My New Room

I am happy to say that our group successfully navigated the Philadelphia and Italian airports. I have to say I was nervous going through the airport, always doing head-counts and making sure we were all together. Seeing the parents beforehand reminded me of my responsibility. Everything went well, and we actually moved more smoothly through FCO - Da Vinci Airport than in Philly...go figure :). Anyway, it was about an hour taxi bus ride to where we're staying and traffic was crazy with people driving up on curbs and in medians. Yes, where we're staying is a convent with real nuns, and it's on the outskirts of the actual city of Rome. They're friendly and speak mainly Spanish, so that should be fun. Everything except our classroom is on one floor which is nice, and IMHO, I have one of the best desk locations with a view of the a little courtyard and gardens below....

I know that God has chosen each person in our group for this trip and it's exciting to see us start to mesh. We have 3 girls from Azusa Pacific University and one girl from Judson University who have fit in well so far. We're all powering through our jetlag and are getting ready for dinner. None of us slept well on the plane, so we've all been up for a while. We're getting ready for dinner and are probably going out for gelato afterwards. Mmmmm... Tomorrow we get a tour of the neighborhood and get oriented with the bus and train stuff, so that'll be important stuff to remember. We don't start class until Monday, so the rest of the weekend will be other orientation related stuff. Because I'm not quite immersed in the culture, it still feels like a "retreat" and that we'll be back next week. It recently hit me that we're in this for the long haul, and I can't wait to experience the best that Rome has to offer.

Just an FYI, in case you were wondering, my address is:

John Shipley

Geneva College Semester in Rome

Via Nomentana, 333

00162 Rome, Italy

Our site director says to use anything but USPS to send stuff if you felt so inclined...

Psalm 86:9 - "All the nations you have made will come and worship before you Lord..."