At the sac airport this group of four ladies trying to be an age they could never pass for were excited and flashing their passports, and when they saw mine and I told them of my upcoming 24 venture to Roma, they were like "ooh! good for youuuu girll!" They were just a sight to see--glamed up for their week of tanning and drinks in some exotic bahamian location, egging me on in my venture, I wonder how theyre going to be the next few weeks, hahaha
In my 4 hour flight to Minnesota, nothing really happened but everyone was parading their toddlers up and down the isles like they were showing of the winning pony at the national state fair. Interesitng.
In Am. the man next to me helped me get through customs and showed me where my terminal was since Amsterdam Airport is huge!! I got my bearings and went to pull some euro out of the atm, got a bite of food, changed my shirt and brushed my teeth in the bathroom, and went to wait for my next plane. By that time the terminal got moved and I had to walk to the complete other side of the airport. Being surrounded by all these people who didnt speak english, for some reason, felt more comforting to me than all the english I hear at home. But at that point I also realized how my good understanding and capabilites to speak Japanese were completely useless to where I was traveling.
soon after the plane landed, and I walk off the exit ramp and follow the crowd, not understanding anything in Italian except "uscita" which is exit haha..Immediately Im hit by a heat wave and stickiness; it must have been over 90 with 80% humidity it was like WhoaH!..nothing ive ever felt.
I get to my bags and pull off the two duffle bags and cart them toward the exit, and Im met by a huge mob of people calling out names and holding signs up..and I was completely thrown for a loop, but I decided to follow the people leaving and I see a flicker of the sign reading "Hanson" and im like ooh!! Hanson!!! and I walk over and the guy holding the sign says...ms. hanson?? I respond by saying yes, and he just stands there looking around and asks "anyone else?" and i say no...hes like ook..well..lets go! (all in very italian sounding english haha)..he helps me carry my bags to the car and then taxis me around rome, showing me the sites and asking me if i wanted 'chewing gum' (?)...I didnt mind him showing me around since i already paid a flat fee, and he really got me aquainted with my first impressions of rome..its huge!!! he was also amazed to hear that I was going to be here so long, but finally he got me to my hotel and left me from there.
at the hotel I got my key and lugged my bags upstairs, opened my room and Ahhhh~~! a bed at last after over 24 hours of travel!!..i was so happy to see I had ac too, and I throw down my stuff and get ready for some good sleep (even though it was only about 4pm in rome)..
I loved my quaint little room, and went to check out the view from the window. So I open this huge window, since its amazingly old like everying in rome, and I take a look around the bustling city outside. I then am sooo ready for bed and I go to close the window, and bam!! The thing wont close! Every time I go to close it, it feels like there is something stuck in the hinge and Im going to break the darn thing off~ So then I think to myself..ok, youve done work on plenty of things in houses, how can you fix this? I pull over a chair and get on it and i notice theres holes all over where the hinges are, apprently showing the problems the window has had before, and where they drilled new holes for the hinges. Now, having no drills, nor the muscle power to hold up a 100 lb window I think of how I can reset the hinges without busting them more and having the entire winow fall on me. The only solution?? try to push the hinges back into their holes while pushing up on the window to get it on the latch, all while in my pajamas, with the heat a humidity blasting up my side and face. That plan exhausted, I conclude that the problem is beyond my power to fix and I have to change back into real clothes and call the guy at the front desk and tell him I opened the broken window.
