First Actual Bloggish entry, from Facebook dated 6-22

The past few days have gone by so quickly. I arrived in Rome on Saturday night, but it already feels like I've been here for way longer than two days. Most of us from the UW stayed at a hostel near Termini station, called The Yellow Hostel. It was moderately priced, though not the cheapest of Eurpoean hostels, and comfortable enough. When we weren't sleeping in our bunk beds or exploring the city, we were on our laptops taking advantage of the wifi next door in the bar. This morning we all made the trek across town to the UW Rome Center, which is off of the Campo de Fiori. Lugging a 50 lb suitcase on a crowded bus and up several flights of stairs was an exhausting experience, but we finally made it to the UWRC and were given the keys to our apartments. Eight of us girls are staying in an excellent apartment just around the corner from the Rome Center, directly off of the Campo. We go in a giant wooden door, then through a squeaky gate and up several flights of stairs to get to our apartment. There are three bedrooms with nine total beds, and three bathrooms. One bathroom is at the end of a narrow hallway near the front door that we didn't discover immediately, but it is spacious and even has a small balcony. The apartment's decor is pretty dated but it is big enough to satisfy us, and you absolutely can't beat the convenience of being so close to the action. Several of the other students are housed in apartments that are more than 15 minutes away from the UWRC. During the day we explored the Campo, which is a bustling market during the day and, apparently, an even busier party scene at night. I bought a delicious sandwich from the Forno, a bakery nearby. We also found a grocery store to stock up on items for the apartment, like soap, and some basic food. However, some things there are very expensive--a box of cereal goes for more than 3 euro. This evening our entire group met and were treated to a delicious (and FREE) dinner at Tratoria Moderna. They spoiled us with four courses...we were there for 2 1/2 hours! The appetisers, pasta, veal, and tiramisu were great, and we were all completely stuffed by the time we left. I could get used to this!