The speaking partners party was fun. I met some young Italian girls and guys. Along with some older, really strange Italian engineer who was a slight nerd but quite hilarious. Some people exchanged emails, and I think we have a date for the young Italians to show us a good time in Rome! I'm excited for that. Anyways, we got a few glasses of red and white wine which was nice, some even got a little tipsy.
We then went and watched Roman Holiday. I have finally started to enjoy older films. Plus for Haley's sake I have started to fall in love with Audrey Hepburn. She is one fine lady slash also has the tiniest waste of any woman I have ever seen. The movie was witty, cute, and I got to see all the famous sights of Rome, most of which I have already been to. Gregory Peck was following Audrey around for a good ten minutes around the Trevi Fountain where I had just been! Everything looked exactly the same, though I doubt the barber shop where Audrey got her hair cut is still there. Then they went to the Colosseum where we had also just been. And lastly they danced together under the bridge of the Sant' Angelo bridge down by the Tiber river, they even jumped in at one point! The actual building of Sant' Angelo's was in the background the entire scene. It's so cool to be able to identify such historic sights as a part of my most recent memories. After the film it was bed time, I had class early the next morning.
Tuesday was an amazing day. I only had class from 9:30-10:45. Roman History which I just found out requires hundreds and hundreds of pages of reading each week. We have a text book which is around 40 pages a week. Plus an extra 200 or so in a course packet. I am extremely overwhelmed at this specific moment so I won't go into detail about it, but I think I am going to have to take that course pass fail if that gives you a hint of how terrified I am. Plus I don't know if I have mentioned this before but the grading scale is radically different here than it is in the States. A 90-93 is a B+, which means that a 73-76 is a D. Which would typically be solid C. So I'm extremely nervous about grades this semester. I also dropped my International Politics class since I somehow forgot I had already taken that class back at Beloit. Anyways, aside from the minor panic attack, Tuesday was a phenomenal day. I relaxed and organized my life after lunch. Everyone was in class so I turned on Adele who is my current favorite artist. I can't stop listening to her album "19." Every song makes my brain wonder and calms my racing mind so I can reflect and slow the pace of my heart. Constant movement, adaptation to a new culture, and limited amounts of sleep and healthy food can really raise ones anxiety. So I took an hour or so to myself, drank some wine, laid in bed, and let Adele soothe my riveting thoughts. Around 4:30 everyone congregated to our room as usual to drink some wine quickly before heading downstairs to get good seats to watch the magic of Obama's inauguration.
After reflecting I was already feeling highly emotional, so I immediately new I would be a sob fest as I saw Obama's face on the screen. I took about 200 pictures of the screen and the crowd surrounding it. I am beginning to feel like the paparazzi. Anyways I admired the beauty of the Obama family. Barack, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha, there is beauty in their names alone. They are such an incredible, brilliant, and accomplished family. They seem so solid and I find it hard to believe it is anything far from extremely real love and solidarity between them. Obama just didn't give up, and he is now the Commander in Chief, really really the president of the United States. I have never been so proud to be an American citizen. I actually just read an article about how the structure of the Obama family is changing the horrific stereotypes of the broken black family. It essentially stated that the image of black from all perspectives is radically changing in extremely positive ways. Not only to improve the negative stereotypes people tend to have of black families, but for blacks as well to have a positive influence and see the possibilities of what an accomplished beautiful black family looks like. As well as Michelle embracing her black skin color as beauty, which can help women in understanding how beautiful their skin color truly is. I am also thrilled about Obama's orders to halt all prosecutions at Guantanamo Bay, as well as attempt to have it shut down within a year. AND suspended all of Bush's recent legislation. I am so proud.
Moving on... all of the students at the JFRC participated in clapping when the rest of the crowd at the Capital in DC would clap. We would cheer when others would cheer. It was truly incredible. I was also pleasantly surprised by Rev. Rick Warren. I was so upset with Obama's choice initially, but I was really touched by what he had to say about Obama and his plans for the future. And when the music played, we were all in tears. And when Arethra sang, we were all in tears. And when he took his vows, we were all in tears. We all giggled a bit when he messed up twice as well, even though it was Roberts fault. And lastly his speech. Tears kept streaming down my face. When I was there on November 4th I was in such shock I couldn't even comprehend the gravity of what was happening at that very moment. I was in such disbelief that this Dream had finally come true. Yet on January 20th it was so real, and I felt so connected despite my distance, and it was the final and true moment we had all been waiting for. The end to an 8 year mistake. As soon as Obama was sworn in the administration (our surrogate parents) handed out glasses of champagne to everyone. We all did a toast to our new President, Barack Hussein Obama. My eyes watered while I hugged all my friends sitting next to me. After his speech we came upstairs to get ready and head out to celebrate our new wonderful president.
We decided to go to Scholars, the most popular American bar in Rome since it was a time to celebrate and take pride in America. That will probably be the last time I go to that bar however. It was PACKED. It was karaoke night/Obama had just been inaugurated so everyone was out. Although I was too sober to fully enjoy everyone elses wasted state Nick and I ended up on stage and sang "Like a Prayer" by Madonna. (Sidenote: I wore my Obama t-shirt, and 95% of the people were thrilled about it, but when we sang, there was one girl staring and booing verbally and with hand gestures. I confronted her afterwards and asked if she had some sort of problem. And she replied, "Oh, its not that I don't like you, I just hate Obama." I chose to ignore the comment. There was no way some ignorant girl was going to ruin my eternal happiness due to this phenomenal and historical day). Anyways, my first time ever doing karaoke was in Rome, Italy. What a memory. It was actually hilarious and a lot of fun. There were a bunch of fun American songs played that we all sang along to including "I Want It That Way" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." I could do that more often, especially if a full bar is singing along so my voice could be slightly hidden. But I'll hold off till I get back to the states, so I can submerge myself in the ITALIAN culture. Though I am unfortunately discovering more and more how difficult it is to do so. I keep asking everyone where to go, how to meet young Italians, what neighborhoods to visit. What caffe's or pubs they suggest and everyone seems to struggle. I found out from my cute spunky Italian teacher that there is a University neighborhood called San Lorenzo which is somewhat hard to access, but where there are many Italian students. So I think I will seek that out sometime relatively soon. I am dying to immerse myself in Italian culture despite the language barrier. I gotta get out of this bubble and stop being a tourist. Though I really do feel like I have an understanding of how to get myself around essentially the entire city. Like the Lake Michigan helping with the understanding and direction of Chicago, the Tiber River really does the same.
Tuesday night ended with a delicious salami panini, the only money I spent out that night. I was proud of myself. We decided to take the bus back because it is much too expensive to take always be taking taxi's. But the 990 stops running at midnight, so we have to take the n6 which drops us off who even knows where. But we sure didn't. So we got dropped off somewhere in Monte Mario and walked around for about a half hour at 3 am. We finally flagged down some caterer, he was extremely friendly and helpful Italian man. He got out his map, even got out of his car to help us find where we were going. We finally made it back around 4 am and didn't get to bed till 4:30. This would have been fine if we didn't have plans on seeing the pope at 8 am the next morning!
We took a brief "nap" until about 7 am and before we knew it we were on our way to Vatican City. I fell asleep on the bus. It was raining and gross and we were all fairly miserable. But we had tickets and classes were cancelled so we could go to a Papal Audience therefore we forced ourselves to go. We stopped on the way to pick up some Rosaries to be blessed as well, first Rosary I have ever owned. But at least I can say its been blessed by the Pope. Lauren was in flip flops because her heels are still damaged and Nick was in fancy shoes so they were literally slipping all over the cobble stone streets. It eased our misery to see them struggle, and they were light-hearted about it as well. I really couldn't stop giggling seeing their feet slip with every step that they took. We ended up going through the wrong security and ended up in St. Peter's church was was absolutely gorgeous. We didn't get to spend much time there since we were in the wrong location and lost in Vatican City, but I am glad to say I have at least been there. The architecture and art was beyond incredible as I'm sure you all can imagine. We traveled our way through the maze of Vatican City, ended up going through security again, and finally made it into the building where we saw the Pope speak.
We were told we had to arrive by no later then 9, and the ceremony didn't start until 10:30 so I took an extremely unpleasant nap for an hour sitting up waiting for the oh so sacred Pope to speak. I woke up to everyone clapping and quickly exclaimed "Way to wake me up!" Haha, I'm telling you I was miserable. I don't really know what else to say besides the simple fact that I saw the Pope. I feel snobbish because the only thing I really admire about this man is his fluency in over 5 languages. His Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English, and German were extremely proficient and I appreciated being in the presence of someone so highly respected in the world. I know there are many who would die to see the Pope speak so I am grateful. I am grateful I was able to have this experience, but it was unfortunately nothing as monumental for me as everything else that has been going on in the past two weeks. PLUS, he recognized every school and group that was there except the JFRC! He recognized several other study abroad programs from the United States, but somehow forgot to mention ours. Everyone cheered as their name was called and we were all ready to stand and cheer for ours but it never came. So we were highly disappointed and wondered why the Pope was angry with us. Maybe we are all secretly condemned to hell. We also thought the Pope would come around with his magic wand and bless our items, but I guess his prayer at the end was his blessing. Who knows. I am so uneducated when it comes to the Catholic church. Sorry to those I offend in this paragraph.
Once it was over all of the JFRC students hopped on the 990 and packed the bus tight. As soon as we got back, we all immediately crawled into bed and took about a 3 hour nap. This was however longer than our initial amount of sleep from 4:30 to 7. It was one of the best naps any of us had ever had. We all woke up, went for dinner, and started to plan and organize for Barcelona this weekend. We all also realized that it was probably time to start taking school seriously and we all did a couple hours of homework.
