Yes, You Can Buy Frozen Pizza in Roma

The lock to our front door is quite a challenge to open, but the view is INCREDIBLE. (Elizabeth Bastian / MJ)

BY ELIZABETH BASTIAN,
Managing Editor
Follow @LizzieBas

“It is so urban here, and I love it. It’s like a more colorful, sunny version of Brooklyn.”

Well, after a sleepless nine hour flight, a half hour train ride, a three quarter of a mile walk through a flea market, grocery shopping, and a solid two hour nap, it is past 4 p.m. on my first day in Europe and I have regained control of my senses.

I totally lucked out on the flight and encountered a group of U of M Ann Arbor students who are doing a different study abroad program but are living in the same apartments. Hooray for new friends! I ended up having thirteen traveling buddies on the plane.

Shopping for food in a foreign country is intimidating enough; even more so when you've been awake for a solid 31 hours. (Elizabeth Bastian / MJ)

I am living in an eighth floor walk up with eight other girls, but I somehow lucked out and got the single room to myself. I guess having roommates has never been in my cards. The lock to our front door is quite a challenge to open, but the view is INCREDIBLE (see above).

It is so urban here, and I love it. It’s like a more colorful, sunny version of Brooklyn. There’s countless panhandlers and graffiti, but no one seems to mind. I would love to live in a place like this, the street culture is thriving and vibrant.

Shopping for food in a foreign country is intimidating enough; even more so when you’ve been awake for a solid 31 hours. It was an easier task than expected though. I purchased some fresh bread, the Italian version of Honey Nut Cheerios, melon, berries, and lettuce to get me by for the next few days.

And yes, you can buy frozen pizza in Rome, something which I find highly confusing.

It is HOT on the eighth floor. There’s a nice breeze from the windows, but moving around guarantees breaking into a sweat. I don’t mind the heat though. I would take it over Michigan winter any day.

“I still can’t believe I’m here.”

Tomorrow we meet as a group at 6:40 a.m. (12:40 a.m. EST) on Monday to go to the dig site for the first time. I will keep you posted on my first day on the dig!