January 25, 2011-Move in day
After receiving the oddly shaped keys to my apartment, my mom and I ventured our way to the graffiti filled dark alley which would be the road I walk down to get home for the next 5 months. Upon first entering we were faced with 8 flights of stairs to get to my apartment. I like to consider it the "Pent House" to make the stairs not seem as dreadful.
I was the first of my 7 roommates to arrive and was able to explore the quaint Italian apartment and then decide which bedroom I would call my own. It was a tough decision but I ended up picking the one with the brick adobe ceilings and built in fireplace. Oh and of course the vanity by one of the beds. After settling in a bit, it was time for my mom to head on and me to begin my study abroad experience alone. Once I said my goodbyes to my mom and her cab pulled away, a feeling of panic came over me when I realized that A) I was all by myself B) My cheap little piece of crap Nokia phone the school provided us with was not working C) I had absolutely no idea how to read the tiny blurry map I had to figure out where exactly in Florence I was and D) it was raining. I walked into a little cafe to collect myself and take control of whatever situation I was in at the time and finally got my stuff together, met up with my friend Avry and her two roommates and was feeling a little better about things. After getting some coffee with Avry I decided it was time for me to head back to my apartment and see if any of my roommates had got in. When I got back Inbar (The roommate from Florida) was taking a nap and Skylar (The roommate from Cornell in New York) was exploring the streets. A little later Inbar woke up and Skylar came back from her adventures, we all met and it was love at first sight! Inbar and Skylar share a room so they began moving their stuff in while I was still alone in my room waiting for the rest for the girls to move in. Not long from then, Taylor and Erica finally made it up the 8 flights of stairs to grace us with their presence! Erica (The roommate from Maine) is the girl I share a room with and she was very please with my decision on which room would be ours! Taylor (the roommate from Texas also!) Was in the single room connected to me and Erica's room. After getting all settled we decided we needed to get out and check out our new home so we went to dinner got some pizza and wine which lead to continuing our fun at the Lions Fountain bar which was a real ice breaker for us! haha
When we got back late that night the California girls or as we all call them "The Kids" Ashley and Stephanie had finally made it to the apartment and were fast asleep! Us being the obnoxious new roommates that we were we decided, "Hey it might be 2:something am, lets go wake the Cali girls up and welcome them!" At that moment we all knew we would get along justttt fine!
For the next couple days my roommates and I took advantage of the fact that classes didn't start for another 5 days and we did as much gelato eating, pasta making, wine drinking and bar hopping as we could fit into a 5 day span. We met many interesting people and we all found ourselves constantly admiring the attractive Italian men. At the same time we also were beginning to get accommodated to the fact that Italian men had no shame at all in staring, whistling, and saying comments like "Ciao Bella" which translates to "Hello Beautiful!" Although this was all very flattering when we first arrived, the hollers, stares and constant compliments are now becoming anything but charming.
Fortunately enough for me, I just so happened to be placed with roommates that acquire a fine skill in concocting delicious cuisines. I may have came to Italy with a bachelor degree in heating up "Lean Cuisines" but I will definitely leave here with a Masters in creating meals from scratch products purchased at the open market.
I could go on about my first week here in an enormously long post, however since I know I will be keeping up with my daily adventurs more thourgholy I will leave it at that for now and most likely add in little inserts of memories I have created within my first week in Italy!
It is going to be an amazing couple months :)
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