God Bless America

Let me tell you, Italians do have best pasta, meat, etc in comparison to the USA, but we, Americans, do have one advantage, the CHEESEBURGER. Here is it normal to get a cheeseburger, and I ask myself why? They have them at McDonalds, but they are like less than an inch of meat, and they charge you for ketchup!!! ( I am a ketchup fanatic, so this is a problem )

I have been in Rome for four weeks, and literally they have been the best time of my life, despite the breakup of my boyfriend and I of three years. Anyways, this past weekend my friends and I went to the Hard Rock Roma! We might have spent like 14 euros for cheeseburgers, but they were worth it! Additionally, you have to love free refills… I felt so bad for our waitress; we were American girls wanting separate checks for basically the same orders of cheeseburgers and sodas. In the end, the food was amazing and quick, and brought me back to America for a hour. You really do not understand how much you miss home until the culture shock really gets to you.

Speaking of how great America, here are a few things you should know before coming to Rome:
#1: Do not say you are American; you will be overcharged for a lot of stuff because they mistakenly give you the “wrong change”

#2: They do not have dryers here. In Italy, electricity is very expensive so instead of drying their clothes, they hang-line them. I was skeptical at this at first, but then it is nice to have jeans that did not shrink.

#3: Do not touch or accept the roses from gypsies on the Metro, Bus, Spanish Steps, Colleseum, Vatican, or Circus Maximus. If little kids ask, still say no, because even if you touch the rose they demand you to pay a euro, or one time my friend was ask for five euro, which is like equivalent to $7. Also the gypsies are nasty people, they will throw things in your face to distract you and steal from you. If a person looks particularly unsafe…it is in your right mind to be paranoid and walk away

#4: Never keep anything in your pockets, people will take your wallet and replace it back there without anything in it. Honestly, you will not even know it happened because it is so quick.

#5: If you go to a sit down restaurant and do not want to pay for water, ask for the tap, it is free and is really clean. It is probably more purified than back in Maryland.

#6: This is not America where you get complimentary bread, when you sit down you will be charged for bread even if you do not eat it. Also if you do decide to eat it, before they bring over more refuse it, or else you will be charged for a second serving.

#7: If a place is in English and has food on the outside of the building, do not go there it is a tourist trap, and will probably be way too expensive.

#8: It is okay to wear American brands of clothing, especially Levi or Nike, because people have that here. However, do not wear Abercrombie or American Eagle, it screams “Hey I am American, come take my money!”

#9: This may sound sexist, but never ask a man for directions, they find it funny when you go up to them in broken Italian to ask for help. They will most likely send you in the wrong direction…

#10: Finally, know some basic Italian phrases and bring a dictionary with you. I cannot tell you how many times I was happy I had my dictionary there, and I took years of Italian in high school and at Loyola.