I'm really sorry I haven't updated. I still didn't update the 10 days from like 2 posts ago that aren't filled in right now (but will be eventually...). This week has been a whirlwind of going out and partying, attempting to see some carnivale events, and studying for midterms. I'm also semi-sick which started like 2 weeks ago when my roommate got sick. My nose has been stuffy and runny, and it's been hard to breathe before going to bed. But nasal spray has been saving my life. I ran out but bought some today (supposedly made by Vick's so it should do the trick). I took a pill for the flu today just in case and finished my few Tylenol cold pills over the past few days. I'm not sure if it's a cold or allergies, but I don't really feel crappy so I'd say allergies. I've started to have a tiny cough and relatively OK but on and off sore/dry throat and mucus, but not sure if it's all getting better or worse. I'm trying to keep on top of it with meds and things, so I'll be OK for my trip tomorrow. I'll try to write this post day by day...I'll see what I can do.
Thursday night was a huge Temple gathering in Testaccio at the cute little bar On the Rox. It was actually quite fun with everyone together. The people here are pretty relaxed and chill and easy to talk to. We had 2 drinks for 8 euro, not bad. I had an amazing looking sex on the beach and a cosmo! I sat down with this girl Alex from Penn State who knows Kellen and we chatted, and then some Italian guys sitting behind us starting talking to me and one of Alex's friends (also in the program but I forgot her name). They were pretty cute and told us they played for the AS Roma soccer team...yeah right! Hahha. We didn't believe them but they were friendly and nice. One of them claimed he modeled for Dolce & Gabana and Original Marines (a men's clothing company here)...and then showed us his abs to prove it! Sweet lol. We chatted and he ended up making out with/getting the number of the other girl. I obviously didn't flirt or give out my number etc. But they were fun to chat with and we had a good time. Later on I met some other girls there and this new guy Bob who I had seen around but never talked to. We chatted a bit and then headed down the block to Coyote to dance, but there were sketch old men and we were tired. We chatted outside and soon after decided to leave. I didn't get home until about 4:30 in the morning!
On Friday I went out with a bunch of girls that I'm getting to know better and some neighbors and friends. There were 9 girls (myself, Mia, Gillian, Jillian, Michelle, Shaday, Grace, Ellen, and Shanley). We went out for apperitivos (my idea of course), an amazing Italian phenomenon unknown to the American people. No, it is not appetizers. Basically, you go to a bar/restaurant that holds the event (usually every night from about 7-9 pm or later...and mostly around here they're in Trastevere), and you buy any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage and you get a FREE food buffet to eat (you can probably get the food for free too because they don't check to see if you got a drink). It's not really heavy food, and I'm sure Italians just eat them as appetizers before dinner, be we Americans take full advantage and MAKE it dinner! They had fresh veggies, caesar salad, bread, different pastas, cous cous, cinnamon apples, soup, grilled veggies, dips and sauces, etc. It was great! We went for apperitivos in Milan on my class trip as well but at this point I haven't written about that because it's in that group of 10 days I haven't updated about :( Fail. Anyway, it was fabulous and then we went to this really sketchy area that the Italians call "la distileria" which is basically a huge piazza filled with night clubs and bars. But the places tried to be really exclusive with chains on the entrances, charged us to get in, also charged for drinks, and nobody was inside! It was basically like everyone was a spectacle to see so everyone stood outside and watched each other. Kind of lame. After trying to get in for free, our second or third place said 5 girls free and 4 pay, so the 4 of us left. Hahha. We weren't really feeling the scene anyway, so we took the night bus home. We stopped off first near the Colosseum/Forum to see a laser show they had on at night where there was a HUGE green laser going down Via del Corso all the way to the end to the wedding cake building aka Mussolini's big office building. Cool. And we saw the forum lit up at night which was nice.
Saturday I just stayed in pretty late but went to MAS in the afternoon with Grace and Mia. I exchanged my hair dryer since it was only blowing out cold air, and got some warm cashmere socks for $1.50! I also got some tees and tanks for Tunisia since they were only 1 Euro each. We were there for a few hours and walked around the area to find some Philipino stores. I got ramen! YAY! Then we went home and at night I had dinner with Grace. YUM! She made gnocchi, salad, and some other things.
Sunday, I woke up early hoping to go to a carnivale parade at a park near the Baths of Trajan and the Colosseum. It ended up being a bunch of little kids in costumes and a van with speakers on it with people dancing. I was pretty disappointed. I took some cool pictures of myself with the Colosseum in the background...hence my cool facebook default picture :) Then I came back to the apartment and studied all day for my art history midterm. Deathly. Gross.
Monday....had class and tried to come home early to study. Didn't happen. Went to GS, cooked, and only studied after 8:30 pm. Sucksssss....but it was ok. I stressed a bit about the test but it was ok.
Tuesday I had the art history exam which turned out not to be as bad as I thought. Hopefully my grade will show that too...sad to say but even if I get a C I won't be disappointed. My grades don't count anyway! HAHHA!!! I was so glad it was over I just veggggged out all night on Tuesday and did notttthing at all. It felt so good.
Yesterday...I had photo in the morning and we went to Piazza Reppublica and took some photos. We also visited 2 photo galleries, one was a National Geographic exhibit on Mother Earth, and the other was one called Exactitudes where people in various cities were chosen based on their "look" or attire that fit one social class, theme, personality, etc. and posed for the camera in the same way. It was a pretty cool comparison. I loved both! Then I had Italian, came home, and did laundry. Not so fun but I relaxed again!
Today...I had my Italian midterm. I really didn't study much last night, but the test was totally fine. I pretty much got an A. Then I had my design class and got my paper back where I got a 5+ out of 5 which was awesome :) I think she likes me even though I don't like her or the class LOL. Now, I'm home in the apartment and packing for my trip to Tunisia!!! I can't wait. It's also already spring break which is kind of sad because we're like half way over with the program :( But the trip to AFRICA is going to be fabulous. We're going to see El Gem (Roman amphitheater), ride camels into the Sahara, smoke hookah and palm leaf tobacco, visit a date palm oasis, shop in the souks and bizzars, and explore! The hotels are all 4 star with huge beds, resort sized pools, one is on the beach, and 2 have nightclubs! We're going to be traveling to various cities by bus all week but it's going to be amazing. I can't wait to go, and then get home and show everyone my photos and write about it on here. I'm also trying to book my trip to Istanbul, Turkey for Easter break to visit Perri. I'm speechless.....
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
February 18, 2009- Day 37- Love to Hate
Do you ever LOVE to hate? I HATE my fucking roommate. There...I said it. Yes, mom, yes Donna, YES everyone, it's my page and I can write what I wanna! So I said it...and if she reads it I could care less, because that's obviously what she thinks of me...couldn't give a shit less about me or my other roommate or what she says to us and how she says it. I just can't FUCKING stand her anymore.
Aside from the fact that we have agreed she's really, really awkward, she's also REALLY REALLY rude. She constantly picks out all the things I do and touch that are wrong or incorrect or not good enough. She puts us down and tells us daily in her very condescending demeanor how much better than us she thinks she is. Usually a daily reminder starts with how AMAZING Tyler is (Temple's art school) and how smart and creative they are. This past week, she even had the nerve to claim that the whole Temple Rome program wouldn't exist if it weren't for the brilliant Tyler students. Sure. Because Temple is SUCH an amazing school and I'm sure Tyler is right up there with all the best schools in NY....mmm hmmm. She continually makes comments that are insulting and unnecessary like her comparison of my mom who WORKS for a doctor and her dad who IS a doctor, or her flat out remark that mine and my roommate's photography class is probably a piece of shit because it's not an "art" photography class and that Tyler kids shouldn't be taking it.
She also likes to pinpoint when I have done really BAD things, like when I once left the bedroom window open when we all left for the day (to air out the room when she was sick), or when I cleaned the bedroom floor with a towel because clumps of dust were gathering and making us all cough and sneeze at night...but it's all OK when she leaves the gas on even after cooking, doesn't clean the drain of the sink out, or leaves the lights on in every room. Don't think I don't let her know about it in my nice and friendly little ways!
I, being the tough and argumentative person that you all know me to be, usually don't let her get by with such bitchy remarks. But even though I TRY to put her in her place, her relentless downpour of shit talk and negative rambling end in me dropping the refutes. It's just not worth it. I'm not even sure if she realizes how crude, hurtful, and disrespectful her comments are. But I try to shrug it off.
Usually, we sit in the living room in silence, because I honestly don't even want to say a word to her. We have nothing in common, and I feel like anything I say will be argued against, negated, and made into something she thinks is stupid. Even when I make a comment or suggestion about something fun or interesting, little Debbie Downer has something bad to say about it. But the tense and awkward silence doesn't keep her mouth shut. I usually endure loud and obnoxious rambles from her talking to the TV or to her computer, or yelling out things like "OWWW!" "damnit" "fuck" and so on. It's hardly amusing. I just think she's probably a sad person that doesn't know how to make friends and DEFINITELY doesn't know how to act in a social setting. But bitch better back off because she has NO idea who she's FUCKING dealing with.
