These pictures were taken January 10th. It was our second day of exploration, and first day of exploration during the actual day. The plan was to go see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.
These pictures were taken January 10th. It was our second day of exploration, and first day of exploration during the actual day. The plan was to go see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.
This is going to be more of a photo story of our first trip into the center of Rome to explore. By this time my roommate Mariana had also arrived so the three of us met up with our friend Tylar and hit the streets!
In the middle of the night my roommate Emily arrived! It was an interesting, half-awake first conversation. Now we were just waiting for one more roommate.
It felt like in the first couple days that I was in Rome I learned more about the United States than I did about Italy. Most of the schools people said they were from I had never even heard of before, but I guess its not like anyone knew of SUNY New Paltz either…of course they’d heard of New York. For the first couple of days I was here I didn’t meet a single person from NY but I met people from Oregon, Illinois, Texas, Minnesota and…well some other states that are located in central America that I cant remember. All I know is that I thought to myself, “Wow, people live there?” (I’m terrible, I know). Point is, I was really exposed to my east coast mentality for the first time. It’s cool to think about other places even within the United States, but who knew I’d be experiencing it in Rome.
The first couple of days in Rome were governed by a long list of orientation activities including obtaining a permit to stay, a campus tour and a very quick walk around central Rome to get a gist of how to use public transportation. All the activities were surprisingly… uninformative. We all really had to learn these things by just getting out there and doing it ourselves.
This are a few photos I took on our way too fast walk through the center of Rome. Later I went back with my roommates and actually took it all in.
On the ruins of the building where Julius Caesar was murdered (“Et tu Brutus?” yeah that guy)….well now, there’s a cat sanctuary there. Being a crazy cat lover, I couldn’t have been happier. I heard someone say that there are Italians that think it’s disrespectful and are trying close the cat sanctuary. I vote that it stays…think of the kitties. (Unless of course when it closes I can take them all home).
I’m not going to go into depth about what these building are right now because at the time I took these pictures I had no idea what they were either. I’ll talk more about them when I post better photos later.
Rome is full of the types of things you would see in NYC. Some common sights around both cities are street performers, vendors selling knock off bags and iPhone cases, homeless people, graffiti and the likes. Although it wasn’t a total culture shock for me, I was still taken back. I guess I’d never really thought about what Rome was like outside of its most famous monuments (how naive of me). As we approached the Colosseum I felt a big wave of disappointment flood over me. Somethings just aren’t how you imagine them to be from the medias portrayal of them…see below:
First, understand that Gladiator is one of my most favorite movies of all time. I know that this movie is completely fictional but its the best visual representation of ancient Rome that I can recall. Not only was the Colosseum surrounded on all sides by city but it was under construction. Poo =[ I know this is the way it always was, even in ancient times. To me it almost felt disrespectful, like a flower in a garbage can (thats a dramatic metaphor but the first one that comes to mind). Don’t get me wrong, the Colosseum alone is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my entire life but taking into account the surrounding landscape…it initially didn’t live up to my expectations…thanks popular media.
The part of Rome that we live in is called Trastevere, or Old Rome. It’s located in southwest Rome below the Vatican and left of the Tiber River. It’s characterized by cobble stone roads and narrow streets.
When we met up we had no working phones, no idea where we were or where we were going. All we had was a hard to read map provided to us by the school. As it turns out…I discovered that I actually love walking around with no destination. At home I’m always glued to google maps on my iPhone. All that was about to change.
Heres are a few pictures I took on my first night of exploration around Trastevere…
These are all photographs of restaurants. Almost every restaurant in Trastevere (or Rome for that matter) has an outdoor seating area, sometimes fully equipped with awnings due to the common occurrence of rain. They’re all lovely and adorable and for the most part their menu items are pretty similar. They’re all absolutely delicious and if you search around, most are relatively affordable. (Not to say that I’ve tried every single restaurant, pshh I wish, but from what I’ve experienced so far these are my observations).
Since my roommates weren’t here yet and I was still in shock that I left my entire world behind me and was in a completely new place….I put on Friends (my favorite bedtime show) and fell asleep.
What an exhausting first day, and I was only just getting started…
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.
WOW! Today was the biggest jumble of experiences and emotions! What a long day!
