IES Farewell...

Much of our Italian class: Kim, Joe, Jillian, Will, Maria, Madd (teacher), Me, Jake, and Adam (the "Cherubino"). Not pictured: Jordan, Zack, Michael, and Ben. I loved our class so much. I am really sad about leaving everyone. 

Most of IES has left Rome. The program's official last day was Thursday. Sarah moved out on Friday. Kim and Caroline both left on Saturday. The apartment feels really empty with just me and Sonia. Our friend group is dwindling down also. Thursday night, IES threw us a going away dinner on the terrace. It was really nice but weird to be saying so many goodbyes. It's not like saying goodbye at home because very few of live anywhere near each other and seeing each other will be a little difficult. That night almost the whole program ended up at Cheap Bar in Trastevere. It was a nice full circle from the first night to the last. Everyone just hung out, chatted, got a little silly, and said their goodbyes. 

Friday, to celebrate what would be considered the first day of summer, all of us (Jordan, Jillian, Jill, Michelle, Will, Kim, and I) who were still in Rome went to Ladispoli to visit Joe who lives there with his family. It's a cool city (only 25 minutes from Rome) right on the beach. We got there in the morning, picked up some panini, and then met Joe at his beach club. It turns out that the beaches are black sand! I had never seen that before. It was crazy cool. Because it was Friday, it wasn't crowded at all. It was gorgeous weather and the water was warm but swimable (at least for us Americans). Most of the Italians just lay there tanning. There was a lot of exposed leathery flesh that day. They are very intent on avoided tan lines...

Here's our final Roommate picture. Aren't we supercool? 

Buon Compleanno a Me

There was quite the birthday week last week: six birthdays in five days...mine included! The big Two-One is not as exciting in Italy as it usually is the in the states though. It was also a tough weekend because it was right before finals week. 

Friday night, Will invited us all over to his homestay and his host-mom, Esa, cooked us all a fancy dinner. It was amazingly delicious. We all felt very sophisticated having such a grown-up dinner party. Real grown-ups don't call themselves grown-ups through, and because of that I know we are all still safe from adulthood for a little while longer. 

A majority of Saturday was sadly spent writing my politics paper. Sonia did bake us a cake though. It was my roommate, Caroline's birthday on Sunday so we bridged the gap on Saturday night. Saturday afternoon, Jordan's parents invited us to a BBQ. They had rented an apartment for a week and had a great patio and a grill. It was actually Jordan's dad's birthday too. Not twenty-one though. After the BBQ  (fantastic burgers and cous cous, btw), we all went to the Centrale Montemartini museum in Testaccio because it was free museum night until 2 AM. It is the Capitoline museum's overflow space and is in an abandoned power plant from the early 1900s, so there is a great contrast between ancient sculpture and industrial machinery. We were supposed to birthday it up afterwards, but we all got pretty sleepy. We ended up going back to Jillian's apartment and watching Young Frankenstein. I fell asleep almost immediately. 

What's Going On?

So Rome still stands after the feared earthquake of May 11. We're all pretty jazzed about that. I really haven't been blogging much because I have been very busy with finals and enjoying my last few days in Rome. I am heading home all too soon (on Wednesday). But what, you may ask, have I been doing with my time? 

Right now, Uncle Boojie and Cousin Miranda are in town for a visit. They got here on Thursday. Friday night we went to dinner (with a special tiramisu surprise for birthday girl, Miranda!) and then to Flashdance: Il Musicale! I never saw the movie but seriously enjoyed the play. I loved the Italian (they translated all of the music). I acted as translator a lot which I thought was a lot of fun. I actually think that my Italian is the best it has ever been. You might say "Duh! You've been in Rome for months of course it has gotten better." There was a period of a few weeks up to about now, when I seriously thought my Italian had deteriorated and I couldn't speak anymore. I think now that the pressure of classes and my internship is off, I can go back to enjoying the language. I am actually really sad at the thought of not taking it next year. It will be the first time in almost eight years...Instead I will be studying French and German. Anyway, back to Boojers and Miranda. Last night (Saturday) we went to dinner at la Piazzetta in Trastevere and then walked around. It was a gorgeous night and it is really finally summer. 

