Week 2

Well, I have survived my second week of classes here...well, almost. All I have is Italian in the morning and a walking tour, but they don't count.

A lot has gone on this past week actually, so I have a lot to catch you all up on. First and foremost, the first emergency room visit: last Friday, one of the girls who lives with me tripped on a cobblestone (they are vicious here!!) and landed on her knee. So bad that it busted it open all the way down to the bone. She was in the hospital overnight and had to get 21 stitches and is, needless to say, using crutches for a while. This also means that she is missing out on all the walking tours that we have been going on..seeing some more of the city that we haven't yet. She is doing fine now, just hobbling around the house and to the classes that only involve sitting in the room, and she goes back for a check up next week.

Now, the walking tours. We are taking a lot of classes here that seem to overlap when it comes to content. This means that we hear a lot of the same information over, and over, and over. AND we seem to go to the same places in Rome a lot. Which is ok, because it is all beautiful. =) This week we spent a lot of time at the Capitoline Hill and the surrounding monuments, ruins, and piazzas. There is so much history in this city, it is overwhealming. The only downfall to all these walking tours is that I am SO SORE!! My hips, knees, calves, ankles, and toes all hurt. I feel like I'm an old woman when I wake up in the morning all sore. I still haven't been down to the Coliseum yet....but we plan on going sometime this weekend. We all want to go at night because I'm sure its SUPER GORGEOUS at night.

And YESTERDAYYYY we got our plans for Spring Break ironed out!!!! I bought my tickets to Barcelona AND Paris!! I canNOT believe it. I know I bought the tickets and everything, but it is so surreal to think that I am going to be in Barcelona and Paris in a few weeks. I can't believe it. It is going to be CRAZY. Ah! Can't wait! Only a few more weeks and before then, I get to see my friend Julie who is coming to visit me! =)

Next few weeks should be great!

Hump Day

Ok, I am officially half way through my first week of classes here in Rome, and I must say, it feels nice to be back in school again.
My winter 'break' if you want to call it was anything but relaxing. I did so much running around and driving here and driving there, I only got to see my friends one time and I didn't get to spend as much time with my family as I would have liked. Coming to Rome, I knew I would have a lot on my plate, but it is nice to have something for my mind to focus on, even though there is A LOT to focus on here.
So classes thus far consist of sketching, drawing, rendering, and more sketching, and apparently everything I learned from drawing in Copenhagen was left in Copenhagen. My first sketch was really really horrible. But, I can proudly say my second was better and my third even better than that. So...it will just take me some time to warm up, that's all. I had my first day of Design yesterday, although it was only an introduction so it doesn't really count. Today I had my first class with Larry, by far my favorite professor ever, and so of course it went great! He showed us some pretty awesome sights to go back to....

Now, to fill you in on the rest of the weekend, I SAW SOME AWESOME STUFF. We went on an adventure Sunday and saw St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican, the Castle di Sant' Angelo, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain. All were beautiful, and I KNOW I will be returning to them all sometime soon.

Going to the Vatican on Sunday worked out well, because we saw the Pope!! I'm not Catholic, but I have to say it was still pretty awesome to see the Pope. I can definitely check that one off my bucket list. From there, we got an awesome pizza lunch, and moved our way over to the castle and across the bridge into the older part of town.

Turns out the Pantheon isn't really all that easy to find. There are signs here and there, but all the roads are so small that you wind your way through the city with barely any sense of direction. Once we got into the piazza just in front of the Pantheon though, it was like a vacuum. We turned the corner and BAM! there it was: One of THE MOST famous works of architecture of all time. Part of it was being renovated on the outside, but it was sooooo cool to be standing in front of the Pantheon!! It looked so old, too! And I know it IS old, of course, but being amidst all the newer looking buildings, it looked so old and gray and weathered..but the interior was perfect. It was so beautiful. The oculus in the center of the roof is still just a hole, so the first day it rains here I want to go watch it rain inside. Turns out Raphael (the famous painter) was buried there, so they had his tomb as well as one of the previous kings of Rome (or Italy, I'm not sure). The whole thing was just so darn beautiful.


And our final destination of the day was the Trevi Fountain. Now, this is the one that you are supposed to throw a coin into in order to bring you love. I threw one in because, you know... 'When in Rome..' but I threw it in in thanks of finding love. =) The fountain itself is really pretty, and all of these places are on our list of places to return to at night to see them all lit up.

It's all sinking in..

Ok. So today I have had my first few moments where it has started to hit me that I am in Rome. I am going to be living in Rome for the next 4 months. I will be taking classes and doing work while I am here in Rome for the next 4 months.
Of course it is still AWESOME that I am here, it's just that all this sinking in makes me miss those at home so much more....I don't know why, but I am feeling a bit homesick today. Just being with so many people and living with so many people who are on such different schedules and everything makes life........well...........interesting. It really makes you realize who you are as a person.
Today, in a recap, was a lazy day for the most part. We had to go to studio for orientation at 10 am this morning, which was a struggle because my friends and I went out drinking last night. Six of us shared four liters of mojito....which made us all very happy.... So anyways, we made it to studio on time and then listened to the director of the program talk about nonsense for an hour. Ugh. It was painful. So then after that, we returned to the apartment and hung out until our arranged studio lunch at 2. I watched Top Chef during that time because my AMAZING boyfriend sent it to me so I can keep up. =) After lunch, I had to buy a sketchbook for my drawing class, and nobody else had to go to the art supply store, so what did that mean? I had to venture out, ON MY OWN. I had to know where I was going, and speak enough Italian to get what I needed. It wasn't bad at all, but it was the first thing I have done here completely alone!! I kindof liked the independence..and almost wanted to stay out for a little while longer, but I was tired and didn't want to carry my new sketchbook everywhere with me.
The rest of the evening I spent at home, working with my partners on our poetry workshop assignment that is due Tuesday. We worked on it for multiple hours....we kindof lost track of time, but we got 99% of it done. So that is a load off our shoulders.
Tonight, we are just going to stay in I think. I made myself some dinner that was AWESOME and now I am just hanging out and letting my food digest. So, no big news really.


The other day while wandering through the city, I saw my first real ruins. It was sooo beautiful. Not all of them, but I walked up onto Capitoline Hill and saw the tip of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum and basically the 'downtown' of all the ruins. We didn't venture all the way into the heart of it, but just seeing it was absolutely stunning. It is so crazy to be AT the places that I have studied for over 5 years now....


When I get closer to the ruins, I will DEFINITELY have more to say, and more for you to see.

Fresh off the Boat

I am finally here!! I feel like this day has been talked about for SOOOOOO long that it is surreal. Although I arrived here in Rome at 8 am, it didn't really hit me that I AM IN ROME until my walking tour at 4 pm. Upon first inspection, the city seemed not much different from New York because of all the graffiti everywhere and the trash...but then on the walking tour, the sun was setting and we were walking across a bridge over the Tiber River and it all just hit me. I literally felt like I was in a dream. Everything was so peachy and mellow and beautiful! It really was just amazing.

Other than that walking tour, my roommates (Xing, Olga, Bernie, Alyshia, and Naida) and I just wandered around in search for a supermarket to pick up some last minute needed things. We are still struggling with three very important things though:

1) Converters and adapters for electronic devices...
2) Hot water
3) General heat for the apartment.

The place is cute and pretty and super Italian, but FREEZING COLD. The hot water is working now..but it is hard to figure out how to get it just right...not too hot, not too cold. Other than that, the apartment is a freezer. It was warmer outside today than it was in our apartment. But, it's great so far and I know this is really going to be an enjoyable experience. =)