So Then What?

So after an eventful few first days in Rome you would think it's time to relax, but no! You guessed it, time for classes to start. Because of the long walk to school we had to wake up early, but The American University of Rome puts on trips to different places, so we left even earlier to ensure we got spots on the trips at the sign up. We signed up for a weekend trip to Tuscany, a weekend trip to the Amalfi Coast, and a day trip to Assisi. Also, we signed up for a cooking class with Italian Chef Andrea Consoli. 

My first class I attended was the Intro to Italian course, which makes sense because I'm studying in Italy. My teacher speaks absolutely NO english. It's strictly Italian, so that's interesting.. Also that day I am taking a TV/Film Industry class as well as a Consumer Behavior class. After a long exhausting day of classes, my roommate Sarah and I went to the Appertivo that our school was taking students to. An Appertivo is usually located at a bar, and it's more of a pre-dinner tradition. You buy a drink and you get unlimited appetizers that they offer. That was fun to experience and it was located in an area we were not familiar with. 

On Tuesday/Thursdays I am taking a Documentary class, which is going to be awesome because we will have to shoot a 7-15 minute documentary in the city as a final project. After a short day of classes, Sarah and I had to travel all the way downtown to Piazza Venezia in order to exchange our money. We decided since we were already there we would just shop around and get lunch. After a few hours of venturing downtown, we headed back, and I got ready for my cooking class. The cooking class was amazing! We made a four course meal within a few hours. Our meal consisted of homemade pasta (hand rolled noodles and all), chicken, potatoes, and homemade tiramisu. My first week has been a ton of fun, and to kick off to our first weekend, our school is putting a Welcome Back/Kickoff party tonight! 

Here's to new friends, memories, and experiences. Cheers!

Lost? AGAIN?

So I'm sure as you can tell, adjusting to a new country is not the easiest thing. Especially when you want to do EVERYTHING the first few days with jet lag. Well, I was fortunate enough because our school plans little events and day trips we can participate in so we do not have to go alone. The first weekend was mostly adjusting, which was nice because it got my neighbors and I a fun day down to Villa Corso, which is a very busy area leading to the Trevi Fountain. After seeing the Trevi Fountain, we got some Gelato and headed home, simplistic fun.

The next day was the free day trip to the Vatican. I thought that would be such an interesting day trip especially since the Pope was speaking. My friends and I woke up extra early to be sure we were at school in time to walk with everyone. We finally get there after waiting in line, and we all decided to start in the Vatican Museum. Me being into photography and all, I was taking pictures and walking around until I realized I lost my WHOLE group, roommates included. Now mind you, most of our phone situations are strictly wifi enabled only, so that was not an option. I frantically looked around and nothing; until finally I found a kid from our school. We looked together, but could not find anyone. So we decided to go see the Pope. Seeing the Pope was such an amazing experience. St. Peter's Square was jam packed with adoring fans. After we saw the Pope, the other kid decided he's going to go home (which is nice and all, but we lived nothing near close to each other). So I decided to go to our schools meeting spot about 2 hours early, because what else was I suppose to do?  After waiting for an hour, I found three others who were about to leave. We all walked home together, and that was that. Getting lost in Rome must be my specialty.

As scary as it was to have lost everyone, it really gave me some time to look out and really take in the beauty of the Vatican. I wouldn't have changed anything if I had to do it all over again!

First Night in Roma

After a long two days of travel,  Sarah and I finally reach our temporary home for the next four months. When landing, we walked the airport to reach our luggage, and then it started! The language barrier hit like a brick wall. After a bit of searching, some Resgrads from the American University of Rome walked up to us and realized we were students. They helped us and finally took us to our apartment which is located on Villa Pamphili. While in the car looking out the window, I realized there was a TON of graffiti. One of the many things that us Americans do not perceive when thinking about Rome.

When arriving at our apartment, a lovely local named Francesco showed us to our apartment. We quickly met our new roommates that were just chilling in the kitchen having breakfast. Kalkidan and Sapna are from the University of Maryland, and they could not be any more nice! As we were unpacking, we realized how tired we already were, so we figured the best way to beat jet leg is to drink coffee! Wandering around our place, we found the diamond in the rough! A little cafe on Quatro Venti called Quattrobichiari. While sitting in the unique cafe/wine lounge, the two owners could not have been more friendly or helpful. Because of their generosity, that is our daily cafe stop. They teach us Italian as well as recommending different restaurants and other things to do.

After we finished unpacking and sipped our coffee, our school was holding a "Rome Walk" which is used to help get the other students more familiar with the area. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best that day, so they had to cut the tour short. The Resgrads took a group of us to the Colosseum and then told us to find our way back, but if we needed help, then ask! After getting directions, it was time to get some dinner. So my roommates and I decided to explore and get some dinner, which we found the most delicious pizzeria on Trastevere!

After dinner, it was time to head back home, but let's be real…WE HAD NO IDEA WHERE TO GO!  So we started walking the way we thought. We walked and walked and walked until we knew we were really lost. We started asking the locals where to go, and no one had any idea, not even the police. We finally ended up on a cliff overlooking the city of Rome. Totally breathtaking! After four hours of wandering and putting our new knowledge of Roma together, we made it home!