It's all been eating me up from the get-go. I had a bad feeling about her from the start. But I try to make my experience here as fun and exciting as possible, without trying to include her in it...otherwise I'd be constantly miserable. I try to stay out of the apartment as much as possible because, really, I feel like I have nothing to come home to but my friends, my mom, and Roger on Skype. I don't know why I always get the worst roommates but, someone out there must hate me! If anything at all, this trip has thus far taught me to better deal with the people I'm living with and try to let things slide. It's not easy, trust me. But most of you know how I am, and I can honestly say I've done a pretty good job at not letting my angry/annoyed emotions show as clearly as in the past. I do get fed up, and I do argue when I want to, but the bitch is lucky I haven't clocked her one yet. I just really hate know-it-all's, hate being told what to do by someone with no authority and no purpose to me, and I especially have no respect for someone who blatantly hates on me in my face for no good reason and can't seem to keep this place a fun and happy environment. It's sad if you think about it really, that one girl can't be positive and friendly with two others who came here for the time of their lives and are trying to have an amazing experience. We get along for the most part in the sense of living, but our personalities are COMPLETELY off. I didn't really want to post this, but after a whole month of keeping it in, I kind of had to. It's something I have to get over, and not sure if I will, but I'm coping...and waiting for my final days of her being in my presence.
Aside from the fact that we have agreed she's really, really awkward, she's also REALLY REALLY rude. She constantly picks out all the things I do and touch that are wrong or incorrect or not good enough. She puts us down and tells us daily in her very condescending demeanor how much better than us she thinks she is. Usually a daily reminder starts with how AMAZING Tyler is (Temple's art school) and how smart and creative they are. This past week, she even had the nerve to claim that the whole Temple Rome program wouldn't exist if it weren't for the brilliant Tyler students. Sure. Because Temple is SUCH an amazing school and I'm sure Tyler is right up there with all the best schools in NY....mmm hmmm. She continually makes comments that are insulting and unnecessary like her comparison of my mom who WORKS for a doctor and her dad who IS a doctor, or her flat out remark that mine and my roommate's photography class is probably a piece of shit because it's not an "art" photography class and that Tyler kids shouldn't be taking it.
She also likes to pinpoint when I have done really BAD things, like when I once left the bedroom window open when we all left for the day (to air out the room when she was sick), or when I cleaned the bedroom floor with a towel because clumps of dust were gathering and making us all cough and sneeze at night...but it's all OK when she leaves the gas on even after cooking, doesn't clean the drain of the sink out, or leaves the lights on in every room. Don't think I don't let her know about it in my nice and friendly little ways!
I, being the tough and argumentative person that you all know me to be, usually don't let her get by with such bitchy remarks. But even though I TRY to put her in her place, her relentless downpour of shit talk and negative rambling end in me dropping the refutes. It's just not worth it. I'm not even sure if she realizes how crude, hurtful, and disrespectful her comments are. But I try to shrug it off.
Usually, we sit in the living room in silence, because I honestly don't even want to say a word to her. We have nothing in common, and I feel like anything I say will be argued against, negated, and made into something she thinks is stupid. Even when I make a comment or suggestion about something fun or interesting, little Debbie Downer has something bad to say about it. But the tense and awkward silence doesn't keep her mouth shut. I usually endure loud and obnoxious rambles from her talking to the TV or to her computer, or yelling out things like "OWWW!" "damnit" "fuck" and so on. It's hardly amusing. I just think she's probably a sad person that doesn't know how to make friends and DEFINITELY doesn't know how to act in a social setting. But bitch better back off because she has NO idea who she's FUCKING dealing with.
It's all been eating me up from the get-go. I had a bad feeling about her from the start. But I try to make my experience here as fun and exciting as possible, without trying to include her in it...otherwise I'd be constantly miserable. I try to stay out of the apartment as much as possible because, really, I feel like I have nothing to come home to but my friends, my mom, and Roger on Skype. I don't know why I always get the worst roommates but, someone out there must hate me! If anything at all, this trip has thus far taught me to better deal with the people I'm living with and try to let things slide. It's not easy, trust me. But most of you know how I am, and I can honestly say I've done a pretty good job at not letting my angry/annoyed emotions show as clearly as in the past. I do get fed up, and I do argue when I want to, but the bitch is lucky I haven't clocked her one yet. I just really hate know-it-all's, hate being told what to do by someone with no authority and no purpose to me, and I especially have no respect for someone who blatantly hates on me in my face for no good reason and can't seem to keep this place a fun and happy environment. It's sad if you think about it really, that one girl can't be positive and friendly with two others who came here for the time of their lives and are trying to have an amazing experience. We get along for the most part in the sense of living, but our personalities are COMPLETELY off. I didn't really want to post this, but after a whole month of keeping it in, I kind of had to. It's something I have to get over, and not sure if I will, but I'm coping...and waiting for my final days of her being in my presence.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
February 17, 2009- Day 36- I'm Craving NYC
I can't tell you how tired I am of eating pizza, pasta, and paninis! I swear, it is the evil PPPPP syndrome of Rome! I can't wait till I go to Tunisia and finally eat some different food! The gelato can never hurt though. But, like I've said before, I've even had to stoop down to McDonald's and Burger King to get away from the usual proscuitto and mozarella sandwiches every day! I had a cheeseburger and fries today for lunch, just about a half an hour ago actually, and it was heaven! Ok...so obviously I have been craving some good old NYC mutli-national grease-fest food. Here's my list of FOOD oriented places to go when I come home...so you can each claim a place to take me!
Blockheads
Nathan's (hotdogs...dur)
SEA
Coldstone Creamery
Joe's Shanghai for soup dumplings
Crepe N Teria or Quickly for bubble tea!
Mickey's
Popeye's?
Serendipity
City Hotdog for bulgougi hotdogs
Panna II for cheap Indian
Little Morocco (especially with my girls Anna and Eleni)
Cozymels
BBQ's
California Pizza Kitchen (yes, it's pizza, but amazing pizza)
Ok and some non-food related places in NYC that I NEED to go to when I'm home...
Stalk the set of "Sex and the City 2"
Central Park
Fayrooz or any hookah bar on 28th ave.
Riverside Drive
East Village/St. Mark's
West Village
Roosevelt Field
Fordham dorms
Any club cuz I'm finally 21 damnit!
Blockheads
Nathan's (hotdogs...dur)
SEA
Coldstone Creamery
Joe's Shanghai for soup dumplings
Crepe N Teria or Quickly for bubble tea!
Mickey's
Popeye's?
Serendipity
City Hotdog for bulgougi hotdogs
Panna II for cheap Indian
Little Morocco (especially with my girls Anna and Eleni)
Cozymels
BBQ's
California Pizza Kitchen (yes, it's pizza, but amazing pizza)
Ok and some non-food related places in NYC that I NEED to go to when I'm home...
Stalk the set of "Sex and the City 2"
Central Park
Fayrooz or any hookah bar on 28th ave.
Riverside Drive
East Village/St. Mark's
West Village
Roosevelt Field
Fordham dorms
Any club cuz I'm finally 21 damnit!
February 5-17, 2009- Days 24-36- Mi Piache Roma!
Wow....sorry I'm so bad at keeping up with these postings. So much goes on here that I hardly have a minute to sit down and type, and the internet at the residence blows so it usually proves to be difficult to even get online to post. So, it's been about a week and a half since I updated, and a lot of things I can't remember now so...sorry! I will share as much as I can remember from this point on. Time is flying here so what was one weekend sometimes seems like a combination of my memories of two or three weekends. Bear with me!
Thursday, Feb. 5- So....from what I can remember...I had Italian class as usual and then had Italian deisgn class where we went to EUR which was Mussolini's modern vision of Rome. Basically it was a bunch of boring modern buildings that were extremely ugly and only used for senate and other government purposes. There was nothing to do there. We walked around aimlessly, and we didn't even get to go inside the buildings! It was a trip not worth going on, honestly! After she let us "out" we walked back to the metro where there was a little outdoor market. I bought Roger a few Valentine's Day gifts and Abbey and I watched flocks of birds gathering around making awesome shapes and forms in the sky. Coolest thing ever. They were swarming all over the sky and moving in little schools and making huge black shapes all around us...I took plenty of pictures which will be up on Facebook as usual! After that, I went back to the residence and hung out. At night, a bunch of us...me, Kellen, Lauren, Ashley, Portia, Carey, Nick, Marcus, etc. went out to ZAR Bar which was a little bar/club near Trastevere. A bunch of kids we planned on going with got lost and ended up just staying in Campo di Fiori. The entrance was 10 euro per person but girls got 3 free drinks and guys got 2. Good deal. I split a cab there with some guys visiting from London who went to Penn State and who were friends with other Temple kids. One of them happened to be a guy my roomate once hooked up with years ago lol. They were all really cool. At the bar I didn't know what to order so like the Sex and the City fanatic I am, I ordered a Cosmo. It was pretty good but most of it ended up on my hands, on the floor, and on the jackets of the guys that bumped into me. I had one other drink which was an amazing fruity mix the bartender came up with, and I sold my third drink ticket to the guy I was supposed to split the cab home with. He and the other guys ended up leaving before we did so I ended up paying anyway. Everyone got pretty drunk except for me, as usual, and we made it home safe and sound. Lauren and the boys next door had a trip to Florence the next morning and were drunk and up late, and ended up missing their train. Oh well.
