Day 2!

Day 2 was amazing! There were only 4 of us here so far so we decided to take the Metro into town and walk around for a few hours. Once we got to our stop we came upon the Spanish Steps, they were very Beautiful but also very slick! We walked all the way up them and once we got to the top could see over the whole City of Rome....this literally took my breath away! It really wasn't until this moment that I had realized that I was in the very heart of my faith, and would be seeing so many awesome places in the next several days!! In the area that we were walking around in there were a ton of different shops, mostly high dollar places like Dior, Louis Vuitton, and tons of others. We ate at a very small cafe that was very good, I think I am going to really love it here!! Once it was time to head back Katie and I had our very first Gelato.....boy oh boy was it yummy! Once returned to our residency everyone was here....it was amazing to see all of these familiar faces. I am very happy with the group that we have and I know it is going to be a great semester! We then ate dinner, I had no idea they have a pasta dish then a main dish, needless to say I was full! We had an overview of our time in Rome and got to know some of our staff. We then walked over to what I am sure is going to be one of our favorite night hang outs while we are in Rome! But now we are off to Mass at St. Peter's and I think I am still in shock, because this is like a dream come true!!

Day 1!

Greetings from Rome!! Wow what a whirlwind the past 24+ hours have been! It all started at KCI airport where Amanda and Kate (thanks you two are great :)) dropped Katie and I off. I was very excited that my bag was only 49 lbs., however we can't say the same for Katie, so she had to do a little rearranging to lose 11 lbs out of her big suitcase (it took three tries but we got it). We then boarded a plane to Toronto, this was a small plane and the trip was a little bumpy so I was a little nervous for our next flight. Once we landed in Toronto we realized we would have to go through costumes to connect to our flight to Rome, this was fine until we heard last call for our flight and had to sprint through the airport to make it on time (stress I could have lived without). Once we got on the plane and situated we talked to two girls who were also studying in Florence this semester so that was fun. I am just going to say that if I only had to fly international that would be ok with me. I loved the flight and Air Canada is a great air line.

But now onto our first day in ROME!! Once Katie and I landed (10:30 am in Italy) we got our bags went through costumes and headed to the train station. We got our train tickets and I got to experience my first train ride! So we took the train to a town called Termini, were we then got on the Metro to catch a bus. We could not find the bus stop so we hauled around our luggage until we finally found it 3 blocks away. We then got on our bus and proceeded to find our stop, but after sitting on the bust for 20 minutes we realized we were heading to the wrong side of Rome. I was so frustrated at this point but didn't have enough energy to cry. So after we took the whole loop around we decided that it would be easiest if we took a Taxi to where we needed to get. Now that I think about it is kind of funny how Katie and I were standing by the busy intersection trying to wave down a taxi. This took a little bit of practice and patience but we finally got one flagged down and he delivered us to our Residency save and sound at 6 pm. As frustrated as I was at the time we got to see a lot of neat stuff (like the corn field that made me miss Goodland) that we wouldn't have if we didn't have this experience. Once we got to our Residency we met up with a friend and headed over to the supermarket across the street. Katie and I had been thirsty since for a good 5 hrs so we just wanted any cold drink we could find, and that was pop. We then walked down the street to find someplace for dinner and found a neat little pizza place. I had some tomato and mozzarella pizza that was very yummy! Then it was finally time to get to shower, but it's all cold water at this place so it woke us up for the evening! But i just got back from a little outside restaurant were Katie, Mike, and myself were enjoying time with our coordinators of the program, and I am excited for a great semester!

Until next time CIAO!

Hello!

So many people have asked me to keep them posted while I am in Italy, and I thought that maybe if I had this blog it would be a great way to keep everyone informed. So I am looking forward to sharing pictures and stories with everyone on here. I am not going to promise that I will be able to do this everyday, however I will try and post as often as I can! Your prayers are very much welcomed, and please know that you will all be in my prayers as well!