The plane was enormous but of course, I was sitting next to perhaps the fattest man on the plane. I was on the aisle so it could have been much worse but he still crept into my space. I'm also pretty sure I only saw him doing two things on the 9 hour flight 1. eating and when he wasn't eating he was 2. sleeping. He is the stereotypical american--fat, loud, and rude. I didn't have to talk to him so when I woke up from my take-off nap, I watched Date Night (it was OK) and 500 Days of Summer (it was terrible. I would not recommend it to anyone), ate dinner (a gross pasta dish, salad, dessert, and some bread), and slept the rest of the time. I got a few hours of sleep, at least.
We landed in Rome and the entire process of customs and finding my checked baggage took about 15 minutes. Thankfully my bag was the third one to come off of the plane and no one bothered to check my visa or all the paperwork I had prepared. They just stamped it and that was all. I was expecting long lines and for the Italians to read all my paperwork and tell me I had forgotten to fill out a paper or something. I didn't even have to fill out one of those customs forms on the plane. I was surprised by how relaxed the whole process was!
Finally, I found the IES people holding signs. They told me to look on the other side of the "meeting post" pole (it was a HUGE orange pole with "meeting post" written on the side) for a lady sitting in a green chair. There was no one there. No students, no lady. I stood there for a good half an hour and finally some other IES students came along. I have never been so happy to see strangers in my entire life! Finally, the lady found us and took us to a special meeting room in the airport where we checked in, they gave us our welcome packet with our schedules for the week, our address, our IES cards, and various other packets of information. They paired us up based on where we live so I had to wait around for my roommate to get there. I had arranged to meet three of my roommates and we would all go together... But the IES agents had other plans. It was just as well since the taxi barely had enough room for our two suitcases. There is no way we could have fit four! I met our ISC (international student companion) her name is Nicoletta and she is from outside of Rome. I found an ATM almost right across the street from my apartment and two of my roommates and I got some pizza for lunch at a small pizzeria next door to my apartment. I'm still waiting for the girl I share a room with to show up but at least I have the four other girls to keep me company for now.
My room is pretty big although it's the only room that doesn't have a balcony. I can always get to it through the kitchen anyway. I'll take some pictures of the apartment since I know I won't be able to adequately describe it.
This is my bed and all my stuff. It's directly to the left of the door when you walk in.
This is my roommate's bed. She's not here yet so the bed isn't made.
Our closet and desk are directly across the room from me and they are right in front of the door. Thankfully the door still has enough room to open.
