I can’t believe it! I’m sick, again!! Thankfully it’s just a cold but man I miss those three years of not being sick. The most annoying part is that my ears are all stuffed which makes my balance questionable.

In my 31 years I have never had a birthday that wasn’t in Toronto, or at home with family. I figured it would be a little lonely, maybe anti climactic, but actually it was lovely. No I did not have the big birthday dinner I normally have with family, but my friend Ruth took me out for a gelato before class. Then during class school staff came in singing with a little cupcake with a candle. It was so nice!

I’m so excited! Today I’m hanging out with my friend!!! The English woman, her name is Catherine and we went to Castel San Angelo. She’s a bit of an early riser, and we made plans to meet at 10am. I woke up already waited for the bus…. But it never came.

It took a little convincing, actually none, but Catherine is joining the pasta cooking class. It’s at a different restaurant than the last, this one is in Trastevere, the food district of Rome. We had so much FUN!!

Summer is here! Well nearly, the locals tell me that this week’s 24-27°c weather is nothing in comparison to a Roman summer. Not sure how I will survive… especially without air conditioning.

Every Monday we get a whole new set of students, which is very exciting, more opportunities to meet new people. This cohort again was many short stay students, most of which seemed to have joined my A2 class. We had a Belgian girl, an American woman, two Dutch girls and a woman who is English but lives in France. No new Canadians. I have actually only met one other Canadian and she left weeks ago.

It’s been a weird week without Mamie. A little lonely if I’m being honest. You don’t realize how important something is till it’s gone, and with Mamie here I had a companion. Making friends in Rome is a bit harder than in Berlin because the students are mostly short term, and the long term students were smart and came in the cooler months.

This week my classes are all in the afternoon which makes Mamie’s days feel really long since I’m usually home studying in the mornings.

Day trip number 2. Today feels different, I’m a bit rundown, Mamie is a bit rundown, the weather is grey and dark. I’m just not feeling it today, but we get to the train station and make our way to Napoli. It’s super close just an hour away. Mamie and I are excited to go to Napoli because this is where everyone told us to get our fill of seafood.

I felt like a true tour guide today, I spent all of last night trying to remember everything Mani, your parents’ tour-guide said about this Vatican property. When I arrived everything just came back to me.

One thing Mamie had on her list was the Sistine Chapel. Having experienced the insanity of the Vatican with your parents I wasn’t exactly keen to relive it so instead I brought Mamie to St. Peter’s square and basilica.

First day trip in Italy! Mamie took a cab to my place and we got to the train station with time to spare. Train travel in Europe Is next level. We went in a bullet train, which went up to 250km/h (you’ll have to ask you dad for the conversion into miles). What would normally take 4 hours in a car took us under 2 hours by train!

For Mamie’s first day in Rome we took it “easy”. No day trips just city walking, but it was a full day. Last time Mamie was in Rome it was with the Disney cruise and after that she vowed to never return to Rome again. I had a lot of work to do if I was going to change her mind about Rome, I’ve only been here a few weeks but I haven’t seen any of the “horrible” things Mamie was describing.

We had an early morning your parents and I. We had a call time of 8:30 am at the Vatican for a bus tour of the gardens and a tour of the Vatican museums. Since I was a last minute addition I didn’t get to do the gardens but I joined the group for the museum, which is what I really wanted to see.

I’ve been I Rome a couple weeks now, and to be honest it started a little low. Compared to Berlin, I’m not socializing as much and I haven’t made any true friends like in Berlin. It is very much because I’ve been staying home and cocooning, I do that when I’m overwhelmed. The classes I have been to felt a little too difficult but when I did the homework it felt too easy. Luckily the school has great support staff and they assure me that I’m doing great. Though I still felt rather low. Which is why a visit from your parents was such a welcoming grace.

I’ve made it to Rome! My arrival was much more civilized than my arrival in Berlin. No delays, my luggage arrived on my flight, my transfer car was ready to go. What a wonderful start to this leg of my adventure.