Paestum and Onward to Sicily

I can’t believe this is the weekend...we’re still running around like crazy. I’m going to really need Fall Break after this! Today we actually got to see the temples and sites of Paestum in the daylight, as well as a museum, some wonderful food, and a particularly awesome method of transportation to Sicily.

A Week of Tuesdays

First, a short note—while these may show up in large clumps as I get internet access, they’re generally written at the end of each day, so when I say “today”, it’s the day that I visited the site, not the day that these are uploaded. Hence, today is Friday. Now that I’ve confused you all, let’s get started!

I'm Not Dead Yet!

Just very busy! The Sicily trip was wonderful but extremely exhausting, and as soon as I came back I jumped into tour guide mode, running around Rome (and a bit of time in Florence and Tivoli) with my parents. I've got a quiz (over two weeks worth of site visits) tomorrow and an Italian test on Wednesday, in addition to all my usual classes including the weekly all-day site visit on Tuesday. The good news is that I don't have any classes after Wednesday evening! So things will be quiet here a little bit longer, and then I'll start catching up--many of the posts are already written, I just have to fill in the pictures and their explanations :)

Update on Adventures

Yes, I'm alive and still in Sicily. Internet is rare here, so I won't be posting until I get back for Fall Break. But I'm writing lots of wonderful posts for you all!

On Culture Shock, or the Lack Thereof

There are conventionally four stages of culture shock--this site explains it fairly clearly and succinctly. I know I'm extremely bad at adapting to change in general, and that's one of the major reasons I agonized over the decision whether or not to do this program for so long. I was terrified that I would get to Rome, be swamped in schoolwork, be completely lost and disoriented by everything around me, and not have a support system to turn to as I do at home.

Well, as it turned out, all of those things happened--they just weren't really that big a deal. The courseload here is indeed very heavy, but my study habits are (finally) starting to organize into something that works. I've gotten lost plenty of times, my knowledge of Italian is shamefully bad, and there are plenty of social situations that I'm just not equipped to deal with here--but it's really not much different from my difficulty in social situations at home (aside from the language barrier--that can be a big deal). I've screwed up, gotten glared at, had "stupid American" conversations occur over my head (I'm not that incompetent with Italian), and I've survived them all without any emotional scarring. I have the new support system of my peers, as everyone here goes through the same things I do, and Mom and Dad are wonderful about making time for me to call them on Skype when I need a "home fix".

And honestly? In the month that I've been here, I feel like I've skipped right past most of the stages into "eh, this is where I am for the next three months, let's have fun and make the most of it". College in general, and living on my own in particular, have taught me how to adapt to new situations far more than I ever realized. I have a safe place to sleep, I have amazing food to keep me going, I have new friends and peers to commiserate with, I have my computer to keep me connected to my friends and family at home, and I have a whole new city and country to explore and marvel at.

Life is good.

Adventure Time!

Yes, even more than the current adventures I've been having. How is this possible, you ask? Well, tomorrow morning we're all hopping on a bus and eventually a(n overnight!) ferryboat to SICILY! All of our normal classes except the Ancient City course are put on hiatus while we have a whirlwind journey pretty much around the entire island. There's no weekend for us--we've got travels and lectures from tomorrow to next Friday, and we get back into Rome mid-morning on Saturday. It's going to be lots of fun, but seriously frantic, so while I'll be taking my computer, my posting schedule will probably depend more on my ability to stay awake long enough to type up a post than the availability of internet (I've been told we'll have access, but it may be intermittent--send me emails if you need me, and I'll get back to you when I get on). So, you all may not hear from me for a week, but then you'll get a flood of posts and pictures.

After the Sicily trip is our week long fall break, which Mom and Dad are coming out to spend with me in Rome (and maybe Florence and Venice), so I'll probably disappear again. I'm going to enjoy playing tour guide, and you all may end up getting some stereotypically touristy photos out of me after all.

If you want a Sicily, Florence, or Venice postcard, now is definitely the time to tell me! Everyone who's already told me what postcards they want, I've collected most of them and will most likely be sending them out sometime over fall break when we visit the Vatican--their post office is apparently significantly more trustworthy than the Italian one.

Wherein Katie Takes Too Many Pictures, As Always

It was a very long day, one of those days where by the end of it you've done so much you've forgotten what you did that morning. No, seriously--I had to go scrolling through my (almost 200!) pictures of the day to make sure I remembered everything. But there are pictures of cats, and wolves, and way, way too many statues. And maybe a column or two just for consistency's sake ;)

Other People's Pictures Post

Because alliteration always aids in amusement. As promised, here are some photos that my fellow Centristi took and were kind enough to put up on Facebook for me to nab and share here. These photos exist thanks to (in no particular order) Lauren Matera, Brittany Fox, Mary-Claire O'Donnell, Maggie Kurkowski, Alex Olsman, Elliot Piros, Joe Mazzariello, Sarah Murphy, Will Roundy, and Alex Mina.