I have arrived! Mostly safe and sound. Today we were filling out paperwork for our permisso di soggiornno (I probably grossly misspelled that), which is the first of a three step process that has been a great insight into standard Italian bureaucracy. My friend Tosh and I looked up the date and realized that today is only August 27th...Friday..the day after we arrived. I feel like I left for Rome a week ago--Yesterday we easily the longest day ever! I've also lea...

1 week, 1 day, til Italy. Not surprisingly, I am still SO excited. Packing has commenced, my last days of babysitting are approaching (thursday!) and today I am heading down to the Italian Consulate to pick up my passport and visa. Things are falling into place quite well. Well, they were. My laptop is now nothing more than a chuck of slightly-beat-up silver scrap metal. Last week, my little baby Gateway computer randomly stopped recognizing when it was plugged i...

So in 2 weeks, 2 days, and about 6 hours, I will be on a plane headed for Italy (Ok, well, Detroit first, but that doesn't sound nearly as cool). I figured I might start my little blog out with an intro post--I started this blog so my family and friends can get updates of my Roman adventure this fall, see pictures of my travels (assuming my dinky little camera doesn't crap out), and get some confirmation that I am alive and haven't been abducted a la "Hostel...