Buon Natale!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday!

Expect a final wrap up entry of my entire trip coming next week.  I haven't been able to do it yet because its so overwhelming! But I think I'll finally be able to get it done next week!

Again, Buon Natale!

L'ultimo giorno!

I'm about to actually start my last day in Rome.  I cannot believe this is ending. I've seen and done so much in the last 4 months.  I'm a different person.  I don't want to leave these people; this place. Knowing that when it's over, its over for good is such a scary thought.

But right now, I've got less than 24 hours to enjoy this city, and that is what I will do.

America, I'll see you tomorrow.

L'ultima settimana!

"The Last Week"

Trevi Fountain at night

Uh oh. It's getting scarily close to the end of this. I'm so torn about going home!

throwing my coin in...

So Tuesday night I went to Trastevere to have a real Italian dinner with Katey.  We ended up at a cute but really busy little restaurant.  I had spaghetti con pepe e cacio, and it was pretty good.  Afterwards, we walked to the Trevi Fountain so I could FINALLY throw my coins in.  I had really wanted to take pictures of the fountain at night, so I'm glad I got to do that. And thank god for tripods!

Streets in Rome, lit up for Christmas!

Wednesday I spent literally the entire day working on my paper, working on my service journals for italian, or procrastinating doing either of those things.  It was terrible.  But, I got everything done, and handed it in bright and early thursday morning.  Unfortunately, I also had my Italian final that day, and never really got a chance to study for it.  The written part was fine, but I kind of bombed my oral.  Its okay, because everyone did, but I still felt terrible about it.  Then I had theology class, which was the same as always (only one more to go though!).  Thursday night I took it easy; just hung out, recovering from all the hard work I had put in the last few days.

Awesome spiral staircase in the Vatican Museum

Friday during the day, I didn't do much. I finally got some cash, which was exciting. I did some laundry, which was also exciting. I also opened one of my suitcases and put some stuff in it... that was so totally depressing.  Friday night, I went to a club with some of the DTWs.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Saturday morning I woke up nice and early and finally went to the Vatican museum.  I went through most of it pretty quickly, but I lingered for awhile in Raphael's rooms and stayed in the Sistine Chapel for almost an hour.  When I first walked into the Sistine Chapel, I was pretty underwhelmed.  I've become pretty used to rooms having intricately painted ceilings, so I didn't immediately see what was so special about it.  Then I sat down and took it all in.  It really is quite amazing.  Especially when you imagine Michelangelo laying there painting it all in the time period that he did it in... it makes you appreciate it much more.  And the longer you look at it, the more detail you realize.  I was certainly impressed.  Then I did a little souvenir shopping and headed back to school.  Took it easy for the rest of the day.  All this time abroad is really catching up with me!

Sandra, the cat I wanted to take home. 

Sunday I woke up early-ish and went to the Cat Sanctuary at Torre Argentina with Mandy.  We had an absolutely delightful time! The cats are so sweet. We spent quite a bit of time in the room with the senior and disabled cats.  We both found ones that we wanted to take home, but of course, we couldn't.  The one that Mandy loved was named Lucky, and he was blind in both eyes.  He was so sweet.  When we squatted down to pet him, he hopped right up onto our laps and laid down.  So cute.  The one I loved was named Sandra, and she was absolutely beautiful.  A grey cat with stripes and beautiful green eyes.  There wasn't really anything wrong with her, except that she hated other cats.  She loves people though.  So she sits in this little bed all day, away from the other cats, watching to make sure they don't come near her.  But she perked right up when I went over to pet her.  There was all sorts of other cats with all sorts of interesting stories.  Eventually we went outside and watched the able-bodied cats climb about on the ruins.  One of the volunteers there said that since ancient times, people had brought their unwanted cats there.  So interesting! But we couldn't stay there forever. :(

One of the cats outside

That afternoon I came back to my room and had a quiet afternoon to myself.  On Monday I did service at the school for the last time, and had our last floor meeting.  Then I spent the rest of the day procrastinating studying for my art final.  I guess I did end up studying a little, but right before the exam, I felt like I knew absolutely nothing, and was pretty nervous.  When I took the final this morning though, I knew everything I needed to know, and I'm confident that I did well.  After that I had my last Theology class (unless you count the dinner we're going to on Friday).

Our street after the rioters passed through

During religion, we heard some shouting outside the building.  I googled it during class and found out the italian citizens were rioting... and it had just reached our area.  After class got out, I went to my friends' room and looked out their window.  You could see the rioters, and they had lit several dumpsters on fire on our street.  It was pretty crazy.  The rioting is still going on.  Theres helicopters circling over our building and you can hear sirens, though now they've mostly moved away from us.  It's rather unfortunate though, because I was hoping to go out and do something this evening, since I have so little time left here.  It's probably not a good idea, if you look up how bad the rioting was today and all the damage they did.  So i'll be staying in tonight, maybe watching some movies or something.

