me and snow pea

I've been trying to find an internet cafe with the ability to upload pictures. The one we were using has that function disabled, but says it doesn't so I had gone through a lot of computer-type heroics before admitting defeat. Now I found a nice touristy one by the Trevi Fountain and it looks, beyond all reasonable hope, like it's working.

The downside of waiting this long (two and half whole days) to write is that already I feel like I have too much to say for someone paying four euros an hour. So here's a very quick rundown of my trip so far, for Mom and Grandma and people who will want to read it.

So you know, this is Yvette, my traveling companion. (I call her Snow Pea because she's so prepared, like a boy scout - this won't make sense to you but that's ok.) Yvette took an early flight to Atlanta, which was freezing, and then what became a red-eye to Roma.
The plane was pretty empty and we both had empty seats next to us, so I slept more. Then we took the Leonardo Express from the Airport to Termini Station, and walked about ten minutes to our apartment. This all went by so much faster than we had planned that we had time to shower and change at our apartment before going to the school. We surprised our landlady/apartmentmate Maria Grazia, who was still in her robe, but she let us in anyway.

Then we went to school, and I took a language test. I was afraid they would listen to me for five seconds and say, "Sei stupida, go back to the beginner's class," but they didn't. And I learned the word for screenplay -- "scenegiattura". We did some orientation stuff and walked down to get a panino for lunch at the Spanish Steps, which are about a block and a half away. This is them. There was a protest, I couldn't quite figure out what it was about. The first day our class took a little tour of il centro of Rome, all in Italian. I couldn't really understand any of it, so basically I was just staring at buildings, trying to look interested. Plus by the afternoon the jet lag was really starting to kick in and everything felt like it was coming through a painful layer of fog. We struggled to stay awake by eating pizza, which was really amazing pizza, and then finally stumbled home. I got halfway undressed and fell asleep in my sweater, mid-sentence.

We both slept about 12 hours and woke up feeling a lot better. I had my first real day of language school. I'm definitely behind where I should be for the level I'm at in class, but I'm a nerd so I like it anyway. I'm learning a lot already and am feeling a lot more comfortable telling, for example, the guy at the gelato counter that he should pick the best flavors for me.

After class Yvette and I went to do a little errand-running with a Spanish girl named Maria, whose voice was so high and squeaky I thought she was kidding at first. (Yvette says she now has veto power over who we bring along with us from class.) I finally found a shop where I could buy a SIM card, so I now have my own Italian phone number! (Mom and Dad, I will be emailing this to you momentarily.) I even made a phone call, to the Villa Borghese Galleria for reservations.

After that, the three of us walked through the park to get to the Borghese Galleria. It's like Rome's Central Park, very beautiful, with a few different museums and many rows of scupltures. The rain and the statues gave it a melancholy feel. I'd like to go back to write there. Brie, I think you might like to run.

The museum was like nothing I've seen before. Every inch of every single room was covered by art. Every ceiling was a fresco, and there were niches with sculptures along many of the walls. It was really beautiful and a lot to absorb. My favorite sculpture was Bernini's Rape of Persephone. I thought they looked like they could have started breathing.

I do have a lot of thoughts and impressions but Yvette's sitting next to me waiting for me to finish so I'm going to end here. A più tardi! (Brie and Heidi, it's amazing, I can't wait for you to come. Bring something very warm to sleep in... in fact, bring something warm for me to sleep in. Also, all the women are wearing high boots with skirts or pants tucked into boots, if you want to look Italian.)