A few random facts: Nick went for a walk on Monday and got so lost that he ended up walking on the highway for over an hour and a half! This is where you get without cell phones! Despite the horror of it at the moment, I later found this to be incredibly amusing and hilarious. Just imagine a foreigner walking down the middle of the highway, completely lost, no clue where he was, in Italy! Oh, I felt so bad for him, but at the same time couldn't help but find the comical value in it. The SLA's (JFRC version of RA's) even told us to take everything with a grain of salt. The most horrific occurrences usually tend to be your best memories. I tend to agree with this. Everything is an adventure so take them as they come.
Also, since I intend on meeting Carrie in Amsterdam around May 5th to travel for the month of may, I intend on going to see a Lily Allen concert on May 7th. Its perfect timing. Most of you know how much I love that girl (Lily Allen, though I adore Carrie as well), so I have about 3 months to learn her new album. I already have the first album entirely memorized. This would be the concert of my life, of course aside from that incredible tear worthy N'Sync concert in the 3rd grade. But I just thought I would inform you how lucky and ecstatic I am about seeing her.
Lastly, I am off to Barcelona for the weekend to begin the celebrations of my 21st birthday! I will most likely be out of touch all weekend, but I will be back Sunday evening. We intend on going out Monday night as well. I was unsure where we were going to go, but I guess Lauren and Nika had been planning a surprise trip to a Pub called the "Ice Club di Roma." Within 15 minutes Suzi ruined the surprise by asking if thats where I would want to go for my Monday night excursion. No one can ever keep secrets, and I love surprises! Anyways, the intentions and idea were sweet. It is this Pub that is made of igloos. The glasses are made out of ice. They give you mittens and coats to sit inside these igloos and drink. Its supposedly a bizarre and fantastic place! I find it ironic as well because my birthdays are usually spent in the dead of winter, and its been 50s and sunny here, yet we found igloos to drink in for my 21st birthday. I'm really excited about going there as well. Its right by the Colosseum too!
Alright. Ending with a quote again from my mother which I found to be adorable and thought I should share with everyone since it is in response to this blog.
Subject: Broken Face. "I have been meaning to tell you that your ecstasy in Rome reminds me of when you were a little girl and you drove the Barbie car, and you were so happy. I thought you would smile so hard I thought your face would break!" That feeling I had to drive a Barbie car around the age of 5, that pure glee, is as close as its gonna get to my ecstatic feelings of being here in this gorgeous city of Rome. Wish me a fun weekend in Barcelona!
Ciao Bellas!
Nora Claire.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Monday Funday. Happy MLK day.
Just so happened that the drunk girl puking was one of my friends. I won't disclose her name here, but all of them came in totally wasted. They took shots of absenth for the first time, guess the toilet is where you end up!
On Thursday I had 3 of my classes, Roman Studies with the favorite teacher on campus. He is quite comical, but his class is going to be intense. I am finding that school might possibly be harder here than it is at Loyola, which is hard to beat! We have a 15 page paper SINGLE spaced. Plus a midterm and a final. I have midterms and finals in all of my classes plus long papers as well. I don't know how I'm going to handle this, amidst attempting to travel the entire continent. Then I had my Italian film course. I guess our teacher chose to focus on one actor and director named Vittorio de Sica. He is one of the most recognized directors and actors in Italian film. I look forward to studying foreign films, and am excited to watch famous Italian films every Tuesday night at 7:30. Fifty of us gather in the large study and watch the films together. Thursdays we then split into two groups and discuss that weeks film for an hour together. Italian 101 was my last class, and I have a cute young teacher whose english is phenomenal. I could hardly tell she was Italian. Afterwards I went and signed up for Tunisia and I'm going!! I'm on the list and paid in full. I'm so excited. The Tunisia trip is one of the main reasons I wanted to come here. So I'm more than thrilled.
I also went and bought my books and somehow accumulated the highest bill of any student here! The old man man at the bookstore even told me so! But I am going to share some of the most expensive books with friends so I can get some money back that way. The rest of the day we relaxed, and got ourselves prepared for the Pub Crawl. We were running late as usual. Our group, probably because of its large size, cannot get anywhere without being at least an our late. I finished a bottle of wine before we left and then rushed our way to the Spanish Steps. There was a huge group students standing on the grand Spanish Steps when we arrived, and within 2 minutes we were on our way to the first bar. There we received one free shot, one free T-shirt, free pizza, and unlimited beer for an first hour. I stumbled my way to the next bar and by midnight I was ready to go home. I think I will spare you the details of the rest of my night because they are probably partially inappropriate for the family members reading this blog.
Anyways, the next morning (Friday morning) and whole next day we essentially did NOTHING, and it felt AMAZING. It was the first day we could completely relax and we didn't wake up until 12:30. Shortly there after we headed down for our gourmet meal at Mensa. I skyped with a few people and essentially did nothing the rest of the day. It was a beautiful day, 50s and sunny. So we wandered to the little book store around the corner to buy notebooks since we are all already swamped with homework. A cute middle aged woman owns it who speaks okay english. She kept asking us if the Memorial Hospital had collapsed, or exploded, or something? We were terrified, we thought there had been a terrorist attack that we had not been aware of. Sadly to say, we all feel so out of touch with the world that it could have totally been the case. We came back had another FABULOUS (taste the sarcasm?) dinner at Mensa came back upstairs and began drinking wine in our room. I think its become tradition.
We went out around 10 and started wondering in search of the quite popular bar named Abbey. It's a cute little Irish pub. On the way we crossed over Sant' Angelos bridge as we passed the actual Sant' Angelos structure. Who would have known they'd be right next to each other. It is a magnificent building and massive as well. It looked like a grand castle. And guess what else we saw on the way?? An ice skating rink!!! I was so thrilled I think I scared a few of my friends. I was jumping for joy. I was extremely disappointed that I never got around to ice skating in Millenium Park, but now I have the opportunity to participate in fun winter activities in Rome! How lucky am I? I can ice skate while I stare at Sant' Angelos castle right next to the Tiber river in Rome! Anyways, we finally arrived at Abbey's Pub where all of the bar tenders spoke english, and 90% of the people there were from the states and 75% of that 90 were from the JFRC. There was a live Irish band which I adored. Listening to live music while sipping on some wine is my ideal night of fun. So I sat, stared, and listened to the chipper music. A guitar, a violin, a cello, and a viola make for greatly energetic and pleasant sound to the ear.
We stayed for a bit but then decided to wander to another bar called Scholars. We got entirely lost on the way, and magically spotted a hole in the wall, open late shop selling burgers and fries. I can't express to you the pure enthusiasm we all had to eat our first hamburger in Italy. We have all been starved like I mentioned earlier, and these burgers were to die for. Us greedy fat Americans were in heaven. It was as though we hadn't been fed in weeks, we are so deprived... Not. But none the less the burgers comforted our occasional feelings of home sickness.
We passed Piazza Navona on our way to Scholars and took many many pictures. It was my first time seeing the main Piazza of my new city. Well its a process, but its in the developing and beginning stages of becoming my city. Oooh Rome. I get dreamy over it frequently, and shock myself by repeating "I'm in Italy?!" My friends all look at me, smile, and nod. Its so fantastic, I feel so privileged to be here.
Once we finally arrived at Scholars it was at capacity because there was a bridal shower there. At an American pub? We saw the bride outside smoking a cigarette in her bridal gown! And to top it off she had braces! It was the strangest thing, we were all slightly disgusted after that. So with our disgust and exhaustion from walking around the entire city in search of this stupid American bar we cabbed it home.
There was a group going to the Vatican with the JFRC Priest at 9:30 the next morning but Lauren and slept through our alarms. Not a surprise for either of us. We both even heard the alarms (I say alarms plurally because we now have two set in hopes that we will actually wake up) get louder and faster and made the conscious effort to ignore them. I am NOT a morning person and neither is she. We got to sleep a few extra hours which was crucial to enjoying our first Saturday in Rome. We had a group of six which was the perfect size for our expedition. It included Lauren, Nick, Magen (my next door neighbor), Suzie, Margie, and I. We got downtown around two and headed for the high class shopping Via's over by the Spanish Steps. Stopped in a couple stores but every store was packed. The sales only last for the month of January where everything is 50% off. I guess they only do sales once a year here so every roman is out and shopping for those 31 days of the year.
We then made our way to the Spanish Steps which I am quite familiar with now, and continued towards the Trevi Fountain. We stopped a few blocks from the fountain and got our first Gelatos which were marvelous. I got Nutella and chocolate chip. We forged on and made it to the historical monument of the Trevi fountain. We learned quite a bit about it as well. The basic facts include these details: the fountain in front of the Spanish Steps is connected to the Trevi fountain underneath the streets of Rome, it also marks the spot where the Acqua Vergine aqueduct dating back to 19 BC brings water into Rome, and the money that is thrown into the fountain is collected by the city and donated to charity. The fountain is exquisite beyond belief. The detail of the statues and horses is truly grand. The Rome book I have says that the fountain is so vast and vivid that you feel as though the horses are splashing their way out of the fountain which is a completely accurate statement. We sat, stared, finished our Gelatos and kept on moving.
It was a long trek to the Colosseum. We walked passed the Roman Forum which was huge. It was odd knowing we were standing in a part of such history. Once we arrived to the Colosseum we were pleasantly surprised. You will never believe what we stumbled upon. The Palestinian protest!! We were so thrilled! It was an incredibly powerful demonstration. I have been to many protests and demonstrations in my day, but to see all of these young Italians, Palestinians, Jews, Americans, all united together fighting for this massive brutal form of violence. The crowds chanted "Assassaninis! Mi bambini!" Somewhere along the lines of these assassins are killing our babies. They were carrying graphic and gruesome pictures of the damage caused to civilians in Palestine. There were tons of children marching and leading the chant as well. There were hundreds of Palestinian flags as well as the Pace rainbow flag which coincidentally I had just boughten. Sidenote: The Pace rainbow flag was the only item I knew I had to buy in coming to Rome and I found it and bought it immediately. It should be hung in my room pronto! I am thrilled to have such a beautiful flag with such a beautiful message. (It means peace in Italian for those of you who didn't know). Anyways, we had joined the march while the sun was setting on the Colosseum as we walked by it. It couldn't have been anymore epic. I was deeply moved. Most of us were in tears feeling the energy as well as realizing our privilege in the world. And how sad it is that there are people who live in fear for their lives every single day. Knowledge is power, and fighting is power, so I'm so grateful that we were able to participate in this experience.