Dumpster on fire, right outside of school

Alright, well thats all for now.  Time is running out so quickly, I don't know what to think or feel!! Ciao!

Ciao Bella!

I'm in a cheery mood. Which is suspicious because I'm leaving Italy in 11 days, and I don't want to.

Ostia Ampitheatre

Friday, the school was supposed to take us on a trip to Tivoli to see the famous Villa D'Este.  Unfortunately, we've had non-stop rain here for more than 2 weeks, and so the Villas were all closed.  Instead, we went to Ostia.  I had been to Ostia before, but this was with a big group, and it sounded like fun, so I went anyways.  We took the bus to the train, and it was actually fun.  I think I'm finally at the point where I'm comfortable with all of my fellow semester students, so I never feel like I'm lacking someone to talk to.  It's a nice feeling to be included. Plus, I have Katey and Mandy, which opens up the DTWs to me, even though none of the other semester students really interact with them.  So we got to Ostia and walked through the ruins.  We spent awhile in the Ampitheatre and then headed to the river.  On the way, I found a stray dog. And fell in love. It's not hard for me to fall in love with a dog... I fall in love with every single one I meet. I'm one of those kids that started asking for a dog at the ripe old age of 3 and still hasn't gotten one. So I really liked this stray dog.

Me and my new friend. Photo credit: Kate

He was white. Kind of like a lab build.  He was dirty and his fur was matted, but he just wanted some love! Everyone was afraid to pet him, but he walked right up to me and rubbed against me. I couldn't resist.  A bunch of us petted him, but when it was time for us to go, he followed us. And kept following for a really long time. When we would stop for one reason or another, he would wait for us.  It was really cute, but bad because we weren't sure if he was supposed to stay within the Ostia gates or if he would be able to find his way back.  When we reached the gate, we told him to stay, and he did, but he whined as we left and looked so sad!

There he is. I'm pretty sure everyone on the trip had a different name for him. I didn't name him because then I would have had to take him home!! 

Then we walked over to the castle and the little residential area behind the castle.  It's one of the most adorable little areas I've come across here in Italy.  The houses are exactly how I imagined all of Italy would be.  There were cats there. Lots of them.  Apparently people abandon their cats there and this one British woman takes care of them and tries to find them new homes.  She told us all about them and their names and such.  It was fun! But then our dog friend found us. Which means he crossed the street by himself and probably followed us by scent, since he wasn't behind us and he showed up like 20 minutes later.  We sent him back, but it was sad. When we left there, we got on the train back to school.

One of the cats, Kelly. 

That evening, I didn't do much.  I cooked myself some pasta and broccoli for dinner and hung around the kitchen for awhile.  Then I ended up studying for my Italian final with Lorraine for a few hours.  Saturday I didn't really do anything productive.  I was feeling especially tired when I woke up that morning.  Most of the day was spent either working on homework or procrastinating working on homework.  I had pizza for dinner, and realized just how much I'm going to miss Pizza Colonna when I go home (SOOO much).  That night, me and Lorraine watched Love Actually in the lounge, and it was quite enjoyable.  Definitely got me in the Christmas spirit.  Sunday I split my time between doing my paper for Italian and doing my presentation for Art.  That night, I emailed my paper to my teacher to read, so now I have to fix her corrections and write the last 2 pages.  Sunday was the day of both the first meet for my fencing team, and my family's big reunion/Christmas party, so I kind of wish I could have been home for those. But I spent a while on skype with my family after, and my fencing team went undefeated, so I guess everything worked out.

Him sleeping before he met us. 

Monday morning I had service, as usual.  The kids spent the first half hour practicing for their big Christmas show that's coming up.  They've been working really hard, but the nun still gets so angry at them when they mess up.  Poor kids.  Then, we stayed down in their multipurpose room and let the kids run around with hula hoops.  We played a couple of different games and it was actually really fun.  At one point, they were in pairs, and one was the horse (inside the hoop) and the other was the rider (outside the hoop) and they were galloping around in circles.  One of the little boys, Francesco, would give me the dirtiest looks every time he ran by my.  The first time he growled at me, and then it just kept going from there.  It was hilarious, but I'm not sure, maybe he really doesn't like me? hahah.  We had our semester meeting that afternoon, and they started talking about re-entry and how we go about adjusting to life back in the states. It was SO depressing. Apparently if we talk about study abroad too much it will make people hate us... hm.  That night I cooked dinner for myself and Katey and hung around the kitchen talking with some of the girls.  Then I slaved over my project for Art and Architecture for many hours until about 2 am.

Him laying in a field of daisies waiting for us. 