Soaring to Rome

Today, I woke up around 7:30 to get the final things that I knew I would forget. Heading to the airport, I got a bit nervous because I have never flown internationally without my parents, so you can probably see my concern. Thankfully however, my newly found friend, Sarah and I will be traveling together to our new school in Rome. I am so happy to have a companion throughout this long and stressful day. 

Our itinerary is definitely out of the ordinary considering we have a total of 4 flights until we are able to meet our destination. Starting out going through our first round of security, you guessed it! I was randomly selected (by the system) to be physically checked for contraband……Surprise there. Then we were sent to wait in a one room, three gate, dull, empty airport until we boarded our one hour flight departing from Windsor to Toronto. After arriving in Toronto, we enter into a much bigger, more lively, Tim Hortons at every gate, International Airport!  We then walked across the WHOLE airport to then sit for three hours. Our next overnight flight will take us all the way from Toronto to Germany, and then finally to our final destination, Roma!

During our longest flight of the trip, we were lavished with our own personal TVs equipped with movies, television shows, and music. We had a colorful group of people around us. When arriving in Germany, go figure I was selected YET AGAIN at random to be physically checked…they must love me at security!

After sitting and carefully calculating times Sarah and I realized that we will be arriving in Germany around 7:50am. HOWEVER, due to the time changes, we will technically be arriving at about 2am US time, and we will be in Rome at 12:30pm which is 6:30am. We are completely missing a whole night's worth of sleep. It's going to be a super long day, but hey…so much Rome, so little time!

Windsor Airport before leaving on our first flight

Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage is such a commonly used term used for someone who is leaving. According to Merriam Webster's dictionary it is defined as: usually used to say that you hope someone who is leaving on a trip will have a good journey. In just two short days I will be on the flight to Rome. During the midst of my trip, I will be celebrating my 21st birthday! With that being considered a "milestone" age, my parents decided to throw me a going away/birthday party. Being with family is always such a great time, and being able to see everyone at once was definitely a help. Having everyone in a room shows me how lucky I am to have a 100 year old great grandpa, friends who drove all the way back from school, a cousin who is safely back from war, a mom who is so caring and involved in everything, and even a god-parent to share a birthday wish with! That's not even half of what I have! There's plenty to be thankful for, and this experience is definitely one of those things.

There are many things that I am looking forward to in my trip, but for now I just have to worry about trying to pack..

Random Thoughts

I have never really kept a blog for personal purposes, but I figured this would be an amazing way to keep my friends and family in the loop while documenting the greatest experience of my life. Excuse my poor writing, I will try to put my feelings into words as best as I can..

It’s crazy to think that in 2 weeks, I will be on a 13+ hour flight taking me to my new home for the next four months. There’s plenty to be left behind, but so much more to gain.  I’ve only been to Rome once, but that was when I was much younger and couldn’t really appreciate everything that it had to offer. Now at the age of 20 studying Broadcast and Cinematic Arts, I am back at it with my camera ready to discover a whole new way of living.

One thing that has really been worrying me is the idea of packing. Let’s be real, a girl has one MAYBE two luggage to pack four months worth of everything needed to live on a day to day basis. To my understanding, Europe may or may not have the essentials that I use everyday such as a certain type of soap or type of food. Knowing this bit of information, where is it safe to draw the line? Is what I think I need really that important?

Along with the tedious process of packing the REAL worry is the fact that I have absolutely NO idea who I will be living with. It’s one thing to be in a completely different country at a completely different school, but the fact that I still have no idea who I am living with scares me the most. Doesn’t admissions know that people like to Facebook stalk the people they will be spending the most time with!? I was however lucky because I know of one other person from Central Michigan University who will be studying with the at The American University of Rome!

Although there are many things to be worried about, I couldn’t be more excited for these next two weeks to fly by! There’s so much to do in so little time, that’s for sure!

A Little About Me

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Triestina (Trista) Casasanta. I am currently a Junior at Central Michigan University majoring in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts. I am also double minoring in Media Design, Production, and Technology & Advertising. For the Spring 2014 semester I will be studying at The American University of Rome in Rome, Italy. I leave in approximately 12 days, and I couldn't be more excited!!!!!!

Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to take the opportunity to study abroad. As a Broadcasting student, I did not really have all the options that other majors had when picking a country to study in. I am Italian and thought it would be great to take the opportunity to get back there at some point! Another thing that helped me make my decision were the types of classes that The American University of Rome offers, such as filming documentaries in the city every Tuesday/Thursday!

As for other students, there is only one other studying at The American University of Rome. We are in the same major, so it worked out for the best! We have every class together and have a lot of similarities so I am happy to have someone from home there as well. We are flying to Rome and back home together, so I am very relieved to have someone to travel with.

This is unfortunately my first blog ever, so this should be an interesting project in it's self. I think being able to keep a blog will be beneficial to me as well as my family and friends. This will give them the opportunity to check up on what I've been doing without having to be on my phone and computer the whole time. I love taking pictures, so expect a ton! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I could not be more excited to start this journey!