just your average week.

Unfortunately nothing too exciting has happened since I returned from Sicily. Instead of having Theory we have had History of Roman Urbanism for the past two weeks, and just as all history courses in the past I am not very interested in it our excited about it. The walks we had for the class were semi-interesting. They seemed very redundant though, because they all revolved around churches, and now we've seen so many I feel like they are all starting to look the same.

This weekend I celebrated my 21st birthday. We went out to a club, which was fun, just not my kind of scene. Give me a small bar and a pool table and I'm set. That's one thing that I've noticed more since I've been here -- most of the other students, besides getting school work done, only care about going out and partying. I really don't understand that typical college lifestyle. It was great to get all the birthday cards too, and it also made me miss home more.

I almost can't believe we've already been here for almost two months. The longer I'm here the more used to it I am and the more I love it here, but I am still very excited to go back to the States. A lot of people here talk about how they wouldn't mind just staying and living here, and that is not something I would really ever want to do. I would love to have a vacation home or something outside of the U.S., or just the opportunity to vacation here on occasion, but I enjoy permanently residing in the States better. It's most likely partially due to the fact that I am comfortable there, and feel at home there, but also there's so many places in America that I still want to see or simply continue to see on a regular basis.

Next week we are going to the Tuscany region, which I am very excited about. I opted to come back to Rome when the trip ends on Friday rather than stay the weekend, mainly just to save some money. The trip to Sicily after our visit to the Campania region ended up costing more than I had expected, and I am definitely staying after Venice because Kate is meeting me there that weekend and I cannot go to that region without seeing the Palladian Villas. If there's one thing I have to see in Italy before I leave, the Palladian Villas are it.

I need to get some homework done now, but I will update again as soon as I get back from Tuscany. Ciao!

is it time for the next break yet?

This past week was amazing and unforgettable. On Tuesday morning we boarded the bus for Campania, a region in Southern Italy, and I had no idea what kind of experience was ahead of me. 

Our first stop was in Paestum. We stayed at an adorable little beach front hotel, even though it was far too cold to actually use the beach. Paestum was almost indescribable. The temples were massive, bigger than I ever really imagined. I can't seem to wrap my head around such buildings -- so long ago, with so little technology, people spent so many years on intricate and monumental structures. I guess it baffles me to think a culture was ever like that. Nowadays we build things to last maybe 20 years, and we update styles. Back in ancient times they built for longevity. On a side note, I did the touristy thing while we were at Paestum and bought a really pretty glass pendant and indulged in pistachio gelato. That night, after our visit to the site, I learned a new card game. I can't remember the name of it because it was Italian, but basically it's like Hand and Foot, except you play in teams and the scoring is different. There were a couple other differences, but not very big ones, and my team won by a ridiculous amount of points. 

The next day we went to Herculaneum (aka Ercolano). This time we got to stay in a really nice hotel, complete with gardens and jacuzzi tubs and balconies that overlooked the sea. The actual site of Herculaneum was unbelievable. An entire town excavated from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius all the way back in year 79! It's crazy to think how much the city around it has built up when Mt. Vesuvius is still there and could definitely erupt again and destroy the entire city (even though it hasn't erupted since about 1200). Thinking about natural disasters like a hurricane or earthquake is scary, but a volcano? Just because of the temperature and chemical makeup of the fumes, once you breathe it in you can literally disintegrate. I'm very glad I don't live near a volcano.

Our final day was around Naples, visiting quite a few sites: Oplontis, Cuma, Piscina Mirabilis, Sulfatara Volcano. Oplontis was okay, but I really wasn't too inspired by it. Cuma is a cave where supposedly a prophet sat and you could go hear a prophecy. Piscina Mirabilis was basically an underground water basin, so it was dark and damp and moldy. And Sulfatara was full of clouds of sulfur and did not smell very good. That was a tiring day--most of our time was spent on the bus and we only saw each site for 30 minutes to an hour. Our trip ended in Naples, and from there some classmates and I made our way to Sicily.