Today I went with Jillian to Porta Portese flea market. I have been meaning to go back there since the first weekend. I got some really cool vintage postcards. Not too old, mostly from the 60's but I am still happy with them. I also did a little souvenir shopping. At the end of the market, we realized we had wandered so far that we did not know where we were. Our idea was to hop on the next bus we saw. After transferring twice we ended up at our goal: lunch. We ate in the Jewish ghetto and had some of the best bruschetta I've had here. This afternoon, I finally finished my last paper and am now officially done with the semester. Ordinarily I would be happier, but this time it means that I have to go home. 

This is a picture of Gianfranco Fini, Presidente della Camera dei Deputati (Speaker of the House) and former head of the party Alleanza Nazionale. I was walking through Piazza Colonna on Wednesday after I finished my finals. I looked to my right, and he was about three feet away from me. I got really excited because (1) I recognized him immediately and (2) I had just written about him on my Politics final. I almost tried to talk to him but chickened out, partly because I forgot all my Italian and specifically the formal tense. By the time I opened my mouth, the reporters had run up and one pushed me out of the way. I still think it was really cool to have read about a guy for weeks and to write a paper about him and then see him randomly that same day. All I need now is to see Berlusconi. Fini used to be a part of Berlusconi's party but started his own this winter after realizing Berlusconi is not one to share power. 

That is me with Valeria and Claudia at my internship. It is all over now, and though it was tough and frustrating, I think it was a really good experience for me. 

This was taken in Trastevere at a street fair they were having. We got there right at the end when all the booths were closing. They were however playing some pretty awesome live music. It was an Italian group, playing Irish music (fiddle and whistle included) but singing in Italian. And there was a sort of mosh pit. It was definitely one of those what-is-this-and-why-is-it-so-great-in-a-strange-but-weird-way experiences. Sadly, it ended ten minutes after we got there. 

They finally changed the window display in the toy store. Sorry, the picture isn't better, I noticed it walking home one night. Jillian said the old winter-themed display was up since September. They now have this lovely Grand Canyon themed one. 

"I thought you were making duck calls"

Despite its grayness, I think Ireland is one of the most beautiful places in the world! Last weekend Kim and I decided to jetset to Dublin for a few days. We caught a flight Saturday morning and got there around four in the afternoon (It's a lot further from Rome than we thought). Sadly though because it was so late in the afternoon, there weren't any sights or museums still open. Only, that wasn't completely true because apparently Dublin in an hour behind Rome and so we actually got there around three. We didn't realize the time difference until after dinner. Whoops. 

Before dinner we checked into our hostel which was right on the river across from the Four Courts. We then walked around the town and saw Grafton Street and hung out in St. Stephen's Green for awhile. We played some Briscola in the park. Also saw a boy catch a pigeon with his bare hands. Disgusting. For dinner we went to the Temple Bar area and went to a pub for some fish and chips. They were so delicious and not at all Italian. We were both beyond food-baby level of full afterwards though and had to go back to the hostel for awhile. We played poker with some guys from Spain and I got to try using some of my spanish only to discover that only Italian comes out. After that we went back out to the Temple Bar area. We tried going to Temple Bar itself but it was way too crowded. There were plenty of other ones though and all of them had hen parties and live music. I actually got to hear Galway Girl sung live by an Irishman in Ireland, which considering it is an American song, was still a big deal. 

Molly Malone, AKA "The Tart with the Cart" on Grafton Street. 

The next morning we got up really early and went to Trinity College to see the book of Kells. It didn't open until 9:30 though so we had  some time to walk around. It was good we got there early because about three minutes before it opened, two huge groups of tourists came. Kim and I were also the youngest people by about 30 years. It was a common at all the touristy places. We also went and saw St. Patrick's Cathedral but couldn't go in. Then we went to the Post Office and Dublin Castel. We took a tour of the Castel and saw the Viceroy's old palace rooms. We ducked out early from the tour though so that we could make a historical walking tour we saw a flier for. The tour was just about the events of Easter 1916. It was an interesting group. A few Americans, one Irishmen, a couple Australians, and a handful of British. It was interesting to note how the tour guide talked about the events while still being respectful to the British in the group. It was really fun and interesting. It triggered my memory of all the things I learned in my Irish Studies class. The other people (all older) said they were pleased to see young people interested in such a tour, especially since we skipped going to the Guinness Factory.

