Two Full Weeks

This past Tuesday marked my being here in Rome for two weeks. Feels like much longer! I've already got a few favorites. Favorite wine: Montepulciano D'Abruzzo. Favorite Gelato: nutella and banana from Old Bridge gelato by the Vatican. Favorite restaurant: Osteria di Anima just outside Piazza Novona, and the best dish is Friochette (spelling?), which was a small pasta noodle stuffed with pears, and it is the best thing on earth. I'm starting to get the hang of using the buses and getting around the city and such, but all of the public transportation (buses, taxies, trains) keep going on strike because the government's all messed up, so it's been tough working around that. Dealing with it though! Another successful week of classes. Wednesday was Mass of the Holy Spirit in San Ignazio Jesuit church down by the Pantheon, so that was fun, followed by group dinners. I find it kind of funny how Jesus was all about hanging out with the poor people, and you see the Vatican and churches around here and they're clearly worth enough to feed lots of poor people. Just an interesting observation I guess. Two orders of business for next week: figure out where I'm going to volunteer, and start working to get Christmas on Campus in Rome! Nothing too big going on this weekend. Just exploring the city and hanging out. I think tonight we're watching Gladiator and hanging out (ought to be interesting to see after a few visits to the Colosseum!). A week from today I'll be in Amsterdam! Can't wait. So far, on the list is to take the Heineken tour, go to Ajax's stadium, and possibly Anne Frank's house? Who knows. Not too much else going on. Have a good weekend and week everyone, and I'll get back on if anything interesting happens! Arriverderci.

Orientation Trip Weekend

It has officially set in that I am in Italy and will be for a while. It was a great weekend. We started out Friday at 7AM with a 3 hour bus ride to Reggia di Caserta, the palace of the King of Naples back in the day. It was pretty incredible, but rainy outside so we didn't get time to tour the gardens really! Then we went to lunch at a really cool hotel in Caserta. After a weekend of nice three course meals and unlimited wine, it's going to take a little adjusting back to on-campus food. Been here a week and already a food snob! We drove to Salerno and spent the rest of the night there. It was gorgeous. Right on the water, and the city itself was pretty awesome. Lights hanging over all the streets, lots of people out and about. We had a group dinner at 8 in the hotel, and heard from all of the administrators and such. We are the 50th class at the John Felice Rome Center, which I guess is a pretty big deal. We've also been the best behaved class in recent memory apparently, as no one has been sent home yet, which the resident director said is rare. We went out and roamed the city after dinner. The next morning, we went to a buffalo farm and ruins from a Greek colony at Paestum. Both were pretty fascinating. At the farm we saw how they make mozzarella and leather products, then at the Greek ruins we just kind of hung out while our tour guide struggled through trying to explain everything to us. It was very cool to see though, especially knowing some of the Greek and Roman history from high school Latin with Dr. McConaghy. SLUH follows you everywhere, doesn't it boys? Then we had one of the best lunches I've ever had. Prosciuto, pasta, and pizza, and this awesome band came out and played traditional Italian music and we all danced. Delicious and fun. Then was the best part of the trip. We went a small distance to Agropoli and watched the sunset from the top of a castle. There's really no adjectives I can use to describe it, but the pictures give a small idea of how breathtaking it was. That's when it hit me about the whole "I'm in Italy and will be for a while" thing. One of the coolest experiences I've had in a while. Today, we went to The Convent farm in Sorrento, which was about a half hour ride up narrow, windy roads, which was pretty terrifying, but awesome. We saw the lemon trees and got food and samples of limoncello, which is a very strong, very popular Italian alcohol. To my sister: if you're reading this, I bought you a bottle. Then stopped for some lunch at 5, and made the long bus ride home, getting back around 9. I am tired, but it was an incredible weekend. See Facebook for pictures. Just another week of classes ahead, so until next time, arrivederci!

The First Week Of Classes

Wake up call. I'm actually here to study! Classes have been intimidating. My Italian teacher forbids the use of English in the classroom, so that has been quite a challenge. I come out of the 55 minute class exhausted, and my effort in the classroom probably sounds like a toddler, but I guess the bright side is, it will probably greatly improve my speaking ability. My philosophy teacher is pretty funny. He said he usually has 7-8 kids in his classes, and he has 27 in each this semester, so as soon as we walked in, he started encouraging everyone to drop the class because he doesn't want to grade all the papers. Once we actually got into class though, it was pretty fascinating. It's an Italian Renaissance philosophy class, so we discussed different points of view such as idealism and materialism, how the Church fits in, and Plato and Aristotle. It was just him sitting behind a desk for 75 minutes, but I liked it. My writing intensive Italian history class will be a handful, but the teacher seemed nice enough. Tomorrow is the first day of Art in Rome, and I heard it's basically just going over the syllabus. Despite only taking 4 classes, I think my hands will be full. On a different note, today I got an e-mail from SLUH icon Richard Keefe, which made my day. It brought down my stress level and made me feel a bit closer to home. It's been a week filled with planning, so I am stressed to say the least. I signed up for the school Spring Break trip to Tunisia, which includes camping in the Sahara Desert and a camel trek. I signed up for a day trip to see World War II sites. I bought the flight for a trip to Amsterdam from February 3rd to 5th, and I have the school orientation trip this weekend to various destinations such as Salerno and the Amalfi Coast. Other trips in the works include Spain to see my Loyola and SLU friends, Sicily, Venice, France to see the band Dispatch, Brussels, London, and Ireland. I would really like to go to Cairo to see the pyramids, but I think my poor mother might kill me for even mentioning it. We'll see what comes of that idea. Too many places to go, and too little time and money. I keep telling myself this semester is a once in a lifetime experience to make myself feel better about watching my bank account dwindle. My godfather told me a few weeks ago when we were discussing him possibly coming to visit, "It's only money, right?" You only live once. Why not? I'll try to throw as many Hallmark clichés as possible to make myself feel better. I miss my family and friends. Hearing from people at Loyola is tough. The Sandy Pilgrims, my band at Loyola for anyone who doesn't know, is releasing the CD we recorded before Christmas at a show this weekend. I am disappointed to not be there, but as a shameless plug, be sure to check my Facebook this weekend for a link to the free songs. Nothing else is really new. I hear the Blues are doing quite well. I leave the country and they turn it on. Maybe I can get some superstitious season ticket holders to buy me a house here. I doubt I'll be able to write this weekend, so I'll try to recount my adventures when I return on Sunday. Have a great rest of the week people, and stay in touch. I love hearing from you. The picture is me in the library, which is a really cool room. That's all I got. Buonanotte!

