 And today I'm going to be taking you guys on a day in my life in Rome, Italy as a study abroad student. My legs are shaking right now, but it's so weird isn't it? I'm in my second class of the day. She's everywhere you go. You're up. That did not look like Delotta. We are at the Chubby Mountain. Hey guys, happy Thursday. It is May 31st. And today I'm going to be taking you guys on a day in my life in Rome, Italy as a study abroad student with the EF International Language Campuses. A huge shout out goes to them because they actually sent me to Rome, Italy for two weeks. And for these two weeks, I'm going to be learning as much Italian and culture as I can. Well, of course, seeing Rome from like a locals perspective. I'm actually staying in a host family, not the EF residence, which is like the dorms. And it's definitely kind of outside of my comfort zone because I am alone staying here. And that means I have to get to school alone, which was definitely scary at first. But now by like the fourth day I'm getting the hang of it. Later I can show you an app that I use to help me with like the transportation aspect of Rome. So with every EF school, every day is different. So you might start at 9am and you might have like three classes that day. And then the next day, like today, I'm starting at 12pm. And you might have three classes. And I know I think that like the first day I had four classes. Well actually orientation and then three. So I don't know, it just really depends. And you get out of school at different times every day. So that's kind of cool because every day they offer like about two activities. And I was actually going to go on an activity this morning, but we decided to go to the Vatican. It's cool because you can decide to go with the EF tour on whatever activity they're doing. I think they're doing a river walk, which sounded really cool. But one of my friends is leaving this weekend and today was like the perfect day to go to the Vatican because we're going to go super early and hopefully we won't wait in line. But at 12 I start class. So hopefully I can show you guys around in the EF building itself. It's actually kind of modern. Like it's in this like traditional Italian building and then you go inside and it's like so nice. So every morning my host family cooks me breakfast, which is so nice because usually I really don't even eat breakfast. Just because I'm always running out the door and I never like think to eat breakfast, but it's definitely like important, especially if I want the energy that I need throughout the day. So then I'm going to hop on the train and meet my friend Taylor at the EF school. And then from there we're going to take a bus hopefully to the Vatican or like close to there and then we'll walk. So I'm really excited to show you guys my day at EF. And please comment any questions you guys have in the comments down below about the program or like about my experience, just anything. I'd love to answer you guys. So let's get started with my day. So I'm about to go to the tram station, which is like three minutes from my host family, which is really convenient. But every morning I wake up at like 6am and kind of have like a little bit of time to like, you know, play on my phone or whatever, but then start getting ready at 6.30 and have to be out the door. By 8.10 is like when I usually go on the tram, but since I have to meet my friend at 8.10 at the school, I'm leaving at like 7.40, 7.30. So yeah, I'm just like leave a little bit earlier just because you really never know how long it could take. Guess I have to wait for the next tram. There goes that one. We just walked all the way there, but then he said the entrance was all the way over here. You're back with me. So walk in there now. Can't wait to see it. It's going to be awesome. The entrance of this place is already blowing me away. This is going to sound really dumb, but I literally thought this church was called the Vatican, so it's actually the same parish church. And this whole place is the Vatican City, right? The Vatican City is inside of Rome. So we're not in Italy. It's crazy. If you come here and you must cover your shoulders, I think people are wearing shorts, so I thought you had to wear pads, but mine are ripped too, so I thought I was going to get like turned away for ripped jeans, but I made it. Instead of walking. I guess there's just a few steps for us to walk, but it's totally worth it to take the elevator, because you're sweating. As you can see right now, but the line for the St. Peter's Church right there is so long, so definitely recommend coming early. We are now at the supermarket and we might pick up some lunch here. Oh, cool. They have like pasta and everything. They also have a sandwich bar upstairs. Oh, okay. I think they made sandwiches. It's a class at 12. It's 11-11 make-a-wish. Usually like for lunch, we'll go to like a small cafe and the prices here are pretty good. This is like five euros, so I don't really know what that converts to to US dollars, but it's pretty cheap for like lunch. If you're going to like an actual lunch, like it's like 10 euros or something like that, so it's really not that bad. I thought it would be spending way more money here. 10 euros is 11.58. Just like converted it for me. Yeah, so it's really not like too crazy because even in like Georgia or like the States, I pay like 15 for like per meal or like maybe 20 maximum if it's like dinner, you know? So this is your fourth language, right? Yeah. What else do you speak? Swedish, English and Spanish. And so why did you want to learn Italian? Because it's very similar to Spanish. Yeah, that's why I think so. Yeah, I thought it would be easiest. Like I could learn a lot in a month. