There's a good reason the sun only stays awake for 12 hours

Well, we're in Rome now. I don't exactly know how to distinguish days since we left because it kind of feels like 2 really, really long ones, but I'll make some kind of attempt...

The trip started with me getting to the Charlotte airport only to find out that my flight was delayed 2 hours. Conveniently, I was set up for a 6 hour layover, so it wasn't a huge deal. When I got off the plane, Jordan was at my gate and we made our way to the gate which would be our "new common room" for the next 4 and a half hours. Everyone gradually showed up in their regional groups and we did all the catching up and playing cards that any group of 85 college students would do, much to the shock of the other passengers in the area who would sit on the edge of our group, realize we all know each other, then proceed to move as far away as possible. We were on the plane playing musical chairs to sit with our friends for about 15 minutes, laughing at the stewardess who was trying to figure out who was in the wrong seat because one girl went and said "someone is in my seat". After about 4 people, she gave up, realizing we were all in the wrong seats. After finishing the "food" they served for dinner, I attempted sleeping despite the hunger. My night's sleep consisted of 15 minutes at best of sleeping in between crowds of visitors to the rows around me, waking up from being completely uncomfortable, or simply not being able to.

Once we got to Rome, we came to campus and unpacked, then began the incredible adventure of orientation meetings. Mind you, most of us had been awake since 5am North Carolina time and it was now around 5am of the next day. The first set of meetings, most people would nod off between having papers shoved at them...the last set of meetings saw very few who were strong enough to stay awake the entire time. Stephen and I watched as people fell like flies, then would all pop awake when applause started. That's until 15 minutes into the meeting when he fell asleep, too. We then had an Italian 4 course dinner in the cafeteria, which we decided had a very homeless shelter feeling. We were all wearing winter coats in a room with florescent lights, glaring at everyone and everything because we were so tired. We had incredibly small portions (because it was a 4 course meal), yet everyone was clutching his or her cup or fork feverishly...We then spent a while discussing how amusing and true it was, then we'd bring it up each time anyone looked especially homeless. After dinner, we quickly made our ways to our beds at about 9:15. By the way, that's 3:15 North Carolina Time. Yeah, about 34 hours after this little trip started, we finally got to go to bed...or so we thought, until Anna came in the room at 9:45 to tell us we forgot to sign in for curfew...

Today, we got to wake up at 5:30 to go to St. Peter's for mass. After mass, we went on walking tours around Rome, ending with lunch together at a pizzeria. We saw things like the Pantheon, the Turtle Fountain (according to one guidebook, the "cutest fountain in Rome"), and Campo di Navona. My favorite was probably the ruins of a theatre (at least I think it was a theatre) that has apartments on the top. They're the most expensive apartments in all of Rome...

After lunch, we then started a new adventure entitled "Italian Public Transportation". This little adventure starts with the Metro. When our train came, our group of about 12 looked in the car (which we had just watched around 12 people leave) and saw the complete lack of space. In Italy, this means "push". This stop was shocking enough as we all thought we were crammed in as tightly as possible...Then the next stop came. We looked out the door and saw ridiculous numbers of high school kids and realized what the people felt like when they saw us standing outside. The doors open and they had the same thought we did: "wow! the car is full!" Their next thought was also "push". When we had gotten on, the door shut on our last person because he barely fit. He was about a foot behind me when we got to the high school student stop, but once they made their way in, he was mysteriously vacuumed into the mass of people and in the opposite corner of the car. Luckily, the next stop was our exit, so we all stared at each other in amazement of what had just happened...Next comes the bus! Conveniently, their was a bus going to our stop ready and loading. Inconveniently, so were about 40 UD people. We then got to wait about 20 minutes for the next bus to come while we observed the rows of buses that were parked with their drivers having conversations. After our half hour bus ride back to campus, we made the walk from the bus stop and finally arrived. It was a rather adventuresome day or two or three...