greetings from italy...first impressions.

rome is giant and crowded and fast and dirty. car horns, motorcycles zipping by, lack of patience. people live in apartments that all have patios decked out with flowers, herbs, and other greenery. there is so much vegetation everywhere, it's almost tropical. Unlike @ starbucks, the line is not very clearly delineated and you have to push through to get a coffee. they all talk @ me very fast and say "ciao bella." i froze when attempting to order my first panini and just blurted out "sorry!" , after which the barista spoke to me in english. i tipped well to make up for my lack of culture. this is hard! hA. there is a flea market behind my building every weekend, and i am a ten minute walk from the historical center of the city, about twenty minutes from school. the apartment is elderly and marble. did you know in italy they have a certain amount of electricity that each apartment can use, and once you go over it simply shuts off?! i think it's brilliant...even better than cap & trade! however, ours is on some different type of system (there are 6 girls,) so ours won't just cut out if we use a bit much. it's all quite fascinating, albeit intimidating...but regardless, i''m here and we'll see how i do!