I have finally made it to Rome! I arrived yesterday around 11 am and I've been tired ever since. It all started out with a 15 hour journey from O'Hare airport in Chicago. After a tearful goodbye to our parents, we were off to Roma! Our first flight was to Montreal, Canada and it was surprisingly fast! I slept most of the way and I had two seats to myself. After that, we had a two hour layover in Montreal where we grabbed dinner. I had no idea how French Canada actually is. Turns out it's REALLY French. I was a hot mess when I tried to order a sandwich from the airport bar. Along with my freakout attack at the food stand, I also had no internet or cell service while in the airport. Before I knew it, we were boarding the final plane to Rome and I couldn't believe the time had come! I had been waiting for that day for over a year and a half. I was seated right by my friends, Alaina and Megan. Throughout the eight hour journey, we became more and more giddy with anticipation. The flight served a dinner containing surprisingly delicious chicken, bread, coleslaw, and a brownie! After that I dosed off for God knows how long. I woke up and it was "the morning" in Rome which meant we were served breakfast. In my head, it was still 2 am and I had no intentions of eating whatever they were serving. But of course it was delicious banana bread and I had to eat it. Once we arrived to Rome, we went through customs where the Italian customs police told me to go to his favorite bar. After that, we went to the baggage claim and then we found one of our professors that helped us get a cab from the airport to our hotel.

The car ride to the hotel was one of the most surreal experiences I've ever had. I was shocked by the way our driver drove, the streets, the graffiti, the colors, the trees. Everything around me was everything I thought it would be and nothing I would've expected. After we settled into our dorms, we dropped everything and went exploring. One of the first things we did was eat. My first meal in Italy was a margarita pizza and I loved every second of it. A few of my friends got gelato and I had to stop myself from overeating on the first day. Once we filled our stomachs, we set off for Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, Castel Sant'Angelo and so much more. We had no map (don't tell my mom) and it was amazing to explore such a beautiful city without a care in the world. We took tons of pictures, said "Buongiorno!" to every smiling face, and got talked up by street vendors *cringe-worthy pick-up lines.* Last night, the entire abroad group went out to dinner together and it was delicious. The first plate was a lasagna with cheesy vodka cream sauce (instead of tomato sauce and parmesan), the second plate was pork and potatoes, and for dolce or dessert, we had tiramisu! After devouring our food, we headed back to the dorms where we showered and finally let our bodies rest. It was one of the best sleeps I've gotten in a very long time.

I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and I cannot thank my family and friends enough for supporting me as I go through this crazy adventure. The things that I have seen in the past two days will be forever memories. This is going to be the best three months of my life. I'm constantly pinching myself. Last night I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't fall back to sleep because I was so excited for today's adventures. We are always finding new things and each day I feel more and more at home. I can't wait to write more about my travels and school once it actually begins.

Here are some of the photos I took today and yesterday----











Thank you for reading!!