I woke up productive this morning. I grabbed my laptop and began homework straight away. I have a lot to get done since next week is finals week and the week after I leave for home! It’s so cliche and I sound so cheesy saying it, but time flew by.
After doing some homework and eating a delicious lunch, I got myself ready to go to “reverse culture shock training” at UEES. Walking over with my friend Angela, we talked about our schedules and housing arrangements for the fall. We’ve already made plans to cook and party together back at New Paltz!
Once I arrived to “training”, reality hit me. I’m really going to leave this place in 15 days. Such a short time. I remember bombarding Payal and Ashley (two former study abroad students who came to UEES) with questions, being nervous and preparing myself to come. And look how fast time ran out!
For reverse culture shock training, Angelike, Andrea and Karina had prepared a slideshow and reflection questions to remind us of all we have done here and our many experiences. I hadn’t realized how much each and every person has effected me since day 1. All of us internationals have stuck together like a lot of lost puppy-dogs and we love each other although we may not all get along. I am so grateful that Angelike, Andrea and Karina have acted as artificial mamis, offering us advice not only as advisors, but as family. They open their office door to their hearts with sweets, puppies, and shoulders to cry on. There is no way I could ever thank them for doing all that they do. This is not just a job for them. They really love us.
So, after they filled me with tears for all of the memories captured in a few pictures and funny videos, they sent us off to finish our exams and excursions.
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Today gave me a lot to think about. Especially after walking in the rain with Aryn, talking about how much we’ve changed but probably don’t notice it, how even within the next couple of weeks we can experience completely new things, and how the journey never really ends. They say it’s time to say goodbye, but I think it’s time to say hello. Hello to all new opportunities. Hello to new experiences. Hello to change and fear. Hello to the unknown. I didn’t think I could open up anymore as a person, but I am now so open to the possibilities of life.
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After soaking my shoes in the notorious puddles of Samborondón during the rainy season, I plopped onto my bed at home to Skype with my mom and dad for a few minutes. Did I tell you I switched host families? I decided to spend the last few weeks with a different family that seems a better fit for me. Well, anyways, my family did not give me much time to rest. We had dinner and their sweet tooth was itching so bad! They all BEGGED me to make cupcakes tonight (we had bought all the ingredients for cupcakes and cookies last weekend)! So, along with grandma’s help, we baked cupcakes for about three hours! And finally we’re done! I’ve never had so many opinions in the kitchen at once! It was definitely an overwhelming experience! lol.
And so the day goes: productive, sad, nostalgic, optimistic, tiring, OH and did I tell you? I found out that one of my best friends got accepted to New Paltz! And I also found out the names of the three Ecuadorians who will be studying abroad in New Paltz next fall! AND I made three friends who attend New Paltz studying abroad here with me. Next semester is going to be AWESOME!!!
GOODNIGHT ALL!!!! =D
Sweet dreams and don’t let the bedbugs bite =]
<3
The Center for International Programs would like to congratulate the SUNY New Paltz students who have been accepted to study abroad this summer and fall!
Our Accepted Student’s Night is a great way for accepted students to meet each other, hang out and ask our study abroad alumni and staff questions while enjoying a slice of pizza!
Check out the event photos here!
For weeks I had been looking forward to spending a weekend in southern France with a friend from New Paltz who is studying in Holland. We bought our train tickets in February and had been counting down the days.
On Friday, my friend, Julia, arrived in Besançon and then early Saturday morning, we went to the train station all ready to go to Marseille. When we had purchased the tickets, the website left us with no option but to print our tickets using the Automatic Ticket Machine in the station. The website did not tell us, however, that those machines do not recognize foreign credit cards. We had paid for tickets, but we did not have tickets.
We didn’t know what to do. The ticket office in the train station opened at 8AM, but our train was meant to leave at 7:36AM. I knew though, that after spending the money on the tickets and looking forward to the trip for weeks, I would not be leaving that station on any mode of transportation other than a train to Marseille.
We showed the train conductor a screenshot on Julia’s phone of our ticket receipts and explained that we couldn’t get the machines to print our tickets. The only solution he gave us was to buy new tickets (which were much more expensive), but assured us that the more expensive tickets would be refunded once we arrived in Marseille.
So that was that. We paid for the tickets and were off to Marseille.
And as soon as we got to Marseille, we waited on the long line to the ticket counter, where we explained our situation. We were very surprised to hear that we would each only be refunded about a third of what we paid for the tickets.
