grabbing rome by the balls.

I've been in Rome for exactly a month now, and I'm beginning to feel more settled. This is in part due to the discovery of 'LA5', an Italian cable channel which shows only dubbed reruns of American shows including Grey's Anatomy, Will and Grace and Dawson's Creek! Genius. I'm pretty sure this is how I will learn Italian. Through a complete submersion in American television. There's probably quite a lot wrong with that.

A lot of things are very different here, and you can see why people go on about culture shock. Everyone shouts to convey their feelings, and men on mopeds will rage at each other in incomprehensible Italian while driving. Also, the coffee actually tastes nice, and you drink it in about three seconds, standing up in a very European fashion. And it costs about eighty cents which nobody can grumble with. Of course, the bonus points Italians earn for their coffee, they soon lose when it comes to tea. Now, I happen to rather enjoy a cup of Yellow Label, but it just isn't English. Luckily, my mother sent me out here with a big pack of tea and a jumbo bag of Cadbury's miniatures (which came in handy when I couldn't afford proper food), so I feel pretty at home.

So if you have read my little ramblings a lot, you will know that I like making lists and categorising my thoughts in odd ways. Therefore, I give you my definitive list of things I have decided I must do before I return in Julyish:

1. Write at least one hundred blog posts. I've forgotten how to write, and it's definitely time to get back on track.
2. Go to a Catholic mass. I'm curious...
3. Learn Italian - This one is possibly the trickiest. It's just so easy to get completely caught up in the Erasmus scene without actually talking to all that many Italians. Therefore, it is necessary to work that bit harder to make up for it. I also have already befriended some French people, with whom I want to speak lots of French, seeing as I am neglecting it a little bit. French will always be the one with a place in my heart. 
4. Read - This year doesn't technically matter academically, so I am going to take the opportunity to do what I didn't in first year which is to read for pleasure. The more I find time to read, the happier I tend to be. The one hitch is that I obviously couldn't bring many books, and they are pretty overpriced here. Next time I go home, I will return with a case full of books, I think, and if not, it may be Kindle time. I'm just putting that out there...
5. Learn to make proper Italian food in a proper Italian way. I will never eat a ready meal lasagne again. 
6. Earn some money - Because while I arguably could live off the pitiful amount of money I have left when rent is gone, it would mean living like the old man in that Enid Blyton story where the old man lives alone and never leaves his house and all the kids are scared of him. Anyone else? No? But yes, cash = good, so I intend to find a way to earn some of it in a way that doesn't tie me down or make me just as antisocial as the old man in the aforementioned story. Any ideas would be welcome.
7. Find an Italian drink I actually like that doesn't make me a bit vommy - This one's pretty self-explanatory, but I'm not sure I'm willing to put the risky research in, so for now I'm still on the gin in my oh-so-British way. 
8. Go to one of the islands - Because they're warm and pretty. I nearly went to Cagliari instead of Rome. I'm glad I didn't, but I'd like to pay a quick visit to see what I'm missing nonetheless.
9. Go inside St Peter's - Just so I can get all angry at how rich and hypocritical the Church can be.
10. Master eating two big platefuls of pasta per day without gaining too much weight - I think jogging may be the answer. I brought my trainers in anticipation. 

Just because it would please me immensely if some of you got back into Dawson's Creek. I had forgotten just how dramatic it was!