life as a blonde spaniard

i am officially never leaving rome! i am in love. i finished classes at 10 am today, so i went for a long walk past the pantheon, the trevi fountain, the spanish steps, and finally down via condotti - aka designer oasis. all i can say is bellissima! i was concerned my blonde hair would be a dead giveaway that i am an american, a naive american, leaving me to be subject to thiefery or other foreign mischief. however, after today i am convinced otherwise after several italians assumed i was a spaniard or an italian. so don't mess with me boys, i'm a spaniard.

roma at last!

ciao roma! arrived in the eternal city yesterday evening into my fabulous hotel room ("dormitory") at the hotel tiziano on the corso vittorio emmanuele fully equipped with an outdoor terrace and marble bathroom. so fantastic. visited the pantheon and trevi fountain at nightfall (just a block away!) prior to turning in for the night. today was the first day of classes,my first was a brutal 8 am and i just finished my last one at 7 pm. yikes! as much as i fully adore this incredibly beautiful city, i am extremely homesick and physically ill as well so it has not been without its challenges. a louis speedy 30 will be the perfect medicinal method to take the edge of my sickness! buonanotte!

PS. this rather unconventional first day of school photo is just for you, mom!

san francesco and hills galore

buongiorno! i'm back in my little cafe. a group of us came here last night after dinner for wine. chatted with an albanian angelina jolie clone and a group of irish priests and seminarians. snaps for english! but i do love the foreigners. we also did our room number lottery and my 2 roomies and i lucked out with number 1! toured the basilica of saint francis this morning which was really neat to see but quite a hike. there are so many hills and sets of stairs here that my legs just may fall off.

such great heights

loving italia so far, but assisi is a bit too B.C. for me! climbed this monstrous mountain this morning to see a castle (not quite genovia, but intriguing nonetheless), and got my schedule a little bit ago. looks like i'm going to be waking up for 8 am classes every. single. DAY! still plagued by some serious jet lag, and really looking forward to settling in roma sunday evening. i made two new italian friends (read: creeps) - francesco and martin, servers at a quaint little cafe. they gave to me complimentary internet service and cheese! kinda strange, but tale e' vita!

ciao ciao italia!

made it! current location: airport in roma with a desperate desire to SHOWERRRR. feels so surreal to be in the land of donatella! leaving for assisi around 1ish, should be interesting! ciao ciao!

pace!

leaving tomorrow at 6 am to catch my flight! which means i should probably get up around 3:30 to allow enough time to be sure my hair cooperates. just finished up packing, and poor daddy gets the grueling task of wheeling both suitcases (probably both weighing in the triple digits each) through the airport. my apologies, james. the thing that really ruffles my feathers is this ridiculous 3 oz. deal. can airline law enforcers please just have a little more compassion for the women who will cease to exist on 3 oz. of hair product for 5 days? hopefully i'll survive the 4-5 days in assisi where i'll be living atop an italian mountain. iiiii am going to be climbing a freaking mountain (but was advised by saint mary herself not to travel in stilettos - geez!), please keep your gasps of astonishment to a minimum. welp, off to bed!
arrivederci, america and ciao ciao italia!

getting ready

considering it is called "study abroad," one may be led to believe that i'd actually be concerned about the studying aspect at this point. nope. i am sufficiently distracted by what i am going to be wearing and carrying while doing this alleged studying. as we know, fashion is not about utility. an accessory is merely a piece of iconography used to express individual identity. so my biggest dilemma here is this packing business. 2 suitcases+my wardrobe+trying to keep up with italian fashionistas(os)=major problem. MAJOR. that's my biggest concern right now, so i guess if it all works out then everything else should be a breeze!

PS. happy golden birthday greta suzette!

dierdre takes on the big apple

dierdre, elite model management's newest it girl fresh from the greenville countryside and my best girlfriend, began her first duties today in the city. she had a few test shoots today to update her book. we're both pretty apprehensive of entering such new and unfamiliar environments, so it's surely a comfort to be able to empathize with each other. i'll miss her terribly while in italia, but i'm hoping she'll perhaps have jobs in milan so we can spend some quality foreign time together! i am so so so elated for her as she begins what is quite the exciting journey!

an article ran in yesterday's newspaper discussing her exciting news in detail, check it out!