When in Rome!

Prendo la pizza per favore!

I have arrived! It only took an 8 hour flight, a 6 hour time change, a 20 minute cab ride, and we are here! Its been long awaited and it still hasn't fully sunk in that this trip is already here.

I got a bit of a rough start at Dulles Wednesday afternoon. After packing and repacking and weighing my bag, it was still overweight. Luckily I was allowed to move some things around allowing me to bring way too many clothes and shoes for my month's stay. I found myself playing a little game of "European or American?" in the airport. I love people watching and this game provided me with some entertainment while waiting through multiple lines.

The flight itself seemed to go by pretty quickly with the assistance of Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdam's (The Vow was precious). We were served dinner, and two hours later...breakfast. I had 0 hours of sleep on the plane as my knee/head/foot/arm seemed to stick out into the aisle just a little too far allowing many passerbys to bump me awake.

Regardless I am running on pure adrenaline! Our driver from the airport to the Residence San Pietro spoke no English, therefore giving me the perfect opportunity to practice my very little Italian. It started off swell as I asked him what his name was. I forgot how to say what my name is so I responded with a nod and a Buongiorno! Roberto, being the kind man he was, decided to play some American music. He began to play old love ballads from the 50's. While weaving through traffic where lights and rules don't play a factor, I decided to test some more Italiano. Epic fail. As we laughed at my misfortune Roberto responded, "Tuo italiano e perfetto". I'll work on it.

We got settled into our beautiful apartments equipped with four beds, a TV (with 5 Italian channels), a bathroom with a tiny shower and a bidet, a fully supplied kitchen, and a beautiful view of the courtyard. Right across from us we even spotted a dentist's office in one of the apartments. Hope we don't wake up to drilling in the morning!

We then walked around heading towards the Vatican City which is only a block away! We stopped on the way back for lunch where I got the most delicious Caprese pizza. I took a cat nap attempting to catch up on some of my sleep which will have to wait till I get home in a month because there is too much to do and so little time!

I'll keep posting any new adventures and excursions as well as the humorous situations awaiting me in my Kindergarten classroom I start working with on Monday. Ciao for now!

-Alissa

View from our window!