Observation

Driving a car in Italy = no rules. None. That also means that pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. So, living in Auburn where you can walk across the street without even looking does not work in Italy. I have had some trouble adjusting and encountered quite a few near death experiences.

RyanAir

Weekend destination: Barcelona, Spain. Possibly one of the best decisions I have made this summer. The weekend kicked off with a good ol' flight from Rome to Barcelona with nothing but a backpack. Yes. I, Samantha Corcoran, packed a backpack for the entire weekend...it's so shocking & definitely a first. As a whole, this weekend contained a lot of firsts that I am pretty proud of. One example....my first flight with RyanAir.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, RyanAir is the cheapest possible airline company for international travel. Cheapest translates to not so great quality. Never in my life have I experienced something quite like a flight with RyanAir. I could smell the chaos while waiting in the Rome airport. Once it was time to board the flight a huge mass of passengers crowd the line like they might not get on the plane. It was hard enough not to get pushed out of the line, let alone stay with a group of people and make sure your luggage is safe. Talk about multi-tasking. I finally make get my ticket checked and realize that we have to ride a bus to actually get to the plane. Of course a million people stuff onto the bus, which drives a total of thirty seconds to the plane. Now this is where the real deal begins....it could be a scene from a movie....
the doors to the bus open and everyone goes crazy. Literally. I felt like I was standing in front of Sear's on the day after Thanksgiving where everything was 60% off and no tax. The crowd begins to sprint to be the first on the plane because of course you have to fight for your seat. First come first serve basis. No lie, people were running. I was honestly slightly scared for my life because these people show no mercy. Twelve people at one time try to jam and squeeze their way onto the stairway like the seats on the plane might actually run out. After getting pushed around for awhile, I finally make my way onto the plane. Luckily, my two friends saved me a seat on the plane, or else I would have been sitting in the very back due to my lack of aggressiveness. This RyanAir experience will for-ev-er be burned into my memory. At least I didn't get trampled and I lived to tell the story. Thank you Jesus!

Order of Turkey

It was just a normal Sunday afternoon where I could be found lounging on my bed reading a book, when Abby and I decided to do something with our lives and go to the grocery store! We realized that the supermercato closes early on Sunday and we had about 30 minutes until closing time, but we were so desperate for food that this trip was a necessity. Abby and I strap on our backpacks (because we don't want to pay for the 9 cent plastic bag) and rush out the door. The majority of the walk to the supermercato is uphill but we are in such a hurry that we have to start running. Our backpacks are flopping all over the place because they are empty and I'm sure all the locals got a kick out of watching us. We definitely can't hide our American roots during times like these. So we finally reach the store totally out of breath and sweaty, but it's still open for business! I soon decide that I'd really like some lunch meat for this week, turkey to be specific. All the previous visits I had been too nervous the buy meat because I would have to talk to the guy working, and I knew that would result in some embarrassing way. I push my nerves aside and confidently try to say I'd like some sliced turkey in Italian. The man looks at me with a confused face so I repeat my request...but it only seems to be making things worse. He talks to the other workers and in conversation I hear the word Americana but nothing else. Finally with the help of another lady I realize that I was asking for "tabacchi" which is the Italian word for a small store that sells bus tickets and phone cards. I meant to ask for "tacchino" which is the correct word for turkey. After the man laughs at me for awhile, he hands me the sliced turkey. So much for not wanting to embarrass myself. Note to self: Avoid future humiliation and don't ask the butcher for a small convenient store.

Field Trip

The group left Wednesday to venture out to tour the World Food Program, which is centered out of Rome. It turns out that the student intern at WFP was actually a student from Auburn, so we felt the warm hospitality of the south right away. During a powerpoint presentation, Abby proceeds to sit in front of the large, round conference table, which seemed like a good idea at the time. This means that everyone else seated in the room had a perfect view of her face. Let's just say that Abby had a difficult time keeping her eyelids open. It was very entertaining for everyone...excluding Abby that is. Lunchtime rolls around and it is decided that we will eat lunch in the cafeteria. Yes, the dreaded word "caf-e-ter-ia." Everyone gets their plates filled with food and and we all one-by-one go through the salad bar happy because we will soon feed our starving bellies (learning about world hunger can work up an appetite). As we begin to eat we notice that the food just isn't as good as it looked. It was a bit depressing when I realized the smell coming from my fish was actually a stench and the lettuce from my salad tasted like cleaning supplies. So once again, one-by-one our group files to set our treys in the trash area looking very similar to the moment we got them. The sight of 20 treys of food going in the trash AT the World Food Program headquarters was actually a pretty sad sight. I felt like a terrible person throwing so much food away after we learned the statics of how many kids go to school hungry. Talk about feeling convicted!

After our lovely field trip at WFP, it was announced that we were now going to visit Hadrian's Villa to tour the ruins. So just try to picture a group of 20 girls dressed in nice, non-walking outfits showing up to tour this massive villa during the hottest part of the day! Within the first five minutes of meeting our tour guide, we knew it be be a long while before we returned to our bus. The tour was very interesting and we even attracted a young male who just happened to be touring Hadrian's Villa alone, who was also studying abroad. His name was John. Can you imagine the excitement he probably felt when he spied the group of 20 girls...I think he got the better end of the deal.

Observation

There is never a dull moment when it comes to public transportation. On the bus today, a woman yelled at me. In Italian. I have no idea what I did to make her angry, but I do know that you have never been truly yelled at until you have been yelled at in Italian.

Andiamo to Roma

Today the entire group ventured into the unknown world of ROMA...and what an unknown world it really is. Rome differed so much from any other place in Italy so far. I guess I should compare Rome to New York City because of the hustle and bustle city life with tons of tourism. I'm not quiet sure if we saw any true "Romans" because everyone else looked like tourists as well with a camera attached to their hand. Except for, of course, the nagging salesmen who have Gucci and Prada purses layed out on a blanket to prepare for a quick escape. I have to admit that I gave in and bought some knock off Ray-Bans that I am pretty proud of. Only 10 Euros. I didn't realize that you could bargain with these guys or else it would have been about a euro cheaper. Buying new shades can now be checked off of the list of things to buy in Italy.

As far as sight seeing goes, I felt like the ultimate tourist (minus the stylish fanny pack) but it was so amazing! We visited the Spanish Steps first, but honestly I thought I would be much larger in life...I still loved it though. We got to walk down Via Condotti, which is the fashion center of Rome. We passed by Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Valentino.. you get the point. It was nice to gaze into the display windows and dream of being able to afford a keychain. Later, we were walking through all these very tall apartments and cafe restaurants when all of the sudden we turn a corner and out pops the Pantheon! I think the fact that it took me by surprise made the experience that much better. The Pantheon was massive and by far the most memorable location. After lunch (Italian time, lunch starts around 2) we walked to Via Margutta. This street has personal significance because of the one and only Audrey Hepburn. Yes, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, also known as Princess Anne and Joe Bradley from the movie Roman Holiday. Via Margutta is in fact the address where Joe Bradley lives, and Anne accidently stays the night on his couch because she wants to escape her princess duties. I'm trying not to get carried away with plot summary, but Via Margutta 51 is from Roman Holiday and today I had the most wonderful opportunity to visit the street in person. Needless to say, I will probably be happy for a week.

Observations

For the span of my Italian studies, I would like to point out certain observations about the Italian way of life that I think are worth mentioning. Starting now.

For some odd reason, Italians absolutely love the color purple. Odd, I know. Every store window has at least one item of purple clothing, if not all. I even spotted a young Italian man wearing all purple. It must attract the ladies.