It has been lots of fun living with 7 fabulous ladies in our Roma apartment. Our digs are right off the Campo, and super close to the UW Rome Center. While definitely not as chic as our lucky professor's pad next door, our accomodations are comfortable and have made this trip so much better. I am really glad we aren't living in a hotel or hostel, or even a homestay. As we have adjusted during this first week, though, we have encountered a few issues. The garbage man comes each day around 2 PM, at which time he buzzes our apartment to be let in. It took us a while to figure out where this obnoxious buzzing noise kept coming from and what we were supposed to do. Also, our hot water heater was broken for the first several days. Ice cold showers were NOT fun, even though it is warm here. But luckily we got an Italian plumber to fix it for us. Now we have hot water for our three bathrooms. Also, we got the password for our internet connection. It is painfully slow, especially when all eight of us are online checking facebook, but still better than having to visit the Rome Center everytime we wish to check our email. Another adventure was figuring out how to use the gas stove. We repeatedly turned on the gas, but couldn't figure out how to ignite the burners. There was no button to provide a spark, and none of us were very confident in our knowledge of archaic foreign stoves. We rounded up a couple of the UO guys from downstairs, but they were no help. No surprise. Then Maggie and Mayme ventured to the Drunken Ship, the neighborhood sketchy bar to scrounge up some matches from the unfriendly bartenders. With those matches we were finally able to cook a meal. Hurrah! And we didn't catch anything on fire, luckily, because I'm not sure there are any smoke detectors, and only one exit to this very very old building...Add to this a creepy cupboard, hidden balconies, dungeon-esque hallway, secret bathroom, and an unidentified loft, and you've got our authentic Italian home for the next four weeks. :)
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