Inauguration Nation

This past week has gone by so quickly and I feel that I am quickly getting to know the city. Grocery shopping still alludes me however as I can only seem to cook for three people at a time and usually end up with a good deal of leftovers. Though I frequently find that pathways that seem to go straight inevitably do not the city has, if anything, become more charming. Even buying school books is an adventure, I have visited the Vatican several times now to try and find class books however I instead end up wandering around Rome.
When I arrived here I knew that not all Italians spoke English I am still surprised however, at how very few do speak English. Interestingly I have been mostly communicating in a butchered version of Spanish and Italian with a few English words thrown in. I can understand almost all of what is being said to me now as I have lived here for the past two weeks but my Italian is moving along very slowly.
Tonight one of my classes was cancelled so that we could watch the inauguration. Our program director had set up a projection screen and laptop to stream the CNN online showing. Instead however the wireless connection was awful and so only a few minutes before the ceremony started a few of my friends and I dashed out of the building heading for a pub that had advertised that they would show the ceremony. On our way there we ended up stumbling into another bar with a large screen projecting the inauguration. We got the most American thing we could get, beer and peanuts, and settled into seats. The event was interesting to watch in a foreign country and was definitely not as big a deal as I would have thought. The Americans who were in the bar however were all upset that the TV channel the screen was showing was Fox Network, I thought all my liberal friends would appreciate that.
Well stay in touch and much love. I hope all is well across the pond!

Sofia