When in Rome...

2008-07-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I just started to pack my stuff to come home, and it seemed like everything fit better when I packed to leave. I just broke into a full sweat trying to do this. IT IS SO HOT! I know have two suitcases, and they are both really full. We have to be at the school at 7 am on Friday for the bus to take us to the airport, and I'm not actually sure how I'm going to get me and my bags there. The thought of me lugging two suitcases up a hill around the block to the bus stop makes me tired. Not to mention getting me and all of the stuff on the bus, considering the people here like to pack themselves on buses like sardines. I know I will be getting some dirty looks for taking up so much room. Chrissy and I thought about calling a cab to take us there, but we can't communicate with the cab company on the phone...how convenient! I guess we'll just have to suck it up and take the bus. Maybe no one will be on the bus that early. We are planning on leaving around 6, so hopefully it will be fine. On a lighter note, I went to St. Peter's Basilica today. I climbed the dome, which was like 550 steps or so. The view was really pretty...pictures are below. Tomorrow, my Italian Culture class is going back to the cooking school. They are showing us how to make an authentic Italian meal, then we get to eat it. We took the final today, and it wasn't bad. I'm really glad to be done with class, hopefully I did well on it.

2008-07-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

Last night was the opera, Madame Butterfly, and it was so good. Even though I really didn't have a clue what was going on most of the time, it was still great. It was pretty, and the singing was amazing. It was outside near circus maximus by the Roman baths. So, the backdrop was ancient Roman ruins. It was so cool. I forgot my camera, so I don't have pictures. Chrissy took some, so I will just get copies from her. Before the opera we ate a Cafe Martini, which is just across the street from the Coliseum, so the view was great. I would write
more, but I have to get to class. Talk later, ciao!

2008-07-27T02:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, me, Chrissy and Hunter went on a little day trip to the beach in Ostia. We originally had planned to go to Sperlonga, which is supposedly really pretty, but we didn't want to pay a lot for the train ride. We took a forty minute train ride from Rome, and we got off right at the beach. It was pretty there, even though people around here say it's not that great. The water wasn't very blue, but it was pretty clear. Ostia's sand is black volcanic sand, which was cool. It got so hot though, you couldn't walk on the sand without shoes on. We just layed on the beach most of the day or hungout at the snack bar. The nice guys that worked at the snack bar told us that we should stick around until four because they have free Latin American dancing lessons. One of the guys that worked there was so cute. He didn't speak any English, but that was okay. The other guy just translated. He was so cute that Chrissy and I were drooling most of the time. As if we didn't have a big enough crush on him, we learned that he was not only a good singer, but also a poet. That sealed the deal. A cute, Italian poet...who cares if we couldn't understand each other. I took a picture of him with Chrissy, so I'll post it below. After we left Ostia, we went back to the apartment. I ventured out to the ATM and to get yet another pizza for dinner. I went to bed so early that I woke at 3am wide awake. I had a bad dream, but we won't go there. It was too weird. I have less than a week before I come home, and I'm sooo excited. I feel like I've been here forever. This last week at school should go by fairly fast, I hope. Tonight we are going to the opera, and I can't wait. We are seeing Madame Butterfly, and it is suppossed to be really good. We are getting all dressed up and eating a fancy dinner before we go. So, it should be fun!

2008-07-25T01:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, as I said before, I had to be up really early to go to the Bourghese Gallery. I left at 7:15 and met the group at 8. Then we all got on another bus and go to the museum. We finally get there and they are CLOSED because they are on strike. They are on strike so they will not open until the afternoon, which really doesn't make that much sense. So, I went back to my apartment and took a nice little nap before heading to class. Last night Chrissy and I, who passed on the night time group visit to Bourghese, went out for dinner in Trastevere. I had some really good lasagna, and we also had some wine. We had a really good time, and came back to the apartment to catch up with Mel. We just sat out on our lovely porch, drank some more wine and goofed off. Chrissy was being a little funny and flipped over in her chair...twice! Don't worry I took pictures. We ended up going to bed really late, so I didn't make it to St. Peter's this morning. I guess I will go next week sometime. That is basically the last thing that I need to do before I leave. I think we may go to the beach in Sperlonga tomorrow morning for the day, but I'm not completely sure. I guess I will go. I have a free day today, and I will probably go explore. I really want to visit the cute open air market down the street. I'll talk later, Ciao!