Friday, Feb. 6- I slept in kinda late after our night out. I don't even remember what I did this day...I actually think I stayed in all day because it was raining and cold out like usual. At night, I went out to dinner with Ashley, Portia, Kellen, and Alyssa. We went to a really cute place on the way to the Pantheon which was obviously a tourist trap like most of the other places around that area. I wanted to go to the pizza place in Trastevere but nobody wanted to go unless we could go out afterwards. The place we ended up at had a little porch with tables and heat lamps so we sat outside to eat. We split antipasto of grilled veggies, meats, and cheese and I got fettucini alfredo. It ended up costing around 19 euro a person...what a damn rip off! Oh well...what can you do??? After dinner we went back to the residence and had an early night in.
Saturday, Feb. 7- I slept late again and the weather was pretty crappy again. In the afternoon I met up with Mia and her new roommate Ryan for some delish gelato at Old Bridge. We walked around for a bit and shopped around Via Ottaviano and Via Candia where Mia got shampoo and things. We went to Tuodi, the discount supermarket and bought some snacks and wine as well. We headed back to Mia's for late lunch and I eventually stayed and had delivery pizza for dinner with Ryan and Tom! Mia cooked. At around 11:30 I left and headed to the infamous 24 hour bakery everyone here talks about with such love! I bought a croissant with white chocolate for 50 cents, a HUGE croissant filled with Nutella and topped with whipped cream for 1.50, and a weird sweet bun with zabaione cream for 1.50 also. I ate it all across a 3 day span.
Sunday, Feb. 8- I woke up early for once and finally went to Porta Portese. I was supposed to meet up with Mia but it was wayyyy too big and filled with way too many people so we couldn't meet up. Calling and texting cost to much to find out our exact locations. So I wandered and ended up getting some Italia hoodies as gifts and a few purses for 1 Euro each! Really cute bags too! When the market started closing up around 2:30 pm, I walked back to the entrance and saw people rummaging through a huge pile of bags, clothes, and shoes. I saw a pretty leather jacket on the ground next to a tree and tried it on. It fit but closed tightly over my chest. I asked how much it cost to a random man in the crowd and he said it was free. It must have been a pile of stuff nobody wanted or some stuff a vendor dropped and forgot to pick up again. I shoved it in my bag like they said to do along with a cute Louis Vuitton (not sure if it's real) pouch that's missing a zipper and walked on my way. A FREE leather jacket....can't beat that!!!! I walked along the Tiber and took some photos for class and eventually made it to Trastevere where I got McDonald's for lunch again. I got chicken nuggets and a cheeseburger and fries. YUM! Then I headed back to the residence and called it a day!
Monday, Feb. 9-
Tuesday, Feb. 10-
Wednesday, Feb. 11-
Thursday, Feb. 12-
Friday, Feb. 13-
Saturday, Feb. 14-
Sunday, Feb. 15-
Monday, Feb. 16-
Tuesday, Feb. 17-
Thursday, Feb. 5- So....from what I can remember...I had Italian class as usual and then had Italian deisgn class where we went to EUR which was Mussolini's modern vision of Rome. Basically it was a bunch of boring modern buildings that were extremely ugly and only used for senate and other government purposes. There was nothing to do there. We walked around aimlessly, and we didn't even get to go inside the buildings! It was a trip not worth going on, honestly! After she let us "out" we walked back to the metro where there was a little outdoor market. I bought Roger a few Valentine's Day gifts and Abbey and I watched flocks of birds gathering around making awesome shapes and forms in the sky. Coolest thing ever. They were swarming all over the sky and moving in little schools and making huge black shapes all around us...I took plenty of pictures which will be up on Facebook as usual! After that, I went back to the residence and hung out. At night, a bunch of us...me, Kellen, Lauren, Ashley, Portia, Carey, Nick, Marcus, etc. went out to ZAR Bar which was a little bar/club near Trastevere. A bunch of kids we planned on going with got lost and ended up just staying in Campo di Fiori. The entrance was 10 euro per person but girls got 3 free drinks and guys got 2. Good deal. I split a cab there with some guys visiting from London who went to Penn State and who were friends with other Temple kids. One of them happened to be a guy my roomate once hooked up with years ago lol. They were all really cool. At the bar I didn't know what to order so like the Sex and the City fanatic I am, I ordered a Cosmo. It was pretty good but most of it ended up on my hands, on the floor, and on the jackets of the guys that bumped into me. I had one other drink which was an amazing fruity mix the bartender came up with, and I sold my third drink ticket to the guy I was supposed to split the cab home with. He and the other guys ended up leaving before we did so I ended up paying anyway. Everyone got pretty drunk except for me, as usual, and we made it home safe and sound. Lauren and the boys next door had a trip to Florence the next morning and were drunk and up late, and ended up missing their train. Oh well.
Friday, Feb. 6- I slept in kinda late after our night out. I don't even remember what I did this day...I actually think I stayed in all day because it was raining and cold out like usual. At night, I went out to dinner with Ashley, Portia, Kellen, and Alyssa. We went to a really cute place on the way to the Pantheon which was obviously a tourist trap like most of the other places around that area. I wanted to go to the pizza place in Trastevere but nobody wanted to go unless we could go out afterwards. The place we ended up at had a little porch with tables and heat lamps so we sat outside to eat. We split antipasto of grilled veggies, meats, and cheese and I got fettucini alfredo. It ended up costing around 19 euro a person...what a damn rip off! Oh well...what can you do??? After dinner we went back to the residence and had an early night in.
Saturday, Feb. 7- I slept late again and the weather was pretty crappy again. In the afternoon I met up with Mia and her new roommate Ryan for some delish gelato at Old Bridge. We walked around for a bit and shopped around Via Ottaviano and Via Candia where Mia got shampoo and things. We went to Tuodi, the discount supermarket and bought some snacks and wine as well. We headed back to Mia's for late lunch and I eventually stayed and had delivery pizza for dinner with Ryan and Tom! Mia cooked. At around 11:30 I left and headed to the infamous 24 hour bakery everyone here talks about with such love! I bought a croissant with white chocolate for 50 cents, a HUGE croissant filled with Nutella and topped with whipped cream for 1.50, and a weird sweet bun with zabaione cream for 1.50 also. I ate it all across a 3 day span.
Sunday, Feb. 8- I woke up early for once and finally went to Porta Portese. I was supposed to meet up with Mia but it was wayyyy too big and filled with way too many people so we couldn't meet up. Calling and texting cost to much to find out our exact locations. So I wandered and ended up getting some Italia hoodies as gifts and a few purses for 1 Euro each! Really cute bags too! When the market started closing up around 2:30 pm, I walked back to the entrance and saw people rummaging through a huge pile of bags, clothes, and shoes. I saw a pretty leather jacket on the ground next to a tree and tried it on. It fit but closed tightly over my chest. I asked how much it cost to a random man in the crowd and he said it was free. It must have been a pile of stuff nobody wanted or some stuff a vendor dropped and forgot to pick up again. I shoved it in my bag like they said to do along with a cute Louis Vuitton (not sure if it's real) pouch that's missing a zipper and walked on my way. A FREE leather jacket....can't beat that!!!! I walked along the Tiber and took some photos for class and eventually made it to Trastevere where I got McDonald's for lunch again. I got chicken nuggets and a cheeseburger and fries. YUM! Then I headed back to the residence and called it a day!
Monday, Feb. 9-
Tuesday, Feb. 10-
Wednesday, Feb. 11-
Thursday, Feb. 12-
Friday, Feb. 13-
Saturday, Feb. 14-
Sunday, Feb. 15-
Monday, Feb. 16-
Tuesday, Feb. 17-
Friday, February 6, 2009
February 5-6, 2009-Days 24-25- Weird Roma
I've been coming up with a list of things about Rome that are kind of funky and different from things at home so I could share them with you, and also so I could remember them when I read this again one day when I'm old and shriveled. They (the Temple program) said it would be a major culture shock when we arrived here...but it's really not true. Maybe for small town folk, but not for a sophisticated New Yorker like myself (and big city folks from Philadelphia who pretty much make up this program). Rome is a huge bustling city with rude men, crazy drivers, pollution, subways and buses, pharmacies on every block, and lots of snack bars...just like NY! So here's a list of some good, bad, and strange things I've noticed in my first few weeks in Rome.
1) They aren't very good at sealing doorways and windows here. Even though Romans are known for their craftsmanship, expertise, and great accomplishments in architecture, it seems no matter where you go in Rome, or in Italy, they have not perfected methods of keeping windows and doorways fully closed. Therefore, when you sleep in a teeny room with two other people and your bed is next to the window, you need 3 blankets. No lie. And those of you that know me know I usually sleep with the air conditioner on 24/7. Not here. There's a draft in our bedroom and living room constantly. This also leads to high levels of noise at all hours. There's no doubt that every day we will hear at least one of these: Kids yelling, literal guidos working out at the gym downstairs (attached to our building) to blasting house and techno music, girl's high heels slamming on the staircases, and drunkards coming home at 4 am saying crazy things or fighting. We also get to hear the boys in the room above us showering and hocking up spit balls. Yummy.
2) The little napkins you get at a pizza shop or snack bar out of the little silver dispensers...are made out of some kind of wax paper. Enough said.
3) People don't clean up dog shit here. It's all over the streets. Literally. Now I know why some of my teachers say Italy is still a little bit behind in their developments. But, it does sort of make sense. I mean, you do have to look down anyway to see where you step because if you don't you might trip over an uneven street or spaces between cobblestones.
