Living in Roma

Ciao to all!  It is my second day in Rome and I am just starting to settle in.  The past two days have been very hectic because we had a lot of orientation events.  The hardest part was actually getting to the events.  Of course my roommate and I instantly got separated from the rest of our housemates (not that they knew where they were going either) so we got lost.  I had my first lesson in asking Italians for directions.  Luckily we knew what piazza the building was in so we could easily ask "Donde Piazza del Collegio Romano?".  Of course, understanding Italian directions didn't work out.  Luckily Italians talk with their hands!  Eventually we knew we were close, so we went in to a hotel and asked the concierge "Parla Inglese?"  She gave us great directions, but we still arrived late to the meeting.   The rest of the day involved a lot of introductions, professors handing out syllabus, and more getting lost.  By the end of the day I had major blisters on my feet.  I have been so exhausted because of the jet lag, running around the city, and not eating enough.  Today was a calmer day, we only had a short orientation meeting to pick our classes, then we had the rest of the day off.  My roommate and I went grocery shopping.  My favorite foods are great prices here!  A box of pasta is .45 euro, a loaf of fresh bread, 1.00 euro, tomato sauce, 1.50, and olive oil for 3 euro.  It felt so good to buy some food, now my shelf in the kitchen isn't empty!  Tomorrow we will go to an open air market to shop for produce and meat.  I hope I will be able to find some farm fresh eggs too!  The eggs were a bit pricey at the grocery store. 
My apartment in Rome is really cool- It is more like a dorm than a traditional Roman apartment.  The building used to be a monastery, so it has a beautiful central courtyard, arched windows, and a lot of history.  My apartment is the whole fourth floor, so I live with 14 girls (2 per room) and 4 boys.  It actually feels a lot like home in Bennington, we have a large common room and a cute kitchen.  The whole building is students, but I only know a few people in the other apartments so far.  The location of my place is perfect, I have a view of the river from my room! Pictures will come as soon as I get my luggage!
More news soon, classes start tomorrow (which I am less than thrilled about, I just want to walk around here!)