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. And I like it a little bit, of course. I think it's so cool to learn another language. I learned Spanish in middle school. And was it middle school? Yeah, I think it was middle school and high school and college. So I can like understand some things, but like not fluent by any means. But I think it's really important to like learn a second language. So many people can get their dream jobs just because they're bilingual. Hi, Taylor. A lot of the people that come do this program come for their jobs, because I guess in other countries, like it's not really common to go to university. That's what I have gotten for Sweden is because of Swedish. Oh, okay. But like I think one other guy was like, it's not very common to go to university. What their job is is to like call people from like other countries and stuff like that and like translate, I guess, I don't know. I mean, I think it's really important to like just dabble at least in a second language or another language. Great for a resume. Yeah, great for a resume. So this is right in front of the school. And this right here is the building of EF. So we're in the first class. We call it communication. So basically I guess you have to like write it all in Italian. We're on break right now. We have like a 40 minute break. So we came to Piazza and the four guys on the fountain. That's what I think of it as. So we're in here. And I think this is like the oldest of the most popular square. I forgot what my host family told me, but something like that. It could seem to be the most popular. Yeah, most popular maybe. I know Kampo de Fiore is really popular too. It has like a market. We should go maybe. Yeah. Yeah, it has like a market. And you can buy like souvenir type things. Yeah, like constant stuff like that. Having ourselves a little photo shoot in between class. You know how we do. And you guys are probably thinking like, obviously you're not going to like learn Italian in two weeks. Definitely not going to speak it fluently. But it's just like the basics of the cab. But if you stay for longer, then you can, you know, become more fluent in it. So it just depends on what you want to do. This is my friend Taylor. And I just want to let you know a few things about EF. It's not just in Rome. You can do it anywhere around the world. A lot of places in the United States, in Europe. And we did nine months in France and then came to finisher last two months in Italy. You have the option to do a homestay where you stay with the local family. And that way you get a lot of the culture and you get to try their foods. That is probably just like any other college that you go to. And so it depends if you want to stay with other people from the school or if you're taking a tram to like my sugary drinks. But this one's actually really sugary. Normally it's like never sugary. And I'm so used to like my virgin drinks. So most aesthetically pleasing and yummier. Five days in and I feel like when I get used to it it's going to be the end of my trip. So my jet lag recommendations are to go to sleep when you're supposed to and not take any naps. I know it's so hard but just do it and then it'll be better in the long run. I feel like I get sleepy after every meal. So I don't know. Just stay away from those naps. About to get in trouble for taking pictures with the... What are these called? Vespas. Vespas. I don't know if she's ever here already going to leave. I do samples. So I tried some samples of that gelato and honestly it wasn't really that good. So I was just like okay bye thank you. Maybe I just need like the sweet taste in my mouth because now I don't really want gelato after I've had all those samples. That's good enough for me. So we're parting ways. We're taking our separate trams. Oh my god I can never say that word. Bye! To take a shower I don't think I've sweat this much in so long like just walking around everywhere but I just quickly wanted to talk to you guys about some things about the EF program. So it's funny because I was actually planning a trip to Italy with my dad but then like something work came up for him and so we couldn't go and then this opportunity came my way. And I was like what are the odds that like this would happen and obviously it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up but the one fear that was holding me back was being alone in a whole new country. Like I couldn't even wrap my mind around that. I honestly hate being alone more than anything. I hate going into like Target alone. I don't like going to the grocery store alone. Like I cannot believe I flew to Rome Italy all by myself. I need to start telling myself that I can do anything alone if I like put my mind to it like I did for this trip. I just got out of my comfort zone and kind of faked it till I made it if that makes sense. When I'm alone I tend to like put on this confident facade but it kind of overtakes you sometimes and sometimes you do eventually feel confident and all I meant the first day I was so overwhelmed with you know the learning and just like all the transportation info but I just pushed through and kind of did some more research. Got a couple of apps that kind of saved my life like Move It. For example I have one called Move It and it helps with the bus and tram transportation and it like has all the like schedules on your phone so it's really easy to use. As the week goes on it gets easier and I feel more comfortable here. I definitely am still a little bit homesick like