We didn't get to see much of the Colosseum because of the protest but still wanted to see the Pantheon before it got dark. So we headed back north to make it there in time. Once we found it we were all starving and found an adorable restaurant right outside of the Pantheon. We sat outdoors, with the sun setting, flowers surrounding us, and right next to the Pantheon. It was a special deal to get a full delicious Italian pizza, a glass of wine, and coffee after dinner for 12 Euros. It was a bit expensive for us broke students, but we thought we could treat ourselves. After a full day of walking, as well as not yet having a delicious Italian meal we decided we could splurge. I got a cute shot of Nick and I sipping our wine at the table with the Pantheon and pink flowers in the background. (Nick & Nora--"Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist"/the Pajama Co. Cute much?) Almost as cute as our dining location, it was incredibly romantic. It was truly a perfect day. Completely flawless, beyond compare, and paradisiac. I couldn't have asked for a better day in Rome. Seeing the sights topped off with this superb dinner. Again, I was in heaven. One of the most wonderful days in my life.
I feel like I have said beautiful so many times its wearing out, but I don't know how else to describe this incredibly moving opportunity I am experiencing right now. The people, the love--tons of PDA which I usually hate but here it seems appropriate, the historic monuments. I can't say beautiful
We wandered back to PIazza Cavour to catch the 990 back up to Monte Mario and didn't make it back until after 9pm. It was our first Saturday in Rome once we got back everyone was already dressed and ready to go out. I was so exhausted I could barely lift a finger. But I forced myself to go out anyways. Some turned back half way to the bus stop realizing they couldn't handle a full night out after an exhausting day. We returned to Abbey's pub since thats the place where we always seem to congregate. Had a fun evening out. Made a stop for hamburgers before we went home too. Eating burgers in Italy, guilty as charged. Its a shame but someone needs to give me some frickin' food!!!
Anyways, a few random facts: I am joining the soccer team. Calcio=Soccer in Italian. I guess everyone at the JFRC joins, we get a free T-shirt and then play against other teams of the students here. It doesn't matter how qualified you are, anyone can play! I have missed soccer for a while now, especially since playing in Jamaica, and here it doesn't even matter how horrible I am! I am really looking forward to it. It's every Wednesday, and then all the teams go out for pizza and beer. It should be an absolute blast. This is partially for you Gina!
Tonight we have a speaking partners party with all the Italian students who go to JFRC to learn english. There will be free snacks, wine, and new Italian friends! I have been excited about it for some time now so I will let you know how it goes. Afterwards they are playing the 1953 film "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the library. Be jealous Haley.
I just ate Tuna for the first time here because of this starvation problem. I thought that tuna was a solid food item that could never go wrong, yet somehow it tasted absolutely awful. I am wondering if I somehow picked up cat food rather than people food. Because that was tuna inedible.
Excuse the tenses and confusion of days (yesterday, today, etc). This post was started on Thursday, I wrote a lot on Saturday and Sunday, and finally finished it up today-Monday. But this post should finally bring you up to date.
Lastly, I wanna end this blog with a quote from my hilarious friend Margie. Its strange saying that name again... As I'm sure its strange for some of you to read as well, thankfully its spelled differently. But anyways as most of us pedestrians know, we are allowed to walk across the street when the little white man appears on a stop light. In Rome, however, this is not the case. A little green man appears and informs you, you may cross the street. As a group of us were doing so, Margie exclaimed "I'm so glad that the little men here are green!" "Why?" I asked her. And she replied, "Because I am so sick of the white man telling me what to do!" I hope the delivery worked via text, but in context it was adorable, meaningful, and quite witty.
Happy Martin Luther King Day ya'll.
Con moto amore.
Nora Claire.
On Thursday I had 3 of my classes, Roman Studies with the favorite teacher on campus. He is quite comical, but his class is going to be intense. I am finding that school might possibly be harder here than it is at Loyola, which is hard to beat! We have a 15 page paper SINGLE spaced. Plus a midterm and a final. I have midterms and finals in all of my classes plus long papers as well. I don't know how I'm going to handle this, amidst attempting to travel the entire continent. Then I had my Italian film course. I guess our teacher chose to focus on one actor and director named Vittorio de Sica. He is one of the most recognized directors and actors in Italian film. I look forward to studying foreign films, and am excited to watch famous Italian films every Tuesday night at 7:30. Fifty of us gather in the large study and watch the films together. Thursdays we then split into two groups and discuss that weeks film for an hour together. Italian 101 was my last class, and I have a cute young teacher whose english is phenomenal. I could hardly tell she was Italian. Afterwards I went and signed up for Tunisia and I'm going!! I'm on the list and paid in full. I'm so excited. The Tunisia trip is one of the main reasons I wanted to come here. So I'm more than thrilled.
I also went and bought my books and somehow accumulated the highest bill of any student here! The old man man at the bookstore even told me so! But I am going to share some of the most expensive books with friends so I can get some money back that way. The rest of the day we relaxed, and got ourselves prepared for the Pub Crawl. We were running late as usual. Our group, probably because of its large size, cannot get anywhere without being at least an our late. I finished a bottle of wine before we left and then rushed our way to the Spanish Steps. There was a huge group students standing on the grand Spanish Steps when we arrived, and within 2 minutes we were on our way to the first bar. There we received one free shot, one free T-shirt, free pizza, and unlimited beer for an first hour. I stumbled my way to the next bar and by midnight I was ready to go home. I think I will spare you the details of the rest of my night because they are probably partially inappropriate for the family members reading this blog.
Anyways, the next morning (Friday morning) and whole next day we essentially did NOTHING, and it felt AMAZING. It was the first day we could completely relax and we didn't wake up until 12:30. Shortly there after we headed down for our gourmet meal at Mensa. I skyped with a few people and essentially did nothing the rest of the day. It was a beautiful day, 50s and sunny. So we wandered to the little book store around the corner to buy notebooks since we are all already swamped with homework. A cute middle aged woman owns it who speaks okay english. She kept asking us if the Memorial Hospital had collapsed, or exploded, or something? We were terrified, we thought there had been a terrorist attack that we had not been aware of. Sadly to say, we all feel so out of touch with the world that it could have totally been the case. We came back had another FABULOUS (taste the sarcasm?) dinner at Mensa came back upstairs and began drinking wine in our room. I think its become tradition.
We went out around 10 and started wondering in search of the quite popular bar named Abbey. It's a cute little Irish pub. On the way we crossed over Sant' Angelos bridge as we passed the actual Sant' Angelos structure. Who would have known they'd be right next to each other. It is a magnificent building and massive as well. It looked like a grand castle. And guess what else we saw on the way?? An ice skating rink!!! I was so thrilled I think I scared a few of my friends. I was jumping for joy. I was extremely disappointed that I never got around to ice skating in Millenium Park, but now I have the opportunity to participate in fun winter activities in Rome! How lucky am I? I can ice skate while I stare at Sant' Angelos castle right next to the Tiber river in Rome! Anyways, we finally arrived at Abbey's Pub where all of the bar tenders spoke english, and 90% of the people there were from the states and 75% of that 90 were from the JFRC. There was a live Irish band which I adored. Listening to live music while sipping on some wine is my ideal night of fun. So I sat, stared, and listened to the chipper music. A guitar, a violin, a cello, and a viola make for greatly energetic and pleasant sound to the ear.
We stayed for a bit but then decided to wander to another bar called Scholars. We got entirely lost on the way, and magically spotted a hole in the wall, open late shop selling burgers and fries. I can't express to you the pure enthusiasm we all had to eat our first hamburger in Italy. We have all been starved like I mentioned earlier, and these burgers were to die for. Us greedy fat Americans were in heaven. It was as though we hadn't been fed in weeks, we are so deprived... Not. But none the less the burgers comforted our occasional feelings of home sickness.
We passed Piazza Navona on our way to Scholars and took many many pictures. It was my first time seeing the main Piazza of my new city. Well its a process, but its in the developing and beginning stages of becoming my city. Oooh Rome. I get dreamy over it frequently, and shock myself by repeating "I'm in Italy?!" My friends all look at me, smile, and nod. Its so fantastic, I feel so privileged to be here.
Once we finally arrived at Scholars it was at capacity because there was a bridal shower there. At an American pub? We saw the bride outside smoking a cigarette in her bridal gown! And to top it off she had braces! It was the strangest thing, we were all slightly disgusted after that. So with our disgust and exhaustion from walking around the entire city in search of this stupid American bar we cabbed it home.
There was a group going to the Vatican with the JFRC Priest at 9:30 the next morning but Lauren and slept through our alarms. Not a surprise for either of us. We both even heard the alarms (I say alarms plurally because we now have two set in hopes that we will actually wake up) get louder and faster and made the conscious effort to ignore them. I am NOT a morning person and neither is she. We got to sleep a few extra hours which was crucial to enjoying our first Saturday in Rome. We had a group of six which was the perfect size for our expedition. It included Lauren, Nick, Magen (my next door neighbor), Suzie, Margie, and I. We got downtown around two and headed for the high class shopping Via's over by the Spanish Steps. Stopped in a couple stores but every store was packed. The sales only last for the month of January where everything is 50% off. I guess they only do sales once a year here so every roman is out and shopping for those 31 days of the year.
