Week One

Ciao-- this blog is for family and friends to read about my life in Rome, Italy. A big welcome to more distant facebook friends creeping as well.

I'm here, I'm happy, I'm healthy, I'm hot!
It's been a whirlwind of a week, with lots of faces and places and things to remember-- and unfortunately I can only stumble out Spanish phrases when it's most essential. I love the apartment I am living in-- big and spacious with lots of windows. I am extraordinarily fortunate-- it is a mansion by Italian apartment standards. It is owned by the U.S. Embassy so everyone here is American; however, they are apparently hard at work all day every day because I've really only seen one other face wandering about. Our tax dollars hard at work! And don't worry grandma, nobody has exclaimed the common refrain "Che butta (how hideous)!" to me yet in response to my attire-- but they take what they call la bella figura (cutting a fine figure) very seriously here, and moreso than anyone the men.

I will go into detail about my day-to-day life and family and neighborhood as I get more settled and familiar with it. I will post some pictures of my pad in the next entry.