DAY 4

THE DAY FROM... NOT HEAVEN...

This morning we got into Rome at 8:00am. We dropped off our bags in out hostel, but we could not be in there until 2:30, so we went to St. Peter's Basillica. After we left, emotions started flying. We tried finding a store where we could buy some food for lunch and dinner but we could not find anything. When we finally found a store, it ended up only having food that needed to be cooked. So we ended up eating raw gnocchi, salad (no dressing), a block of cheese, and olives. We bought beer but could not open it because we did not have a bottle opener. We went to a park to sit in the shade but could only find hard, brown grass that was only half shaded. When it was finaly 2:30 we headed back to our hostel only to find that there was only one way in and out of the park and we had gone the wrong way. We walked all the way around the park (which took a good twenty minutes) and to our dismay, we were lost. I had been needing to find a toilet since noon and Wendy was feeling "discouraged." We avoided talking to each other except to say highly annoying things such as "I think we need to go this way" or "Do you want me to look at the map?" or "Are you sure we are going the right way?" At one corner, Wendy proceeded to throw down her arms and proclaim "I give up!"--That was when I knew that any words that would come out of my mouth before we arrived at our hostel could potentially end a four and a half year friendship. Did I mention Wendy spilled olive juice right where she was sitting in the park? She was not happy... Anyway, our mission was to find our way back to the Vatican and go from there. We eventually found our way back and came to a fountain where people were putting water on their faces and filling up waterbottles. I began to drink it.
"Is this water drinkable?" Wendy ever so innocently asks.
"Well," I say, "I'm drinking it."
Again, thoughts better left unspoken. Needless to say, we passed the nice man who had sold us our gelatto earlier that day (at 10:30am) and made it back to our hostel. And it was only 4:00! We took showers in the bathrooms down the hall and crashed on our beds. We woke up in just enough time to eat our raw gnocchi and "unfridged" yogurt for dinner. We decided we are still friends and could maybe even laugh about our day. After dinner, we found a bathroom attached to our room. As if we hadn't felt stupid enough we had both noticed the door earlier and thought it was nothing. Quoted:
Wendy says, "Look this is a bathroom! I thought it was just some random door."
Monaca replies, "Yeah, well, I tried to open that door..."
Again, we laugh.

DAY 4: (continued)
THE END TO A TERRIBLE DAY...
After our whole "discovering the bathroom" saga, the night got better. Wendy and I went for a walk and bought some drinks. When we got back to our hostel there were some really great guys hanging out in the lobby of the hostel, so we decided to talk to them for a while. HALLELUJAH! They had a bottle opener!! Wendy and I hung out with them and drank our warm Italian beer. We had a lot of fun, even though we weren't doing something really fun like playing poker. I like atmospheres like this. It makes me feel comfortable, though at times a little homesick. I miss big family BBQs--everyone sitting around drinking their beer or mike's playing cards or softball in the backyard... soon I will be there; but, oh, how I miss Spain already. A piece of me will be there forever.