My New Home

I walked into my apartment and my jaw dropped! We have a wood floor in a big open room with our dining room table and tiny couch & TV. There is a terrace off the main room with big windows looking at our neighbors. We have a little kitchen in a separate room, which is odd, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms.

My bed feels like I’m sleeping on the pavement outside and my closet still looks empty since I had to pack one fifty pound suitcase for four months. My bedroom has its own terrace overlooking our road, or Circonvallazione. Across the street is the most beautiful hospital I’ve ever seen. It looks almost like it should be a palace, not have an emergency room. Of course being across from the emergency room we hear sirens all day long. The noise they make cracks me up and the ambulances are so small, just like all the cars here.

Speaking of cars – Rome’s traffic just about lives up to all the rumors you’ve heard. It’s insane! I’m not one that’s usually nervous in a car but the van ride from the airport even had me on edge. Taking a taxi was another experience in itself. The Vespas and smart cars zip in and around the buses and trams. Parking is so close I have no idea how people get into their cars and maneuver them onto the road. Streets have crossing signs on occasion, or you just have to “be bold” as we have been advised. Walking my mom through the streets of Rome will be an interesting experience – you risk your life just about every five feet! You also risk stepping in who knows what. The Italians love their dogs, but doggie bags aren’t really a thing here. The thing is that is all seems to work. The people here have their own acknowledged laws and rules. Life is taking some adjusting to but it’s pretty wonderful to be a part of so far.

Many things take some adjusting to other than the traffic. The kitchen life of my apartment has been interesting. Italian food is pretty great as I imagined, but grocery shopping is another story. It seems do-able at first, but simply trying to buy skim milk soon proves to be a challenge! I’m not sure what I ate on my Cheerios yesterday morning, but it was comforting to have a cereal for breakfast. Speaking of, all of my roommates and I agreed that the one thing we miss so far is a big breakfast. Pancake house style. These pastries are lovely, but it takes some getting used to not eating much until later in the day. Did I mention that the bowls in our apartment are more like small plates? I wasn’t sure how to go about it so I ate my cereal out of a coffee mug. We’re equipped with “the essentials”. That doesn’t include any measuring cups, but don’t worry, they did provide us with a cheese board.

The bathrooms aren’t too bad. We have a bidet and a toilet to choose from – guess which we use. One shower is broken so we have to use the tiny one, but at least we have not run out of hot water yet. Our washing machine has what we call the Jaws of Life that you just might lose a finger from while putting your clothes in. I’m not quite sure what to buy for laundry detergent so I haven’t done a load, but when I do, it will have to be hung out on the balcony to dry. That could take a while since it has rained every day since I got here. Apparently this is “winter”. The Italians are bundled up and freezing while we sweat walking up hill to school!  

A lot is different and sometimes difficult, but I’m not going to complain since I’m currently writing this from my apartment in Rome J Life is nothing if not a daring adventure, right? This couldn’t be truer at the moment and I love every second of it.