After the tour, we were both pretty exhausted. We went to this tearoom called the Queen of Tarts that I had remembered seeing when I was in Dublin in 2006. We got two of the most delicious tarts (I got warm apple crumble tart) and some hot tea. It was perfect. For dinner that night we went to a different pub restaurant. I had some guinness-beef stew. It tasted very Irish and came with a lot of potato mash. That night we had to go to bed pretty early though because out flight was at six. We ended up waking up to people coming back into the room at 2:45 which was perfect since our shuttle to the airport was at 3:20. At the airport we found a starbucks and I was able to satisfy my iced tea craving. I am now ready to end the last few weeks of Italy with nothing but Italian food. 

Ha'penny Bridge

One of the few memories of have from my first trip to Dublin in 1994 is being in a shop, sitting on the floor, and picking out a yarn bear from a basket. I named him Dublin and still have him at home. When I went back with my dad in 2006, we went into a wool shop to look for a scarf and noticed the same type of bear. It was the same store and I was able to buy Dublin a cousin, that I named after an Irish hurling team. This trip, while walking around with Kim we just happened to pass the same store but it was closed until Monday. I was able to take a picture of the bear through the window though. I guess I will just have to buy two next time I go to Dublin. 

I am now back in Rome but sadly only for two more weeks. This is the last weekend of the program, but I am staying until May 25th. Boogie and Miranda are coming out next week! It'll be really nice to have a free week before going home because I have finals up until the 19th. I just had my Italian final exam today which I think went well. Let's hope at least. I am also done with my internship. They even threw me a little going away party which was really sweet! 

Photography

I took a Photography course this semester which I really loved. It was three hours, once a week. Every other week we went out into the city to take pictures and then the other days were spent reviewing the photos and learning things like Photoshop. Today was the last day of class and we had to turn in our portfolios. I thought I would post mine here. 

Piazza Navona 

Pantheon

Campo dei Fiori

Stadio dei Marmi

Vatican Museums

Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Ara Pacis Museum

Palazzo Spada

Near Campo dei Fiori

Palazzo Plebiscito in Naples

I'm a lazy blogger. Sorry.

What have I been up to of late? Mostly just class and the normal stuff like that. There are only two more weeks of class (the program ends on the 20th) and so work is starting to pile up. Our Italian final is on the 11th and 12th! So crazy. 

 

I have also learned to play Briscola. It is an awesome Italian card game that everyone should learn to play. Italian cards are also really cool looking with crazy pictures and patterns on them. There are a bunch of styles depending on the region of Italy you're in. I have the Piacentine style which are the most popular in Rome. Yesterday after class a bunch of us went to the Gianicolo and played it. That's how study abroad time should be spent. 

The other day (April 28th?) we had Italian class in Villa Borghese on bicycles!! Mada arranged for us all to rent bikes for an hour and a half and we had a scavenger hunt map to follow. We had to go all over the park and look for certain monuments. We all felt kinda like a gang because there were 6 or so of us biking together. We kept snapping like West Side Story, because we're cool like that. 

We went to the Vatican Museums for Archaeology this week. Delfino spoke his perfect latin when describing this lovely tombstone. It was a great field study because we went to the less popular parts of the Musuem (no Sistine Chapel) so it wasn't too crowded. There were a couple of elementary school kid groups. They all sat on the floor around their teacher and we all wanted to do it too. The kids were also cute because they all had Pokemon backpacks. Just like when we were in third grade. 

This window display has been up on our street since we got here. I assumed it was for winter and would be changed quickly because it was in the 50s when we got here, but nope. It's still around. I wonder how long the summer display was up. Til christmas perhaps?

I don't have a last name. I'm not famous.

I met an Italian movie star the other day! Which would be way cooler if I had actually known who he was at the time. Thursday on my way home from school, I stopped to buy my May bus pass (I can't believe it is my last month here!!). The tabacchi I usually go to for tickets was already sold out and so I had to go to the other one on the street. There was a woman ahead of me in line and then a man came in the store right behind me. At some point the woman in front of me turned and said to the man (in Italian of course) "Excuse me, but you're that actor, aren't you?"I turned around to see. He had sunglasses and a baseball cap on indoors, in Italy, at 7 pm. Should have been some sort of tip off. He confirmed that he was "that actor" and she oohed and ahhed for a minute and said how cool it was to meet him. I didn't have any idea who he was but decided to just ask. I said "you're an actor? Are you famous" and he replied "yes, I am, but I not famous at all" at which point the woman behind the counter interrupted "He is very famous, don't listen to that." I apologized for not knowing but asked him if he did TV or movies and he said both. I then asked what his name was. He introduced himself as "Claudio. Just Claudio. No last name because I'm not that famous." I think that is a response that only a celebrity would give. Anyway he departed with a charismatic movie star smile and a "It was nice to meet you."

