First day of school + Alone in Rome

Last night was a quick break from the culture shock of Rome as the group went to an Irish bar called Scholar's lounge. It was filled with other American students studying abroad, all there to watch the Bears-Seahawks game...Let's skip that. After the game the bar hosted karaoke night. I didn't partake, but there are 119 nights left and I can honestly say that I will get my hands around that mic soon enough.

Our first day of classes began today, we met our professors and watched a short little movie (below: WATCH) that I can now attest truly exemplifies the way Italians act. After a short lunch break we had our first academic experience abroad: Italian Culture and Society. Our professor compared being abroad to the scene in Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams meets the students and makes them stand on their desks. This was a pro. Then he put me to sleep. That was a con. So far for the semester he's even stevens.

After an hour and a half of keeping my eyelids open with toothpicks, I went on a little excursion into Rome (looking for a SIM card for my iPhone). I found out that the store I was looking for was on Via del Corso, which is roughly the Michigan Avenue of Rome. There was Adidas, Nike, and a bunch of other shops (I only deviated from my plan to the phone store for shoes, obviously). Anyway, after getting excessively lost for about 30 minutes, I finally found the store and got what I wanted only to find out my phone wouldn't work with the SIM (insert swear here). The means justified the ends however, as I saw some sort of Russian politician surrounded by about 20 police vehicles. I was nearly knocked out of the street by officers standing by, but i'm ok no need to worry.

When I got home the other guys let me know the plan for the night which involved cooking our first family-style dinner: Bruschetta, caprese salad, and spaghetti pomodoro with sausage. I actually made a dinner. No microwave and no straight out-of-the-box BS. It was delicious...it was alright. We have room for improvement in the next 4 months. Right now we're just hanging out in the apartment, debating on what movie to watch. It's looking like Zoolander.