Roma Traffic

At orientation the second day in Rome, one of the school officials was talking about safety.
#2 greatest risk: alcohol
#1 greatest risk: roman traffic

Yesterday morning I woke up at 745 to hit breakfast and make it to a 9am War and Peace in Rome class i was hoping to get into. Well, the class was full, so I got added History of the Modern Middle East instead. Anyway, Mod. Mid. East was this morning at 9, so I left my alarm set for the same time.

This morning I woke up to either a bus or ....the tram (it just ran by - it's a little louder than the buses. it was the tram). looked at my clock: 723. ..too early. back to sleep.

Later I wake up to the standard "Beep Beep" of a scooter honking - likely swerving its way thru traffic or honking because someone didnt notice the light was green. (This seems to happen at every other intersection.) I look at my clock. 842. $#!% ...turns out, since i hadn't touched my alarm since i woke up the day before and didn't have to reset it, I forgot to turn it on. I was showered, dressed, had contacts in and clean teeth by 848. Caught the #8 tram to the 44 bus. 44 bus up the hill to campus. Climbed up to the (european) 3rd floor (which means the 4th) and was in class by 905. The Professor (with such an ideal English accent that he really should be narrating a show on PBS or doing an interview for the history channel) had literally just started class. So I missed absolutely nothing, and it's all thanks to the #1 greatest risk in Rome.

(and don't worry mom, I caught breakfast after class)