Roaming Around in Rome
"Ciao Bella!"
One of my favorite greetings and the first one I learned in Italian. As soon as my friends and I landed in the Fugimiucio Airport, it was clear that our language immersion was in full motion. I flew out of Logan Airport with two other Dartmouth students. The program director of the Full Immersion Rome Experience—FIRE—Professesoressa Nancy was extremely supportive with our travel plans. All students received expected flight dates as early as the beginning of April; we had two meetings beforehand explaining the other cities outside of Rome we would visit while in Italy along with the expected speed of language classes.
We met up with Professesoressa Nancy for the first time in Italy at our apartments. Our apartments are based in a lively and young area of Rome, Trastevere. We are a half hour walk or twenty minute train ride from where our classes are held from Monday through Thursday as we don't have any formal class on Friday throughout the entire program. Fridays are saved for cultural immersion activities such as artisan walking tours, cooking classes, or wine tastings!

At the end of our first day, we all had dinner at a restaurant near a popular shopping market in Rome, Campo do Fiori. This is where I tried my first Roman carbonara; I think I would have eaten anything after a long day of travels but that plate has still been my favorite yet while in Rome.
The following days we had orientations from our Academic Programs International (API) directors. API is a third party that Dartmouth works with to ensure that all students have the resources they need to enjoy their time in Rome. Vincenzo is our API director and the man we go to whenever we have a logistical question of Italy. If you need to know where to buy an international stamp, bus pass, or the nearest doctor, Vincenzo is your guy. For more cultural questions we are blessed to be provided a student director as well. Chiarra is always there to practice Italian, recommend good thrifting stores, and general places to avoid if we want a more authentic Italian experience—both Chiarra and Vincenzo make Rome feel a lot more accessible.
We arrived on a Tuesday and didn't have official class till Monday. This adjustment period granted us some time to figure out how living in Rome would look like without the academic stress. AB, our student assistant and Dartmouth '26 showed us how to buy groceries, which tram to take, and the best caffè on the way to school during this week which helped all of us during Week 1.
At Dartmouth, the introductory language courses take usually ten weeks to complete. However, on our abroad in Italy, these exact courses are condensed to five weeks—thanks to the support and advanced learning that immersion grants—so I am currently taking Italian I and Italian IV.
This first week was my first experience with drill. During drill, we review vocabulary and grammar rules. I really enjoy my drill group and the lessons we cover within it because it helps condense studying outside of class. By the end of our first week we had the vocabulary to introduce ourselves, ask for directions, and order food. The week ended with a cooking class in Professesoressa Nancy's apartment where we got to learn how to make some traditional Italian dishes and learn more about her past experiences in Italy.

Rome wasn't built in a day and my language learning is definitely going to take longer, but I can confidently say that Dartmouth offers a strong support system even outside of the woods.