Angered and annoyed, we tried to forget about the ordeal and enjoy our time in the beautiful city. We found our hotel, which was right in the middle of Marseille’s Vieux Port, a boat harbor filled with seafood restaurants and ice cream shops.
We walked to a beach and spent the whole afternoon there. The sea was beautiful and it was great to be in the sun. I really am grateful for that afternoon and how fondly I will remember that part of my weekend in Marseille.
Julia and I stopped back at the hotel before going to a wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant for dinner. It may have been one of the best meals I’ve had in France. It’s been pretty hard for me to be away from falafel for three months. While we were at the restaurant, I received a text message from my mom asking me to call her on the wifi once I was back in the hotel. I was a little surprised that she texted me, because she pays my phone bill and knows the international fees. I just figured she must have been missing me and wanted to talk.
Even though we were tired from our long day, Julia and I didn’t go straight back to the hotel after dinner. Instead, we got ice cream and sat by the water, watching the sunset. It was another memorable moment from a weekend that was about to take a turn for the worse.
When we did get back to the hotel, I didn’t immediately call my mom. I’m pretty grateful that I waited, because once I did hear the news, nothing was the same. I at least had another hour of ignorance.
I’ve been a dog owner my entire life. I had four dogs the past year, which is a lot, but they are really one of the greatest parts of my life. I knew going into this semester abroad that there was the possibility that I wouldn’t be going home to four dogs. Big dogs have short lifespans, but they were all in good health when I left. I knew that losing a dog was a possibility, but I didn’t actually think it would become a reality.
When my mom told me that my 8-year-old French Mastiff had died right before she sent me the text message, I fell to the floor in tears. I had a pain in my stomach, wishing that I had been able to spend the past three months with her, knowing that it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. At that moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to be home in New York, grieving with my family.
The next morning, I begged Julia to return to Besançon earlier. Our train tickets had been for 10PM that night, and I knew that, as beautiful as Marseille is, I just could not make it through that entire day.
We took a train that was meant to leave at 3:19, but didn’t leave until 3:45. The conductor kept making announcements that there was something wrong with the train, making me wonder whether I had made the right decision to leave Marseille early. We did make it back to Besançon at a reasonable hour and returning to a place that wasn’t home but was familiar did turn out to be best for me.
This week has been hard. I’ve now gone through the deaths of four dogs, and it never gets easier. If I were home, I could grieve with my family, who are all feeling the same as I am. Here, all I can do is distract myself with the various pleasures of study abroad, such as new friends, beautiful views, and the focus it requires to learn a new language.
I’m going to be perfectly honest here; my first two days in Milan were a certifiable disaster.
When I say disaster, I mean an eight on the Richter Scale. That’s enough to level a city. Why was it so insufferable? Let’s just say that nothing ever goes the way you plan it. Don’t worry, Milan has been amazing, and I love it here. However, sometimes, you just have a day that’s way too chaotic and where way too many things go wrong. Here’s the story of that day, co-starring jetlag and unreliable flight times.
On the flight to Milan, I was in total bliss. My choice of flight couldn’t have been better. I took Emirates airlines, which was a cheap, cheap flight. I highly recommend you fly Emirates if you can—they were great. I flew out on Super Bowl Sunday, something I relished, considering I don’t care much for sports. Due to this, the plane was almost empty. I read, I slept a bit, I ate two whole meals. When I got off the plane to arrive in Italy, I was still in that state of bliss. I walked through security casually, quickly realized every single person was speaking Italian—a language I only knew a bit of—and smiled, because, after all, that was what I came to Italy for. It was 10AM, and I had a whole day in Italy ahead of me.
I walked out into the airport lobby with my two large suitcases and realized my plane arrived two hours early, something which is usually a welcome surprise, but, when you’re getting picked up by a car service at a specific time, is a nightmare. I couldn’t think of what to do. I had no phone, barely any euro, and nothing to go on. I tried using my debit card to payphone the school, but the operator thought I was committing identity theft. I wandered the airport for a while, failing to get wifi, and, as luck would have it, found some kids who had suitcases even larger than mine.
