As Much As I Can Write Right Now

Yay, I am finally starting a personal blog for my incredible family and friends to read...if anyone really cares. I thought it might be a good idea to inform everyone of my incredible journey thus far here in the eternal city, Roma. I wish I had started this from my first day but unfortunately because of the way that our classes are scheduled I was one of the lucky 3 to have my FINAL presentation due the second week of class.

I could begin I suppose, at my wild plane ride over here which includes an 8 hour lay over in none other then Amsterdam, as well an extremely interesting Nigerian man who thought it would be funny to ask me to "save seat please" as he left for food, but really he stood a couple feet away and watched to see if I actually would...for two hours! BUUUT considering that is about the highlight of my weary travels I prefer to simply skip ahead and tell you all the good stuff!

Once I arrived in Rome and finished crying after getting lost in the enormous airport, I found my friendly driver, Emanuel, and I was on my way. I arrive at the Pantheon, which in case you haven't seen it, looks like a movie set. It was dark when I arrived around 7:30pm and the monument was lit up with small spotlights coming from below. It was in picturesque with cobblestone streets and even ironically enough a man, or two, playing the guitar on the overlooking fountain that stands in the center. Directly to the right, my incredibly placed hotel room. After my long awaited shower in my personal bathroom (oh yeah!) I just about passed out at 9:00pm. Needless to say, my jet lag would last for at least another 3 days.

The next free day I had before the program began consisted of meeting up with Mick and enjoying the city I was so fortunate to be in. I walked toward the Campo di fiori which is where I would be living soon and where the city truly thrived. A live market was in action and it was wonderful to simply walk and here a language that was so musical. I would even sit on any on the plentiful fountains and just listen.

Eventually the program did begin and we moved into our apartments at "Il mio dirizzo e campo di fiori 46, interno 8," yes I did just write my entire address in Italian which I am learning in my thrifty Italiano class. After Mick moved my bags up the winding staircase 5 floors, no elevator (I betttttter loose weight) I was there. I unpacked in the back hallway room with the largest closet of course and lucked out getting Carisa Tuffey as my roommate. She's amazing and amide the girls that I haven't quite gotten to know as well, she is the greatest release for me, plus she LOVES wicked, so we sing defying gravity every night. The apartment has a terrance, the only one with a terrance and is massive. It has a living room, connected to a kitchen with a laundry room (but the laundry room has no roof, weird) and then two double rooms, a single and a four person room. Its perfect, a bit old and rustic with cheap imitation paintings of famous Italian art. The terrance over looks the Campo. Of course if I haven't mentioned yet the Campo has the largest open market in Italy, people come from everywhere to go and its only open Mon-Sat 6-2pm. Yikes!

Classes, have been a bit hard but for the most part very gratifying. I have been able to visit the "Jewish Ghetto" which isn't anything like it sounds. Its a very historical area with Jewish fountains, kosher restaurants and an incredibly beautiful synagogue in which the Pope is visiting this coming Sunday for PR reasons. I have, as mentioned, seen the Pantheon and more recently saw the Roman Forum (the most central part of the city in ancient Rome, as well at the founding ground of the city). Next to it the incredibly MASSIVE Colosseum.

The Colosseum, gets its own paragraph. The theme for our courses here is Contradiction, and the Colosseum has one of the most obvious contradictions I think. Walking in at first gives you this rush of excitement knowing that your standing where millions before you have stood for hundreds of years, the amount of history blows my mind. But then this cold draft hits you (granted it was raining and cold when we visited) and you realize what else this building stands for. Most of the remains left in Rome were kept for religious purposes, but not the Colosseum, it was pure human entertainment. But not what we view now but the most raw entertainment, the human nature that we try desperately to forget is within us, the part that hurts others, that inflicts pain. The monument, which so completely is a symbol of Rome was where deaths, torture and martyrs lye. Its a frightening thought.

Later today we are visiting the Augustus Palace of Peace and tomorrow traveling to the Roman coast of Ostia to looks at the Forum Baths and Baths of Neptune (my project eeehhh).

I would love to talk about food but to be honest it takes its own blog post, it will be long and it will detailed and I recommend not reading it when hungry, bring some snacks for it.

I love you all so much!! To those I haven't seen in a long time, I'm still thinking about you every second. Mom and Dad I miss you like you wouldn't believe but I'm trying my best to not think about you too much because it always makes me homesick and we all know that that leads to crying :). I miss you all and I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed telling you. I will try to post as often as I can, but internet is very flaky and class occupies a majority of my day, but when I have a moment, I will tell all. Things should be better after my project...LOVE YOU!!