So that went great, haha. It took me awhile to convince the man that I wasnt trying to change rooms because "I didnt like the view from my window" but that, indeed, the window was minutes from falling off because of its own weight pulling at its hinges..he comes up and immediately sees the problem and say "oh. yes. this window is broken." I think to myself...yeaaaaah. He then gets another guy in there and together they somehow push it back into place and latch it so it doesnt fall off, leaving me much relieved that it didnt fall off, and that I could finally go to bed eventhough it was postponed about an hour because I wanted to see the view from my first Roman hotel room. >_<
I go to the stove, light the gas, and put the pot on top of the nice glass top and go back to my room to relax a little and get adjusted. About ten minutes later I hear BSHH! and run out to the kitchen to find that the glass was not the burner but in fact a cover. Wow. How many things in Italy can one girl break?!? I sigh, determined to fix this mess I created for myself, and proceed to clean up tiny glass fragments for the next hour and a half (literally they were about the size of half a pea). I tried to get every last shard because I didnt want anyone to be hurt, and once that was finished I thought to myself (maybe I should just not touch anything before I decide to relax, haha) But man, I guess you have to just go with it--Its not like I wasnt being cautious, and I know how to work a gas stove, but...I decided that Id to the damage in the beginning because then Id have more time to find a replacement, haha.
Later that day Rhianon and Karla showed up, and we all went out to dinner (Professor was supposed to show up, but ran late so we left to eat dinner. Only later did we find out that we missed her by a few minutes). The place we chose by the vatican was not the best, and we didnt realize we got ripped off until after, but the Gelatto was amazing!! It made up for the poor dinner we had. Everyone then went home and passed out from the long days.
The next day we had 'orientation' and we heard about all the safe things to do in rome, the rules of the program, etc...At night Gigi and Karla made coos coos (?) and veggies. We had a nice candelight dinner around our quaint table and its at that moment it felt like we had finally arrived in Rome and everything was at Peace. <3
But, as Im sitting here in the middle of the night, trying to rewrite old papers (ill explain) and write new ones, theres this feeling of uneasiness that Im not ashamed to talk about. A week ago, someone climbed through our apartment window and into my room, creeping all over the place I am living. They came in and spray drugged us (a common thing in Italy I was told by the polizia), and took every valuable thing I own. Dont get me wrong, thank GOD my apartment mates and I are safe.
Seriously. Someone sneaking around in the place where I live and sleep. It just gives me the shivers.
So they came in and stole all of my belongings. My cool volcom backpack, with all of my school books, notes, and notebooks in it; my laptop with all three essays I had finished, that I now have to rewrite, all the music and pictures Ive had for the past 3 years, with a few of them backed up but practically gone; my ipod, that i conveniently put in my backpack pocket the day before; my razr phone with an american number on it that I fell asleep with In My Hand!; my wallet.....basically everything.
So waking up the next morning to find the window open and our stuff gone, was unsettling to say the least. At first it seemed so utterly ridiculous that anyone would have stolen our stuff in the few hours we had been asleep..but, nope..I guess I can say Ive gotten the total Italian experience now hahaha...
The police station took hours, and they sent us away and we had to come back. Then when we got back everything had to be interpreted and for some reason the police man didnt ask Rhianon or I any questions about the theft except what was stolen, when most of it happened to us, and he asked Karla everything when she was in the other room. I dont know, I mentioned something about it but I think he just wanted to get home.
After that I had to find a way to get money, because I had absolutely no cash and no card. So Accent lent me a mean 100 euro to get me through the next week until I could get a new card and PIN number. Also, I had to fill out all this paper work and try to get it in to LoJack for my computer, on the slight chance that it can be recovered...but who knows. I doubt it. Its time to budget even more to replace all the electronics that were stolen. And the sad thing is all the memories that are now gone. All of my Rome pictures, and there were over 500--some of them really good too!! All of my pictures from the last few years and the music that Ive had since forever! Gah!
Also theres this huge insecurity in our apartment. Its like at all times you just know its not safe. Living a floor above the main street is just unsettling, especially when you know someone has been inside the apartment already, and there really was nothing that could have been done to prevent it. Its really hard to get any work done either, since our apartment is basically a toilet, two rooms with four beds, and a tiny kitchen...its difficult to get stuff done when you're surrounded. But nevertheless I continue, theres only two weeks left, and I have three papers to write in the next few days, and one after that for Monday, and then its finals. I still want to have an enjoyable time, but with the stress, insecurity, and worry..we all feel thats its very difficult to concentrate. Its not that Im not learning, and its not that Im not absorbing the information and culture and everything I came here to do. Its just at a point where its very...difficult
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