While I am horrible at breaking into a conversation, eventually we realized we all were going to the same school. Luckily, the car service was picking up another group of kids, and I was able to tag along, after about an hour or airport wandering. Stepping outside, I quickly found it was pouring rain. Another damper on the day, with many yet to come. We were on our way to Milan though, which was a fifty minute car ride from the airport. I bonded with a few foreigners in the car with me, though, which was the saving grace of the journey. I wasn’t even in Milan yet, and I had met an Italian, an Australian, a German, and a kid from Holland. They were all very nice, and we discussed the differences between our countries and schooling systems.
Arriving in Milan finally, I was taken aback by the scope of the city. It was like New York City, but somehow, more magical. I know that sounds way too saccharine, but it’s the honest truth. I had dreamed of traveling to Italy for basically my whole life. It had finally come true. Through all the twists and turns, I was in Italy. I was in Europe for the first time, the first of many times I hoped I would get to visit Europe in my lifetime. The beginning of a great four months, and the beginning of a beautiful, life changing experience.
Before I could get to that experience though, I needed to get to my apartment. Which seemed so simple, but was excruciatingly complicated. First, I was chauffeured around Milan with the other three kids, as we brought them each to their respective apartments. This took two and a half hours. While it was nice to see some sights of Milan, it was painful to not be able to leave that car. I was then brought to my school’s headquarters, as the car service did not have the keys for my apartment with them, since I had arrived so early. I then had to wait in a dimly lit room at the school for two hours while the car service did their rounds, then came back to pick me up again.
By this point, jetlag had hit me severely. It’s like that crashing feeling you get around the middle of the day when your coffee has run out and you’ve just eaten lunch, except worse. I felt like crumbling into a pile on the unswept floor. My knight in shining armor, Mattia (who would go on to become my first Italian friend—more on that later) helped me carry my bags downstairs and helped load my luggage into the car to finally go to my apartment. After another hour and a half or so of driving around Milan, dropping everyone else off, I finally made it into my apartment, at 6PM, eight hours after I had landed in Italy. I thought this was the end of my suffering. Oh, how wrong I was.
I had chosen an apartment with two single rooms, and one shared room, in hopes that I would get my own room—a treasure for an avid recluse reader/writer like myself. I found I was the last to arrive, and was paired up with a roommate in the double room. I couldn’t deal with my disappointment. I declined going out to dinner, and passed out in my bed from jetlag. I was too annoyed. Little did I know, I’d become amazing friends with my roommate, Sean. Once again, more on that later.
I woke up three hours later, confused. I hadn’t eaten all day, and had no food. I left the apartment to find some food, knowing that my search would be futile—in Europe, most places close after or around 9 o’clock. By sheer luck, I found an asian grocery and a vending machine, which provided me with a soda, a bag of chips, and some ramen. The finest Italian cuisine I could find. I tried to shovel the food into my face, but jetlag messes with your metabolism. I passed out again.
Waking up at 5AM (once again due to jetlag) I was ready to go to our orientation. Getting to orientation was simple, and it was nice to finally traverse the city. I was in awe at the architecture of my school, and the architecture surrounding it. Once again, I felt like a newbie freshmen, just floating around being nice to people in hopes that we would stay friends. It was exciting, yet nerve-wracking. The orientation was typical, but the true torture came in the form of sitting in an auditorium, waiting for my name to be called for an Italian language assessment. Two hours later, I went up, and embarrassed myself as memory loss brought on by jetlag caused me to forget any and all things I knew about the Italian language. I went home, defeated and sleepy. I napped, right before telling Sean to wake me up for that night’s dinner—I wasn’t going to sleep through the fun again.
That night was when my experience in Milan turned around completely, one hundred and eighty degrees. We went out to an authentic Italian pizza place with a bunch of locals, including the aforementioned Mattia. There were two types of water (natural and frizzante), two giant carafes of white and red wine, and of course, pizza. I actually got a calzone, which was basically just a prosciutto pizza flipped in half, but I got to try a bit of a few different kinds of pizza, and let me tell you—the pizza in Italy makes me never want to have American pizza again. The dough was fresh, the tomato sauce was sweet, the cheese was strong, and the prosciutto was to die for. The night was perfect. We bookended our meal with some espresso, and I went home completely satisfied, knowing that, while sometimes a landing can be chaotic, once you’ve caught your balance, all it takes is a good slice of pizza and a cup of espresso to let you know that you’ve made the right choice.