New beginnings

.....And the blog resumes!

On Saturday, I said a tearful goodbye to my parents and traveled back to Roma for the second semester of my study abroad adventure.  The goodbye was much more bittersweet than I remember from first semester, perhaps because I was traveling by myself and because of the short, but sweet taste of home for the month-long break.  It was definitely a blessing in disguise that I was able to go home because it wasn’t until I got there and slowed down (aka slept in past noon almost every day) that I realized how tired I actually was.  Now I am recharged and ready to go for second semester!

My travels went seamlessly until I got to Rome and couldn’t find my luggage!  I literally circled the airport about 3 times before I found the Lufthansa baggage claim, which was on the complete opposite end of the airport!  I eventually found it and then proceeded to figure out how to get to the hotel.  Last semester, since a big group of SMC girls were traveling together, the program picked us up in buses and we all headed straight for Assisi for orientation.  This semester there is no orientation for the incoming students, so we had our own way from the airport when we arrived.  The cabbies outside said that for a single person it would be 75 euro, so I opted for the 40 euro shared cab instead.  A few minutes after I got in, three Australian guys about my age got in the cab!  They were hilarious, asking me questions about Rome the whole way and telling me about their European travels (since this is currently summer break for them).  They must have misheard the driver when he repeated “Hotel Tiziano” because they asked me at one point, “How do you spell Tiziano?”  I responded and spelled it for them, to which they replied, “Do your friends call you Tizzie?!”  They thought MY name was Tiziano and I quickly informed them that it was not!  When they asked my name and I told them Mackenzie Woods, they said “Mackenzie Woods…sounds like a subdivision.”  I was cracking up!  It was quite the adventure to begin my second semester.  And to add to that, some of the Rome program girls went to Scholars last night and saw the three guys who said they know me!  This kind of thing would happen to me!

So I made it back to my home in Rome, the Hotel Tiziano, and was greeted by name by one of my favorite front desk workers—I love that they remember those of us from last semester.  They seem so excited to see familiar faces which makes me feel so at home here. J  I ended up getting my first room pick, a double, room 303 with Ana Martin del Campo, one of my best friends from Saint Mary’s.  Our room looks out to the main busy street where the hotel entrance is located, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.  Needless to say, we hear sirens and noises a lot when the window is open! 

View from our room out to busy Corso Vittorio Emanuele!

Oh how I've missed this crazy girl!

#Typical....this semester will probably bring many more pictures like this one!

Ana thought it would be a fun idea to pretend to throw my blanket out the window.....
I didn't think it was so funny!

On Sunday night when I arrived, I reconnected with Ana, got somewhat settled in the room, went for a quick walk to the Pantheon down the street, and went to mass in our SMC chapel.  I went to bed early because according to my new schedule, I have class at 8 am on Monday mornings!  Ana promises to wake me up every day for class—not sure what I will do when I don’t have roommates to do this for me?! 

My backyard.....Il Pantheon in all its glory!

The first day of classes went well.  My 8 am is Music Appreciation, a 3-hour class that meets only once a week.  The professor is a renowned Italian opera composer and as part of the class, he is taking us to three operas and one ballet!  The first is next week!  Right after music I go straight to Philosophy for an hour and a half.  That class also meets on Wednesday mornings (another 8 am….what joy!).  Then I had a break for the afternoon during which I unpacked my things and organized my room, followed by religion class (again with Fr. Mark!) at 5:30.  Tuesday I had Italian class and then religion again.  These classes are repeated Wednesdays and Thursdays with the addition of a 3 hour business course on Wednesdays (same format and professor as last semester).  It is very comforting to already be familiar with the way things work in the program and also to have the professors recognize me from fall semester.  I am beyond happy that I started in the fall though, because the newbie girls here don’t get much of an orientation.  They are just kind of thrown into the mix right away, which I could see as potentially intimidating. 

I may have packed too many cardigans...oops ;)

I’m back to the regular routine of things for the most part, but this semester is still going to take some getting used to.  There are a whole new group of girls (with the exception of just a few from last semester), and the program is much smaller.  Besides Ana and Shannon, I don’t know many of them very well like I did last semester.  I also feel like I’m on a different level than them in terms of my relationship to Roma and this program, as it is already home for me, but brand new for them.  It’s super hard not to compare things to last semester, especially when I am missing my friends from the fall L I’m praying about it though and hoping that I will feel more connected with this group (or at least some of it) soon. 

Found this in my Italian notebook during class.  Missing my fall semester girls sooo much!

On Monday night, Ana and I went out for a glass of Chianti in Campo dei Fiori and then I showed her the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain for the first time.  Even though I’ve experienced these places several times in the last few months, I still get wonderstruck by their beauty and magnificence.  And I think that’s the magic of this city.  As I read in Eat Pray Love over Christmas break, all the major European cities seem to compete for the top spot—who can be the most advanced in technology, transportation, cleanliness, tourism, etc; however, Rome just sits back and laughs because it knows that nothing can top its ancient glory.  There are no modern monuments or buildings in Rome—everything is ancient and antique, and that’s the way it is supposed to be.  It was, is, and will always be a city unlike any other.  And that’s what makes it la citta eterna.  I can’t wait to see what new adventures this unique city holds for me! 

Simply amazing