We then made our way to the Spanish Steps which I am quite familiar with now, and continued towards the Trevi Fountain. We stopped a few blocks from the fountain and got our first Gelatos which were marvelous. I got Nutella and chocolate chip. We forged on and made it to the historical monument of the Trevi fountain. We learned quite a bit about it as well. The basic facts include these details: the fountain in front of the Spanish Steps is connected to the Trevi fountain underneath the streets of Rome, it also marks the spot where the Acqua Vergine aqueduct dating back to 19 BC brings water into Rome, and the money that is thrown into the fountain is collected by the city and donated to charity. The fountain is exquisite beyond belief. The detail of the statues and horses is truly grand. The Rome book I have says that the fountain is so vast and vivid that you feel as though the horses are splashing their way out of the fountain which is a completely accurate statement. We sat, stared, finished our Gelatos and kept on moving.
It was a long trek to the Colosseum. We walked passed the Roman Forum which was huge. It was odd knowing we were standing in a part of such history. Once we arrived to the Colosseum we were pleasantly surprised. You will never believe what we stumbled upon. The Palestinian protest!! We were so thrilled! It was an incredibly powerful demonstration. I have been to many protests and demonstrations in my day, but to see all of these young Italians, Palestinians, Jews, Americans, all united together fighting for this massive brutal form of violence. The crowds chanted "Assassaninis! Mi bambini!" Somewhere along the lines of these assassins are killing our babies. They were carrying graphic and gruesome pictures of the damage caused to civilians in Palestine. There were tons of children marching and leading the chant as well. There were hundreds of Palestinian flags as well as the Pace rainbow flag which coincidentally I had just boughten. Sidenote: The Pace rainbow flag was the only item I knew I had to buy in coming to Rome and I found it and bought it immediately. It should be hung in my room pronto! I am thrilled to have such a beautiful flag with such a beautiful message. (It means peace in Italian for those of you who didn't know). Anyways, we had joined the march while the sun was setting on the Colosseum as we walked by it. It couldn't have been anymore epic. I was deeply moved. Most of us were in tears feeling the energy as well as realizing our privilege in the world. And how sad it is that there are people who live in fear for their lives every single day. Knowledge is power, and fighting is power, so I'm so grateful that we were able to participate in this experience.
We didn't get to see much of the Colosseum because of the protest but still wanted to see the Pantheon before it got dark. So we headed back north to make it there in time. Once we found it we were all starving and found an adorable restaurant right outside of the Pantheon. We sat outdoors, with the sun setting, flowers surrounding us, and right next to the Pantheon. It was a special deal to get a full delicious Italian pizza, a glass of wine, and coffee after dinner for 12 Euros. It was a bit expensive for us broke students, but we thought we could treat ourselves. After a full day of walking, as well as not yet having a delicious Italian meal we decided we could splurge. I got a cute shot of Nick and I sipping our wine at the table with the Pantheon and pink flowers in the background. (Nick & Nora--"Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist"/the Pajama Co. Cute much?) Almost as cute as our dining location, it was incredibly romantic. It was truly a perfect day. Completely flawless, beyond compare, and paradisiac. I couldn't have asked for a better day in Rome. Seeing the sights topped off with this superb dinner. Again, I was in heaven. One of the most wonderful days in my life.
I feel like I have said beautiful so many times its wearing out, but I don't know how else to describe this incredibly moving opportunity I am experiencing right now. The people, the love--tons of PDA which I usually hate but here it seems appropriate, the historic monuments. I can't say beautiful
We wandered back to PIazza Cavour to catch the 990 back up to Monte Mario and didn't make it back until after 9pm. It was our first Saturday in Rome once we got back everyone was already dressed and ready to go out. I was so exhausted I could barely lift a finger. But I forced myself to go out anyways. Some turned back half way to the bus stop realizing they couldn't handle a full night out after an exhausting day. We returned to Abbey's pub since thats the place where we always seem to congregate. Had a fun evening out. Made a stop for hamburgers before we went home too. Eating burgers in Italy, guilty as charged. Its a shame but someone needs to give me some frickin' food!!!
Anyways, a few random facts: I am joining the soccer team. Calcio=Soccer in Italian. I guess everyone at the JFRC joins, we get a free T-shirt and then play against other teams of the students here. It doesn't matter how qualified you are, anyone can play! I have missed soccer for a while now, especially since playing in Jamaica, and here it doesn't even matter how horrible I am! I am really looking forward to it. It's every Wednesday, and then all the teams go out for pizza and beer. It should be an absolute blast. This is partially for you Gina!
Tonight we have a speaking partners party with all the Italian students who go to JFRC to learn english. There will be free snacks, wine, and new Italian friends! I have been excited about it for some time now so I will let you know how it goes. Afterwards they are playing the 1953 film "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the library. Be jealous Haley.
I just ate Tuna for the first time here because of this starvation problem. I thought that tuna was a solid food item that could never go wrong, yet somehow it tasted absolutely awful. I am wondering if I somehow picked up cat food rather than people food. Because that was tuna inedible.
Excuse the tenses and confusion of days (yesterday, today, etc). This post was started on Thursday, I wrote a lot on Saturday and Sunday, and finally finished it up today-Monday. But this post should finally bring you up to date.
Lastly, I wanna end this blog with a quote from my hilarious friend Margie. Its strange saying that name again... As I'm sure its strange for some of you to read as well, thankfully its spelled differently. But anyways as most of us pedestrians know, we are allowed to walk across the street when the little white man appears on a stop light. In Rome, however, this is not the case. A little green man appears and informs you, you may cross the street. As a group of us were doing so, Margie exclaimed "I'm so glad that the little men here are green!" "Why?" I asked her. And she replied, "Because I am so sick of the white man telling me what to do!" I hope the delivery worked via text, but in context it was adorable, meaningful, and quite witty.
Happy Martin Luther King Day ya'll.
Con moto amore.
Nora Claire.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
pre-pub crawl.
Accidently skipped my first class today. WHOOOPS! Unfortunately both Lauren and I are sound sleepers and do NOT wake up to my quiet unreliable alarm clock. We now have two set for tomorrow morning, so hopefully we will be up in time! But it was my first class and people were being pulled out of classes all day due to all the legal procedures we needed to complete for staying in Rome. After that tedious process was finished I had my first sociology class abroad which I think I will enjoy. She is from England, with a very thick accent. But we will be studying fashion and design and she seems to have a good idea of how to understand the topic from a sociological perspective, including the history of it throughout the entire country. I have 3 classes tomorrow so I hopefully I will enjoy those as well. I think the work load will be harder than I initially expected.
I forgot to mention one detail about Villa Hadrian that I found to be incredibly interesting. Hadrian was the emperor from 118-138 AD and one of the finest Roman architects. He built this imperial palace which covered over 300 acres of land, and there was one structure I was particularly fond of. It was an incredible egyptian structure which was a courtyard that held a long pool with many statues of naked men surrounding it. Hadrian created this for his young gay lover who committed suicide in egypt. The structure was a typical setting for egyptian parties, therefore Hadrian built this egyptian grounds to honor his young lover and commemorate him within his palace. I guess there were many closeted gay Italians as well to the Greeks Anyways, I just wanted to include that little fact about our Monday adventure. Another little memo I wanted to include about the Monastery (our tuesday adventure) was that it honestly felt like we were in a piece of heaven. Sounds so cheesey, but it was so surreal to be on top of this mountain in this beautiful church, possibly the most in touch with god physically (not emotionally) I will probably ever be. I guess I still have to face the Vatican, so I will get back to you on that. Though it was all that beauty and heavenly atmosphere, don't doubt that it was just a bit eery as well. Being in the presence of all these monks who have taken life vows to chastity (real bummer), stability (never being allowed to leave), and poverty (living as minimally as possible always). That takes some serious dedication. Sorry if there is anyone who considers themselves highly religious, but I grew up without any religion and my mom has attached me with the name of a Heathen. It had a very bittersweet feel. I feel as though I will remember things that I will want to share and will have to go back and talk about previous days to inform you of them. Hope it doesn't get too confusing.
After class we went and had some sub-par lunch. Nika showered while I relaxed and tried to organize, which I feel like I am constantly doing because I don't have enough space in this tiny room for all my stuff! Others went off to Upim (Italy's version of Target for those of you who forgot--MOM), since they had class a few hours later. Nika and I however had the rest of the day off, so we decided to take our first adventure to downtown Rome! We took the bus which was much easier than expected. We had to wait for about 25 minutes, but then of course there was a second bus right behind us the whole way downtown. On the ride we offered our seats to an older man, but he exclaimed in english with a thick accent "I am still very very young!" and refused to take the seats with a huge grin on his face. I thought it was quite adorable. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but we are living in a rich suburb right outside of the city, many gated communities etc which is much different than any place I have lived before. But soon after the kind old man passed up our offer, two middle aged women in long fur coats stared us down until we got the clue to give them our seats. Anyways, our first day here the JFRC (John Felice Rome Center) gave us a book called "Rome with Kids," which has been incredibly helpful to most of us in the program. So I studied that while on the bus as well. We got off at the very last stop in Piazza di Cavour, an incredible location to get dropped off. The Spanish Steps were only a 10 minute walk, same with the Vatican, and the Pantheon. The 990 takes us directly to the heart of the city, and we can get off before this stop and end up in Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, and many other ideal locations to walk around in.
We were considering heading over to the Vatican since it was so close, but figured since it was already 4 in the afternoon we might as well see some other sights and save a full day for the sights of the Vatican and St. Peters Basilica etc. Instead we headed towards the Spanish Steps, and got lost several times on our way, but that was part of our goal. On our path we crossed the Tiber River for the first time. That was fairly exciting as well. There are limited bridges, so we were fortunate enough to find one on the first try. On the other side of the bridge we saw a huge beautiful church called San Rocco, as well as what seemed like an art museum for children. It was called Bruno Munan. Build a bear is the closest affiliation Nika and I could come up with, but the children were making incredible paper crafts instead. We want to return to that museum of fun someday before we leave. Hopefully we can begin to understand how they have such artistic talent in this country. As we observed these two buildings walking down Via de Ripetta, we spotted Piazza del Popolo by the large Obelisk standing right smack in the middle of it. It is Rome's largest obelisk which was shipped from Egypt after the first Emperor of Rome--Augusta Ceasar, conquered it. The obelisk is covered in really cool hieroglyphics and there are large statues on either side of it, as though they were balancing the tall tower in place. There were also two enormous matching churches that stand side by side on the east side of the Piazza. Chiesa di Santa Maria are the names of them. Someone offered for us to buy some socks here as well. We were in no need of some pink and blue striped socks. So we wondered and observed for a bit more and continued onward with our Roman adventure.