4) They have gelato...with waffles. Or in crepes. I'm stealing the idea and opening a shop in NY. Come visit.
5) The coffee and cappuchino here are amazing. And way cheaper. Like a euro or less for any kind of drink you want. And they make 1000 different kinds (caffe latte, caffe macchiato, cappuchino, caffe d'orzo, etc etc.)
6) They have pastries for breakfast. Um...heaven.
7) They are obsessed with mayonaise. If they had a pool of mayo they'd eat it all. They put it on everything and anything. And a lot of it too. Kind of gross.
8) The washing machines and dryers here are horrendous. We have to pay for laundry unlike the free machines at Fordham (2-3 euro per washer, 2 per dryer). There's also only 3 washers and 2 dryers...FOR EVERYONE that lives in this building!!! The washers don't wash deodorant off shirts very well. And the dryers don't dry your clothes unless you put them in for at least 2 hours...which costs about 4 euro= $5. Totally sucks. Its very frustrating and annoying and we have to hang dry everything :(
9) They distinguish waters here...naturale (smooth) e frizzante (fizzy). It makes me feel classy and special.
10) Travel is pretty cheap. My weekend trip to Florence (without food and gifts) only cost 60 euro for the train ride there and back and the hostel for 2 nights. You can get flights to most places for 50 round trip basically.
11) Stores close in the afternoon from around 12 or 1 until 4. This blows. If you want to spend an afternoon shopping, forget it. Everyone is on siesta. And then, the stores re-open but usually close around 8pm. Sad.
12) You can basically get by with English here. I've been learning some Italian but it's really no use. I can order a few things and ask a few things, but I basically speak English. And I kind of don't care all that much hahaha.
1) They aren't very good at sealing doorways and windows here. Even though Romans are known for their craftsmanship, expertise, and great accomplishments in architecture, it seems no matter where you go in Rome, or in Italy, they have not perfected methods of keeping windows and doorways fully closed. Therefore, when you sleep in a teeny room with two other people and your bed is next to the window, you need 3 blankets. No lie. And those of you that know me know I usually sleep with the air conditioner on 24/7. Not here. There's a draft in our bedroom and living room constantly. This also leads to high levels of noise at all hours. There's no doubt that every day we will hear at least one of these: Kids yelling, literal guidos working out at the gym downstairs (attached to our building) to blasting house and techno music, girl's high heels slamming on the staircases, and drunkards coming home at 4 am saying crazy things or fighting. We also get to hear the boys in the room above us showering and hocking up spit balls. Yummy.
2) The little napkins you get at a pizza shop or snack bar out of the little silver dispensers...are made out of some kind of wax paper. Enough said.
3) People don't clean up dog shit here. It's all over the streets. Literally. Now I know why some of my teachers say Italy is still a little bit behind in their developments. But, it does sort of make sense. I mean, you do have to look down anyway to see where you step because if you don't you might trip over an uneven street or spaces between cobblestones.
4) They have gelato...with waffles. Or in crepes. I'm stealing the idea and opening a shop in NY. Come visit.
5) The coffee and cappuchino here are amazing. And way cheaper. Like a euro or less for any kind of drink you want. And they make 1000 different kinds (caffe latte, caffe macchiato, cappuchino, caffe d'orzo, etc etc.)
6) They have pastries for breakfast. Um...heaven.
7) They are obsessed with mayonaise. If they had a pool of mayo they'd eat it all. They put it on everything and anything. And a lot of it too. Kind of gross.
8) The washing machines and dryers here are horrendous. We have to pay for laundry unlike the free machines at Fordham (2-3 euro per washer, 2 per dryer). There's also only 3 washers and 2 dryers...FOR EVERYONE that lives in this building!!! The washers don't wash deodorant off shirts very well. And the dryers don't dry your clothes unless you put them in for at least 2 hours...which costs about 4 euro= $5. Totally sucks. Its very frustrating and annoying and we have to hang dry everything :(
9) They distinguish waters here...naturale (smooth) e frizzante (fizzy). It makes me feel classy and special.
10) Travel is pretty cheap. My weekend trip to Florence (without food and gifts) only cost 60 euro for the train ride there and back and the hostel for 2 nights. You can get flights to most places for 50 round trip basically.
11) Stores close in the afternoon from around 12 or 1 until 4. This blows. If you want to spend an afternoon shopping, forget it. Everyone is on siesta. And then, the stores re-open but usually close around 8pm. Sad.
12) You can basically get by with English here. I've been learning some Italian but it's really no use. I can order a few things and ask a few things, but I basically speak English. And I kind of don't care all that much hahaha.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
January 24-February 4, 2009- Days 12-23- Senatus Populusque Romanus
I am truly living a life of a Roman. So much so that I've been incredibly busy and hardly had a minute to write on here for 10 days! Shame on me! So, I'll update you on my past week and a half from where I left off last week. It might be long but worth reading :)
Saturday, Jan. 24- I went to Mia's apartment for Abbey's birthday which had a nice turnout. A lot of Temple kids came that I had never met before, and Abbey seems pretty popular (she was here last semester as were some of the guests). The kids were mostly very artsy and dressed funky...completely reminded me of Fordham...except most of them didn't seem pretentious and were friendly and cool to talk to. I met this guy Dylan there who I had been e-mailing about buying his textbooks for way cheaper than the bookstore, and we chatted for a bit. Mia's friend from St. John (the island where she lives) came over because she was here for the winter term and was staying close by. She was a sweetie! Abbey made potato latkes and fresh homemade apple sauce which were to die for...they went very fast! Mia made awesome bruschetta as well. I brought sparkling wine and a lot of other people brought bottles too...I'm guessing (after seeing them empty afterward) that there were around 20 bottles of wine. Crazy. Mia also made a vegan marble cake with all soy ingredients in the shape of Big Bird because they used a pan in the apartment that belongs to the owner's 2 year old daughter. Everyone loved it! I also heard about a cheap 24 hour bakery nearby that I have to check out. I went home around 1:30 am and got home at 2 am. Then passed out.
Sunday, Jan. 25- I was right, there was no way I was getting up on time for the "Wall walk." It was an 8 hour walk around the entire city of Rome and it's ancient Aurelian walls. I planned on going halfway through around noon, but after several failed calls to roommates and neighbors, there was no way for me to know where they would be to meet up with the group. And they were moving fast. So I decided not to waste the GORGEOUS day (for once!) and I showered and went out. I walked by Piazza Eroi (the traffic circle here) to Via Candia up to the stairs of the Vatican Wall. I walked along the wall and took photos for my "11 Steps" photo project. The weather was amazing and perfect and I took some great shots. Eventually I reached Via Ottaviano near Piazza di Risorgimento where delish Old Bridge is, but they were closed! So I went to Blue Ice which is a gelato/crepe chain in Rome and had ordered some gelato from a very unfriendly, rude woman who didn't want to take my 20 euro bill for a 2 euro cup of gelato. She was pissed. Then she gave me Kinder flavor after I asked for Nutella and I went back and made her change it. Ha. I called Mia since I was so close by and met up with her at the apartment. We randomly decided her garden needed some tending to since it was covered in cigarette butts and smelled horrendously like cat pee, and began cleaning up all the garbage back there. We also ripped out all the weeds, made a new path around the center, cleaned off the stones, and made it look amazing. We felt pretty good afterward for cleaning up our little portion of the environment! Then we went to Standa (her market) and got food for late lunch. We made pasta with eggplant and mushrooms but I didn't care for it much :( Then I met up with Renee for dinner at her apartment and I made AMAZING hamburgers. It was sooooo good to have meat! Her apartment was also very cute and I was jealous of it! We chatted for a while and I left around 12 or 12:30 and headed home after an unexpectedly fun and adventurous day.
Monday, Jan. 26- From my scribbled notes from which I am relaying my memory to this page, it rained "like a mofo" on Monday. I had Italian class and then met up with Mia afterward when the rain slowed down. We walked all the way from school to Trastevere (about a 30+ minute walk) and took some great pictures along the Tiber. The walk was a lot of fun and we saw some amusing things: nuns, capsized boats, homeless men under the bridges, children ice skating near Castle San Angelo where they also played mine and Roger's song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" which I videotaped on my camera, etc. We went to Santa Maria in Trastevere and went into the church which was HUGE and beautiful. We loved it so much that we both gave small contributions and lit candles there. We took some photos and moved on, where I went back to the little perfume store I found on my first adventure there alone. I bought my mom (and for myself to share) an amazing bottle of Rose perfume from Gras, France (known for perfume making...watch "Perfume: Story of A Murderer"...one of my favs!) Then we looked into tourist stores, walked over some bridges, saw Tiberina Island (which used to be a Roman trading post in the middle of the Tiber River), and walked over to the Jewish ghetto to find my chocolate ricotta torte (and I found the place and they were all out!!!! UGH!). We also went into a cheapo store there and bought folders for school. The cute cafe I went to alone was closed so we searched for dinner and went back over near Sta. Maria to a cafe where we sat outside and had HUGE pizzas which only cost 2 and 5 euro, and we shared some delish wine and a piece of ricotta cheesecake with orange glaze on top (which I basically ate alone because Mia is allergic to orange rind). Then we headed home. What a fabulous day with my Fordham girl!
