As sleep fades to the dawn, I slowly become aware of my surroundings. The exquisite ambiance of my environment greets me: the sing-song play of young birds dancing on the terrace, the sweet aroma of flowers growing in harmony with the building that contains them, the happy chatter of children coming from the winding staircase that leads to the family room below me. I realize that this is not a dream, but my reality for the next six weeks. Sono in Italia, ed è incredibile.

***

I awoke on Sunday to an entirely different world than I had known previously. Everything about Rome I find intriguing: the epidemic of graffiti, the utter madness and clutter of the roadways, the gentle kindness that is shown to tourists who speak in Italian–and the harsh rebukes that are issued to those who don’t. Parts of Rome contain multitudes of high-rise apartments and residences which combine with a peculiar mix of foliage to create a world not unlike a softer version of Blade Runner. Other areas remind me of San Francisco and still others of New York, and all the buildings exude a certain quiet elegance.

Miranda’s family and mine joined together to celebrate Uogo’s birthday that afternoon. Michele cooked several different dishes for the festa, all of them absolutely delicious, and we met the others on the terrazzo of Uogo’s building. The children played while the college students and adults talked, ate, and–of course–drank wine. It was a wonderful celebration indeed.

I left to go explore the city around four in the afternoon and Miranda decided to join me. Together we covered a host of centuries in several hours time: il Foro Romano, il Pantheon, la Basilica di San Clemente, il Palazzo Venezia, il Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, e certamente il Coloseeo. After having our collective jaw hit the ground one too many times, we decided to call it a day. I still cannot completely comprehend what I’ve been able to see; the buildings of Rome are simply awe inspiring.

The next two days flew by with a constant sense of overwhelming appreciation. Everything turned into a chance for excitement: breaking into the Forum for free, climbing the Arch of Triumph, taking back allies and side streets, navigating the chaos that Romans call “traffic,” bartering with street vendors, discovering amazing restaurants, bars, and night clubs. Even interacting with strangers in Italian is a bit of a thrill. I’ve begun to take offense when tourists approach people, even myself, and don’t make an attempt to speak in the native tongue. I’ll pass for a local soon enough!

***

I must take this chance to thank those closest to me who made my trip possible: Mom, Michelle, Paul, Joe, Joshua, and Andrew. I would not be experiencing this magnificent adventure without all of you. Thank you so much; I love ya’ll!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

The bus pulled up to the station and I could see a line of people eagerly awaiting our arrival. All of the students streamed out and then our new “parents” mixed with the crowd, many holding photos of their student and calling out his or her name (poorly pronounced, of course). I stood in the middle of this chaos and allowed it to swirl around me. Then I saw the face of one man filtered through the rest and he immediately walked up to me. “Will?”

I soon learned that Michele was the father of the family I would be staying with. He had brought his son, Eduardo (seven), with him, but his wife, Lorenza, and daughter, Isabella (thirteen), were not able to come. Michele is friends with Uogo, another host family dad, and they rode together, bringing along Uogo’s daughter, Viola (fourteen). A fellow student of mine, Miranda, and I piled into Michele’s car with all the aforementioned people.

Eduardo and Viola asked question after question in Italian, and it was all Miranda and I could do to attempt enough replies to keep them satisfied. Eduardo is one of the cutest little boys that I have ever seen and his energetic and optimistic attitude reminds me of my own little brother, Andrew, so I immediately took a liking to him. Michele and Uogo simply smiled and interjected their own comments whenever appropriate.

Suddenly we rounded a corner and Michele made one single statement that silenced everyone in the car: “È il Colosseo!” How does one vocalize such an immediate introduction to one of the world’s most treasured monuments? I was not able to utter a single word, but rather I tried to let my mind comprehend what my eyes were just beginning to absorb. To see it in person is astounding.