We finally made our way to our original destination of Piazza di Spagna. We traveled down Via di Babuina which we slowly figured out on our own, but confirmed later on by the books, that this street was the main shopping center for the luxury and top of the line designers. We saw Prada, we saw Gucci, we saw Bvlgari, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, and we even saw Tiffany & Co! (Thats for you Haley). I took pictures of all these stores as we walked to the Piazza. The stairs were beautiful leading up the to church at the top of the hill. There was a nice little fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps as well. Once we reached the top of those countless steps we entered another classy church, and we were far enough up to see far across the city. We could see several domes, including that of St. Peters. It was an astounding view. We trudged back down, and decided we had done a full days work and needed to get some food into our systems asap. In walking back we passed the Spanish Embassy as well which was quite gorgeous in itself. Its almost as though every corner you turn you find some amazing piece of architecture. Rome is quite the elegant city if I say so myself. Its totally possible that you have NO idea what the building, structure, piazza, fountain, or sculpture may be, but its incredible none the less. We passed a couple more shops including Mango, the North Face store, and Timberland. In trying to find that ONE bridge that crosses back to the Piazza that we needed to be at (Piazza Cavour), we found a stand with the flags that I am dying to buy--the rainbow flag that says "Pace" on it. I'm sure most of you have seen it before, but I can't wait to get one and hang it in my room. I love rainbows and I love peace. What can I say? I'm a colorful peacemaker at heart... or something. Anyways, in attempting to get directions, the lady quickly started speaking to us in english because we had lost all hope of understanding anything she was saying in Italian. Again, I literally can't wait until I have some proficiency in the language. She ended up sending us in the semi-wrong direction, but she told us that she was with several different organizations who were working to organize a demonstration tomorrow in downtown Rome to fight for Palestine. She sort of briefed us on the topic, and we acted naive as though she was informing us of something we didn't already know. After about 10 minutes, we continued on our way. Nika and I were both thrilled that there would be this demonstration going on tomorrow downtown, and planned on going until we realized none of our documentation is final, and if were to get in trouble and god forbid arrested... we would most likely get deported. So that plan is out.
We ran into a couple friends in search of gelatos as we headed back to the bus, it began to drizzle and as it became a little more chilly it turned into a light flurry. Once we got on the bus we chatted about our productive day, and then asked two much older women this time (but again in long fur coats) how to get to Upim. They were extremely kind and told us exactly which stop to get off at and how to get there. Nika and I FINALLY made it to Upim. We found it hard to believe, but it was quite the nifty little store. It has essentially everything you could ever possibly need, just like target. The only thing it lacked was school supplies, which most of the students at the Rome center are in need of. But I got some champagne glasses to drink our Italian wine out of, and then headed to the grocery section. I won't bore you with the details of my grocery list, but I definitely got some wine, coco puffs, and peach juice! My favorite. We were rushing to make it back in time for dinner so we hopped in a cab, and you will never believe it. Once we told the man "Via Massimi, 114-A. Monte Mario," (Monte Mario is the neighborhood), he had no idea where to go! We must have bad karma with taxi's for who knows what reason. But he found his way with a little direction from us and we finally made it back around 7:00.
We dumped our groceries and headed to the "formal attire" dinner. We had not been informed of this so we showed up disheveled and in jeans. We snagged some food and wine and headed to Renaldo's Cafe downstairs. We ate our food which was better than normal, probably because the administration had to eat it and was participating as well. It was a reception for the vice-president who had just made a speech to the whole Rome center. I guess he told the group he hoped for us to gain six things: friendship, knowledge, exploration about yourself and the community, and to carry on the success and reputation of the JFRC. I was slightly disappointed I missed it, but heard that he had limited ideas of his own. He openly admitted that he makes decisions solely based on how he thinks Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ would handle the circumstances he is faced with. Not exactly my cup of tea. Anyways, Lauren and I played some ping pong for a while which I always enjoy. And we finally came upstairs to relax for the evening.
Others came to hang out and drink wine before they went out for the evening, like I have said, our room is the designated hang out room which is fine by both Lauren and I. We are participating in a Pub Crawl tomorrow all over Rome, so she and I decided to stay in tonight and take it easy. While everyone was here, we booked our hostel for Barcelona, 11 Euros a night. Pretty darn cheap if you ask me. We are all getting pretty excited about that trip considering its 3 of our 21st birthdays. I would have never known I would be celebrating my 21st birthday in Rome and Barcelona, but it doesn't sound too shabby after all. I am hoping to do a big celebration upon my return to the US with family and friends to not only celebrate coming home but my 21st as well. I'll miss spending it with those who I love the most, but I think these people will more than suffice.
Updates for future planning--I am considering going to Paris for Valentines day. How romantic and classic would that be? Nika wants to go, and I have a friend Brittany who is studying abroad there now as well. I am trying to convince my high school friend Molly who is in London to come as well but I don't know if that will all happen in such short notice. On top of that the Festivale in Venice is that next weekend which we are all DYING to go to. We will probably just take the train up there for the weekend and enjoy the celebration all weekend long. Take some water taxis along the way. Venice is my dream city. I have wanted to go there ever since I was a child. It seems heavenly to me. I will keep you posted on those trips though. Prague is a must and we are trying to orchestrate when that will happen.
Just a random fact: I LOVE the clementines here. I haven't stopped eating them essentially since I got there. I eat about 5 a day. Maybe more. I heard there is a fruit wagon down the street where you can buy cheap fruit, and there is a huge market we all plan on going to Sunday morning as well. Last random fact of the night because its 3:30 am, and I don't understand WHY I am still awake. Especially since I choose not to go out so I can get a decent nights sleep since that has yet to occur. Anyways, I have to buy flats. Girls do NOT wear tennis shoes out at night, which is a REAL bummer for me. For those of you who know me, know how much I hate flats, and I have always refused to wear them, but the only fancy shoes I have here are heals. And every girl has already discovered it is impossible to function in heels on these cobble stone streets. So I guess I am finally conceding and giving in to the fashion statement of flats.
OOOoooh, unfortunately going to bed this late plus having paper thin walls means I get to hear a drunken girl puking down the hallway. Again, those of you who know me, know how much I HATE vomiting. Eeeeew.
Goodnight everyone. Buona Notte.
Love,
Nora Claire.
I forgot to mention one detail about Villa Hadrian that I found to be incredibly interesting. Hadrian was the emperor from 118-138 AD and one of the finest Roman architects. He built this imperial palace which covered over 300 acres of land, and there was one structure I was particularly fond of. It was an incredible egyptian structure which was a courtyard that held a long pool with many statues of naked men surrounding it. Hadrian created this for his young gay lover who committed suicide in egypt. The structure was a typical setting for egyptian parties, therefore Hadrian built this egyptian grounds to honor his young lover and commemorate him within his palace. I guess there were many closeted gay Italians as well to the Greeks Anyways, I just wanted to include that little fact about our Monday adventure. Another little memo I wanted to include about the Monastery (our tuesday adventure) was that it honestly felt like we were in a piece of heaven. Sounds so cheesey, but it was so surreal to be on top of this mountain in this beautiful church, possibly the most in touch with god physically (not emotionally) I will probably ever be. I guess I still have to face the Vatican, so I will get back to you on that. Though it was all that beauty and heavenly atmosphere, don't doubt that it was just a bit eery as well. Being in the presence of all these monks who have taken life vows to chastity (real bummer), stability (never being allowed to leave), and poverty (living as minimally as possible always). That takes some serious dedication. Sorry if there is anyone who considers themselves highly religious, but I grew up without any religion and my mom has attached me with the name of a Heathen. It had a very bittersweet feel. I feel as though I will remember things that I will want to share and will have to go back and talk about previous days to inform you of them. Hope it doesn't get too confusing.
After class we went and had some sub-par lunch. Nika showered while I relaxed and tried to organize, which I feel like I am constantly doing because I don't have enough space in this tiny room for all my stuff! Others went off to Upim (Italy's version of Target for those of you who forgot--MOM), since they had class a few hours later. Nika and I however had the rest of the day off, so we decided to take our first adventure to downtown Rome! We took the bus which was much easier than expected. We had to wait for about 25 minutes, but then of course there was a second bus right behind us the whole way downtown. On the ride we offered our seats to an older man, but he exclaimed in english with a thick accent "I am still very very young!" and refused to take the seats with a huge grin on his face. I thought it was quite adorable. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but we are living in a rich suburb right outside of the city, many gated communities etc which is much different than any place I have lived before. But soon after the kind old man passed up our offer, two middle aged women in long fur coats stared us down until we got the clue to give them our seats. Anyways, our first day here the JFRC (John Felice Rome Center) gave us a book called "Rome with Kids," which has been incredibly helpful to most of us in the program. So I studied that while on the bus as well. We got off at the very last stop in Piazza di Cavour, an incredible location to get dropped off. The Spanish Steps were only a 10 minute walk, same with the Vatican, and the Pantheon. The 990 takes us directly to the heart of the city, and we can get off before this stop and end up in Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, and many other ideal locations to walk around in.