Tuesday, Jan. 27- In the morning I had my history of art in Rome class where we went to visit the Ara Pacis. It was very cool...an arch dedicated to Augustus and his victories. It's inside a VERY modern building designed by an architect in NY, and it really doesn't fit in with the city which was a very controversial issue when it was built. We also went to the Pantheon which was beyond belief. It was enormous and amazing and beautiful. They constructed the whole dome out of concrete in one piece! NUTS! After our on-site, I found Della Palma Gelateria known for it's zillion flavor choices (basically the Baskin Robins of Rome) and I promised my professor from Fordham, Professor Aronson (I know you're reading) that I would settle a battle between her and her friend about the best gelato in Rome by trying Della Palma and Giolitti (nearby). Della Palma was to DIEEE for. I got 4 flavors for about 2.50 euro (not terrible). They were each outrageous. I got some kind of vanilla with pistachio and chocolate brittle, panna cotta, rice pudding type flavor, and chocolate with almonds. I raved about it to all my friends...but I still have to try Giolitti to settle it. I went back to school for the rest of my classes and then went home and made a great dinner; gnocchi with mushrooms and proscuitto in a cheesy red sauce. Yum. I had leftovers!
Wednesday, Jan. 28- Photography class in the morning was great. The weather was again, gorgeous yet chilly. We went to the Colosseum for class and learned how to shoot photos with shallow depth of field (clear foreground, blurred background). We took some amazing shots of the Colosseum which is completely mind blowing. You step off the metro and BAM it's in your face! So AMAZING. I use that word a lot. But it's accurate. We walked around the area and took photos by the Forum Romanum and experimented, and then the teacher walked really fast while people were still intrigued and taking pictures and she lost about 5 of us. So we got to leave class like an hour early. Oh well. I got lost with my friend Gillian and we had lunch at Burger King which was fantastic! I had a crispy chicken sandwich and fries and a Coke. They also sell beer on tap...hilarious. I got a Burger King crown there but unfortunately it's not in Italian :( After classes I bought my train ticket for FIRENZE (Florence) for a trip Kellen and a bunch of other girls planned for us to go on.
Thursday, Jan. 29- I had my first Italian test! It went well...(since I'm writing afterward....I got an A!!!!...only 3 little mistakes). For my Italian Design class we had our on-site visit to an awesome little neighborhood called Quartiere Coppade where the architecture was fantastic...a mix of old and new, medieval, french, renaissance, etc. just beautiful. It was meant to be a middle class neighborhood back in the 1920's but now it's a rich suburban-ish area. I loved it there and it made me want to live in Rome forever! Ok..not forever but at least on holidays! I took the bus back toward "home" and got off at the rich and famous Via Veneto where known actors and actresses pranced around in the 1920's and 30's and so on. I walked into a book store and looked at 2 copies of Sex and the City, one in English and one in Italian and it reminded me of home, NY, and Rachel and I got very happy and excited. It kind of made my day! When I got home I made fresh bruschetta which was soooo delish and I had my leftover gnocchi. I passed out at around 10:30 to wake up for an extremely early train the next day to Florence!
Friday, Jan. 30- I woke up at 4 am and showered and finished packing to catch the train at Termini before 7 am. The trip to Florence included myself, Kellen, Ashley, Portia, Alyssa, Carey, Amanda, and Caitlin. I slept the whole way on our regional rail, 32 euro round trip, 4 hour each way train ride. It really wasn't bad at all! If we had taken the more expensive, faster train I wouldn't have had time to catch up on my Z's! So, it was a win win situation. When we went to find our hostel, the number didn't exist! Eventually we kept walking and found one that did, but it was an old theater. We walked in and up a few flights of stairs to find two lovely older Italian people who were renovating the place. We kinda crapped our pants. The rooms were tiny and the beds weren't made. It kind of smelled like urine. And there was paint everywhere. We kinda freaked but the couple was nice and sat us down. They only spoke Italian and in my very bad translation I had to explain to the girls that we weren't staying there and we'd be going somewhere else. About 15 minutes later and man came for us and walked us over to our actual hostel...it was right off the river! We had 2 private rooms, one for 3 people and one for 5 and they were very spacious and clean. There were 3 shared bathrooms with 2 working showers which were fairly clean but the floors were DISGUSTING and I forgot my flip flips (well...rather I couldn't fit them in my bag) and I had to put one of my shirts on the floor to stand on when I got out of the shower. But not a bad deal for 13 euro= $15 a night. It served its purpose well and there were men there all night making sure all was well and safe. After putting down our things, we ventured out to get some gelato (I had coconut and strawberry)...the gelato looks so much prettier in Florence! Then we went to the Ponte Vecchio and took some pictures. Perfect. We walked along the bridge and Portia and I met a guy from Algeria named Ali (who I called Ali Baba) and he laughed and he looked a lotttt like Wilmer Valderama. Funnyyyy. We told him and some older Italian man next to us but neither of them recognized his name. Then we grabbed some paninis and sat down in Piazza Signoria to eat. We wandered around and then went to the Uffizi gallery for a few hours where we saw some famous art by Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Rembrandt etc. They all kind of looked the same after a while though :( Then we went back to the hostel to nap and I didn't sleep. We then went searching for dinner but EVERYTHING was practically closed. Finally we found a cute place where we had a 4 course meal, and shared 2 bottles of wine and 4 bottles of water for only 18.75 euro per person. Not bad. The food was delish. I had a ricotta and spinach pasta, then a breaded veal chop which they called "Scallops milanese" which was SOOOO misleading ahahah and french fries...and then we had nasty caramel creme things (like flan) for desert and sweet pears. Overall a great first day in the glorious, gorgeous Firenze!
Saturday, Jan. 31- In the morning we got up a little late (around 10) and split up the group. Kellen, Ashley, Portia, Alyssa and myself headed out for breakfast where we had fresh waffles with gelato which we had drooled over seeing the day before. They were mouth watering sugary goodness. I had mine topped with Nutella flavor and Crema flavor. Then we headed to the leather market. On the way we saw a man painting a giant painting onto the street which was beautiful, and we stopped to admire a puppeteer entertaining little kids and people of all ages with a dancing clown puppet to Italian music. It was great! Finally we spent loads of money where I bought myself a 21st birthday gift, a gorgeous leather purse and a matching wallet, and I got a great wallet for my mom too. Then we went to Brunalleschi's Duomo and climbed to the tippy top. 463 stairs, panting, sweating, burning legs,a pounding head, and a near-heart attack later, I was standing above Florence admiring the breathtaking views of the city and its countryside. It was one of the best things I have ever done or seen in my short 21 years of life. We took beautiful photos and then we got well needed water and lunch. Then we headed to the Accademia to see the statue of David which was unbelievable. Though I've seen it before when I was in Florence with mom, this time it was more spectacular without the scaffolding! He's way bigger than I remember. I took some illegal pictures and we admired the statue for a good while before returning to the hostel for another mid-afternoon nap. I, again, didn't sleep. We decided to go out for dinner at a nearby lounge called Moyo where I had a frozen margarita and a free buffet dinner or different pastas, rices, couscous, and a giant salad. So worth it! We met up with my neighbor Jane and her friends Dan, Dave and Dave (yes 2 Daves) who we had ran into earlier in the day and went to a karaoke bar/pub down the block. It was so much fun! There was a Contiki tour of Australians there who were drunk and hilarious, and one American was on the trip with them who danced with Jane quite a bit. I got hit on by some skeezball who kept telling me I was sexy and beautiful and that he liked my eyes and he tried convincing me Roger was cheating on me at home when I told him I had a boyfriend. Certainly not the right way to attract a woman nor a bright way to get any girl to cheat on her boyfriend! Schmuck! After being nice to him and dealing with his annoying comments and stupid friends, I finally walked away and stayed away. We all danced and had a good time, and the girls sang some good songs like "Piano Man", some Britney songs, and "American Boy" among a ton of others. Then the other girls met some Italian men they wanted to go out with, so we followed along to another bar, and then a club. Portia and I decided to leave and went back to the hostel, and about 20 minutes after we got in bed the other girls came back. They didn't end up liking the guys. Oh well. We slept well for the most part after the loud drunkenness was over.
Sunday, Feb 1- We woke up early for a morning train around 11 am back to Roma. Again, I slept all the way. I hung out the rest of the afternoon and night at the residence and Kellen and Lauren went to see the Superbowl at the Hard Rock Caffe. I went to bed.
Monday, Feb. 2- I had Italian class in the afternoon and basically just hung out the rest of the day not doing much at all.
Tuesday, Feb. 3- I had my art history class and we went to the Campidoglio on top of Capitoline Hill which was designed by Michaelangelo. We went to the Musei Capitolini and of course our entrance fee was jacked up because of a show they had going on which we didn't get to see, as usual. I pissed off my teacher too when he gave me money back in change (50 cents, 10 and 20 cents) and I asked him for whole euros. He had an attitude about it, told me he was trying to make things simpler and bitchily asked me if the change was "going to weigh down my bag or something." Yes, it was. He can suck it. And he gave me the money I wanted anyway. Then I had Italian class where Christiano taught us how to say SHIT! (as in, damnit, SHIT!) It was quite funny...we also learned "Che cazzo fai?" which means "What the fuck do you want?" Way to teach us all the good stuff! Then I had boring art history lecture and my design class where we watched a movie about Mussolini's Rome, his plan for a modern city, which we'll be visiting on Thursday for our excursion. It's supposed to be awesome. Then I ran into Lauren and Renee and was asked to dinner at Renee's. We went around 9 pm and had some great pasta with spicy meat sauce with mushrooms with a side of spinach, great red wine from Lauren, and fresh rolls with spiced oil. A great meal was had, and we watched The Simpsons in the background to get an American feel. We all miss TV and the media and music and news...A LOT! Then we came home and I went to sleep a bit late after taking a while to upload my photos for class.
