Newest Life Lesson: NEVER go anywhere without a camera.

Today was supposed to be a rather uneventful day: find our way to the school ourselves and then take a trip to the post office to apply for a permesso di soggiorno, to stay in the city for more then 90 days; so they can keep track of your every move. ever. However, uneventful it was not.
Last night we stumbled upon a bar in the middle of a piazza,  which contained one bar and approximately 200 people. We had no idea where we were and between meeting other students in the abroad program and going to apartments, we probably walked 5+ miles. Yobs. It was pretty cool because it appeared to be a pretty popular place with the locals. Making our way home was rather long though. We did succeed on our first night out to get lost in the streets of Rome in the southeast corner. we walked in almost a complete circle from where our apartment was before we finally took a cab and made it back, precisely the way we came. It was a long walk but I like to think that I worked off the gelato we had earlier. That's what I'm telling myself at least.
Our last roommate, Rachel, finally made it yesterday as well. She's rather fantastic, as we all are so she fits in just fine.
This morning we were told to find our own way to Roma Tre, our school. This was supposed to be an easy accomplishment since we were shown the way to get home last night on public transportation with the help of a guide. It wasn't successful because out guide didn't know that part of the city. So we sort of made our way to school this morning. Once we got off our first bus we walked every possible wrong way before we walked the right way. All in all though, it should be pretty easy.
After getting to school and doing more sitting around the entire group of the abroad students took the metro en route to the Post Office. our metro stop was Colosseo, or the Colosseum. We stepped out of the metro station to the Colosseum in all it's glory. It was a much better experience then the first time because I was able to actually become consumed by it. It was the first time Ive ever been blown away by a monument. We walked up the street and up the hill and were able to gander at the Roman Forum. Once again speechless. This is where my life lesson comes into play. I was not aware we would be visiting some of the greatest constructions of all time. Lucky for me, momma got me a snazzzzy phone that has a great camera and I was able to get some pictures. But I will be going back, and even though I don't enjoy being touristy, I will sacrifice it for Ancient Roman history.
We walked up the hill and saw more ancient roman things and monuments and statues. Che bello!! It's a great city to be in. The group made its way into what I think of when i think of Rome: the cobble stoned narrow unnecessarily confusing, albeit charming, streets.  It was just stunning. I've never wanted to stay in a place more then I did this afternoon. We had pizza again for lunch; mine had peperoni e salsiccia (peppers and sausage, not pepperoni). Once lunch was done and we were finished at the post office, signing papers, Francesca, Rachel and I got gelato. I tried pistachio for the first time and it was not bad. We then found ourselves looking up at the Pantheon. Unreal.  we spent a few minutes finishing our gelato before we spent some time just sitting and gazing at the church. Once again. I was at a loss for words. I would like to go there one time when it was raining; just to say that I did.
We had a wonderful dinner at a little ristorante in Tessacio with Tina, whose in charge of our program, as well as about 12 other students. It was a smaller version of a full Italian dinner. We had antipasti: potatoes with broccoli, fried baby octopus, green olives stuffed with meat and fried, and fantastic meatballs, as well as bread. They don't ever serve 2 starches together, though thee bread stays on the table the entire time, and they never dip or put anything on the bread. We were given a gnocchi, mussel and shrimp dish with a oil and tomato sauce. The gnocchi was, like everything else, unreal. Love me some potatoes. We had another half plate of pasta that was large rigatoni like pasta with just tomatoes and olive oil, less then the other sauces, but just as good. Lastly we were served l'insalta despite salad being served first in the US. Oustandinggg. Eating my way through my days has been going very well.
As many know, this night was a very important one. Why some may ask. The Ravens were playing the Steelers in the quest for the Super Bowl. I was determined to not let the time difference or lack of tv get in my way and fortunately i was able to find some bars in Trastevere that were playing the game, mostly because they were American bars. They did however turn the tvs off before the game was over and I wasn't able to see the end of the game. There's always next year..
Tomorrow we are going to a farm, making our own pasta and are going to get a chance to buy very fresh produce from the farm and eat a full Italian meal. Instead of the 2 half plates like at dinner, there will be 2 full plates. yobs yobs yobs. I should probably not wear my tight jeans.. are sweatpants acceptable? Probs not.