July 1, 2012
"A mind is like a parachute. If it is not open it is not working." - Frank Zappa
One
of the first things someone said to me after I settled into my room and
stepped into Rome was "hey, you are not an a-hole." Why am I sharing
such a comment with the public? Because once she explained herself, it
made so much sense. After I looked at her with a confused look, she went
on: "You're from New York. Everyone in my state thinks that they are
all horrible people. You're actually really nice, and very easy to talk
to. I guess I'm going to have to forget everything everyone has told me
and just experience everything for myself now, instead of just believing
in these stereotypes." What a great first conversation to have with a
fellow student!
After that, we decided
that we have to be extremely open-minded in order to have a wonderful
experience in Rome. The three of us that had arrived to the airport
later than the rest decided to explore on our own in order to find food
and just check out the city. We found a little pizza place where I
personally was not happy with what I got because it was difficult
conversing with the server. Look at this...
It
was still a fun night because during dinner, Italy won against Germany
(as I said in my other post)! The rest of the evening you know
about...we just walked around, watched everyone, went by the riverside
and then sat at "the steps". I'm sure I'll be talking about them a lot
during the next five weeks so here's a picture of them:
We
have been to these steps at all times of the day...between 8am to 3am.
And honestly, they are pretty packed all the time! During the day, there
are families and tourists that rest and just look at the city from
these steps. Around 10:30pm, the crowd becomes a lot younger. But
seriously, no one really does anything here. They just sit and
relax...which is something you don't see in a town like New Brunswick or
NYC. Luckily, these steps are right by our school! They are
conveniently located between the two campuses so we pass them so many
times a day. This works out well because if we make some local friends,
we are likely to see them again on random days by these steps! It's
pretty cool. Rutgers needs a place like this!!
Speaking
of local friends, here's a quick story! On our first night, we made a
friend named Frederico because we wanted to know more about Rome. His
English wasn't that advanced, so he called over his friend Gabriel who
had actually been to the states. We spoke to the two of them for awhile,
learning what everyone does all day and all night. We all struggled to
speak to each other, but a combination of English, Spanish and Italian
helped us have a 2 hour conversation with them. After saying our
goodbyes, we were sad that we would never see them again but hopeful
knowing that we could speak to people! We used this experience to
motivate us when we met others and realized that we don't need to know
every word to speak to someone as long as we care enough to get our
message across. With this attitude, we've spoken to many others and it
makes our day better! Luckily, we ran into Gabriel the second night as
well and he recognized us! He took us around town to meet people (we
were being very safe, I promise) and we had so much fun.
So
much more I could say, but I have to get out and do more so that I can
share even more with you! Tonight is the final soccer game against Spain
and it will be wild if we win! We're going to grab a nice dinner and
then go watch it out in the open with 1 million Romans...it will
definitely be an experience. I promise to take pictures (I don't promise
that they'll be great). My class starts tomorrow so I'll share that
experience with you as well...
To recap: Rome
is amazing. I am in love with it and its people. I really need to
figure out a way to eat because I typically only eat once a day around 8
or 9pm...which is very unhealthy. But I stay hydrated all day which is
good! Overall, I love it so much that I don't think I'll be happy in New
Brunswick once I'm back!!
*I apologize for
any incomplete sentences and my child-like writing. Being out of the
country is extremely exhausting and I am struggling to stay awake and
write this, but I REALLY want to share my experiences with you all! I
wish there was a better way of expressing my feelings and learnings, but
I don't know what else I can do. Please give me feedback (especially
you, Anj) because I really do want to express all of this better. Should
I post more pictures? Should I post more conversations? What should I
do? What would help me transfer my thoughts to you better?!
So long :)
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