Wednesday, Feb. 4- TODAYYYYYY!!!! Today I had photo class in the morning but we didn't go out :( We critiqued each others photos which was boring and took forever. I had a break and then had Italian. After classes I went to the computer lab and later came back and wandered around Via Candia. I got Roger a few mini goodies that I'm going to try and send for Valentine's Day! And now, I'm finishing up this blog and hoping to go for pizza in Trastevere or near by. I'm starved! I hope you enjoyed this enormous post. I will update mroe often...sorry!
Saturday, Jan. 24- I went to Mia's apartment for Abbey's birthday which had a nice turnout. A lot of Temple kids came that I had never met before, and Abbey seems pretty popular (she was here last semester as were some of the guests). The kids were mostly very artsy and dressed funky...completely reminded me of Fordham...except most of them didn't seem pretentious and were friendly and cool to talk to. I met this guy Dylan there who I had been e-mailing about buying his textbooks for way cheaper than the bookstore, and we chatted for a bit. Mia's friend from St. John (the island where she lives) came over because she was here for the winter term and was staying close by. She was a sweetie! Abbey made potato latkes and fresh homemade apple sauce which were to die for...they went very fast! Mia made awesome bruschetta as well. I brought sparkling wine and a lot of other people brought bottles too...I'm guessing (after seeing them empty afterward) that there were around 20 bottles of wine. Crazy. Mia also made a vegan marble cake with all soy ingredients in the shape of Big Bird because they used a pan in the apartment that belongs to the owner's 2 year old daughter. Everyone loved it! I also heard about a cheap 24 hour bakery nearby that I have to check out. I went home around 1:30 am and got home at 2 am. Then passed out.
Sunday, Jan. 25- I was right, there was no way I was getting up on time for the "Wall walk." It was an 8 hour walk around the entire city of Rome and it's ancient Aurelian walls. I planned on going halfway through around noon, but after several failed calls to roommates and neighbors, there was no way for me to know where they would be to meet up with the group. And they were moving fast. So I decided not to waste the GORGEOUS day (for once!) and I showered and went out. I walked by Piazza Eroi (the traffic circle here) to Via Candia up to the stairs of the Vatican Wall. I walked along the wall and took photos for my "11 Steps" photo project. The weather was amazing and perfect and I took some great shots. Eventually I reached Via Ottaviano near Piazza di Risorgimento where delish Old Bridge is, but they were closed! So I went to Blue Ice which is a gelato/crepe chain in Rome and had ordered some gelato from a very unfriendly, rude woman who didn't want to take my 20 euro bill for a 2 euro cup of gelato. She was pissed. Then she gave me Kinder flavor after I asked for Nutella and I went back and made her change it. Ha. I called Mia since I was so close by and met up with her at the apartment. We randomly decided her garden needed some tending to since it was covered in cigarette butts and smelled horrendously like cat pee, and began cleaning up all the garbage back there. We also ripped out all the weeds, made a new path around the center, cleaned off the stones, and made it look amazing. We felt pretty good afterward for cleaning up our little portion of the environment! Then we went to Standa (her market) and got food for late lunch. We made pasta with eggplant and mushrooms but I didn't care for it much :( Then I met up with Renee for dinner at her apartment and I made AMAZING hamburgers. It was sooooo good to have meat! Her apartment was also very cute and I was jealous of it! We chatted for a while and I left around 12 or 12:30 and headed home after an unexpectedly fun and adventurous day.
Monday, Jan. 26- From my scribbled notes from which I am relaying my memory to this page, it rained "like a mofo" on Monday. I had Italian class and then met up with Mia afterward when the rain slowed down. We walked all the way from school to Trastevere (about a 30+ minute walk) and took some great pictures along the Tiber. The walk was a lot of fun and we saw some amusing things: nuns, capsized boats, homeless men under the bridges, children ice skating near Castle San Angelo where they also played mine and Roger's song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" which I videotaped on my camera, etc. We went to Santa Maria in Trastevere and went into the church which was HUGE and beautiful. We loved it so much that we both gave small contributions and lit candles there. We took some photos and moved on, where I went back to the little perfume store I found on my first adventure there alone. I bought my mom (and for myself to share) an amazing bottle of Rose perfume from Gras, France (known for perfume making...watch "Perfume: Story of A Murderer"...one of my favs!) Then we looked into tourist stores, walked over some bridges, saw Tiberina Island (which used to be a Roman trading post in the middle of the Tiber River), and walked over to the Jewish ghetto to find my chocolate ricotta torte (and I found the place and they were all out!!!! UGH!). We also went into a cheapo store there and bought folders for school. The cute cafe I went to alone was closed so we searched for dinner and went back over near Sta. Maria to a cafe where we sat outside and had HUGE pizzas which only cost 2 and 5 euro, and we shared some delish wine and a piece of ricotta cheesecake with orange glaze on top (which I basically ate alone because Mia is allergic to orange rind). Then we headed home. What a fabulous day with my Fordham girl!
Tuesday, Jan. 27- In the morning I had my history of art in Rome class where we went to visit the Ara Pacis. It was very cool...an arch dedicated to Augustus and his victories. It's inside a VERY modern building designed by an architect in NY, and it really doesn't fit in with the city which was a very controversial issue when it was built. We also went to the Pantheon which was beyond belief. It was enormous and amazing and beautiful. They constructed the whole dome out of concrete in one piece! NUTS! After our on-site, I found Della Palma Gelateria known for it's zillion flavor choices (basically the Baskin Robins of Rome) and I promised my professor from Fordham, Professor Aronson (I know you're reading) that I would settle a battle between her and her friend about the best gelato in Rome by trying Della Palma and Giolitti (nearby). Della Palma was to DIEEE for. I got 4 flavors for about 2.50 euro (not terrible). They were each outrageous. I got some kind of vanilla with pistachio and chocolate brittle, panna cotta, rice pudding type flavor, and chocolate with almonds. I raved about it to all my friends...but I still have to try Giolitti to settle it. I went back to school for the rest of my classes and then went home and made a great dinner; gnocchi with mushrooms and proscuitto in a cheesy red sauce. Yum. I had leftovers!
Wednesday, Jan. 28- Photography class in the morning was great. The weather was again, gorgeous yet chilly. We went to the Colosseum for class and learned how to shoot photos with shallow depth of field (clear foreground, blurred background). We took some amazing shots of the Colosseum which is completely mind blowing. You step off the metro and BAM it's in your face! So AMAZING. I use that word a lot. But it's accurate. We walked around the area and took photos by the Forum Romanum and experimented, and then the teacher walked really fast while people were still intrigued and taking pictures and she lost about 5 of us. So we got to leave class like an hour early. Oh well. I got lost with my friend Gillian and we had lunch at Burger King which was fantastic! I had a crispy chicken sandwich and fries and a Coke. They also sell beer on tap...hilarious. I got a Burger King crown there but unfortunately it's not in Italian :( After classes I bought my train ticket for FIRENZE (Florence) for a trip Kellen and a bunch of other girls planned for us to go on.
Thursday, Jan. 29- I had my first Italian test! It went well...(since I'm writing afterward....I got an A!!!!...only 3 little mistakes). For my Italian Design class we had our on-site visit to an awesome little neighborhood called Quartiere Coppade where the architecture was fantastic...a mix of old and new, medieval, french, renaissance, etc. just beautiful. It was meant to be a middle class neighborhood back in the 1920's but now it's a rich suburban-ish area. I loved it there and it made me want to live in Rome forever! Ok..not forever but at least on holidays! I took the bus back toward "home" and got off at the rich and famous Via Veneto where known actors and actresses pranced around in the 1920's and 30's and so on. I walked into a book store and looked at 2 copies of Sex and the City, one in English and one in Italian and it reminded me of home, NY, and Rachel and I got very happy and excited. It kind of made my day! When I got home I made fresh bruschetta which was soooo delish and I had my leftover gnocchi. I passed out at around 10:30 to wake up for an extremely early train the next day to Florence!
