Today was the first day of classes. I have Italian 311 at 10:00 and then art history at 11:30. My Italian class is supposed to have five people in it, but there were only two of us there. It is a speaking and composition class, so we had to have a discussion about our childhoods, our favorite things, where we go to school and anything else that might show our knowledge of Italian. I really need to do some review. The other student in my class is a non-traditional student and her mother-in-law and kids are coming to visit next week. We started talking before class, so conversing in Italian with her is easy, but when I have to speak to my professor, or any real Italians for that matter, I get so nervous.

Art history sounds like it is going to be so much fun. Today we talked about the syllabus and the professor asked if we wanted to take field trips for class, which, of course, we all agreed to. When we go to the Pantheon he promised to take us to a gelateria that has hundreds of flavors of gelato, including over 25 flavors of chocolate! I can't wait!

After class, we had lunch and then a tour was going out to take students to exchange money and then to go sightseeing. We took the subway as a big group, but instead of waiting for everyone to get Euros, we followed Antonio, one of the instructors here, on a separate tour. We stopped at a church, but a lot of people on the tour had shorts and tank tops on, so they had to cover their arms with scarves provided by the church. A wedding was going on inside, so we tried to be very quiet so that we didn't disturb anyone. We lost some of our group when the bride was walking down the aisle, but they were able to catch up to the rest of our tour. There have been so many weddings! Antonio said he had never seen a wedding here before and so far we have seen five.

After the church, we walked around the city. The streets and sights in the area are exactly the way I pictured Italy in my mind. We made our way to the Piazza di Spagna, or the Spanish steps, one of the most famous places in Italy. It was so crowded! After taking a few pictures from the top, we descended the stairs and ventured into the mob. Just down the street is a ritzy shopping area, where stores like Gucci and Prada are located. Some of them only allow so many people in at one time, so there are lines out into the street. On the other side of the Piazza was a gelateria that we happened to stumble upon while looking for a bathroom. I ordered a Mango gelato. It was refreshing and absolutely delicious!

I was with my roommate and some of her friends and we got on the subway alone for the first time. We almost missed our stop, but fortunately I saw the sign in time and we all jumped off quickly. On our way back to the hotel, I stopped to buy a calling card to use to call home from the hotel. I was able to buy it without using English (although the guy selling the card did, so I'm not sure if that counts).

At nine o'clock, there was a tour that began at the Colosseum. At night everything is all lit up, which makes it even more beautiful! As we moved down the street, we saw the Roman forum, the Palazzo di Venezia, where the tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located, and the capital building. The tour took a really long time and we didn't get home until around midnight. A lot of people went out when we got back, but I had an early start in the morning, so some of us went for gelato instead and spent a few hours talking in the lobby before going to bed.