Cheap Wine on School Nights... BAD IDEA.

So I guess I should continue my Rome adventures from where I left off.  On Tuesday night, some ingenious classmate of mine decided we should hold our own wine-tasting with the super classy wine we bought at the local grocery store (called the Dem).  The most expensive bottle there was about... 5 euro.  Which was surprisingly much crappier than the 99 cent bottle.  Anyway, mixing all that really really cheap wine was a terrible idea because we all felt pretty crappy afterward.  Not to mention that there's already a virus circulating around campus and incapacitating students.

Wednesday was the first day of half-classes. Basically just an introduction.  All my teachers seem decent (except not really, there's one I'm a little concerned about) .  The reading have definitely started!  Aristotle, church fathers, and a bunch of other old, dead guys.  Wednesday night we were all really lame and stayed in and did our reading like good girls and got caught up on sleep.

Thursday: Everyone else on campus had to go to the Post Office to get their permessi (document allowing them to stay in Italy). Except I didn't, because I'm British.  I also found out that because I'm a member of the EU , I can apply for an Italian driver's license without taking a test or anything.  Which I am really tempted to do because that seems like a legit souvenir.  Thursday night, Elise and I and what seemed like a third of campus went to the local bar called Saints and Sinners.  Alcohol is ridiculously expensive, so we just split a drink, which is a great idea because we're both extreme light-weights.

Today we had classes in the morning, and in the afternoon we went to the catacombs of St. Sebastian.  It was really cool venturing through all those little dark passageways under the earth.  After we finished the tour we had mass in the church there, and then they loaded us up onto the bus to take us for an authentic Italian "fast food" dinner.  Of course, being in Italy, the meal took two hours.  But it was delicious (all sorts of meats and cheeses and grilled vegetables and bread and followed by pizza.. and of course wine).  Now we're back on campus and about to commence with our weekend!

Tomorrow we're going to go on a mandatory scavenger hunt in Rome to get us accustomed to the public transportation or whatever.  Our team is totally going to win.  And then after that we'll have a big dinner and a wine tasting led by Monseigneur Fuccinaro.  I guess I'll get all my homework done on Sunday.....

Saints and Sinners

Roommates outside the catacombs.