I decided to stay in Rome this weekend for monetary purposes. I also wanted a chill weekend and some time to take my time and enjoy the city. I feel like most days I am hurried along to different places only staying long enough in one place to say that I have been there. I wanted to relax, walk slowly, and take in the gorgeous city I am calling home for 6 weeks.
Jasmine, Haley, and I saw the inside of the "wedding cake". I don't know the real name of the monument because no one (including italians) call it anything besides "the typewriter" or "the wedding cake." It had a great view of course. We, then, had a beautiful lunch near Piazza Navona.
The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around and window shopping. Oh, and I finally saw the Spanish Steps.
Once again, my computer is not letting me upload pictures. Will try again tomorrow.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
June 14
I have been getting pretty homesick lately. I am just not the type of person who likes to be away from my family and friends for long periods of time. (and Yes! I miss other people besides Christopher ;) )
Today, we had class at Ostia Antica, which is another name for more ruins. I appreciate it for about 5 minutes and after that it gets hard to "use my imagination" to picture what was there. The guide points at a boulder and says "this used to be such and such. Imagine this and that here." Apparently, my imagination sucks. It also makes me feel like an ungrateful brat. However, I accept the fact that I am not a person who is inherently interested in history. I like to be told brief remarkable facts about a place or about people. I am not interested enough to listen in length to the whole boring life story. I wish I was but I am not. However, I do appreciate the fact that I am allowed to see places that most people will never see in their lifetime. To sum it all up, it wasn't my favorite activity of the trip, but I put on a brave face and a smile and tried to focus as much as possible.
After class, we went to the beach. Haley and I bought this beautiful red tapestry with elephants on it. It was an impulse buy. I haggled for the first time and got the price down from 20 euro to 13.50 euro. Not too bad. I would post a picture but it is too sandy to take out.
Today, we had class at Ostia Antica, which is another name for more ruins. I appreciate it for about 5 minutes and after that it gets hard to "use my imagination" to picture what was there. The guide points at a boulder and says "this used to be such and such. Imagine this and that here." Apparently, my imagination sucks. It also makes me feel like an ungrateful brat. However, I accept the fact that I am not a person who is inherently interested in history. I like to be told brief remarkable facts about a place or about people. I am not interested enough to listen in length to the whole boring life story. I wish I was but I am not. However, I do appreciate the fact that I am allowed to see places that most people will never see in their lifetime. To sum it all up, it wasn't my favorite activity of the trip, but I put on a brave face and a smile and tried to focus as much as possible.
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| Reading a book written in Italian! |
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
July 13
We celebrated Shelby's birthday and then had class. My group interviewed a cafè owner for homework. We have to present it tomorrow. I made a 86 on my quiz which isn't bad considering I made a few "dumb mistakes." Tomorrow we are having class at the beach. I am very excited!
I am sorry that the last few days have been boring to report. At last, school is catching up with me. :)
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
June 12
I had my first quiz today. I am not sure how it went. I am not too worried about it because it was the first one. AND I just faxed in my pass/fail form to UT. :)
The other class has a test tomorrow so all my friends had to study after school. I did a little exploring on my own. (Surprising I know) I climbed this massive staircase which led into a beautiful church. Unfortunately, as in most churches, they don't let you take pictures.
I also looked around the Campidoglio.
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| Cappuccino in the afternoon? Scandalous. |
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| Part 1 of last nights dinner...delicious. |
Monday, June 11, 2012
June 11
Nothing too important to report. We have a quiz tomorrow so I have been studying in my free time and just relaxing. After this weekend, I need to spend some time just relaxing and taking it easy.
I guess I can talk about how awesome my host family is. I am really blessed to have gotten them. I hear of some students in the program who have families or mothers who make them feel stupid, who don't ever give them wine, who don't talk to them. . . etc. I think I am getting the best possible host family experience. My family is nice and they are funny. They are wonderfully normal. The kids fight all the time. They are patient with me. They always ask if there is anything that they can do to make my time here better. Tonight my host mom and I had a conversation about feminism and the roles and lives of women. She did most of the talking of course but I understood her. I am glad I have a family who actually wants and tries to have meaningful conversations with me. It makes the process of being away from my own dear family a little easier. It also reminds me of what a great family I have back home. (Not that I could ever forget that.)
I guess I can talk about how awesome my host family is. I am really blessed to have gotten them. I hear of some students in the program who have families or mothers who make them feel stupid, who don't ever give them wine, who don't talk to them. . . etc. I think I am getting the best possible host family experience. My family is nice and they are funny. They are wonderfully normal. The kids fight all the time. They are patient with me. They always ask if there is anything that they can do to make my time here better. Tonight my host mom and I had a conversation about feminism and the roles and lives of women. She did most of the talking of course but I understood her. I am glad I have a family who actually wants and tries to have meaningful conversations with me. It makes the process of being away from my own dear family a little easier. It also reminds me of what a great family I have back home. (Not that I could ever forget that.)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
June 8-10
This weekend was absolutely hellish in terms of traveling. I think we all learned many lessons this weekend. 1. Traveling in a big group is NOT a good idea.
I think we spent more time waiting on people/trains/buses etc. . . than we did anything else. But no matter how awful getting to Cinque Terre and Venice was, nothing could take away from the wonderful time I had there. I LOVE VENICE and I LOVE CINQUE TERRE. You will know why when you see the pictures. I am pretty sure they are some of the most beautiful places on Earth.
I think we spent more time waiting on people/trains/buses etc. . . than we did anything else. But no matter how awful getting to Cinque Terre and Venice was, nothing could take away from the wonderful time I had there. I LOVE VENICE and I LOVE CINQUE TERRE. You will know why when you see the pictures. I am pretty sure they are some of the most beautiful places on Earth.
Venice
Thursday, June 7, 2012
June 7
School. Gelato. Shopping: that is all I have done today. After, dinner I am going to spend the night at Haley's house because we have to catch the train at 6:57 to Cinque Terre and her house is closer.
Cinque Terre on Friday and Venice Saturday and Sunday. I am excited!
Cinque Terre on Friday and Venice Saturday and Sunday. I am excited!
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