This morning, I had to actually give my presentation.  It was pretty bad.  I was nervous, so I just read straight from my notecards and talked really fast.  I don't know how long I was standing up there, but it wasn't a long time.  There wasn't actually too much information in my presentation, so I have no idea what kind of grade I will get.  Then I took a nap, and it was one of those really wonderful naps that you don't ever want to get up from.  I was having a really pleasant dream, until my alarm went off and ruined it.  Then I went to Theology and had to listen to a lecture on Christianity.  Then I came here and wrote this! hah!

Part of the castle

We have no classes tomorrow, so I was going to go to Pisa, but now I think I should spend the day working on my paper and writing up journal entries for my service.  I hate realizing how much work I actually have to do in the next week or so.  ugh.  Ciao a tutti!

Some houses in the little area behind the castle in Ostia. 

the end is near....

St. Peter's from the bridge

I only have less than three weeks left in Europe! It's a very bittersweet thought-- I want to go home and see everyone and everything that I've been missing, but at the same time, I know that when I leave, it'll be a very long time until I get back here, and I may never see most of these people again.  But, while I'm here, I'm living it up.  I have to see everything I came here to see and I'm running out of time!!!

Vittorio Emanuele II

So Thanksgiving weekend came and went. I didn't do much, just started writing my wonderful paper for my wonderful independent study.  It is far more work than I ever anticipated.  I was going to just write about the birth of the italian language, but I couldn't find enough information, so I decided to write about Dante's legacy instead.  The paper isn't finished yet, but I've been spending multiple hours a day working on it.  I hope it gets a good grade... especially since its my only grade for my independent study. 

Ruins in the Roman Forum

So on Monday I decided to go for a walk.  I looked in my tourist book thing and picked somewhere random to go.  I wanted to take pictures of the Vittorio Emanuele II monument, and go to Capitoline Hill, so thats where I went.  I started by walking down Via del Corso, and arrived at the monument.  I took approximately a million pictures, and read the plaques so I would actually learn something.  Then I walked around behind the monument, and climbed the stairs to Piazza del Campidoglio.  I looked at the statue in the middle, admired the buildings, and  then noticed a bunch of people taking pictures of something, so I went to check it out.  It turns out that theres this small road leading out the back of the buildings that leads to a beautiful view of the Roman Forum.  I had been there before, but couldn't take pictures because I was with my class, so I followed the path and checked it out.  I also stumbled upon the prison where St. Peter was kept and where he flooded his cell and used the water to baptize his captors.  So I took pictures and then decided that I might as well go to the Colosseum while I was there. So I walked around it and took pictures.  It was really awesome.  I've been around it before, but hadn't taken any pictures, so I was pretty excited.  I spent a few hours out on my own, and it was quite enjoyable.  That night I worked on my paper some more... as usual, and walked to Old Bridge Gelato with some of the DTWs.  I had lemon and strawberry and it was delicious.   

Colosseum

Tuesday morning I went to Art class and listened to a bunch of boring presentations.  After Art, I decided to go on the school trip to the Colosseum, even though it meant I might miss Theology class (I hadn't been inside yet). So we left right after my class, and took the bus.  Unfortunately, this was at the same time as a strike on the metro, and a huge protest by the college students in Italy.  So there was approximately a million people trying to take the bus at the same time, and traffic was moving about 5 inches a minute, so it took quite awhile to get there.  Most of the people that were going had to go to class, so they gave up after about 45 minutes on the bus (we hadn't even crossed the bridge yet).  Then we gave up on the bus and walked about a half hour.  We got to the Colosseum about 2 hours after we left. By that time, it was just me and Katey.  We went into the Colosseum and spent quite awhile walking around and chatting about Gladiators.  It was a lot of fun, even though it was raining (its been raining for 2 weeks straight).  Walking back, we found our way blocked by a ton of police and carabinieri.  They were blocking off all the streets and had riot gear and there were sirens everywhere.  No one really knew what was going on, so there was a lot of confusion.  We made it through and back to the school.  That night, I cooked dinner for myself and Katey, and then we watched Gladiator with Mandy.  The movie was quite enjoyable, as usual, but by the time we were done, it was very late, so I worked on my paper for a bit and then I went to sleep.  

Colosseum

Wednesday morning, I woke up early and went to the Galleria Borghese with Katey.  We got there around 8:30, and were allowed in at 9:00.  It was pretty wonderful.  Theres a bunch of Bernini sculptures, and I really liked them.  My favorite was Apollo and Daphne.  It's really beautiful, probably my favorite piece of art ever. I loved the other Bernini sculptures, too, but that one was just amazing.  There was some Caravaggio pieces that I also enjoyed, but the Bernini sculptures just blew me away.  We saw everything in about an hour and a half.  Then we walked back through Piazza del Popolo and stopped into the church with the Caravaggio paintings and admired it for a while.  Then we came back here and I crashed for awhile before I started to work on my paper.  I worked on it for like 6 hours.  

Me in the Colosseum

Today, I had classes all day.  It was boring. Alas, only a week and a half more of classes, then we have finals! yikes!