We were considering heading over to the Vatican since it was so close, but figured since it was already 4 in the afternoon we might as well see some other sights and save a full day for the sights of the Vatican and St. Peters Basilica etc. Instead we headed towards the Spanish Steps, and got lost several times on our way, but that was part of our goal. On our path we crossed the Tiber River for the first time. That was fairly exciting as well. There are limited bridges, so we were fortunate enough to find one on the first try. On the other side of the bridge we saw a huge beautiful church called San Rocco, as well as what seemed like an art museum for children. It was called Bruno Munan. Build a bear is the closest affiliation Nika and I could come up with, but the children were making incredible paper crafts instead. We want to return to that museum of fun someday before we leave. Hopefully we can begin to understand how they have such artistic talent in this country. As we observed these two buildings walking down Via de Ripetta, we spotted Piazza del Popolo by the large Obelisk standing right smack in the middle of it. It is Rome's largest obelisk which was shipped from Egypt after the first Emperor of Rome--Augusta Ceasar, conquered it. The obelisk is covered in really cool hieroglyphics and there are large statues on either side of it, as though they were balancing the tall tower in place. There were also two enormous matching churches that stand side by side on the east side of the Piazza. Chiesa di Santa Maria are the names of them. Someone offered for us to buy some socks here as well. We were in no need of some pink and blue striped socks. So we wondered and observed for a bit more and continued onward with our Roman adventure.
We finally made our way to our original destination of Piazza di Spagna. We traveled down Via di Babuina which we slowly figured out on our own, but confirmed later on by the books, that this street was the main shopping center for the luxury and top of the line designers. We saw Prada, we saw Gucci, we saw Bvlgari, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, and we even saw Tiffany & Co! (Thats for you Haley). I took pictures of all these stores as we walked to the Piazza. The stairs were beautiful leading up the to church at the top of the hill. There was a nice little fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps as well. Once we reached the top of those countless steps we entered another classy church, and we were far enough up to see far across the city. We could see several domes, including that of St. Peters. It was an astounding view. We trudged back down, and decided we had done a full days work and needed to get some food into our systems asap. In walking back we passed the Spanish Embassy as well which was quite gorgeous in itself. Its almost as though every corner you turn you find some amazing piece of architecture. Rome is quite the elegant city if I say so myself. Its totally possible that you have NO idea what the building, structure, piazza, fountain, or sculpture may be, but its incredible none the less. We passed a couple more shops including Mango, the North Face store, and Timberland. In trying to find that ONE bridge that crosses back to the Piazza that we needed to be at (Piazza Cavour), we found a stand with the flags that I am dying to buy--the rainbow flag that says "Pace" on it. I'm sure most of you have seen it before, but I can't wait to get one and hang it in my room. I love rainbows and I love peace. What can I say? I'm a colorful peacemaker at heart... or something. Anyways, in attempting to get directions, the lady quickly started speaking to us in english because we had lost all hope of understanding anything she was saying in Italian. Again, I literally can't wait until I have some proficiency in the language. She ended up sending us in the semi-wrong direction, but she told us that she was with several different organizations who were working to organize a demonstration tomorrow in downtown Rome to fight for Palestine. She sort of briefed us on the topic, and we acted naive as though she was informing us of something we didn't already know. After about 10 minutes, we continued on our way. Nika and I were both thrilled that there would be this demonstration going on tomorrow downtown, and planned on going until we realized none of our documentation is final, and if were to get in trouble and god forbid arrested... we would most likely get deported. So that plan is out.
We ran into a couple friends in search of gelatos as we headed back to the bus, it began to drizzle and as it became a little more chilly it turned into a light flurry. Once we got on the bus we chatted about our productive day, and then asked two much older women this time (but again in long fur coats) how to get to Upim. They were extremely kind and told us exactly which stop to get off at and how to get there. Nika and I FINALLY made it to Upim. We found it hard to believe, but it was quite the nifty little store. It has essentially everything you could ever possibly need, just like target. The only thing it lacked was school supplies, which most of the students at the Rome center are in need of. But I got some champagne glasses to drink our Italian wine out of, and then headed to the grocery section. I won't bore you with the details of my grocery list, but I definitely got some wine, coco puffs, and peach juice! My favorite. We were rushing to make it back in time for dinner so we hopped in a cab, and you will never believe it. Once we told the man "Via Massimi, 114-A. Monte Mario," (Monte Mario is the neighborhood), he had no idea where to go! We must have bad karma with taxi's for who knows what reason. But he found his way with a little direction from us and we finally made it back around 7:00.
We dumped our groceries and headed to the "formal attire" dinner. We had not been informed of this so we showed up disheveled and in jeans. We snagged some food and wine and headed to Renaldo's Cafe downstairs. We ate our food which was better than normal, probably because the administration had to eat it and was participating as well. It was a reception for the vice-president who had just made a speech to the whole Rome center. I guess he told the group he hoped for us to gain six things: friendship, knowledge, exploration about yourself and the community, and to carry on the success and reputation of the JFRC. I was slightly disappointed I missed it, but heard that he had limited ideas of his own. He openly admitted that he makes decisions solely based on how he thinks Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ would handle the circumstances he is faced with. Not exactly my cup of tea. Anyways, Lauren and I played some ping pong for a while which I always enjoy. And we finally came upstairs to relax for the evening.
Others came to hang out and drink wine before they went out for the evening, like I have said, our room is the designated hang out room which is fine by both Lauren and I. We are participating in a Pub Crawl tomorrow all over Rome, so she and I decided to stay in tonight and take it easy. While everyone was here, we booked our hostel for Barcelona, 11 Euros a night. Pretty darn cheap if you ask me. We are all getting pretty excited about that trip considering its 3 of our 21st birthdays. I would have never known I would be celebrating my 21st birthday in Rome and Barcelona, but it doesn't sound too shabby after all. I am hoping to do a big celebration upon my return to the US with family and friends to not only celebrate coming home but my 21st as well. I'll miss spending it with those who I love the most, but I think these people will more than suffice.
Updates for future planning--I am considering going to Paris for Valentines day. How romantic and classic would that be? Nika wants to go, and I have a friend Brittany who is studying abroad there now as well. I am trying to convince my high school friend Molly who is in London to come as well but I don't know if that will all happen in such short notice. On top of that the Festivale in Venice is that next weekend which we are all DYING to go to. We will probably just take the train up there for the weekend and enjoy the celebration all weekend long. Take some water taxis along the way. Venice is my dream city. I have wanted to go there ever since I was a child. It seems heavenly to me. I will keep you posted on those trips though. Prague is a must and we are trying to orchestrate when that will happen.
Just a random fact: I LOVE the clementines here. I haven't stopped eating them essentially since I got there. I eat about 5 a day. Maybe more. I heard there is a fruit wagon down the street where you can buy cheap fruit, and there is a huge market we all plan on going to Sunday morning as well. Last random fact of the night because its 3:30 am, and I don't understand WHY I am still awake. Especially since I choose not to go out so I can get a decent nights sleep since that has yet to occur. Anyways, I have to buy flats. Girls do NOT wear tennis shoes out at night, which is a REAL bummer for me. For those of you who know me, know how much I hate flats, and I have always refused to wear them, but the only fancy shoes I have here are heals. And every girl has already discovered it is impossible to function in heels on these cobble stone streets. So I guess I am finally conceding and giving in to the fashion statement of flats.
OOOoooh, unfortunately going to bed this late plus having paper thin walls means I get to hear a drunken girl puking down the hallway. Again, those of you who know me, know how much I HATE vomiting. Eeeeew.
Goodnight everyone. Buona Notte.
Love,
Nora Claire.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
lost in translation.
So in our meeting last night I found out the only trip I want to go on is to Tunisia for spring break. Its a bit expensive but sounds magical. That was the one word the favored teacher on campus described it as. Absolutely "MAGICAL." It is a 10 day trip all over the country, where we will be learning a lot about Islam and its impact on women, as well as meeting with the American Embassador of Tunisia. Then we will be having lunch with students from the University of Tunis. Also, we were informed that all of the star wars movies were filmed in Tunisia and we will in fact be going to the THE star wars BAR there! So for all you Star Wars lovers out there, be jealous. I'm sure there is much more I am not remembering now, but when the time comes I will let you know the specific details.
After our meeting about 20 of us gathered to start getting ready for an evening out on the town, my first time out in downtown Rome. Trying to manage and organize 20 people to go out at the same time is nearly impossible. Trying to get a taxi to fit all of us there and back is impossible as well. We all drank some wine before we headed out and finally made it to our destination around midnight. Midnight on a Monday night we have been told is quite dull so our only option was Campo di Fiori. This Piazza is known to be where all the drunken Americans go, and where all the nasty Italian men stake out to attack the known vulnerable prey. I have minimal interest in going back to this place ever again. Although it can be fun, and the Monday night situation could have contributed to the strange environment, I would much rather go where fewer Americans inhabit themselves, and decent Italians reside. I had one beer which costs 6 Euros, cheapest one you will find, which is roughly a nine dollar Heiniken. Way too much for me. We were told about a fun bar crawl happening on Thursday so a bunch of us plan on attending that. We met a few Italian boys who many girls were drawn too while I just relaxed, drank some highly over priced beer, and soon after bought an Italian version of pizza--seemed like a panini to me. But who am I to say, the food was invented here wasn't it? On the way home we drove by St. Peters Basilica, it was stunningly beautiful. Me and several other girls got tears in our eyes to see such a historic sight, even if it was briefly.
I have also already and fairly rapidly might I add, become the one everyone "gives a lot of shit to." Sorry for my language, I know many adults could potentially be reading this but I am not quite sure how else to phrase it. But most of the adults who are reading this and ALL of my friends will know I tend to be this person of the group no matter what. But I find it funny how quickly these dynamics can develop even in a foreign country with not a soul who knew you before 5 days ago. I am constantly an easy target to be fun of for my little "mishaps" or ridiculous comments here and there. Fortunately its all in good fun and I actually find it comforting and endearing that people have already come to know me so well. Also I received a new and one of the few nick names I have from Nick (the one man, who is gay, in our group of 15 girls), he calls me "Nora Torah." Definitely had never heard that one before. There is actually another Nora here in this group of 200 students, but she spells her name "Noura" instead. Never heard that one either. Anyways, I have even been teased by the president Todd Whaler as well. I had dropped some change, and mumbled a little something to myself (thinking I was walking alone in the hallway), but when I looked up Todd was right there and oh so cleverly asked "Talking to your imaginary friend there, Nora?" I of course responded yes, giggled a bit, and kept walking with slight embarrassment tagging along behind me. But in all honesty, it really is lots of fun and I have been laughing a lot due to everyones great sense of humor.
