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.