DAY 1

THIS IS IT. 

I AM OFFICIALLY IN ROME!

Flight 718 left right on time, 6:15 pm on Monday Aug 29, with no problems or delays. Traveling with a group was great, and other than my apparent weakness in carrying roughly 200 pounds of STUFF, all went pretty easily. As for the flight itself, I slept maybe an hour or two, as did most on the flight, and watched movies the rest of the time. I took a video of our takeoff- a pretty epic moment I would say. 

Once we landed, Temple took care of everything, and we simply followed the Temple T, loaded our bags onto the Temple shuttle, and we were driven right to our Residence. We unpacked our bags, and got used to our new rooms, and new roommates (i am living with Allison and Alexis), which was totally surreal to say the least. Just walking into the Residence Mendague D'Oro felt like an out of body experience, realizing that this was my new home.I was happy to unpack and get situated, and even happier to get internet connection and get in touch with my dad and Colin! 

Afterward, we went to get our first gelato! And we suddenly realized that the whole communication thing is going to be a bit of a stumbling block. And I now know I can never go more than a few feet without my Italian translation book! But successfully purchasing anything in Rome has been a big source of gratification for myself and my friends. That being said, we were exhausted, and all passed out for about an hour before showers and our first walk to our Temple Rome building. 

Temple invited us to a free pizza party for all Temple Rome students, and it was really nice to practice our new daily commute to school. It is an easy walk, and about 30 to 40 minutes long. Here is another video, taken by my friend Leann, upon our arrival: 

We also explored a bit afterward, hitting the Piazza del Popolo, which was REALLY when everything hit me. The videos explain it all.

It was a beautiful night, and I was happy to enjoy it with a great group of friends. I am so lucky to know such a group coming in, which I am sure will help the transition into my new life in more ways than one.

Here I go! My first night in Rome!

Buono Sera!