The Adventure Commences

The day got off to a fantastic start with my one bag weighing in at exactly 50 pounds. Huzzah (I, rather my parents, had to pay no overage fees)! Then I bid my parents ado to board my flight to Detroit. I happily scampered off to my gate while my parents were forced to embrace their sad and desolate existence sans-moi. Truth be told they actually went home, stole my car, put the top down, and then took a cruise around town. I can tell they’re really missing me.

I had a ridiculously long layover in Detroit (2 whole hours)! They have a giant fountain that shoots water, and a cherry red tram that circles above your head like a Christmas train. Most of my time there was spent people watching, as I was sitting among a bunch of Italians who were gesticulating wildly.

On the flight to Rome, a whopping 8 hour journey, I sat next to a very sweet older woman. She had just finished visiting her daughter in Ann Arbor, and was bemoaning her daughter living so far away. Our conversation was sort of choppy as she spoke broken English and I was combining French, English, and Italian. Never the less, we prevailed! I managed to talk to her about some restaurants and get some recommendations for my tenure in Rome.

Regrettably, for the entirety of the flight I was squished. The man sitting in front of me decided that the moment the wheels left the ground he would recline his seat as far back as it would go. So, I had zero personal space. It got really annoying, really fast. That, along with some weird beeping noise that happened sporadically made it nearly impossible for me to sleep. Luckily, I had an audio book and several puzzle/brain teaser things to keep me occupied.

The part that I had been dreading the most was customs. So once we loaded I was mildly apprehensive. Little did I know that would be a breeze. There was no line. I walked right up, they stamped my visa, and I went forth to baggage claim. Where I found none-other than….. Kelsey Abele!! We waited for what seemed like an eternity for my bag to arrive, and then we meandered over to the Hilton for registration for SAI.

After a long bus ride, where we (being Kelsey and I) stalled once, we arrived at our apartment to be greeted by one of our roommates, Molly. We took a quick tour of our new place. We have a fully equipped kitchen, a sitting area with a couch and a nice dining table, two bedrooms, an odd room with spare mattresses and such, a closet with cleaning supplies, and a bathroom that has a washing machine (pictures to come soon).

Clearly, after this long and tedious journey to the gorgeous Roma I was sticky and icky and gross. So, post unpacking, I took a shower. Normally, I would not talk about such things, but it is too comical to pass up. The shower is about 2.5 feet by 2.5 feet, not exaggerating. When you reach up to shampoo your hair, your elbows touch the glass. Furthermore, the shower-head fell on me twice. It was quite the experience. My roommates, however, laughed at me. Humph!
Currently, Kelsey, Molly, and I are sitting around waiting for our fourth and final roommate Erica to arrive. At which point we will go exploring. We can’t leave before hand because we can’t figure out how to unlock our door. Some nice man helped Molly in this morning, and she in turn let us in. We are going to get a tutorial by our welcome SAI person tonight. Until then, we wait in our room.

Post-Script: It is 90 degrees and is supposed to stay that way until the end of September. I only packed winter and fall things. I am doomed!