Hello everyone!
The last two weeks have been as usual, pretty amazing here in Italy. It has been a journey and so far, it is something that has changed the way I think and approach different situations. I am getting a routine down at this point, so the days are starting to go by faster than I have been wanting them to. Overall, here is an update on what I have been doing over the last two weeks here in Italy!
I am slowly getting adjusted to Roman life and have been settling into my rented out apartment. Weekly chores like going to the store and taking out the trash began with being way harder than I thought but have gotten used to them. The first time I went to the store, my local Conad, it was the first place literally no one spoke any hint of English in. I had use hand gestures to make my way through the line and same with checking out. The last time I went in there, I just got in and out as fast as I could. When I went to checkout, I waited till the line was short, stood in line, said "due borse" for two bags, paid with my card, and left. I felt like I really had the hang of it. Trash here I realized has to be separated into a ridiculous amount of bins to be taken out. This includes, one for glass, paper, cardboard, and organics. I had no clue so when I decided to take out the trash Monday morning two weeks ago, the man monitoring the trash MADE ME PUT MY HANDS INTO THE TRASH BAG AND SEPARATE MY TRASH ACCORDINGLY. I am a total germophobe so I was to say the least, pretty pissed after this. However, these two duties have been the only real shocking adjustments I have had to make. Everything else has just been a slow and easy culture adaption. I haven't had any problem with the food here. Every night, I slam together some meat and crackers or I head down to grab some slices of pizza. My neighborhood, is super lively and fun. People are very friendly and the locals have established some pretty amazing cuisines around town. The winding streets with flowers hanging from the walls define the beauty of my walk to class everyday. It is something that will be hard to let go when I leave.
Speaking of classes, micro and macro economics has been pretty boring as expected. I really like my micro professor. She is super helpful and gives out note handouts that are very useful. My macro professor on the other hand, well, lets just say her teaching style is something I am not accustomed to. Every class for around two hours, she stands in front of her desk and lectures to the class in her very hard to understand voice without writing anything down on the board. She has no slowdowns in her speech which results in my hand feeling likes it running the Talladega 500 for note taking. Its very difficult to learn to in this class and I am slowly adjusting. I am also slowly adjusting to having to study in this amazing place. I just usually cram in all my studies between my two classes which gives me enough time to get things completed.
Over the last two weekends, I have travelling outside of Rome and into new locations! Last weekend, I went to Florence. I really enjoyed this city and its very close approximations to walking to different sites. First off, sandwiches here for some reason are absolutely amazing! When I first arrived in the city, I stopped at this small shop sitting behind the Duomo, in the center of town. The workers were very inviting and let all the customers sample different types of cheeses and meats before they ordered there sandwich. I got mine with some spicy salami, aged cheese from Tuscany, pepper spread, and put on a crispy thick bread. Move out of the way D'Deli, this place was the absolute bomb! Every bite was like a crispy explosion full of saltiness and spice, something I haven't ever experienced before. My room had one of the best views of the city, set directly onto the Duomo, the church in the center of town. Every morning I would wake up and just stare onto the big red tiled beauty before I left for the day. I made a couple hikes up out of the city and on top of some elevated viewing locations to get some of the best areas to see the city. I did this twice because I thought the view was just that special. I also took a local tour to Cinque Terre, a coastal region close to Florence. It was pretty special to see all these little multicolored towns dotted upon a beautiful mountainous coast line. The water was super clear which was a nice plus! However, the crowds of tourists in this areas were terrible, to the point that our group couldn't even walk across some of these towns without it taking 30 minutes. On my way out of the city, I saw the David statue which was pretty amazing to see as well. I can't believe that entire work of art was created from a block of stone; it still blows my mind!
Over this weekend, I have been in Venice and its truly a magical city. I had to take a water taxi from the train station to the middle of town where my Airbnb was. Taking my first boat ride through this city was something I will never forget. Seeing life revolving around water "roads" is just cool to see for the first time ever. Over the past two days, I have been just walking around the city and checking different locations out. St. Marks square is a special place. My favorite part about that area is Doges palace, a location where all governmental duties were held when Venice was its own ruled territory. The rooms in there were immaculate and had some of the biggest and the most dramatic painting on the walls since I have been in Italy. I still don't know how they encrusted all the gold on the ceiling in that place, it was covered in it! So as I sit now in my old Venetian apartment righting this blog, I wonder what these next weeks will hold for me. I plan on going to the Roman country side next week to a little town called Orvieto which should be pretty interesting! Again, I love being here everyday and I can tell I'll definitely miss it when I leave in three weeks! Till the next blog!
- Joe