Friday, Jan. 30- I woke up at 4 am and showered and finished packing to catch the train at Termini before 7 am. The trip to Florence included myself, Kellen, Ashley, Portia, Alyssa, Carey, Amanda, and Caitlin. I slept the whole way on our regional rail, 32 euro round trip, 4 hour each way train ride. It really wasn't bad at all! If we had taken the more expensive, faster train I wouldn't have had time to catch up on my Z's! So, it was a win win situation. When we went to find our hostel, the number didn't exist! Eventually we kept walking and found one that did, but it was an old theater. We walked in and up a few flights of stairs to find two lovely older Italian people who were renovating the place. We kinda crapped our pants. The rooms were tiny and the beds weren't made. It kind of smelled like urine. And there was paint everywhere. We kinda freaked but the couple was nice and sat us down. They only spoke Italian and in my very bad translation I had to explain to the girls that we weren't staying there and we'd be going somewhere else. About 15 minutes later and man came for us and walked us over to our actual hostel...it was right off the river! We had 2 private rooms, one for 3 people and one for 5 and they were very spacious and clean. There were 3 shared bathrooms with 2 working showers which were fairly clean but the floors were DISGUSTING and I forgot my flip flips (well...rather I couldn't fit them in my bag) and I had to put one of my shirts on the floor to stand on when I got out of the shower. But not a bad deal for 13 euro= $15 a night. It served its purpose well and there were men there all night making sure all was well and safe. After putting down our things, we ventured out to get some gelato (I had coconut and strawberry)...the gelato looks so much prettier in Florence! Then we went to the Ponte Vecchio and took some pictures. Perfect. We walked along the bridge and Portia and I met a guy from Algeria named Ali (who I called Ali Baba) and he laughed and he looked a lotttt like Wilmer Valderama. Funnyyyy. We told him and some older Italian man next to us but neither of them recognized his name. Then we grabbed some paninis and sat down in Piazza Signoria to eat. We wandered around and then went to the Uffizi gallery for a few hours where we saw some famous art by Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Rembrandt etc. They all kind of looked the same after a while though :( Then we went back to the hostel to nap and I didn't sleep. We then went searching for dinner but EVERYTHING was practically closed. Finally we found a cute place where we had a 4 course meal, and shared 2 bottles of wine and 4 bottles of water for only 18.75 euro per person. Not bad. The food was delish. I had a ricotta and spinach pasta, then a breaded veal chop which they called "Scallops milanese" which was SOOOO misleading ahahah and french fries...and then we had nasty caramel creme things (like flan) for desert and sweet pears. Overall a great first day in the glorious, gorgeous Firenze!
Saturday, Jan. 31- In the morning we got up a little late (around 10) and split up the group. Kellen, Ashley, Portia, Alyssa and myself headed out for breakfast where we had fresh waffles with gelato which we had drooled over seeing the day before. They were mouth watering sugary goodness. I had mine topped with Nutella flavor and Crema flavor. Then we headed to the leather market. On the way we saw a man painting a giant painting onto the street which was beautiful, and we stopped to admire a puppeteer entertaining little kids and people of all ages with a dancing clown puppet to Italian music. It was great! Finally we spent loads of money where I bought myself a 21st birthday gift, a gorgeous leather purse and a matching wallet, and I got a great wallet for my mom too. Then we went to Brunalleschi's Duomo and climbed to the tippy top. 463 stairs, panting, sweating, burning legs,a pounding head, and a near-heart attack later, I was standing above Florence admiring the breathtaking views of the city and its countryside. It was one of the best things I have ever done or seen in my short 21 years of life. We took beautiful photos and then we got well needed water and lunch. Then we headed to the Accademia to see the statue of David which was unbelievable. Though I've seen it before when I was in Florence with mom, this time it was more spectacular without the scaffolding! He's way bigger than I remember. I took some illegal pictures and we admired the statue for a good while before returning to the hostel for another mid-afternoon nap. I, again, didn't sleep. We decided to go out for dinner at a nearby lounge called Moyo where I had a frozen margarita and a free buffet dinner or different pastas, rices, couscous, and a giant salad. So worth it! We met up with my neighbor Jane and her friends Dan, Dave and Dave (yes 2 Daves) who we had ran into earlier in the day and went to a karaoke bar/pub down the block. It was so much fun! There was a Contiki tour of Australians there who were drunk and hilarious, and one American was on the trip with them who danced with Jane quite a bit. I got hit on by some skeezball who kept telling me I was sexy and beautiful and that he liked my eyes and he tried convincing me Roger was cheating on me at home when I told him I had a boyfriend. Certainly not the right way to attract a woman nor a bright way to get any girl to cheat on her boyfriend! Schmuck! After being nice to him and dealing with his annoying comments and stupid friends, I finally walked away and stayed away. We all danced and had a good time, and the girls sang some good songs like "Piano Man", some Britney songs, and "American Boy" among a ton of others. Then the other girls met some Italian men they wanted to go out with, so we followed along to another bar, and then a club. Portia and I decided to leave and went back to the hostel, and about 20 minutes after we got in bed the other girls came back. They didn't end up liking the guys. Oh well. We slept well for the most part after the loud drunkenness was over.
Sunday, Feb 1- We woke up early for a morning train around 11 am back to Roma. Again, I slept all the way. I hung out the rest of the afternoon and night at the residence and Kellen and Lauren went to see the Superbowl at the Hard Rock Caffe. I went to bed.
Monday, Feb. 2- I had Italian class in the afternoon and basically just hung out the rest of the day not doing much at all.
Tuesday, Feb. 3- I had my art history class and we went to the Campidoglio on top of Capitoline Hill which was designed by Michaelangelo. We went to the Musei Capitolini and of course our entrance fee was jacked up because of a show they had going on which we didn't get to see, as usual. I pissed off my teacher too when he gave me money back in change (50 cents, 10 and 20 cents) and I asked him for whole euros. He had an attitude about it, told me he was trying to make things simpler and bitchily asked me if the change was "going to weigh down my bag or something." Yes, it was. He can suck it. And he gave me the money I wanted anyway. Then I had Italian class where Christiano taught us how to say SHIT! (as in, damnit, SHIT!) It was quite funny...we also learned "Che cazzo fai?" which means "What the fuck do you want?" Way to teach us all the good stuff! Then I had boring art history lecture and my design class where we watched a movie about Mussolini's Rome, his plan for a modern city, which we'll be visiting on Thursday for our excursion. It's supposed to be awesome. Then I ran into Lauren and Renee and was asked to dinner at Renee's. We went around 9 pm and had some great pasta with spicy meat sauce with mushrooms with a side of spinach, great red wine from Lauren, and fresh rolls with spiced oil. A great meal was had, and we watched The Simpsons in the background to get an American feel. We all miss TV and the media and music and news...A LOT! Then we came home and I went to sleep a bit late after taking a while to upload my photos for class.
Wednesday, Feb. 4- TODAYYYYYY!!!! Today I had photo class in the morning but we didn't go out :( We critiqued each others photos which was boring and took forever. I had a break and then had Italian. After classes I went to the computer lab and later came back and wandered around Via Candia. I got Roger a few mini goodies that I'm going to try and send for Valentine's Day! And now, I'm finishing up this blog and hoping to go for pizza in Trastevere or near by. I'm starved! I hope you enjoyed this enormous post. I will update mroe often...sorry!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
January 24, 2009- Day 12- Exploring Alone
My first week of classes has officially ended. Thursday concluded my first taste of my study abroad ventures. For my Italian Design class (the one I want to drop and still waiting to hear approval for), we went to Castle San Angelo which is a giant brick castle smack in the middle of the city, sort of in between the school and the residence. It's beautiful, but we didn't learn anything about it because we were there for a show. It was a display with the theme of "Made In Italy" where various famous Italian brands were represented. The history of the brands and their products were explained, and we got to see some cool advertisements and posters from back in the 1920's, 1950's etc. Barilla, Alessi, Vespa, Martini & Rossi, Bennetton, Buitoni, Perugina, Ducati and Peroni were some of the more popular brands we looked at. We learned that many of them used famous artists to create their ad campaigns like Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol!! Very cool. It got a bit boring after a while but I guess if I'm stuck in this class it won't be all that terrible.
After class was over at 6:30 pm (UGHH!) I walked home with Abbey (one of Mia's roomates) and I stopped by their apartment for dinner, wine, and chatting. Then Mia and I went out for gelatto at a place called Old Bridge right near the Vatican walls where they charged a mere 1.30 Euro for a cup of gelatto of up to 3 flavors! I had Nutella, coconut, and crema (which they called French Vanilla and I called cake batter flavor). It was amazzzzzing! I'll be going back there often...it's only one metro stop from where we live, so probably about a 15 minute walk. Then we planned on going out for the evening with other Temple kids but by the time they got back to us it was already 11 pm and I had temporarily fallen asleep on Mia's couch! So I headed home and stayed in for the night, quietly went into a peaceful sleep until I was very scarily and rudely awakened by my drunk roommates and my EXTRA drunk neighbors screaming so loudly I thought they were in my bedroom. They had come home from a pub crawl near the Spanish Steps. No further explanation needed.
