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.