I immediately went home and described him to Sonia hoping she would know who he was. She doesn't watch TV and doesn't like Italian movies so she didn't know. I then used The Google and found him surprisingly quickly. There are a lot of Claudios in the world but he was the 6th result (3rd name) when I searched "Claudio Televisione." It turns out he was Claudio Gioè who was in I Cento Passi (100 Steps) and La Meglio Gioventù (Best of Youth) and a bunch of other stuff. I showed his picture to Sonia who recognized him from the neighborhood but didn't know that he was a celebrity. So he isn't that famous, but I still think it was pretty cool. OH, and he is a redhead. Just thought that was cool too because there aren't many in Italy. 

Easter Day

I was going to go to Church this morning and walked to the center. I got to the church 45 minutes early and decided to walk over and see the Vatican. It turned out to be right when the Vatican services and the Pope were starting. I got to see him from very far away and on a jumbotron! I didn't feel like staying for the whole this though so I decided to go to Castel Sant'Angelo instead. There was a great view of the Vatican from the top of the castle which was really fun to see. 

Sonia decided to make a very fancy Easter dinner. She would have gone home but is in the last 3 weeks of her thesis and can't take the time away from studying. Our lunch group was Sonia, Kim, and me because Sarah is in Greece and Caroline in Napoli. Sonia's friend Aurora also came. Kim and I invited Adam over because his home-stay parents left him alone. We had so much food I almost exploded! We had lobster gnocchi, mussels, scallops, fish skewers, and beet salad. It was fantastic. We also got three of those giant Easter eggs from kinder with awesome toys inside. I actually just found out that kinder eggs, small once at least, are banned from the States because they have a non-edible toy inside. There is no way you could accidentally eat it. I mean, you don't accidentally eat your fork or your bowl, do you? But if customs finds a kinder egg in your luggage they have to confiscate it. 

Some awesome hipster chicks! 

After lunch, Kim, Adam, and I went to Villa Pamphili for a walk and some Brindasi. It is my new favorite card game (Italian cards are crazy cool too!) but I am not very good at it. I can't quite figure out the strategizing of it, but I only learned it a few days ago. 

Villa Pamphili is one of the best places in the whole city. I would stay there all day if I could. Sadly it is going to rain all day this week so I don't think we can really go for a few days. Probably for the best though because I have a lot of work to start doing. 

Cinque Terre

Last weekend was the IES field trip to Cinque Terre. The program includes one free weekend trip. The choices were Venice, Amalfi Coast, and Cinque Terre. I chose 5Earths because I knew I would want some time out of the city and also I'm not actually interested in Venice so much as I know it is a cultural must. The trip was really spectacular and we had a really great group of people. I think it may actually be the most gorgeous place on the planet. I absolutely loved being outside all day and want to go back immediately, though I do love Rome and even if I'm only gone for a few hours, it's always nice to be back.


They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are 7,274 US words or 5,000 Euro words (pretty lousy exchange rate these days): 

Our hike took us up in the terraced farms called terrazzi in the mountains since the low path by the ocean was out because of a landslide. I actually liked the mountain hike a lot better. We walked between the first three towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia) but stopped in an extra one (Volastra) along the way. Then we took the train to the 4th town (Vernazza) and sadly skipped the 5th (Monterosso al Mare), but that was OK with me because it was the only one I had been to before. 

Adam, Will, Maria, Jordan, and me in Vernazza. 

Here are some locks from Via del Amore in Riomaggiore. It is the first part of the walk and stretches between the first two towns. Couples are supposed to get some locks and write their names on them. They then lock them and toss the keys into the ocean that way they can never be unlocked. I am really curious to go swimming down there and see how many keys there are. 

A view from the hike. All the Cinque Terre towns were founded as farming villages, not fishing villages as I would have guessed. They have a special type of wine because the grapes grow very close to the ground. The terraces are also rather dangerous because the walking paths go right along the edge sometimes and there are not always fences and the fall would be about 10 feet. I actually almost fell off because I was posing for a photo of the view and my foot slipped off the edge. I started to fall but luckily because I had been posing I had my arm on the fence and my armpit caught it. I'm glad I didn't start the day off by breaking my leg. 