the first day I was like oh my god like freaking out like I really miss home kind of thing but now I'm actually taking it all in absorbing it and enjoying the moment. It's also really cool because as the week goes on obviously I'm learning more Italian and I can actually kind of communicate with my husband's family more which is cool that I've already seen like a growth in just like four days. I was honestly hoping that coming here would kind of give me like my epiphany that I needed about being like independent. I think like going to an out-of-state college definitely made me so much more independent than I ever was but even at my college I have my friends and I still feel like a baby when I'm there but coming to a whole other country alone like oh my god like that's crazy that's definitely something I never thought I would do. If you guys love traveling or or like me that like kind of want to push yourself to get out of your comfort zone and travel to another country alone and meet new friends here from literally all over the world and definitely check out the program that I'm on. The link will be in the description below and you can just find out more about the program and I do have a discount code for any program that you choose. It's 10% off if you use the code Sonali in Rome or mention my name Sonali and again that's on any program so definitely check that out and maybe if you want to book a quick summer trip then totally do it. If you want to see more of my experience here in Rome and with the EF program then definitely check out my previous vlog and I will definitely be posting more since I have one more week. I can't believe it's already going to be Friday tomorrow but I will see you guys in the morning. Hey guys I haven't started off the vlog today but I wanted to give you guys a quick tour of the EF school of Rome. So let's get started. So this is just a little area with a vending machine and water, really cold water. I really appreciate that. Right here is the activities board so I think I should put this on my other vlog but basically you will go with Flavia and you'll do all these activities. I thought that I couldn't do one of these activities if I had class, is that true? Or? Actually the fact that we have two activities is just to give everyone the possibility to do one activity in the day because if you have class in the morning you can do the activity in the afternoon and but if there is a special activity like an Italian girl tour for example of the Vatican or of Colosseum that's an exception. Okay okay. Just for this. Make sense, okay cool. This is the hangout part of the place and we have a TV where you can watch music videos and this couch is super comfortable. I just took a nap here. Right here is the information board so it just has like activities maybe. The teachers. I'm Cristina. I'm the school director in Rome from ES. We are in the city center in the heart of Rome through Piazza Navona and the town. And we have plenty of students from all over the world waiting for you to study the Italian culture and this wonderful language. Ciao. And then back here is all of the classroom I hope you guys enjoyed seeing the place and now we're gonna go on an EF tour with Flavia. Let's go. This is the front of the school and funny story I swear I saw this little place on Pinterest. I was like oh my god that's literally right outside the school. Flavia is gonna tell us where we're going on this tour. Esattamente. We are going in Via dei Coronari which together with most of the Italian streets has an historic reason. The name is Coronari like the corona which means the necklace that you bring with you to the to the mess to the service. A rosemary. Esattamente. Like a rosary. Because rosary, rosary. Because this street was linked to the Vatican city because it's nearby the Vatican and all the pilgrims who went to the Vatican says buy this street to buy a new rosary. Esattamente. So because of this the name of the street changed in Via dei Coronari. Like corona is the name of the necklace in Italian. Okay okay. Orosario is the same. Oh okay. This store is so tiny. So we just found out that Volcker is a fashion photographer, a makeup artist and a hairstylist and I'm asking him where has he been this whole time with our photo shoots. And he's like posing her perfectly. So Flavia's turn. Perfection. Perfection. Honestly I think you're hustling us, Flavia. You've probably done this in your past, huh? We stopped inside this cute bead shop and I actually picked up a few beads. So these are the ones that I picked up over here. I got one black one, one white one and one of these they're like sparkly and kind of like purple but it kind of looks brown at the same time. I just wanted some neutral beads. We're currently looking for a restaurant to eat dinner at and we brought some new friends to eat dinner with. I'm trying my first spritz. I just learned about it today. It's like just reminds me of like that like Sangria. Awful. Oh. You don't like it? No yeah. It just reminds me of a day that I got like really really really drunk. Like disgusting for me. List spaghetti and tomato. I can't eat so much. I'm sorry. Oh. Like nothing? He has to go to my house. At 20 o'clock we're eating together and that's a reason. Oh yeah okay. And Tito. You would bear on the hunt for the best gelato that we can find. Let's see if it is here. That did not look like gelato. No that looks like Italian ice or something. With like sticky sticky sugar on top. Like I don't even know. That was a place. Thank you. It's amazing. We're on our way to the Trivie fountain and look what we just came up with.