From New York to Roma

Soooo, where to even begin? 

I think I’m going to start off by writing a little bit about where I come from, since none of this matters unless you understand a little bit about me. I grew up in New Paltz. Although its made up of scenic mountain ranges, it’s only about a 30 minute drive from NYC, so I’ve been there quite a few times and know what city life is like.

I attend SUNY New Paltz (yeah, I know I went really far). I spent all of freshman year and half of my sophomore year living in the basement of my childhood home, with my parents of course. For the most part I hung out with my other high school friends who had also stayed home. The common consensus is that anyone who stays in New Paltz never gets out of New Paltz. You get stuck there and can never escape. Those who do get out are lucky. Unfortunately, I was one of those people that had a harder time branching out. At last I decided it was time to get the heck out of there and just go for it. Of course it was a little nerve recking and a lot scary but I was up for the adventure. I knew that no matter what all my family and friends back home would be waiting for me and I actually got a lot closer with everyone back home upon leaving. (A good way to find out who your real friends are is to study abroad.) Now I’ve been living in Rome for almost four months. Tada!

This blog is definitely going to have a small town girl to city girl theme, bear with me…Now on to the fun stuff! I am starting this blog a lot late so I’ll try my best to remember everything thats happened.

My flight from Newark, New Jersey left at 9:20pm on January 6th. Leaving my parents at the security point was surprisingly easy for me. There were no tears just excitement and happiness. Plus I knew I was going to text them in about 20 minutes. As I stood on the security line by myself, no longer able to see my parents I got my first wave of reality. I was really going to Rome! My hands were shaking and my heart was racing. I finally got to my seat on the plane and tried to calm some of my nerves with some music. The hospitality of British Airlines honestly surprised me although I had to pass up on dinner (to nervous to eat). I did manage to sleep however (I’ve never had a hard time with that). After catching myself drooling on the seat a couple times we finally started to land. I had a layover in a very lousy, rainy London that hardly lasted 30 minutes (of running through Heathrow) and then I was off to Rome! On the flight from London to Rome I was lucky enough to have a window seat…but of course I fell asleep. BUT, not before taking this picture of….well I’m not really sure what it’s of…it was a long day okay.

 

Bam! We landed in Rome! When I left NY is was bundled in a big sweater, two pairs of leggings, socks, leg warmers, a scarf and a hat. Rome on Tuesday January 7th was experiencing a beautiful sunny day. The temperature was somewhere in the 50’s although to this girl it felt at least 75. Needless to say I was a sweaty mess by the time I finally reached my apartment in Rome. Plus side, my apartment is beautiful!

I have two roommates and we all share one big bedroom. This is my space. We were provided with a desk, lamp, closet, sheets and a confortmer, a pillow, towels and a cork board. I’ve always been the kind of person who surrounds myself with posters, nic-nacs, tapestries and billions of pillows so this was definitely a change. I’ve come to like the simple life I think.

This is what its like looking up at the apartments from the courtyard. Super fancy.

We were also generously given some pasta and snacks for our first couple of days before we were able to hit the grocery store.

I was a lot of things when I got to Rome: nervous, hot, exhausted, not at all hungry (I don’t think I really ate for the first 3 days I was here), excited, a tad lonely, but mostly I was FREE. I’ve never felt so independent and liberated in my entire life. No parents, no rules (well there were some), and the beautiful city of Rome at my fingertips to be explored whenever I pleased. I was stoked.

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