Here's the harbor in Lerici where we went Sunday Morning. We took a boat there from La Spezia (where we were staying) and walked around the castle there. Then we took a boat to Portovenere and spent the afternoon there. Portovenere, along with all of Liguria, is famous for its pesto. I bought 2 jars! I wanted to by an "I ♥ Pesto" shirt but they didn't have my size. I also got a really delicious Salsa di Noci. I had a free sample of it and before I even swallowed it I grabbed a jar to buy. 

Fine Settimana

I woke up kind of early Saturday morning. I needed to go to piazza Navona to reshoot my photos from my photography field study. I rode the 44 to Piazza Venezia figuring I could walk from there. I decided while I was there to go into the Altare della Patria, or the "Wedding Cake" as it's nicknamed. I didn't really know what was inside but learned that it is where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is. There is also the Risorgimento museum and a couple terraces with really good views. After that I went to go do my photos only to discover my camera had died. Frustrated, I went home to drop off the dead weight and immediately turned around so that I could go meet Maria back at Piazza Venezia. 

We walked up via del Corso and met Jake at Piazza del Popolo. From there we all went together to Villa Borghese and towards the zoo. We never actually went to the zoo (I will have to go back though because it is something I really want to do). Instead, we rented a row boat on the small lake and attempted to paddle around. Most of our twenty minutes involved avoided the raining bird poop and getting our oars untangled from the sea/lakeweed. After the lake we walked around and got some cotton candy. That night I went and met up with Tyler again in Trastevere. He wanted to revisit his old stopping grounds from when he studied in Rome a few years ago. 

Sunday got off to a slow start because I basically slept until noon. I actually got up at 8:30 and started my laundry but then accidentally went back to sleep for awhile. When I got up I went back to Piazza Navona to try again to take my photos, this time with more success! I came home and did some homework. Kim and Caroline got back from their trip to Venice. For dinned, Sarah, Kim, and I went to Abby Theater and got some burgers and then came home kind of early. 

Last Week...

So I never really covered what did in Rome last week (before Orvieto): 

Monday was a normal class day. It was annoying to have to go back to school after discovering summer (not just spring) vacation for a week. Kim and I walked to class though which was really nice. That's my favorite part about Mondays. I had a photography field study at Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. It's nice to have class be three hours outside with a camera. I think it would be better though if one week he told us to go anywhere and take pictures that way when we had las discussions on them, they wouldn't all be the same photos. After classes, there was an olive oil tasting class organized by Jordan and his internship at Slow Food. I am so jealous of that internship. I would have been awesome at it. The lecture part was OK, I learned about olives and re-learned about Slow Food. Then we got to taste two different kinds of oil and eat lots of olives. Next week, tomorrow actually, is salami and cheese! 

Tuesday was internship and Italian class. In Italian we had to write a "What I did during my vacation" essay. Half the class went on vacation together though so all of the were about the same things. That night, Kim, Will, and I went out to Scholar's Irish Pub for the first time. It is a favorite place for the stereotypical American students so we tend to avoid it. We decided to go and actually had a lot of fun because it was Karaoke night. I never thought I would ever do karaoke, but the three of us got on stage and sang a song together! 

Wednesday I had two field studies. The politics one was at the crisis aid department of the Foreign Ministry. It was one of the more interesting studies we had had for that class so far.  We had to meet way up by Flaminio, right next to the giant Mussolini obelisk. While we were waiting there, a bus full of middle school looking kids drove by and they all leaned out and shouted "Baaaastardo!!!" at it. My other field study was at the Colosseum!! I've been here for more than 2 months and that was the first time I went in. It was incredible. It's one of the easiest ruins to really imagine what it would have looked like. I love it. After class, Kim and I went and sat Tiber Island in the sun which was really nice. Then we went and met my friend Tyler from Princeton High School who was here in Rome for the week looking for a job. 

Thursday I had more internship. They always send me home earlier than I need to. When I tell them I can stay a few hours longer, they always say "Why bother! Go enjoy yourself." It's nice life attitude but not really a good one for the work place. That night, Sarah and Sonia cooked dinner for us all. Sarah made a spinach and ricotta pizza thing and brie and berry tartlets. Sonia made some lemony meatballs.