The last week or so, has been pretty mellow, which has given me the opportunity to realize I have gotten into a routine here…in Italy! The best part about getting into a routine, is I have started making relationships with people! Every morning I wake up, way too early…Case disagrees, however he was not a night shift nurse for 2 years. With that said, our alarm goes off every morning at about 730, and the day starts! Case drops me off at the train station before he goes to work, where I have some time to kill. So, obviously, I go and have a cappuccino at the station bar. It took them about a week, but the two ladies who work there have figured me out, they even notice when I miss a day! Now I am able to walk into the shop, and they know exactly what I want. The best part about being a “regular” is having a spot to call mine. Case (which I now affectionately call him the Golden child of Italy), has so many regular spots, when he walks into his pizza spot, trattoria, wine bar etc. everyone knows him, are always thrilled to see him, and meet me. So now, when Case occasionally joins me for a coffee before he has to wander off to work,  I am the regular and he is my guest–which means I do all the ordering (in Italian of course), and show him the ropes in MY place. 

After my daily coffee, I take the train to Rome with the daily commuters. Oh if you were wondering, my monthly ticket I paid for finally was checked! The best part was, I showed them my ticket (which is a nice plastic card with my picture on it), and the guy wanted a receipt. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the receipt, I was not aware I needed to keep the piece of paper the size of my pinky to show the controller, when I had a beautiful plastic membership card in hand. Thankfully he was able to call in and make sure my card was active, so no problems, he was just annoyed with me. However when I went and recharged my card for October, you bet I kept the receipt, it has its own special pocket in my wallet–it’s basically Italian gold.

Once I arrive in Rome I do 1 of 2 things. Some days I hop on the metro and head to the library (where I also have a membership card with my picture on it, Italians really seem to like these) or other days wander around Rome see sights and go shopping before class. While at the library last week, I made friends with the old man at the front desk. I am sure our conversation to any person who passes us is incredibly confusing… we start out speaking in Italian, until I don’t understand, and then we switch to English, then I initiate back to Italian (when I feel ready) and we talk in Italian, and then back to English..and so on. It’s quite a circle…which is pretty much how all my conversations are now days. EVEN with Case! He is such a drill sergeant of an instructor! After a few hours of library/wandering I head to class. In class I have made friends with a wonderful Swedish girl, Amica, (which is funny because Amica translates to friend in Italian), a Canadian, and another American. At break time we have made it a habit of heading to a local bar for a caffe, where we take turns ordering in Italian. The Bar owners seemed to notice us right away, and we like to think they are happy when we wander in at 345 for a caffe. After class, I am absolutely exhausted, I never realized how hard learning another language is! Last week, Wednesday, there was a point when I just wanted to throw a tantrum and speak only in English, it passed and I survived– after I convinced Case to skip the gym for apertivo that night :). Next week I have my first test, so we will see how I am doing…I have to say studying for Italian, is far more fun then studying for Nursing, especially when good food and wine are involved. Pictured below, is the school where I spend several hours a day, attempting to learn Italian.

After class I have to brave my least favorite part of the  routine, bus ride back to Roma Termini. The amount of people squished into the buses in Rome is awful, If I am not squished against the windshield in the front of the bus, I am being coughed on by one of the million other people on the bus…Thank goodness for Purell. After the grueling bus ride, I get to jump onto my train and head back to Aprilia, while working on my Italian homework (there are even some days, where the person next to me will help me with my homework)!

Last week, Case and I started back at the gym, a much needed lifestyle addition in Italy–next week we are even being brave and trying Italian Crossfit. Some days we gym it up, other days we make dinner at home, and now only a couple times a week we go out to dinner. Last night was our night to go out to dinner..after the gym of course. So we wandered to a wine bar/restaurant, which we had discovered a few weeks ago. Last night, hands down, was my favorite dinner thus far. I had an amazing gnocchetti with a gorgonzola and pumpkin sauce. paired with an amazing Red wine. Case had a fresh tuna and tomato pasta paired with a really tasty white wine. Then for our second, we had a full sea bass with a salad. And to finish the night, we had this incredible cream and Nutella, and flaky dough concoction. After each finishing our second glass of wine we decided it was time to head home, since we were both basically falling asleep at the table. Case went up to pay…and that amazing dinner somehow only totaled to 45 euro (WHAT)! So Case left a 50, it truly was the best meal I have had in Italy. As we were leaving, and saying our goodbyes, the owner chased after us, and offered us the bottle of wine Case had with his dinner, to take home with us! It was incredible, it just shows, how generous Italians are.  Pictured below is the bottle of wine we were given: I love this country!

Here are a few other pictures from our random activities in the last week: The first and second picture are views from the top of the wall.  The third picture is of Case standing inside the wall, there was a complete walkway for soldiers who were defending the city, to walk along the wall while hidden. The fourth picture shows me looking back onto the Appia Antica heading back into Rome.

The next picture shows a church we wandered in on while on a Passeggiata (stroll) in Rome. This picture is an example of another one of my favorite things in Rome, literally just stumbling into beauty!

Italy continues to surprise me, and teach me new things every day. Just last night I was telling Case Italy has its own way of life, and it takes quite some time to get use to; especially for someone like me who is always 10 minutes early to everything (thanks dad), has my day organized completely (thanks mom), and follows the rules of the road (thanks America haha). Every day however, Italy teaches me things I will keep with me forever, especially an increased amount of patience. Tomorrow Case and I are heading to wine festival, so I am sure you will all hear about that in the next post–wine literally comes out of fountains I am told! Until next time Ciao Ciao Ciao.