Today was fabulous as well. We went to Monte Cassino which is a Monastery at the top of this massive mountain, which gave a few people in the group severe panic attacks including Nika. (Quick sidenote: I had NO idea how surrounded with beautiful mountains we would be in Italy, but it has been quite the pleasant surprise). Anyways, I have never met people so afraid of heights, though this bus ride irked everyone in a way that made them question the status of their life in commuting up this steep mountain on a large bus in the pouring rain. Beforehand we had stopped for lunch at a fancy hotel, free wine once again, pasta once again, and covered in cheese once again. I don't know how I am going to survive on this diet! Anyways, the Monastery was absolutely incredible. It overlooked this beautiful city, and despite the pouring rain the view was delightful. We got to hear the monks chant after a full tour of the place. The Monastery was bombed and reconstructed 4 times during WWII which is totally unbelievable and incredible. It was where Saint Benedict resided as I recall, and his remains are in the church on the very top of this construction. A few parts of the Monastery that were underground had not been destroyed during the bombing, but most of it had been an exact replica and reconstruction of what it had been prior to the US attack. The church was THE most beautiful church I have EVER seen. I can't explain to you how amazing it was, I gasped out loud if that helps set the tone. It was covered in gold with every single piece of the building covered in fantastic art. The organ was massive and beautiful as well. Unfortunately my camera died, and I was incredibly frustrated since I thought I had captured the best of the Monastery before reaching the church. People even asked why I wasn't taking pictures because they know how picture crazy I am, and how I would have probably returned with 400 pictures just from today. But there are plenty of people who took pictures that I can steal. There was a downstairs part of the church that was covered in HIGHLY detailed mosaics and each tiny piece had a splash of real gold on it to make it shimmer against the light. I hope to post some pictures of it soon because words can hardly do it justice. We left around 5, it was still pouring rain and miserable outside. We stopped at a gas station where I knocked over a bottle of wine in front of the 30 people waiting in line to buy their snacks. This type of thing seems to happen to me way more frequently than not, fortunately the bottle did not break, but everyone got a nice chuckle out of the occurrence. I am assuming this could be considered one of my "mishaps." On the bus ride home I read some of the book I am completely enthralled with right now called "Eat, Pray, Love." I absolutely love Elizabeth Gilberts writing style. I find her extremely entertaining and she makes me laugh every so often as well. She has made me so excited to explore Rome, and find the sights she talks about in her section about Italy. The thing she really has me looking forward to the most is sitting in different coffee shops around the city and observing. I LOVE people watching, and she has made it sound like a prime place to do so in the city of Rome.
Anyways, classes start tomorrow and I should really head to bed since it is already 2:30 am here. I am taking International Politics which is a peace studies course from 9:30 to 10:45 every Monday and Wednesday. I am taking Sociology of Contemporary Fashion and Design on the same days except from 10:55-12:10pm. I am hoping this will help me understand the high stature of fashion here, gain some tips, and then will possibly go buy myself some new clothes! I also have Italian 101 tomorrow and Thursdays from 12:20-1:35pm. I am really hoping to start understanding and being able to speak the language soon! I am then taking the History of Rome to Constantine on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-10:45am, and lastly my Italian Film Studies course on Thursdays from 10:55-12:10. But of course every Tuesday we will get together and watch a film from 7-9:30pm. I am really looking forward to all of my classes. It is unfortunate they are all so early, but it results in my being out by either noon or 1:30 everyday which means I can explore as much as my heart could possibly desire. I also am considering participating in this tutoring program which the program offers. I can either babysit and tutor Italian children which not only pays, but can help me with my Italian. Or I can tutor an Italian peer with their english and then they can help me with my Italian. This gig also pays. I would LOVE to do this, I think it would be an ideal way to really become immersed in the culture. I can't decide which I would prefer so if anyone has suggestions let me know. I feel as though I am getting repetitive because I am so sleepy. But lastly, I will officiate my stays here with the Italian government tomorrow. Give them all my documents, buy my books, etc. So its now or never, so I guess I'm not turning back and running home. See you in 4 and a half months! I know my mom will be thrilled about this.
Anyways, goodnight everyone and I will speak with you all soon!
Buona Sera, Ciao.
Nora Claire.
After our meeting about 20 of us gathered to start getting ready for an evening out on the town, my first time out in downtown Rome. Trying to manage and organize 20 people to go out at the same time is nearly impossible. Trying to get a taxi to fit all of us there and back is impossible as well. We all drank some wine before we headed out and finally made it to our destination around midnight. Midnight on a Monday night we have been told is quite dull so our only option was Campo di Fiori. This Piazza is known to be where all the drunken Americans go, and where all the nasty Italian men stake out to attack the known vulnerable prey. I have minimal interest in going back to this place ever again. Although it can be fun, and the Monday night situation could have contributed to the strange environment, I would much rather go where fewer Americans inhabit themselves, and decent Italians reside. I had one beer which costs 6 Euros, cheapest one you will find, which is roughly a nine dollar Heiniken. Way too much for me. We were told about a fun bar crawl happening on Thursday so a bunch of us plan on attending that. We met a few Italian boys who many girls were drawn too while I just relaxed, drank some highly over priced beer, and soon after bought an Italian version of pizza--seemed like a panini to me. But who am I to say, the food was invented here wasn't it? On the way home we drove by St. Peters Basilica, it was stunningly beautiful. Me and several other girls got tears in our eyes to see such a historic sight, even if it was briefly.
I have also already and fairly rapidly might I add, become the one everyone "gives a lot of shit to." Sorry for my language, I know many adults could potentially be reading this but I am not quite sure how else to phrase it. But most of the adults who are reading this and ALL of my friends will know I tend to be this person of the group no matter what. But I find it funny how quickly these dynamics can develop even in a foreign country with not a soul who knew you before 5 days ago. I am constantly an easy target to be fun of for my little "mishaps" or ridiculous comments here and there. Fortunately its all in good fun and I actually find it comforting and endearing that people have already come to know me so well. Also I received a new and one of the few nick names I have from Nick (the one man, who is gay, in our group of 15 girls), he calls me "Nora Torah." Definitely had never heard that one before. There is actually another Nora here in this group of 200 students, but she spells her name "Noura" instead. Never heard that one either. Anyways, I have even been teased by the president Todd Whaler as well. I had dropped some change, and mumbled a little something to myself (thinking I was walking alone in the hallway), but when I looked up Todd was right there and oh so cleverly asked "Talking to your imaginary friend there, Nora?" I of course responded yes, giggled a bit, and kept walking with slight embarrassment tagging along behind me. But in all honesty, it really is lots of fun and I have been laughing a lot due to everyones great sense of humor.
Today was fabulous as well. We went to Monte Cassino which is a Monastery at the top of this massive mountain, which gave a few people in the group severe panic attacks including Nika. (Quick sidenote: I had NO idea how surrounded with beautiful mountains we would be in Italy, but it has been quite the pleasant surprise). Anyways, I have never met people so afraid of heights, though this bus ride irked everyone in a way that made them question the status of their life in commuting up this steep mountain on a large bus in the pouring rain. Beforehand we had stopped for lunch at a fancy hotel, free wine once again, pasta once again, and covered in cheese once again. I don't know how I am going to survive on this diet! Anyways, the Monastery was absolutely incredible. It overlooked this beautiful city, and despite the pouring rain the view was delightful. We got to hear the monks chant after a full tour of the place. The Monastery was bombed and reconstructed 4 times during WWII which is totally unbelievable and incredible. It was where Saint Benedict resided as I recall, and his remains are in the church on the very top of this construction. A few parts of the Monastery that were underground had not been destroyed during the bombing, but most of it had been an exact replica and reconstruction of what it had been prior to the US attack. The church was THE most beautiful church I have EVER seen. I can't explain to you how amazing it was, I gasped out loud if that helps set the tone. It was covered in gold with every single piece of the building covered in fantastic art. The organ was massive and beautiful as well. Unfortunately my camera died, and I was incredibly frustrated since I thought I had captured the best of the Monastery before reaching the church. People even asked why I wasn't taking pictures because they know how picture crazy I am, and how I would have probably returned with 400 pictures just from today. But there are plenty of people who took pictures that I can steal. There was a downstairs part of the church that was covered in HIGHLY detailed mosaics and each tiny piece had a splash of real gold on it to make it shimmer against the light. I hope to post some pictures of it soon because words can hardly do it justice. We left around 5, it was still pouring rain and miserable outside. We stopped at a gas station where I knocked over a bottle of wine in front of the 30 people waiting in line to buy their snacks. This type of thing seems to happen to me way more frequently than not, fortunately the bottle did not break, but everyone got a nice chuckle out of the occurrence. I am assuming this could be considered one of my "mishaps." On the bus ride home I read some of the book I am completely enthralled with right now called "Eat, Pray, Love." I absolutely love Elizabeth Gilberts writing style. I find her extremely entertaining and she makes me laugh every so often as well. She has made me so excited to explore Rome, and find the sights she talks about in her section about Italy. The thing she really has me looking forward to the most is sitting in different coffee shops around the city and observing. I LOVE people watching, and she has made it sound like a prime place to do so in the city of Rome.
