I probably need to update more than just once a week because so much happens in the span of each blog entry. This weekend was one of the three day weekend we have and I did a lot of exploring. With my adventurer-in-crime, Beth, we walked. A lot.Beth and me at the Pantheon

Friday (no class!) we wanted to go to Camp Di Fiori to buy sandwich supplies; however, their lack of bread threw us for a loop. We decided to walk along and buy some sandwiches to enjoy in the Borghese Gardens, the Central Park equivalent over here in Rome. After buying some mozzarella and salami on foccia we headed up the Spanish Steps and made our way to the gardens. The transformation of our surroundings from the tourist-packed historic district to the peaceful and green park lacking any modes vehicular transportation attempting to run down as many pedestrians as they can was completely refreshing. We spent the entire day, joining the locals taking naps on benches and enjoying life away from the bustle of the city.

Borghese Gardens

Saturday we were determined to visit Trastevere, the less touristy district of the city on our side of the river. The SLA (i.e. RA) told us it was really complicated to get there and that we should actually take the train. No. Don't believe him. Just the take the bus and walk across the river. Anyway, we walked from Piazza Venezia to Trastevere and had a great time just meandering around the neighborhood. We discovered a botanical garden that we might go back and visit and we know we want to go back at night. We ended up walking back from Trastevere through the Vatican (stopping at Old Bridge for the most cheap, best, and big servings of gelato you will find in the city) all the way back to the Cipro metro station. About 5 miles in my Target shoes, which are actually holding up really well. Cool car in Trastevere

Sunday we woke up at the crack of dawn to go to the flea market at Ponte Portese back in our familiar neighborhood of Trastevere. It. Was. Huge. We kept thinking it was ending and another section would pop up, 4 deep in stalls. At first we were a little disappointed because everything was just 2 Euro jeans or the same cheap jewlerey but after a while the antique section of the market popped up and we started to have some fun. They sell absolutely everything there from chandeliers to faucets to old photographs. I tried to barther but my courage failed. It's a lot more intimidating than you think. I bought a vintage leather bag for 15 Euro (a quarter of the price of the purses at the San Lorenzo leather market in Florence). We went back to the Rome Center and passed out. Get your chandelier at the Porte Portese flea market

That night we went to an event at Piazza Navona. I read about Flamenco Night in the piazza on one of those what's-going-on-in-rome websites and we decided it would be really fun to go. I headed out with Beth, Kylah, Kerstin, Lauren, and her boyfriend Eric. It was absolutely packed but really fun. We watched a couple acts and then decided we were too short to enjoy any more of it. Flamenco Night at Piazza Navona
Kylah, Beth, Me (with my new purse!), Lauren, Kerstin

We headed out for some more Old Bridge. If you ever get to Rome, get the amaretto or the coconut gelato at Old Bridge. The best. Overall, not a bad way to spend a Sunday night.

Enjoying some Old Bridge gelato

I love walking around the city at night. Piazza St. Pietro is so tranquil, the Spanish Steps is like a living room where everyone hangs out, and Piazza Navona is a great people watching place. St. Pietro at night from the Tiber

Look at me adding pictures to my blog. What will I do next? Stayed tuned!

It's been a while and a lot has happened...I'll try to sum it all up.

Going into the second week of classes now. Classes are good.
Monday
Roman Catholicism - A little overwhelming, especially since it seems like everyone else has been in Catholic school their whole lives and I know nothing. Well, I knew that the 5th patriarch was in Antioch so THERE.
Introduction to Opera - A really fun class. We're going to watch a couple operas in class and go to a couple. I'm excited for that.

Tuesday
NOTHING

Wednesday
Italy in the 19th and 20th century - Seems good so far. Our paper is 50% of our grade so that's fun.

Thursday
Art in Rome - loveloveLOVE this class. Last class we went to the Forum and my professor knows his stuff. He's been doing this for about 20 years so he's an expert. This week we go to the Pantheon.

Last weekend I went to Florence with my friends Beth, Anne, and my roommate Amy. It was really fun. Florence is so much smaller than Rome and is FILLED with American students. It apparently has 24 study abroad programs so it kind of feels like you're on campus at home, especially when you have gaggles of girls in their shiny clothes going out at night. I'm really glad I decided to study in Rome, a bigger city with more people. Going back to the Uffizi Gallery was really nice. Rick Steves has a bunch of free audio tours you can download and Beth and I listened to it while walking around the museum. I really enjoyed the Venetian Renaissance paintings and Rick Steves commentary was hilarious. Beth and I climbed the 455 steps up the Duomo and the view was fantastic. I could feel the burn but it was completely worth it.

In Florence I learned the lesson of the consequences of eye contact. When I was waiting outside a building for my friends a guy approached merely because I was surveying my surroundings and briefly had eye contact with him. The funniest part was when he asked me what I was doing that night and I was like, "um it's 9:40 in the morning." Sometimes I feel like I need blinders so random guys won't come up to you all the time. It gets a little annoying after a while but it's also fun because I get to practice my Italian.

My Italian is coming along really well. I desperately need to review some of the more advanced grammar that I learned later (like imperative, future, conditional, and subjunctive) but every Italian I talk to always compliments me on how good my Italian is which is always nice to hear.

This weekend I signed up for the day trip to Ostia Antica, an ancient Roman port city with great preserved ruins. Beth and I want to picnic in the Borghese gardens and explore the Travestere area of Rome which is less touristy and a more genuine part of the city. Hopefully the weather will be nice. It has been thundering and storming like nobody's business which is exciting for Bay Area natives like myself, Anne, and my other friend from SF, Kylah, but of the norm for all the midwesteners here. They look at us like we're crazy.

I'm having issues with uploading photos right now. My Flickr site was going really well until I discovered the photo limit/month thing and my computer hates Facebook so stay tuned until I figure that out.

Orientation is officially over! Matera was very cool. It's a small town in the region of Basilicata in the very south of Italy. We visited the Sassi houses which are stone houses where the residents lived in very primitive conditions until the late 1950s. Primitive conditions means no running water, electricity, living with all your animals and no doors. The scenery was beautiful and Mel Gibson filmed part of the Passion of the Christ there (not that I've ever seen it).

Some people here are ridiculous. They act like they're on Spring Break in Cancun. We had an open bar and a dj at our really nice Hilton hotel and they went insane drinking. I'm talking peeing behind palm trees and acting very inappropriately with the staff, who really weren't much better. It just shows what some people's priorities are. Very sad. Besides that the trip was very fun, despite the very long bus rides there and back.

Being back has been fun. I'm really getting to know the bus system really well and have been taking it back and forth. I haven't been into Rome during the day because we've been doing our legal paperwork, etc. Last night a friend, Beth from Detroit, went and we sat on the Spanish Steps and chatted for almost 2 hours. It was so much fun to people watch and hang out. The night before we went to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It's so easy to walk around the city and everything is relatively close.

I'm having a little trouble putting pictures up because our internet keeps going in and out so uploading keeps getting interrupted.

More later. Watching Indiana Jones now. Yes, in Rome.