to get even more focused on learning this. In 6 weeks I need to be able to converse like an Italian!
Being without my blackberry, internet service & a cell phone is a bit nerve-wracking for me. For instance, tomorrow I want to go to mass and usually when I don’t know where to go or what time masses are, I go to a website calls masstimes.org & look it up no problem. But now I’m without everything, so no such luck! Guess it’s good to have to be detached from some of those things though...at least for a bit. It will make it a bit hard for me & Jody to keep in touch as she travels around Italy and then we try to meet up later…but we will manage.
Thoughts for the day:
· So far things I’ve enjoyed about Italy:
o the leisure pace of things (I’m sure in some cases this will get annoying when I’m in a hurry though)
o the fact you can eat at a table on the sidewalk at almost any restaurant or bar and just watch everything around you as you eat
o being able to have a glass of wine with your meal and it being almost at cheap as water and it’s actually good wine
o There being so many things to see and you can people watch almost anywhere.
· Things I’m freaked out about now:
o I’m going to work on Monday and have no idea what to expect
o The fact that I don’t know that much Italian and need to learn it quick
o It’s finally soaking in that I’m actually going to LIVE here and am not just on vacation…and that Jody is only here on vacation for a couple weeks and then I’m on my own and not sure when I’m going to see friends or family again (probably Nov. though).
Well I better close now and try to get some sleep so I can go on another adventure (guess that espresso I had earlier today did more than I thought!).
Buona notte!
1:47am Rome (6/24) 6:47 pm Houston (6/23)
(additional photos can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31314&l=68e47&id=800405227 )
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