We took an overnight "ferry", which to me seemed more like a cruise ship, although that observation is not made from experience. It wasn't as fun as we thought it was going to be -- the rocking of the boat really just made us all tired and there weren't any other people our age on the boat. It was still a fun experience though. We docked in Palermo, Sicily at about 6:45 am and made our way to our hostel. It was really more like a bed and breakfast than a standard hostel. It was really cute and colorful. We couldn't check into our rooms until noon so we left out bags and spent the day around Palermo. Our first main stop was the Catacombs, something I will never do again. I wasn't really sure what it was going to be like, and it was only 1 euro 50, so I decided to check it out with everyone else. Considering I don't even like cemeteries, I have no idea why I thought the Catacombs would be okay. Hundreds of skeletons, all still dressed and some still with hair, like 6 inches from my face. Never again.

After that we took the bus up to Duomo Monreale, an absolutely gorgeous church. I wish I had the patience and talent to make such beautiful and detailed mosaics. Words can't even describe. We were so tired from traveling that we took our own little siesta after that -- napped, showered, and got ready for a night in Palermo. We found a great little bar that was decently cheap and perfect to start the night. They didn't know how to make some drinks, so we had to tell them. Now they know yummy drinks for future American students. Overall it was a very fun night and I will never forget my one night in Sicily. On the final day, Sunday, our flight didn't leave until 9:40 pm. That turned out to be a drag because on Sunday, Palermo turns into a ghost town. EVERYTHING closes. I honestly don't understand how an entire city can just shut down. In America the weekend is when everything is open cause that's the day for errands. Not in Palermo.

Now that our first trip is over, I unfortunately have to get back into school mode. I am really excited for the rest of our trips, partially to see more of Italy and partially because it's a little break where we don't have to worry about homework or class. And now it's back to homework...

Ciao!

and now my life is almost complete.

This week has been the most stressful so far. Not because of one specific thing, necessarily, but a culmination of a couple things. My bank account situation got worse, and in waiting for my new ATM card (which I finally got today) I had no cash. And for those of you that aren't aware, a lot of places in Italy are cash only. So no cash led mainly to skipping lunch or spending more money than normal on lunch cause I would have to go to the grocery store to use my credit card. But mostly skipping lunch, which probably wasn't very good for me. 

We also had our first real project for studio this week. It was site analysis, and the process of finding out information was pretty easy, but when it came down to actually putting a presentation together I was not the happiest person. One of the main reasons I don't like working in groups is that for me to do my part I have to wait on someone else to finish their part, and when it's 9:30 pm the night before it's due... I think it's obvious how irritating it is. And they wait to tell me that they couldn't open one of the files I sent them to continue working on until 20 minutes before it was due, so that part didn't get finished. Groups are unreliable and more of a hassle than a help most of the time. 

Now let's get to the good parts of the week... Our walks this week were two museums, the Centrale Montemartini and the Ara Pacis Museum. Both were very cool. Montemartini is an old power plant that was converted into a museum, so the statues are placed throughout the building in front of all the case iron engines and boilers, etc. It seems strange, which it kind of is, but the contrast between color and style and material is very intriguing. The Ara Pacis Museum is a modern building by architect Richard Meier, and it basically acts as a display case to house one artifact -- the Ara Pacis -- the funerary altar of Augustus. It's a beautiful building. Basically all glass, you can see right through the museum so you can still see the city. There is, however, a lot of controversy around the building because many people are still unsure of whether or not a historic city such as Rome can welcome modern architecture. As long as you're not compromising the historic fabric of the city, I don't see why some modern buildings can't exist. They should still somehow speak to the city though, as does the Ara Pacis Museum, in my opinion.

Besides having a load of homework to do this weekend, one event made this weekend amazing despite everything else. I went to my first professional, and foreign, soccer game. It was Lazio (one of Rome's teams) and Milan, and the fans were definitely as into it as I had heard about. Unfortunately the fans we were sitting by were all into it in the angrier sense of the game -- Lazio lost. I didn't really care who won though since I don't know enough about professional soccer to really pick a team. I definitely didn't mind watching Milan win, especially when one of the assists was made by David Beckham. I wish I had been like twenty feet closer, but either way, David Beckham was right there!! It was amazing, and my life is officially one step closer to being complete. Haha.

My next post should be full of interesting things. We're leaving at seven am tomorrow for the Campania region to see the Naples area -- Paestum, Herculaneum, and a couple other sites including a volcano. Our class trip officially ends on Friday afternoon, and from there a bunch of my classmates and I are taking an overnight ferry to Sicily. We'll stay there for the weekend and fly back to Rome Sunday night. It will definitely be an amazing week, especially with no classes to worry about!

Ciao!