Ciao from Carnevale!!! Pictures and Blog coming soon!

Pictures from my wander through the city.

I still can’t believe I’m in Rome. It hits me at the weirdest moments, and at other times I feel like nothing has changed.  Although my Italian hasn’t improved much, living in Rome is definitely starting to feel a little more comfortable. Most people speak a little English, so I can manage. Sometimes I even forget I’m in Italy because 99% of the time I still speak English. But there have been some obstacles, and most people that you run into on the street don’t speak English, or they won’t put the effort into speaking English to talk to you. So there have been multiple occasions I’ve felt like an idiot because someone has spoken to me in Italian, and when I inform them that I don’t speak Italian, they grumpily walk off. But I’m picking it up a little at a time and hopefully by the end of the semester I will know a lot more than I do now!

My usual week consists of school during the day, and exploration at night. Some of these explorations take us to the local bars, where we stay up way past my usual bedtime… and sometimes it’s just a nice stroll around the city as we look for a good, but sill inexpensive place to eat. Our school building is in an area called the Jewish Ghetto. It’s not the ghetto like we think of in the US, it’s called the Ghetto because it’s a term that was used back during WWII and it stuck. It’s actually a really nice area of town right next to the river. All throughout Rome there will randomly be gold squares in the ground that have names and dates on them. At first I didn’t pay much attention to them, probably because I didn’t know what they meant… But they are markers of people who were taken during the Holocaust. In fact, there are two right outside the front door to our apartment complex. I (obviously) wasn’t alive during WWII, and it wasn’t fought on US soil so I’ve always thought of it as this war that happened long ago, far away... I’ve never really connected. But here, these constant reminders of the past have really caught my attention. I’ve always loved history, but here it’s not just history, it’s a part of everyday life.

These last couple weeks have been pretty low key. No trips or big plans. A couple days ago I walked around Rome on my own (Mom and Dad, forget you read that :)), and was pleasantly surprised at how well I’m starting to know the city. It was nice to spend some time strolling around, trying to permanently burn the images into my brain. I realized that 4-5 times a week I walk by a big landmark. Usually it’s the Pantheon, and as I was wandering I realized that people actually live their whole lives like this. I wonder if they have pictures of themselves making a wish at the Trevi Fountain. Probably not… it’s one of those things where you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. It made me so very thankful for this opportunity and all the people who supported me and helped make it happen! I still have several months, but I know it will go by too quickly. One of my professors lives here in Rome 6months out of the year, and lives in New York the other 6 months. I think that’s the perfect life! A villa in Italy to use as a summer home, or winter home… Sounds amazing!

I’m taking advantage of every opportunity to enjoy all things Italian, like pasta and gelato, but there are definitely some things that I’m starting to really miss! First of all, green chili. It’s crazy how much I miss it!! There’s not really anything spicy here. I did have some nachos the other day that had those pickled jalapenos, and that was nice, but there’s nothing in the world like a green chili cheeseburger. Which brings me to another point: cheeseburgers! I haven’t had one yet, but I’ve been told of several places that have really good burgers. So I’m going to have to try them out here pretty soon! I’m also really missing Starbucks. Here I’ve had the best Cappuccino I’ve ever had in my entire life, but there’s nothing like an iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks. There is no Starbucks in Rome, but I’ve heard that there’s one in Florence, so I’ll have to make a stop when I’m there! I had some oreos the other day, so that was a nice little treat!   

Last night was the Super Bowl, and being proper Americans, we had to watch it! So we found this Irish Pub that was playing the game on all the TVs in the Pub. The only problem is that due to the time change, they game started at 12:30am here… Which means that when I came home after Madonna’s amazing half-time show, it was at 3:00 in the morning. So I think my brain is a little bit fried from that late night! That’s all for now, I’ll post more again soon!

*One last note… It snowed here the other day! Which was really exciting! The last time in snowed in Rome was in 1984!! The schools were shut down and this whole weekend kids have been out in the streets throwing snowballs and attempting to go sledding. So it’s a little bit colder here than it usually is this time of the year, but it’s so beautiful!

WANDER

FINALLY SOME PICTURES

BEGINNINGS

*I'm trying to upload pictures, but I'm having some issues... Hopefully they'll be up soon!*

Have you seen Under the Tuscan Sun? There’s a scene where Marcello and Frances are driving through Italy. As he’s speeding around she asks “Do traffic lights mean anything around here?” he replies “Sure, green light: avanti avanti. Yellow light: decoration.” “What about red light?” and he says “Just a suggestion”…. This doesn’t even come close to describing drivers in Italy. They’re crazy!! They actually do pay attention to traffic lights, but they take everything else as a suggestion. Cars swerve between lanes, or even drive down the middle of two; people cut each other off without blinkers and barely enough room; mopeds speed by cars, shouting and honking if a car gets in their way. I don’t know why people even have cars in Rome. The streets are so small and packed with people that cars squeeze by, almost running people and mopeds over.