Our car drove on, Michele announcing the names of various artifacts and ruins as we passed them, but Miranda and I were still dumbfounded by our brief viewing of the Colosseo. Michele asked if were were hungry and, upon receiving an answer in the affirmative, proceeded to take us to a local pizzeria. We walked up and discovered that this innocent sounding question was really a setup: both of our host families were waiting with authentic Italian pizza’s and wine. It was a surprise festa just for us!

What a true welcoming! All my nervousness about the trip and the people that I would be staying with instantly melted away and was replaced by a subtle–what’s the cliche?–warm, fuzzy feeling. My family had the waiter bring out a special pizza just for me. It was a mix of cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, a big slice of salmon, and a raw egg dropped right in the middle. Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I dislike just about all of those ingredients, but there was no way that I was going to let all these people down. So I just manned up, shoved the whole thing in my mouth and swallowed as quickly as possible! They loved it.

The eating and drinking continued for several hours–I would quickly learn that this is a normal occurrence in Italy–with the whole lot of us laughing and enjoying ourselves despite our many communication errors. Finally it was time to go, however, and Michele and Lorenza led the short walk to my home for the next five weeks. I was so tired after my journey and the huge meal that not five minutes after they showed me my room, I was fast asleep dreaming about all that I had experienced.

To be continued…

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Everything about my journey to Italy was perfect and I can’t believe that I’ve had such a great beginning to my adventure. Michelle, Paul, and Roman reminded me of the love that our family shares and gave me the perfect last morning state-side. My mom then drove me to the airport and although she almost got arrested trying to follow me to the plane, she made my departure memorable and I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter send off. (Love you!)

Even my pre-flight times were entertaining. At Bush Intercontinental Airport I met a Michael Jackson impersonator who wasn’t pretty damn good, and in Newark I neglected to make concessions for the time zone change and was forced to sprint down the concourse to catch my plane on time. I made it in true movie-style, scanning my ticket and walking down the jet way mere seconds before they closed the door.

I met several interesting people on my flights and exchanged contact information (gotta love the networking power of confined spaces). It was interesting to note that flying in and out of Houston I saw city through the plane windows, in Newark I saw New York and the Statue of Liberty, but arriving in Roma I was greeted by hay bails. That’s right, hay bails. they must have known a Texas boy was coming and threw some out there in an attempt to make me feel welcome.

At the Aeroporti di Roma I met up with Ryan and Miguel, two fellow University of Texas students. We had an enormous span of eleven hours before the rest of the group arrived, so we set out to find something to do. A few trips around the airport and much broken Italian later we discovered that there was a beach ten minutes from the airport. We paid a few Euros each to store our bags, bought bus tickets, and abbiamo andato alla spiaggia.

Our trip to Fiumicino proved to be most enjoyable. We found countless ristoranti, gelateria, and then came across a great man-made beach next to a fishing pier. There was a great bar with ice-cold beers and plenty of topless sun-bathing women. I immediately stripped off my shoes and ran into the refreshing waters of the Mediterranean. And the sky here is without description… I constantly found myself gazing aimlessly, awed by it’s beauty. Incredible!

We could have lazed around in the balmy 75 degree F weather all day long, eating our gelato and laughing at the Italian fashion, but we had to meet up with the group back at the airport. We inadvertently convinced a bus driver to allow us to ride for free and were quickly reunited with the other students. A charter bus arrived to take all of us into Roma to meet with our new families. Suddenly a wave of nervousness and excitement washed over me as I realized that I was too excited to recall even the simplest Italian expressions.

To be continued…

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

I am posting to the blog for the first time in over a year–and I promise never to use the third person on a title again. The headline is true, however: I’m going to Italy for six weeks this summer, starting about twenty minutes from now. I am currently sitting in Terminal C of the Bush Intercontinental Airport hammering out this post before the boarding period is over and my plane departs for Rome. It has finally hit me: I’m actually going to Europe!

For those interested, I will be uploading photos and blog entries periodically. They could quite possibly feature all manner of hedonism and overindulgence… or there could simply be an abundance of photos of pretty buildings. Either way, come take a look and make me feel happy watching my page views rise.

Andrò a Roma!