2008-07-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Today Chrissy and I visited the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chaple. It was cool, but I'm not going to lie, the chaple wasn't what I expected. I mean it was beautiful, but I though it would be bigger. I guess I just had it built up so much. We also visited the Pantheon, which was cool to see the sun coming in from the top. What was even cooler was that there is a Mcdonalds across the street.ha I had a lovely big mac, and it was sooo good. The fact that I have gone so long without a cheeseburger is a miracle, but I finally got one today. We also walked along the river and shopped a little. We went to the mouth of truth then came home. Now I'm kinda tired, but I'm sure we will venture out tonight for a walk. Tomorrow I have to catch the 8 tram at around seven in the morning to meet a group from ISA. We have a guided tour of the Bourghese Gallery, which should be fun, but then I have class. Did i mention that Chrissy and I skipped class today? I think I left that out, but it's ok because we have two skip days. Anyway, there's not really much to say about my day. I'll go for now. Don't forget...pictures are below! Ciao!

2008-07-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, today has not really been an exciting day, but it was good. I went to my Italian Culture class and then I went for a walk. I walked around in the park, which is across the street from AUR. It was really pretty and peaceful. I also walked to a spot overlooking the city which is so amazing. It's my favorite view in Rome so far, but I haven't climbed the dome in St. Peter's yet. I also walked around in my favorite area of the city called Trastevere. It literally means along the Tiber. My room mates and I went last night to walk around there because it's basically where everyone goes to hang out. There are several piazzas, and there is always something going on. Chrissy has this book called 24 Great Walks of Rome. It tells you were to start and when to stop and look at something, and you read along as you go. It was neat, but we couldn't really get it to work. I think there may have been a miss print or something because we did everything it said, but nothing matched up. We gave up and got a glass of wine instead. I ordered a hanburger when we stopped thinking maybe it would be edible. It wasn't. I can't wait to get home and get a real burger. Tomorrow after class I'm planning on going to the Pantheon. I hear there is a Macdonalds across the street...YES! I have so many things to see before I come home, and I'm trying to get them all in. This weekend St. Peters, the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chaple. So I'm really excited about that. I'm really bored right now because Chrissy and Mel have gone to a makeup class tonight. I have no homework, and I can't watch tv that's for sure. I really miss some TV. It's actually kinda amusing watching an American sitcom here. A few days ago I watched Friends with the Italian dubbed over it. It was histerical. Anyway, I also went to the grocery store today. This trip was more successful than the first one. I really have a hard time finding stuff to buy because I can't really figure out what it is. You can't really mistake pasta and bread, but the cheeses and meats can be a little tricky. For dinner I had bread with pizza sause and mozzerella. Real mozzeralla, not the shreaded kind we have at home. It actually very good. Anyway I guess I'll talk tomorrow, but first I will post some pictures down below!

2008-07-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I just got back from the pizza making session at the cooking school, and it was so much fun. I have am officially done eating pizza for a while. I have pretty much been eating pizza the whole time I've been here. There are ten people in the class, and we each got to make our own pizza and then share with the rest. I'm so full. We even got our own little apron and chef's hat. After I get home I checked my email, and to my surprise, there was an email from the saints and sinners teacher that went out to the whole class. The email expressed her concern for literally the majority of the class dropping on the eve of the midterm exam. She has asked that everyone come to the class anyway and we can discuss maybe rescheduling the exam. We have the option of getting back in if we want. She believes that her giving us an exam before the weekend trip may have caused us a little stress, duh! I, however, am not falling for this trap. I am not getting back in the class because I doubt she will change everything about it, which is what needs to be done. So anyway, I'll talk later.

2008-07-21T01:20:00.000-07:00

I just got back yesterday from Sorrento, Capri, and Pompei, and it was so much fun. Capri was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I'm very excited today because my Italian culture class is going to a cooking school to learn how to make pizza and calzones. It's going to be so much fun, I can't wait. I'm also extremely excited because I am no longer taking saints and sinners because my teacher was psycho. Just about half the class decided to drop because we don't have time to do anything. Now that I have a lot more free time I can actually explore Rome. Other than the bus ride to school and home, I really haven't had time to see much of the city. So, I'm really excited about these last two weeks.

