2nd Day in Rome

Hey, everybody! So, this is my second day in Rome and my last day here before the program starts. It's currently 2pm and I'm hiding out in my room! Disclaimer: I talk about my feelings a lot in this blog in the beginning.

This trip so far has been molto pazzo in more ways than one. Last night was a traumatizing nightmare the tended to fix itself up nicely. Now, it has been traumatizing in a sense that I never get traumatized, and what I went through was a piece of cake compared to other tourists, im sure. Last night, I had a fit of anxiety because the wifi at the convent stopped working for me, even though it was showing itself at full strength. This meant I couldn't get in touch with my family, whom I miss very much. What's worse was that I tried to call (I knew it would be expensive, but at that point, I didn't care) and I found that my phone couldn't even make phone calls. Now, I'm not completely dumb, I knew that phones worked differently overseas, but I'm on my boyfriend's phone plan, and he's traveled practically since he could barely walk and assured me before I left, talked to our provider even, that there wasn't anything to worry about, so I didn't. Turns out our provider is a group of big, fat dirty liars, because that wasn't the case.

I then realized there would be no way for my teacher or International Student Center get ahold of me if need be. I THEN realized I forgot to write the address of my apartment and the student center,  and since the wifi wasn't working for me, that pulling the addresses from my student email wasn't gonna happen. I kept telling myself to let it go, and deal with it in the morning, but I couldn't get to sleep. So, against my better judgement, I went downstairs to tell the receptionist my problem, mostly wanting to talk to someone rather than fixing anything. At the desk were two of the nuns. I told them in Italian thatni was sorry, but my Italian wasn't any good. They called one of their staff who could speak English to come help me. I heard them say, 'Ragazza' (girl). I like to think they said, "There's a crazy girl at the desk who only understands English, please hurry! She looks like she's about to break out crying!"

The staff member they got was very sweet. She told me the problem was probably that everyone was trying to use the wifi at once, and that was likely the cause. She let me use the receptionist wifi, that actually did work better. She also served as a bit of a therapist too. After we got the wifi working, I couldn't help but tear up I was so relieved. She kindly asked me why I was sad. In response, I apologized and assured her my first day in Rome was a wonderful experience, and I've always dreamed of coming, and now I'm here, and the city is so beautiful, but I've never been anywhere by myself, was tired, scared, and was missing my family. She then told me what I already knew, but just needed to hear: it was going to be okay. She told me I was in the most beautiful city in Italy. I believe her, but I tell people that about Portland in the states. XD I got the addresses I needed, and sent an email to my folks and boyfriend that I was feeling better,  then emailed my teacher to let him know I was having phone issues.

After, I went to bed, a feeling of relief washed over me, and the loud concert about half a kilometer away sang me to sleep. It was a welcome change from sleeping on an airplane. I woke up a couple hours later, and couldn't get back to sleep due to the lack of noise. I got an email from my boyfriend ten minutes after waking back up. He went to our provider and got me on an international plan!

I got up around 7am, had breakfast, then set out on my second adventure. I still took quite a few pictures, and made a couple videos, but not as many as I would like, especially later in the day with all the crowds. I felt paranoid that somebody would grab my phone while I was trying to take pictures. I did take pictures of things that I thought were really cool though. :) My plan for today was to go to a church that took confessions in English. The only one that was available to do that was Santa Sivestro. On the way, I went to the Pantheon. When I was there yesterday, it was completely packed, and I only got to see the outside. This morning, to my surprise, there was hardly anyone there. I went inside, admired the art, but the coolest thing about it was standing in front of Raphael's bones. As an arist, it's hard to imagine a cooler experience.

The church I was looking for, San Sivestro, was located in a large piazza of the same name, but I found it. That was a beautiful church too. I think it actually has a relic of St. John the Baptist. It was fascinating to see the age of the church. It had a beautiful celing mural that is somewhat faded, and it had what looked like bullet or shrapnel holes on the wall behind their enormous, lifesize stone statue of Mary. It could have been parts where the plaster was just losing its integrity, but my imagination ran wild there for a moment. They were supposed to do confessions at 10 am, but the priest wasn't there, so the nice Irish receptionist told me to come back 15 minutes before noon mass started. I thought, 'Okay, I've got time to kill and a gorgeous city to spend it in, so here I go.'

I then found a McDonald's.  Now, my mother advised that the one of the strangest things you can do is go to a very American fast food place in a foreign country. So, I went inside, but I realized that I wasn't hungry, and it was still like 10:30 and it was nowhere near lunchtime. Being in there was strange though, it was kind of fancy and had gelato and coffee up front, but you got your burgers in a basement floor. I thought I'd come back around noon and eat then: That was a really stupid mistake. I'll explain why in a minute.

So, I came back in the church, and I made my confession. It was a very interesting experience, the priest was very kind, and I feel like confessing my wrongdoings, immaturities, and listening to his advice and wisdom put me on another of many stepping stones towards maturity and growth. Having confession here, in the capital of my religon, especially far away from my family, forcing me to be more independant... I can't describe this feeling very well. I feel more at peace. In better control of myself. This is stark contrast from my infantile emotions of lonliness. Here, in my room, I still feel somewhat anxious, but it's nowhere near as bad as yesterday, or even this morning.

On my walk, I found a chocolate shop ran by this older couple. The lady did not speak any English, but i understood enough and spoke enough to have a conversation with her. She even took my picture, after warning me about pickpockets. Harg, one of my biggest anxieties. I was wearing a pair of tight jeans with a small dress, so I figured as long as I stayed alert and avoided crowds, I'd be fine. And I was. After that, I went back to the McDonald's and guess what I found! Crowds! So, that plan was a bust, but that was okay, I'm here for exactly two more weeks, and I'm sure I'll have many more chances. Hopefully I'll find a Starbucks instead,  they're evil as Hell, but they tend to taste better than McDonalds. Sometimes.

So, I got to see glimpses of  the Trevi Fountain, the Column of Marcus Areleous, Trinita Dei Monti, and I unknowingly went really far east and saw the outside of the Terme di Diocleziano, I think. That was probably the most crowded place.