Summary

The following is a summary of the past week. I failed to keep a journal because I was very busy with finding a place to live. I fail to mention that I am, in fact, very thankful to be here, and that there are many beautiful things to see. I have visited many churches and other sites already, and will surely revisit them again. You can wait for my opinions and impressions at that later date. Since I now have a place to live, and regular access to the net, I should have no excuse to update my blog/journal.

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Hello, anybody out there? I finally found a place to live, after a very difficult and exhausting search. A friendly suggestion: don't come to this city unless you are very rich or are a priest/in a religious order.

Classes started at the university on Monday, after a test was administered, and I was placed in the pre-intermediate class. We do a lot of talking and not so much grammar, which is practical I suppose. At any rate, I can speak enough Italian now that I feel comfortable walking about the place.

My new "home" is nice enough, about 15 minutes away from downtown Rome, but one hour away from school. Believe it or not, I have been getting up at five in the morning every day since I got here, so I don't believe that getting to school on time (for now) will prove a problem. My room is bigger than the one I have at home, it has a private bathroom, and it is air conditioned. How very important are the last two! The heat is insufferable, but I manage to put up with it somehow--especially in my air conditioned room. As for the private bath, I don't ever want to share a bathroom ever again with random people I don't know. Especially in Rome. It was one of the most disgusting experiences in my life.

I am only paying 440 a month, which is very good. Everything is horribly expensive. I can only afford to eat once a day and breakfast, but I don't think I am loosing weight.

Ok, enough about my problems, "where are the pictures?" you ask. Well I don't feel like taking any. I want to disassociate myself as much as possible from the ubiquitous horde of barbarians politely referred to as tourists. My goodness they are a plague, and they do nothing for the city. Not even help the economy since the fact that they are willing to spend lots of cash on bad food and cheap trinkets is probably the reason why this city is so expensive and makes it almost uninhabitable for the people who actually have to live here for more than a week.

There are places where I will simply not return to unless I have a very important reason. The Trevi fountain and St. Peter's basilica are at the top of my list. What an odious circus of mostly ignorant tourists whose only need is to snap a picture, (as if that will somehow make up for the fact you didn't even look first) gesticulating, and babbling nonsense, not to mention the vendors with their crap for sale (why would anybody buy a 10 cm. plastic statue of the David?? WHY???), and the omnipresent con-artists begging (or stealing) money.

I helped out at the Frat church last Saturday. The light bulbs above the altar had to be changed, so that meant we had to climb up ONTO the altar, put a ladder on it, and climb, and climb, and climb…..I politely offered to hold the ladder. Once thing is certain, only the brave or the saintly dare to tread in those high places.

Well, what an unfortunate rant this has turned into. I'll try to be more cheerful next time, and maybe have a picture or two.