Last Day of Summer, First Day of School

I spent the last day of my summer doing what Californians do best, the beach. It is only a half hour train ride to the Tyrrhenian Sea from Rome, so the beach is closer than sitting through the LA traffic at home. We navigated the railways with no problems, but as soon as we left the train station we learned the hard way that sometimes it is best to follow the crowd. Everyone piled into a jam packed bus, but we decided to walk to beach, calling the Italians lazy. No, they are definitely smarter than us. The public beach is about a 35 minute walk (5 minute bus ride!) from the station. All the other beaches are private and require a fee to enter. I'm from California. I refuse to pay for the beach! We learned our lesson quickly and thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the sun on the black sand and playing in the water. Perfect way to end the summer!

Today I completed my first day of classes, Italian and Photography. This is not just vacation, I actually have to do some school work. There goes my dreamlike bubble. Pop. So strange to think the first day of my last year of school took place in Italy. No cougar walk, dodging the overflow of freshmen, or stopping to catch up with friends not seen all summer. It was almost like reverting back to freshman year. Everything and everyone is new.
I love my classes though! I can finally start learning this country's beautiful language and maybe have a decent conversation with the locals, the first step in blending in and pretending I'm Italian. Here's some key phrases and words I learned today:

What is your name?  --> Tu Come Ti Chiami?
My name is... --> Io mi chiamo...
How are you? --> Come stai?
I am very well. --> Sto molto bene.
Where do you come from? --> Tu di dove sei?
I am from... --> Io sono di...
Ci vediamo domani/presto --> See you tomorrow/soon

You should all practice some Italian along with me, so we can speak to each other when I get home. I'm determined to soak as much as I can in. I find the language so lovely.

Tomorrow: Italian. Wednesday: Italian, Politics and Economics of the EU, and Masterpieces of the Vatican. Thursday: Italian and Mediterranean Archeology. It's going to be a wonderful semester of classes.