Rome is much busier than I expected! There is a constant stream of noise. Outside our apartment there is a market every morning that has fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as meat, cheese, and bread. It’s amazing! However, in the mornings, we can hear the vendors getting ready, setting up, and the people on the streets. In the afternoon there are horns honking, people shouting (Italian’s talk REALLY loudly) and dogs barking. At night there’s bar noise, more car honking, more Italian’s yelling and even occasional construction (our first night they were doing construction outside our apartment at 1am)! It’s crazy because Rome is this bustling city, yet everywhere you look there is a reminder of the past. Walking down a street, where cars are speeding by and street vendors are trying to get you to buy a rose or scarf, you’ll suddenly come across some ruins, or the Colosseum… and it never ends. There are ancient temples that were enclosed and became churches, then renovated later and turned into theatres, and now they are museums or just ruins. There are decades and decades of years that this city has seen and survived, I can’t even wrap my head around it!

My first full day in Rome we had orientation. We walked around our neighborhood and I went to the Piazza Venezia and Colosseum. The Piazza Venezia is a HUUUUGEEE white building that the locals call God’s Typewriter because it’s so big. Apparently it was built just to say “look what Rome can do” but was later turned into a monument and museum to satisfy the Romans (who still hate it). There are two eternal flames that burn “until the last soldier comes home” and are guarded by military guys with big capes and guns! They’re like the soldiers at Buckingham Palace who don’t speak or move or barely even blink! I was there at the perfect time because I got to see the changing of the guards ceremony, which was very elaborate and interesting to watch.

From there I went to the Colosseum. It’s much bigger than it seems in pictures, and even more stunning than you can imagine! I haven’t gone inside yet, and I was running out of time, so I just took some pictures from far away, but I really want to go back. At the Colosseum, and all over Rome, there are guys dressed in gladiator costumes, and they try to get you to take a picture with them, and then the charge you a bunch of money! I wanted to take a picture with one, but wasn’t willing to pay so I’ll just have to settle for pictures of the Colosseum without the gladiators… I guess it’s a price I’m willing to pay J

Over the weekend our class took a trip up to Tivoli (tee-voh-lee) and saw some pretty amazing villas and ruins. We went to Hadrian’s Villa, or Villa Adriana (Italian version). This was a HUGE living complex that was the farthest a person could be and still be allowed to be a Roman Senator. Hadrian was emperor of Rome in the 2^nd century AD, but he didn’t want to live in Rome, so this was as far as he was allowed to be. But this place wasn’t just for him. Everyone who was anyone had a villa there and could enjoy living there permanently, or just for vacation/get-away purposes. Hundreds of underground tunnels and passageways were built so that servants were never seen, but food magically appeared and rooms were magically cleaned. It’s amazing to think about the amount of money that went into this place. Now we only see ruin of brick and stone, but in Hadrian’s time every surface was covered in all colors of marble, mosaics and other decoration. Occasionally you get a glimpse of a small piece of marble or mosaic that still remains, but it’s hard to imagine what it would actually look like.

After Hadrian’s Villa we went to Villa d’Este that is up in the hills of Tivoli. This was a palace was built by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, a guy who was trying to be pope, but was denied 5 times! He was later named governor of Tivoli by Pope Julius III. Even though he never made it all the way to the top of the church ladder, he had TONS of money and built a huge palace with gardens and amazing fountains in the 1550’s. As a visitor you would be dropped off at the bottom of the hill, and as you made your way up you would encounter several different fountains and the sound of the water would grow louder and louder as you reached the top. This villa is preserved really well and was absolutely gorgeous. It’s interesting because when these gardens were being built, they would take pieces from Hadrian’s Villa to decorate Villa d’Este. So there are some pieces incorporated into Villa d’Este that actually would belong in Villa Adriana. Since Villa d’Este was on a hill, there is an incredible view of Roma!

On Sunday night a couple of us took a quick trip out to the shore. It was a short bus and train ride out to the beach. Unfortunately we couldn’t get down to the sand because they have it all walled off so you can’t go in at night, but we walked out on a dock/pier and took some pictures. It was dark but we all loved going out where we could hear and smell the ocean! It was beautiful and we hope to go back and make a day trip out of it.

I can’t believe all that I’ve done and seen so far, and I’m just getting started!

It's Time!

In about 17 hours I will be leaving for Rome!! I'm flying from Albuquerque to Dallas, then to London,  and then to Rome! After 28 hours of travel I will finally be in Italia!

I'm meeting up with some other girls in London, and then in Rome a driver will pick us up and take us to our apartment, where we will meet the rental agency and sign the papers for our apartment! In two days I will be moving into my new residence, the place I will live for the next 5 months!

I'm excited, nervous, and I need to finish doing laundry so I can pack!

Wish me luck! I'll write again from Roma.

PS- This is where I will be living. Via Natale Del Grande, Roma, Italia