One of the pieces of advice given to us at orientation was to explore the city of Rome alone once in a while; rent a bike, take a walk, wander around, etc. So I decided to attempt to do my first digital photography assignment which is to go to an interesting place, take a photo, walk 11 steps, take a photo, walk 11 steps...until we reach 20 photos. I decided to go to Trastevere to try to do the assignment. I called a friend I made in the class but she wasn't around. So I explored on my own. I took a bus, not knowing which stop was Trastevere, and asked the woman next to me for help. I guess I said a word or two in Spanish hoping it would sound similar to Italian, and she asked if I spoke Spanish...."YES," I said...she was the first person I met that could speak Spanish and I got very excited. We carried on a conversation, she showed me things in her newspaper like a story about Obama whom she praised, and someone being decapitated at Virginia Tech, and I asked her about the Jewish quarter in Trastevere using Judea while she used Ebreo (Hebrew) and it all got a little confusing. She got off the bus with me to show me where to go, walked me to Santa Maria in Trastevere, a large, famous church which I had gone to see with my mom when we came here, and told me that I kind of looked like a tourist and to be careful because there were often a lot of drunk or homeless men in the area. She said she lived close by and didn't have a husband or children or any family, and was only in Italy for 5 years to work (from Peru), so she was going to stay with me while I took photos. I wasn't sure how long I would stay so I told her it was OK for her to go. She shook my hand kindly and I wished her well. I love Italians! They have been nothing but kind to me! I took a few photos in the area but it was getting dark and difficult to use my manual exposure for the purpose of the assignment. I took some regular pictures (not for homework use), ducked into a tourist shop and looked around, and it began to rain. I wandered over the bridge to the Jewish quarter, hungry and starting to get very wet. I saw a sign for McDonalds and not having had meat, or any American food thus far, and being fed up with sandwiches, pizza, and pasta every day, I decided it was my job to find that McDonalds and have a disgusting hamburger which I don't even order at home! After about 15-20 minutes of strolling, exploring, and REALLLLLY liking the area, I found it. I had a Coke, amazing fries, and a bacon cheeseburger. It hit the spot. I contemplating taking the bus across the street that would take me close to home, but I opened up my "Rome For You" book and HAD to have the chocolate and ricotta torte they so excitedly talked about. I knew the street couldn't be far away...and it wasn't. After asking a few people where to go, I finally made it to Via del Portico d'Ottavia, right in the heart of the Jewish quarter near the huge Jewish synagogue. The streets were small, winding, full of cobblestones, and so picturesque. I was in heaven. It was so European it could have been in a movie, or Disney World. Upon reaching the street I was looking for, there was an enclosed area of ruins, a tall wall with columns, and some other old looking things that had a railed path you could walk down. It was amazing, and right in the middle of everything! There was nothing to read about it so I'm not sure what it was exactly so I'll have to look it up online. I took some photos, and then went to find my bakery. I stopped into 2 different ones which didn't have the torte, walked some more to see closed stores, took photos of Jewish things and kosher signs, and then went back to one bakery I had stopped in. It was a cozy, cute little place that smelled like a fresh bakery and pastry shop in one. I think I gained 5 pounds breathing in the air. I got myself a slice of apple strudel with raisins and walnuts, and a famous Italian hot chocolate with fresh panna (cream). Both were to die for. The chocolate was so rich I couldn't even finish it. But it sure tasted amazing! It only cost 6 Euro for both...pretty sweet deal!
After my little adventure, I headed home and went out with my roommates and some friends for Alyssa's birthday. We went to Testaccio, a location known for young people, fun atmospheres, and fun clubs and bars. We got convinced to go into a trendy club, Joia (for free), that was having a Moet & Chandon promotional party, but the drinks were 15 Euro each, and after waiting an hour and a half for free champagne we figured out the guy who led us there was a moocher and just stole people's bottles off their tables. And apparently, a club is no fun if you're not "fucked up." So we went to another bar down the street called Coyote which was a bit more fun, and everyone was happy because they could afford a drink. This is why college life bugs me. It seems the only way to have a fun night is to be trashed, annoying, loud, and unable to see or stand straight. Not my kind of fun. Some random guy at the bar bought me a drink, a pina colada made with ice, not blended, and he had no idea what it was. He continued to talk to me, play with my jewelry and basically creeped me out. We all danced a bit, but most of the men were old and sketchy, and Ashley and I escaped outside to chat and avoid molestation. Finally, the others decided to leave when one of our friends was too drunk to walk or stand alone. We got home safe and sound, and I went to bed around 4 AM.
Tonight, I'm going back to Mia's apartment for a birthday party for Abbey. I might end up going to sleep early tonight since tomorrow is the "wall walk" with some famous guy from the history channel. We'll see if I can be awake and at our meeting spot by 8:30...doubtful.
After class was over at 6:30 pm (UGHH!) I walked home with Abbey (one of Mia's roomates) and I stopped by their apartment for dinner, wine, and chatting. Then Mia and I went out for gelatto at a place called Old Bridge right near the Vatican walls where they charged a mere 1.30 Euro for a cup of gelatto of up to 3 flavors! I had Nutella, coconut, and crema (which they called French Vanilla and I called cake batter flavor). It was amazzzzzing! I'll be going back there often...it's only one metro stop from where we live, so probably about a 15 minute walk. Then we planned on going out for the evening with other Temple kids but by the time they got back to us it was already 11 pm and I had temporarily fallen asleep on Mia's couch! So I headed home and stayed in for the night, quietly went into a peaceful sleep until I was very scarily and rudely awakened by my drunk roommates and my EXTRA drunk neighbors screaming so loudly I thought they were in my bedroom. They had come home from a pub crawl near the Spanish Steps. No further explanation needed.
One of the pieces of advice given to us at orientation was to explore the city of Rome alone once in a while; rent a bike, take a walk, wander around, etc. So I decided to attempt to do my first digital photography assignment which is to go to an interesting place, take a photo, walk 11 steps, take a photo, walk 11 steps...until we reach 20 photos. I decided to go to Trastevere to try to do the assignment. I called a friend I made in the class but she wasn't around. So I explored on my own. I took a bus, not knowing which stop was Trastevere, and asked the woman next to me for help. I guess I said a word or two in Spanish hoping it would sound similar to Italian, and she asked if I spoke Spanish...."YES," I said...she was the first person I met that could speak Spanish and I got very excited. We carried on a conversation, she showed me things in her newspaper like a story about Obama whom she praised, and someone being decapitated at Virginia Tech, and I asked her about the Jewish quarter in Trastevere using Judea while she used Ebreo (Hebrew) and it all got a little confusing. She got off the bus with me to show me where to go, walked me to Santa Maria in Trastevere, a large, famous church which I had gone to see with my mom when we came here, and told me that I kind of looked like a tourist and to be careful because there were often a lot of drunk or homeless men in the area. She said she lived close by and didn't have a husband or children or any family, and was only in Italy for 5 years to work (from Peru), so she was going to stay with me while I took photos. I wasn't sure how long I would stay so I told her it was OK for her to go. She shook my hand kindly and I wished her well. I love Italians! They have been nothing but kind to me! I took a few photos in the area but it was getting dark and difficult to use my manual exposure for the purpose of the assignment. I took some regular pictures (not for homework use), ducked into a tourist shop and looked around, and it began to rain. I wandered over the bridge to the Jewish quarter, hungry and starting to get very wet. I saw a sign for McDonalds and not having had meat, or any American food thus far, and being fed up with sandwiches, pizza, and pasta every day, I decided it was my job to find that McDonalds and have a disgusting hamburger which I don't even order at home! After about 15-20 minutes of strolling, exploring, and REALLLLLY liking the area, I found it. I had a Coke, amazing fries, and a bacon cheeseburger. It hit the spot. I contemplating taking the bus across the street that would take me close to home, but I opened up my "Rome For You" book and HAD to have the chocolate and ricotta torte they so excitedly talked about. I knew the street couldn't be far away...and it wasn't. After asking a few people where to go, I finally made it to Via del Portico d'Ottavia, right in the heart of the Jewish quarter near the huge Jewish synagogue. The streets were small, winding, full of cobblestones, and so picturesque. I was in heaven. It was so European it could have been in a movie, or Disney World. Upon reaching the street I was looking for, there was an enclosed area of ruins, a tall wall with columns, and some other old looking things that had a railed path you could walk down. It was amazing, and right in the middle of everything! There was nothing to read about it so I'm not sure what it was exactly so I'll have to look it up online. I took some photos, and then went to find my bakery. I stopped into 2 different ones which didn't have the torte, walked some more to see closed stores, took photos of Jewish things and kosher signs, and then went back to one bakery I had stopped in. It was a cozy, cute little place that smelled like a fresh bakery and pastry shop in one. I think I gained 5 pounds breathing in the air. I got myself a slice of apple strudel with raisins and walnuts, and a famous Italian hot chocolate with fresh panna (cream). Both were to die for. The chocolate was so rich I couldn't even finish it. But it sure tasted amazing! It only cost 6 Euro for both...pretty sweet deal!
After my little adventure, I headed home and went out with my roommates and some friends for Alyssa's birthday. We went to Testaccio, a location known for young people, fun atmospheres, and fun clubs and bars. We got convinced to go into a trendy club, Joia (for free), that was having a Moet & Chandon promotional party, but the drinks were 15 Euro each, and after waiting an hour and a half for free champagne we figured out the guy who led us there was a moocher and just stole people's bottles off their tables. And apparently, a club is no fun if you're not "fucked up." So we went to another bar down the street called Coyote which was a bit more fun, and everyone was happy because they could afford a drink. This is why college life bugs me. It seems the only way to have a fun night is to be trashed, annoying, loud, and unable to see or stand straight. Not my kind of fun. Some random guy at the bar bought me a drink, a pina colada made with ice, not blended, and he had no idea what it was. He continued to talk to me, play with my jewelry and basically creeped me out. We all danced a bit, but most of the men were old and sketchy, and Ashley and I escaped outside to chat and avoid molestation. Finally, the others decided to leave when one of our friends was too drunk to walk or stand alone. We got home safe and sound, and I went to bed around 4 AM.
Tonight, I'm going back to Mia's apartment for a birthday party for Abbey. I might end up going to sleep early tonight since tomorrow is the "wall walk" with some famous guy from the history channel. We'll see if I can be awake and at our meeting spot by 8:30...doubtful.
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