The First Weekend

Sorry for the lack of posting, but the way the semester is kicking off, this seems to be the frequency of posts. As I've said before, subscribe and then you don't need to come back and check all day everyday to see if I've posted. Anyhow

I arrived in Rome a little late on Thursday (I caught an hour of sleep on the plane!) and caught the train from the airport to Trastevere, and then a taxi from Trastevere to the centro (actually the top of the Janiculum hill and had to walk down, but that's water under the bridge)(for future record the centro is the nickname of my program, it's official name is the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies, or ICCS if you're into acronyms) and moved my stuff in. Checked in and brought stuff up to my room. I have a single (pictures to come) and, while not spacious, it's got what I need. I have a sink, mirror, closet, desk, fan and bed, so no complaints. I met the girl across the hall and another one happened to walk by and the three of us went to dinner, going out to get pizza. We then came back and met more of our classmates, and we all went up to the lounge on the fourth floor to play cards (have a deck of cards, will travel). We hung out for a bit, then all went to sleep, woke up around 12 the next day, grabbed lunch as a 12 strong group, unpacked and then played ultimate frisbee in the nearby park. Came back, showered, grabbed dinner, and then went out to explore together. Saturday I ran errands. I returned to my old stomping grounds near the Vatican to get my phone recharged, so that I have data again, and to stop by to see my landlord and now friend Francesco, since he was gracious enough to let me store some stuff from the summer in his place when I returned to the states. I picked up the stuff I had left behind, caught the train back to the centro, finished unpacking some more, dinner, and then more explorations. I returned to the centro early (around 12:30) on Saturday, showered and then watched Notre Dame put the hurt on Michigan in football. The game kicked off at 1:30 am, ended at 5:00 am and I didn't sleep till 5:30 am, but it was so worth it. Made me miss my school, but I'm having so much fun here that I'll live. I woke up at 12 today (the power went out, so my fan stopped cooling, and I slowly began to slow roast in a nice marinade of sweat, yes it's gross, but it's the truth) and did some homework. Went to mass at 5:30 down in Trastevere, grabbed dinner, gelato, back to the Centro to play cards, and now I'm writing the blog post, when I should be doing homework, but thus is life. Phew. Now that you're updated on my shenanigans, observations:

1. Everyone is great. Really really great. I know that the fracturing will occur and that we won't all love each other come December, but for right now everyone I've met (33/35 students) is friendly and really enjoyable to be around. It's a good group and I honestly like hanging out with all of them.

2. We're really similar and I'm really different. They make the same jokes I do, have the same problems I do, have had the same experiences as me, and get the same major related questions that I get (what's Classics/ how are you ever going to get a job/ why are you wasting your time etc). Sports is not a big deal to them. They're all fairly athletic, and their effort is good, but few were high school athletes (over 80% of ND was varsity high school athletes, so I'm used to college kids who are ultra competitors), two play ultimate frisbee, one rows, and one plays rugby, but other than that they're mostly just students in their free time. They also don't reek of school pride like I do. As with being away from America makes you more patriotic, being away from ND makes me more Irish. I miss my school, but I wear the ND shamrock as a symbol of pride. The USC guy and Stanford guys didn't know who their teams were playing yesterday (each other, funny coincidence), they probably couldn't care about their rankings and they don't go to the games. A girl at dinner the other night asked all seven of us why we thought our schools were the best. The other six mumbled something, or had to think long and hard about it, while I rattled off five reasons that I love ND and why we're the best. I'm aware of my arrogance on the subject, but is school pride a bad thing? If everyone else doesn't like their schools, why are they suffering through four years at these places? I get ND isn't perfect, but shouldn't the norm be school pride instead of the exception? This program attracts the best schools in the USA, so I'm aware of where ND stands, but why should anyone be bashful or ashamed about their college?

3. I need to keep an eye on my cards. First impressions are a killer, and if you show your hand too early, people can find a way to beat four aces. I've told one person that I lived and worked in Rome all summer, because no matter what happens I lose that situation. Life is like chess, you have to know how others will move to plan your moves. If I tell people I know Rome backwards and forwards, I come off as a know it all and arrogant (something I'm trying to avoid, especially given number 2 above) and even if that doesn't happen, there is bound to be a situation where I don't know something and I look like an idiot. People will try to topple you and make you look foolish, especially when you think you have all the answers. So far, I'm playing it cool, letting others lead, letting us get lost, letting people correct me when they know best (like someone asked where the Pope lives, I said "in Vatican city" and someone else very vehemently said no, he doesn't, he moved to somewhere else, you're wrong, and I just said "yep I am, I must be mistaken" even though I walked by his lodgings at least four times this summer) and letting them think that this is my first rodeo. The game is going to end on Tuesday, when we're released into the city. We've been given a list of 12 obelisks. We are supposed to find and photograph 2 of the 12 located throughout all the city, with extra credit (and the title of Victor) being awarded to anyone who can find the two extra ones. Well I intend to hit all 12 obelisks, as well as the four extra obelisks found in Rome, and go ahead and look like an ass. I'm too competitive for my own good, but that's a character flaw that I can live with for the time being.

4. We start real school tomorrow, with a mandatory breakfast at 8 am. We have tests and classes, so things start to pick up. It's been strange in that we were told to arrive on either Thursday or Friday and we've had no contact with the staff or professors this weekend. They requested we get to Rome and they gave us no instructions during the weekend. Talk about a social experiment. Bring 35 college students to a foreign country, and let them have no rules, monitoring or supervision for four days, let's see what happens. Thankfully we're all fairly tame, but I imagine it could get out of hand fast if we weren't all Classics majors. We have every hour from 8 am to 8 pm planned for us tomorrow, so we go from no structure to all structure, completing the social experiment. Wish me luck and I'll keep you all posted on what happens.