Tivoli

The last two days have been kind of crazy. Yesterday, we went to the Colosseum and the Forum. Major dejá vu from going in high school. I think I could hang out in the Colosseum all day. Last night we went to Trastevere, which is like an area with lots of bars that is more Italians than Americans. Small cobblestone streets lined with shops and bars. It was awesome. Tried some beer called "Elephant", which was good. Pretty much my first beer experiment. I also got a Guinness in a bottle. Never again. Today, we went to a small town about an hour away from Roma called Tivoli. We went on a tour of Villa D'Este, which is the home of a Catholic Cardinal from Roman times. Lots of awesome artwork. Beautiful garden with amazing views. Incredible fountains. It was the most incredible house/property I've ever seen. The Church has always had money. No doubt there. After that we went to a small restaurant that was inside of a site that was over 2000 years old. Yes, 2000. The owners of the restaurant said there's still more to be excavated, but it was basically like eating in a cave, and the food and wine were delicious. Then we wandered around the city for a few hours, got some gelato, and enjoyed people watching in the main piazza. It was a great day. Classes start tomorrow. Yuck. I think it'll make me realize that I'm here to stay, which is good. So far it's felt like a nice vacation. I don't really like the way this thing uploads pictures, so look at Facebook if you care to see photos. Arrivederci, i miei amici.

The First Night On The Town

So, been here a few days, and these are things I've learned: first, generally, the Italians are the nicest people ever and have the utmost respect for you, so long as you're not an idiot, and they really appreciate it if you make an effort at the language. Second, Italian men between the ages of about 16 and 50 are generally the creepiest humans on earth. Before coming here, I thought America had a lot of disrespectful assholes. There's certainly a culture difference; staring is normal. It takes a little getting used to, but everyone stares at you. However, men will see a pretty girl, turn completely around and stop what they're doing, give a girl 3 looks up and down, then start trying to suavely throw out their "Ciao, bella" and "Buonasera, bella". We were in a bar last night, and men stopped outside the window of the bar and peered in the glass to look at the girls we were with. The creepy guys has probably been the weirdest realization. Third, the food and wine are really good. Plain and simple. Fourth, I will be walking more this semester than I ever will at any point in my life. Walked for about 3 hours last night, and saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and some other cool fountains and landmarks, then wound up at an Irish Pub watching the Bruins play the Capitals. Not exactly out of a storybook, but it was a blast. Today, I took my first train adventure and bought a guitar at a local music shop. This was definitely the first time my Italian speaking skills were really tested. Jim and I asked for directions about 4 times, then the guy at the store didn't know any English, so I fumbled through telling him what I wanted. It worked out well, and I have a beautiful new Italian guitar! Pictured above. Tonight is a 5 course meal in the neighborhood, so looking forward to that. Some pictures of the room and from the night out also. Buonasera!

The Beginning

I pretty much can't believe I'm in Rome right now. Twenty four hours ago I was just taking off at O'Hare, and now I'm here. In a hotel. In Rome. I think that will take a few weeks to set in. I didn't sleep much on the plane at all. A half hour at most I'd say. Was on the group flight, so met some nice people right away and saw some old friends. I spent the majority of the flight reading the second Hunger Games book, pausing only to attempt sleep and eat. Despite the lack of sleep, it seemed like no time at all before I was on the ground in Frankfurt. 3 hour delay, and I think the culture shock started to set in. No English, and switching to Euros. The flight from Frankfurt to Rome was basically take off and landing, and the next thing I knew it was a beautiful morning in Rome. Mid 60s and sunny. I missed the majority of the bus ride from the airport to campus because I was so tired I could barely hold my head up. When I got on the bus it was about noon Rome time, so roughly 5AM for all of you in the central. Didn't help that I stayed up late the night before with Jake. The last of many tough goodbyes. Really missing my friends and family right now. Rome is beautiful though. Campus is like a scene out of a movie. Pillars, statues, green grass, palm trees. Pictures to come!  I was so caught up in orientation and such today that I didn't even think to bring my camera from my room. We had registration and some info sessions, met the staff, ate dinner. Just the business side of things today. Tried some of my Italian on the kitchen staff, and it went decently well. Could communicate that I wanted the pizza and the potatoes (a hearty first meal, right?). After dinner, my good friend Jim DeLuca and I roamed the neighborhood, scoped out the 20 minute walk from the hotel to campus, and found a small deli where we purchased our first alcohol legally. Nothing too crazy, just a bottle of Perroni and some other random Italian beer for each of us. Jim played his left handed guitar while I sang in his room, and we made some more friends. I caught a nice second wind, and here I sit at midnight in the hotel, having trouble getting tired. Five months. Five months. Saying it doesn't make it any more real. It feels like the beginning of a vacation. Class starts Monday, but from what I hear, not too much studying happens. Today is just day one. It's going to be a wild ride. Buonanotte, i miei amici. One hell of a first day in Rome.