Anyways, classes start tomorrow and I should really head to bed since it is already 2:30 am here. I am taking International Politics which is a peace studies course from 9:30 to 10:45 every Monday and Wednesday. I am taking Sociology of Contemporary Fashion and Design on the same days except from 10:55-12:10pm. I am hoping this will help me understand the high stature of fashion here, gain some tips, and then will possibly go buy myself some new clothes! I also have Italian 101 tomorrow and Thursdays from 12:20-1:35pm. I am really hoping to start understanding and being able to speak the language soon! I am then taking the History of Rome to Constantine on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-10:45am, and lastly my Italian Film Studies course on Thursdays from 10:55-12:10. But of course every Tuesday we will get together and watch a film from 7-9:30pm. I am really looking forward to all of my classes. It is unfortunate they are all so early, but it results in my being out by either noon or 1:30 everyday which means I can explore as much as my heart could possibly desire. I also am considering participating in this tutoring program which the program offers. I can either babysit and tutor Italian children which not only pays, but can help me with my Italian. Or I can tutor an Italian peer with their english and then they can help me with my Italian. This gig also pays. I would LOVE to do this, I think it would be an ideal way to really become immersed in the culture. I can't decide which I would prefer so if anyone has suggestions let me know. I feel as though I am getting repetitive because I am so sleepy. But lastly, I will officiate my stays here with the Italian government tomorrow. Give them all my documents, buy my books, etc. So its now or never, so I guess I'm not turning back and running home. See you in 4 and a half months! I know my mom will be thrilled about this.
Anyways, goodnight everyone and I will speak with you all soon!
Buona Sera, Ciao.
Nora Claire.
Monday, January 12, 2009
First Few Days In Italiaaaaaa
Okay, last blog didn't work. First I made it say Norastrip2008, and it is most definitely not 2008. Then I tried to edit the whole thing, put a map on there and some pictures, and that didn't work either. Haley told me to use it, but now it is no longer free. So I switched. SORRY! Here it is......
Hello! I finally now have more than 30 seconds to myself, where I can sit down and possibly reflect and write to you all about the intense/amazing experiences I have been having! We haven't stopped moving since arriving in Rome on Friday afternoon. Things have been 5 times more chaotic due to our Wednesday flight being canceled. The snow storm in Milan seriously freaked the Italians out and they all thought the world was coming to an end. It never snows here apparently, but right before landing in Milan we saw some beautiful mountains freshly covered in snow, it was quite the sight.
In all of my traveling this process on Thursday and Friday was most difficult I have ever experienced, most likely because of the attempt to manage 200 students. But our Thursday flight was delayed 2 hours as well, which left us zero time to catch our flight in Milan. Granted we did get 3 free glasses of wine on that long flight over there. We then went through a security check, and what we later found out was customs? No one picked up their bags, and we just walked through handed the guy our passport he stamped it on a random page and we kept walking. One by one we walked through, I was sure there was no way it was that easy but I was wrong. Once we finally arrived after over 16 hours of traveling we found out over 60 pieces of luggage had been left in Milan. This left most of the students with at least one bag missing and some without any. I didn't lose any, but everyone seemed to handle it fairly well.
We finally arrived at the John Felice Rome Center around 5, had to do endless registration etc and had less then hour to unpack and eat dinner before the Cafeteria (Mensa) closed. Afterwards a few girls and I took a stroll around our neighborhood which is called Via Massimi. One of them being the girls who I had a blast with on the flight over here named Emily, her roommate Kate, my roommate named Lauren who is also a really neat girl, and Nika who I had known back in chicago. We went on a wine hunt but found EVERYTHING was shut down by 9 pm even on Fridays. We were all slightly discouraged but were able to buy a few delicious Italian beers from the local pizza shop and set on some steps of a Piazza and chatted for a couple hours there.
We had to be up by 7 am the next morning to get on our buses to head to Siena. We managed to get about 4 hours of sleep. The bus ride was about 3 hours up to Siena Tuscany and the ride was everything you could have possibly imagined. The scenary was extraordinary. We stayed at 4 star hotel called Hotel Garden, with beautiful gardens about a 20 minute walk from the center of Siena. We were randomly roomed with people from the program, and I got lucky and roomed with two girls named Kristie and Suzie. They are both lots of fun, familiar faces from Loyola as well. We walked around the gardens of our hotel waiting for lunch to begin around noon. I took pictures of how beautiful the dining set up was of all our meals. White table cloths, wine glasses, several course meals, and dinner provided an unlimited supply of bottled wine. The tables sat about 10 people and that is about the size of our group of friends at this point. We played a "get to know you game" in sharing 3 facts, 2 of which are true and one is false, and the table has to decide which are true and which is false. We had a blast. Shortly after we had Italian courses which we have been having for an hour everyday. I am making slow progress. "Buona Sera, mi chiamo Nora. Como ti chiame? Ahh, Piachera! Como stai? Uno, due, tre, quator, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, diechi. Dove e il bano?? Alright thats enough. But I'm slowly learning, pronounciation is so different then spanish. The language barrier is driving me crazy!
Shortly after we hopped on the bus again to San Gimignano. A small medieval town which was established in the 14th century. Many merchants and bankers moved there and built these walls to surround their town, it was absolutely gorgeous. 17 towers that they had built within this tiny town which symbolized the stature of families. Whoever's tower was the tallest signified how important each family was, therefore there were 17 families with high stature in this little villa. I took over 200 pictures there. We all bought bottles of wine from there as well. After taking a guided tour there, we returned back to Sienna for a delicious 2 course dinner again, with a plethora of wine as I had said before. We had another orientation, and than were sent off into the night. We walked for about a half hour before we got to any of the bars, stopped at 2 and had a fabulous time. We came home around 5:30 am and were locked out, so I ended up sleeping in a neighbors room. I guess I drank too much wine on too little sleep since I was kicked out of my room at 10 and ended up throwing up twice the next day. I struggled through the whole day yesterday, but once we finally got back I was feeling well enough to eat and much more energized. Unfortunately Mensa (the cafeteria) is god awful. I never expected the food to be so terrible. They can't even make a good red sauce! Maybe I'll loose the 15 pounds I was told I should expect to gain!
After dinner 15 of us booked flights for Barcelona the weekend of my 21st birthday. I'm absolutely thrilled. There are 2 other girls coming whose birthday it is as well on the 23rd and the 25th, so I'm sure there will be a lot of celebrating going on! Lauren (my roomate) and I seem to the have the decided hang out room. We all stayed up and chatted till 3, hoping to make lots of travel plans for the future. Everyone I have met is great, I feel like I am meeting people constantly. New names and friendly faces everyday which is such a relief. The administration and teachers are also incredibly helpful and sweet. They slightly feel like surrogate parents, really willing and able to to be here for you with any concerns you may have. I had a wonderful talk with the Vice-President/Dean on the bus yesterday named Susannah Carvela. She has lived all over Europe including Siches where I have been many times to visit family friends who live there. She reminds me a lot of my mother so it was comforting to speak with her for a long while.
And I have finally caught up to today. We were on the buses by 10:15, I skipped my Italian class this morning because I was just too exhausted, I have yet to get a good nights sleep. (Sorry mom & dad). Anyways we went up North about an hour to a Villa called Villa Hadrian right outside of Villa Adriana. A Villa that had been abandoned after the fall of the Roman Empire, but had been constructed in the 1st and 2nd century. It was also really incredible. I took about 200 pictures there as well. There was so much incredible and intricate detail engraved into the marble of these structures. They provided us with a bagged lunch which had 2 ham sandwiches with cheese on them. Nothing else. Very plain and almost impossible to eat. Though I have found 2 other girls who don't like cheese!! So there Catherine Bartlett there are others on that cheese high horse with me!
On the bus ride back I heard "If I were a Boy" by Beyonce, it was my first real reminder, like wow I am not in America anymore. Hearing Beyonce just made me laugh a bit and reflect on how out of touch I have been with home. Maybe they keep us this busy on purpose, just to keep our minds busy so they can't wonder and be home sick. Anyways, I arrived home and was finally able to exchange my money today, have somehow survived 4 days without having any Euros. Its sad how much money you lose. But I'm optimistic that if I don't spend much on drinks and buy 1 Euro boxed wine at Upim--the Italian version of Target I will have sufficient funds. Ever since I had been in my bed relaxing and writing this little note to you all. I left briefly for dinner and to POTENTIALLY go to Upim, so we called a cab since it closed at 8 and we had very little time to get there since it was already 7:30, a 5 Euro taxi cab split four ways didn't seem so bad. Lauren, Kaela (another incredible girl who I have met), Nika, and I all ventured into this cab, being friendly and attempting to speak with him in Italian. He proceeded to drive us all over area racking up a 21 Euro tab because he had absolutely no idea where he was going. That is $30 American dollars! We kept asking if he knew where he was going, and he didn't, so we just had him bring us home. We had to have an SLA (which is the Roman version of an RA) let him know we refused to pay considering we ended up right back where we had started with no wine, watches, shoes, groceries, or anything else that we desperately needed. (Sidenote: No person from my generation knows the time without a cell phone. We are going about our lives in a timeless zone of zero text messaging, phone calls, etc. It has been different but oddly relieving and relaxing. Point is about 6 of us have to go buy watches so we can know the time of day without depending on a cell phone!) Sorry if that was a bit of a rant, but we just returned from this totally absurd/frustrating/hilarious adventure. Who knows if the man knew where he was going the whole time, but we sure weren't gonna pay him.
I want to describe my living situation briefly before I go sign up for Tunisia and explore the city of Rome tonight with a large crowd. The dorm is old and because it was an old convent it has a very strange lay out. Feels kinda bare, and the walls are paper thin, but am making it more and more of my home as time goes by. Everything is in one building with 3 different wings. The electricity goes out frequently, in fact it was out for over 6 hours last night in the entire neighborhood. And lastly, there is NEVER any hot water. I have refused to shower in the freezing cold. I already hate showering as it is (those of you who know me well already know this disgusting fact). There is Mensa which I have talked about earlier and a Cafe which you have to pay for but is cute and the main hang out area called Renaldo's Cafe. Has a large screen TV, a ping pong table, and lots of seating spaces.
Anyways, I am being rushed off to this meeting. I hope everyone is well and I will write again soon when I can. Things should be more settled for a bit now. I intend on getting myself lost in Rome this weekend, I seriously look forward to it. Talk to you soon!
Love,
Nora Claire.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