2008-07-14T02:59:00.001-07:00

Well, today is another day of class, and I thought I would get a jump on things. I have to do a small presentation tomorrow, and the info that I need is on reserve in the library. I have to go there and make copies of it. So I got to school way early to get the book and make copies. Of course, they can't find the book. The have it, but they have misplaced it. Just my luck. So they told me to come back in an hour. The only problem is I will be in class in an hour, and I will not be done until 7:45 tonight. They will be closed then. So, I guess I'll have to do it tomorrow. Now, I'm sitting in the computer lab because its very cool in here trying to figure out what I need to be doing. Today in Saints and Sinners we are meeting at the Arch of Constantine near the Colosseum. I think we will be touring some Roman houses today.This class is very interesting, but after a while it gets so boring. I really love looking at all of the neat art and stuff that has been around for so long, but learning every little thing about the history of a work is really overwhelming because we see so much in a day.Walking around museums for 2 hours and 45 minutes at a time listening to lecture and taking notes gets a little monotonous. We spent all that time last week at the Capitoline Hill museum looking at busts of people and talking about their facial features. Anyway, I guess I'll go for now.

2008-07-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

By the way pictures are at the bottom... the new ones are at the end.

Ciao!

2008-07-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I just made it back from the first weekend trip to Tuscany. We visited Florence and Siena. We spent Friday night and Saturday night at a cute little hotel in Florence named Hotel Casci. It was a small family owned hotel which was run by this cute little man named Paulo and his mother. They were so sweet, and they went out of their way to make us comfortable. Florence is a really fun city, and its a little bit more my style. Don't get me wrong, I love Rome, but Florence just has a much better atmosphere. We visited the Academia museum and the Ufitzi museum. I got to see Michealangelo's David., which was really cool. The Ufitzi was also amazing. Siena was also really cute, and it was much smaller than Florence. We just spent the afternoon wondering around before we headed back to Rome. Now that this first week is over I feel like I have really gotten used to this place. I'm not going to lie the first few days I was actually wondering what I had gotten myself into. I just felt really lost and homesick, but I am really glad that I am here now. I'm having a great time, and my room mates and I get along really well. We got to know each other really well over the weekend, and I'm really excited about all of the stuff that we have left to do.

Longest day of my life...

2008-07-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

I just got back to the apartment, and it's nine at night. Don't freak out momma, it doesn't get dark until about nine thirty. I left at ten this morning. Today has been the most challenging because I have have been on my own most of the day. My roomates are not in the same clases that I am. I took an hour bus ride to the main train station to get a month bus pass, and when I got there it was so big I couldn't figure out where to get it. I had to leave so that I could make it back to class, without the pass. I wasted two hours. Then, I tried to change some money into euros at a bank, but I could't do that either because you can't go through the door with any metal on. Everytime I tried to walk in a recording started speaking in Italian, and I didn't know what it meant of course. One of my teachers went with me, and she helped me do it. She is really nice, and she took some of us out for coffee after class. By the way, my roomates went back to the station this afternoon, and after lots of searching, found the tickets and got me one. I wish I had time to write more ,but I already have homework...alot!

Day 2

2008-07-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well, today was a very long day. We had orientation and some other meetings, and we had to be at the university at 10 so we left like an hour early. We did make it on time even though we had a little trouble. Melissa made it off the bus at our stop, however, Chrissy and I didn't make it off the bus before the doors closed in our face. So we had to get off at the next stop and walk back. After we got home I took a nap because my body is so screwed up from the time change. We had a tour of Rome this evening with the ISA staff, and they took us to dinner at a place call bir and fud. The appetizers were distusting, but the pizza was delicious. I finally have had something good to eat. For dessert we had gellato with an optional sauce made of cherry tomatoes and basil. Needless to say I didn't get the sauce. It was like ketchup on vanilla ice cream yum!!! I just got back from the restaurant, and the way home was interesting as well because we had to take the tram, but I'm back home safely, and about to go to bed because I have class tomorrow!

First day in Rome

2008-07-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

I was so tired when we arrived today that I could hardly muster up enough energy to do anything. I took two naps today, and I should be going to bed very soon because I took a lunetsa...thanks jeffy boy! We got some food today. We bought a whole lot of what we thought was water today but because we couldn't read it we have a bunch of nasty lemon lime sprite kind of thing. We basically just got settled around in the apartment and took some walks to find some important things like the bus we're suppossed to take to school, but we couldn't find it.