16/1/07
My apartment is really nice. Currently I’m roomed with 2 AU kids, Aaron and Marcello. Marcello is fluent in Italian, so I can mooch off him for a bit. Campus is a 30 min walk away, not too bad, but it will suck in foul weather. I live about 200 feet above the main rode in my section of town, Trestevere.
What’s good about that is that on this street runs a tram that will turn Via de Trestevere from a 20 minute walk to a 5 minute ride, leaving a small 10 minute walk to campus from the station. One guy from AU who is living by me, Frank had ridden the tram several times the earlier day, and did as the Romans do, which basically means, walk on and sit down, ignoring the random performers on the tram (one was playing the violin today), and not paying. So armed with this knowledge, my friends Anne, Vanessa, Frank, and myself hop onto the tram and ride it to school. What we didn’t know is that you do indeed pay for a ticket, just not on the train but at a Tabacchi shop. The police will randomly sweep trams and if you don’t have a ticket or have not validated your ticket, they can fine you up to 40 Euro on the spot. So, I’m gonna get a monthly ticket for 30 Euro as soon as I can.
As far as living goes, Vanessa and Anne live together, and live a brisk 5 minute walk down the hill from me. Kate lives a block over from them, so I have three solid friends within spitting distance. Two of Vanessa and Anne’s roommates seem to be rather cliquey sorority girls, so that will be a tense living arrangement.
Lunch today consisted on mushroom and proscuito pizza and two glasses of red wine at a café by campus called La Scaletta. It was very good and the bottle, split among 4 people, was very cheap, only 10 Euros. Next time we will go with the house wine though, as we are told that they are very cheap and usually quite good.
Not much to report today. Filled out forms and got crazy tired.