so i've been berated for not updating. here it is!

i've realized that the most difficult thing for me to adjust to isn't not speaking the language or even anything inherently italian- it's having free time. i have classes monday and wednesday from 4-9 and tuesday 9-6. that leaves four totally free days and the bulk of monday and wednesday open. i don't know what to do with myself!

i'm used to juggling a full course load, riding, a job, and a social life. i spent most of last year doing my work, then going out as my roommates were going to bed, and being the first one up and out the door the next morning. i prefer my internal system to be similar to that of a humming bird, and right now i feel like a sluggish turkey. being totally obsessed with scheduling, i feel lost with all these open days. i've been doing an okay amount of exploring, but there's definitely time for more and i have to kick it up a notch. i want to soak up every bit of roma.

thursday it felt like my time in rome really began. i love my friends, but i do my best thinking and exploring on my own. i hit the streets solo to familiarize myself with part of the city and indulge in some much-needed retail therapy. although i ended up practicing self restraint, i did convince a shopgirl that i was going to purchase a stunning 300euro (on sale from 600e) sweater that i wore for about 10 minutes all around the store. of course, i had her absolutely believing (i could see it in her innocent eyes) that i'd be back before closing. i just needed to do it. for my own sanity. don't judge me.
thursday evening was a wild night in true roman fashion. we three ladies hit the town. hard. not wishing to indulge too many (unsavory?) details at the moment, i will simply say that every rumor about roman men in bars is true. they mean business. probably the tamest thing that happened was getting my heiney pinched about 5 minutes into my first drink.

saturday monica and i hit up the san giovanni market. surprised that within two weeks we'd already be at the rices of rome? of course we loved it. i got sweet pumas for cheap and we dug through piles of discarded prom dresses and well-loved cashmere. the excellent, kelli-granhan's-dreamland-store, coin, was also savored. i had a moment of absolute euphoria on the top of floor, surrounded by immaculate fashion and standing in front of a picture window watching traffic buzz through rome. i actually live here.
we ventured around san giovanni, a potential contender for favorite spot in rome, for awhile and then there was a real roman miracle. i saw a sign for a restaurant called "pizza&kebab" and thought... "could it be..? should i dare to dream...?" yes, faithful blogger, i dared to dream- and YES, the menu read the most beautiful words to my starved-already-pasta'd-out-eyes- "falafel al panino". not only did they have some of the best falafel i've ever had (and that's REALLY saying something), but they also had delish arancinis for a euro. A EURO! monica reveled in the closeness of the spicy kebab to her darling, sorely missed buffalo chicken wraps. we even ordered more food to take home for dinndinn. to top it all off, the chatty man-boy behind the counter was quite adorable with an extra flirtatious smile. there's no question we will return!

sunday was wonderful. my mom had gotten me this really great book of 24 "roman walks" for christmas and the girls and i decide to the "pyramid and aventine walk". the most fabulous mix of both exhilaration and peace set in as we strolled the orange gardens, one of the oldest churches in rome, and hiked the narrow streets of the aventine hill.

tonight on the walk home from school mon and i were talking about food (as usual), and i remembered that on the cruise i'll be able to have a veggie burger. YES! i'm legitimately excited about this. italy is meat-obsessed. walking through the fabulous mercato ingresso today, an excited little italian man pushed me toward a HUNK of animal and kept asking "taste? taste?!" on the quest for monica to get salami (which she accidentally got 8euros of, hahah), i think i saw just about every part of animal.

i would like to say that the biggest adjustment has been the fact that monica and i basically have a double bed.... but that would be a lie. it has been a seamless transition.