Brief Update

2 more classes today then it's the weekend.

We went to a travel agency down the street yesterday,

worked our Italian magic/American charm,

and got a group discount on our train tickets to Florence.

9 of us - 40 Euro round trip.

That includes a stop in Pisa on Sunday on the way back.

I hear the Tower takes an hour and it's not worth its own trip.

Hostel is 12.50 / night.

The 4 girls are in one room and we have a bathroom -

the 5 boys do not haha.

All in all it should be a low-cost weekend excursion.

We leave at 8:45 tomorrow morning,

so I'm doing my first load of laundry tonight, packing, and sleeping.

Last night we had the mass of the Holy Spirit, in the Church of San Ignazio.

St. Ignatius of Loyola is obviously the man around here-

and the church was cooler (i think)

than the Basilicas of St. Francis. Awesome mass.

After, we had a fabulous dinner at a neighboring restaurant.

Italians know how to eat - appetizers on appetizers -

courses on courses of food.

My favorites were the mozzarella everything -

whether it was a cheesy/rice fried ball of heaven or just balls of straight cheese.

The 140 of us took up the entire restaurant, it was quite the meal.

We'll be back late Sunday night from our adventure.

(Mom/Dad - I'll call you then.)

LOVE LEX

p.s. for those of you missing sara boer: check out her adventures in Africa.

You're Ghana love it

http://saraccra.wordpress.com/

Colosseum/Forum/Palatine Hill

Sunday was a very full adventure.

8:30 a.m., 5 of us left and experienced the metro system for the first time. The trains are different than the U.S. in many ways. Rome can not have a subway because a lot of ancient Rome is still underground waiting to be uncovered. Also for the buses and trains, tickets are 1 Euro each. You are supposed to / expected to stamp your card as your board the train or bus. It is not required. However, people do occasionally come around and check. If you are caught without a ticket it's a 150 Euro fine. I'm playing it safe, but it doesn't seem like the

most efficient system.. However, the Trastevere train ride was smooth and easy to navigate.

We got to the flea market which was about a mile stretch of road crammed with tables full of .. crap. I was told there were treasures to be found, but I did not discover any for myself. Most of the stuff looked as if it had 'fallen off the back of a truck'. After about an hour of wandering, we all wound up purchase-less and hungry.

We had full Irish breakfasts at a pub nearby, and then rushed off to meet the group from JFR

C touring the Colosseum area. Our professor that led the tour is the equivalent (I think) of a European Peyton Manning - good looking, and you have to like the guy ->

We started at Palatine hill, which was incredible. It is one of the most ancient parts

of the city and looks over the Forum.

Palatine Hill - the Palace on the Hill. According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was where Romulus and Remus were found. When they were older they decided to build a city on the Tiber River, had an argument and Romulus killed his twin - "Rome" got it's name from Romulus. Fun Fact # 12. We were able to see the ruins of the palaces of Augustus, Tiberius, and Domitian. There was also a Chariot Race Stadium that could hold almost 300,000 Romans.

Next was the Forum - Temples, Arches, Basilicas and more all still standing, or at least partially still standing. Even more yet to be uncovered.

By the time we were done exploring the Forum, our longwinded guide had talked past 4:00 and the closing time of the Colosseum. He made it up to us by buying each of us a beer at a nearby pub. How many people can say their professor bought them a beer?

Walking from the market in the morning, on our way to meet up with the group we turned a corner and BOOM. There was the Colosseum. Not something you can miss easily. I'll definitely be back to explore the inside, to take a picture for Aunt Connie, and to get the full experience.

Beers on Dr. Evers was something very memorable as well. Annie and Mike - shown in the picture, and myself were all separated from the group on our way back to the JFRC and wandered the streets of Rome. We had dinner and explored and ended up at the Pantheon, which was quite a hike. Tomorrow is the mass of the Holy Spirit, which is at the church of Saint Ignatius, near the Pantheon, so I will be sure to get a good picture or two.

Today I found out that I was accepted on the trip to Tuscany in April. It includes transportation, food, a place to stay, wine tasting, olive oil tasting, and a cooking class. It was my first choice, and I was very excited to have been chosen from the lottery. Because I'm not going on the Tunisia trip for spring break, I was fairly sure I would get my first choice. Shane and I will be spending the weekend before finals there together. It was also posted last night that the Sicily trip (my second choice) had 3 open spots. Conor, Annie, and I camped out at the business office this morning and were given the final 3 spots. Valentine's Weekend I will be with the majority of my friends in Sicily - I'm very excited. This motivated me to finalize my trip to Florence this weekend, and my trip to Ireland at the end of Spring Break. After we leave Anne Marie and Nick, Mike and I are going to the Wales/Ireland Six Nations Rugby game.

Nothing else to report. Classes are so far so good. Italian, Lit (Writing Intensive), History, and Human Rights (Service Learning). I'll be assigned my service site this week for my service learning course - very excited to find out where I'll be placed. It could be anywhere from a refugee center to a soup kitchen to tutoring kids in English.

No classes tomorrow! I signed up for a Wednesday Calcio (kal-cho) league - Calcio means kick. Yes, I will be playing in the soccer league. Last year I was responsible for my team's 2 handballs, but it's more of a social thing.. 'When in Rome..'

LOVE LEX

Hadrian's Villa

Today a group of us went on an optional day trip on a one-hour bus ride to Hadrian's Villa. I had no idea what to expect, and the place was truly amazing. Hadrian, a Roman Emperor, lived there thousands of years before and although the place was no longer completely covered with marble, it was still awesome. The trip reminded me of the Tudors, only in the sense that all there was to do at the Villa was eat, party, and relax. The entire place was filled with pools and saunas/baths.

The Hadrian's Villa (Villa Adriana in Italian) is a large Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy. The villa was constructed as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian in the early 2nd century.

Hadrian's villa was a complex of over 30 buildings, covering an area of over 250 acres of which much is still unexcavated. The complex included palaces, a ton of saunas and baths, a theatre, temples, libraries, and guest rooms.

The past few days we've been exploring the neighborhood. We have spent 2 nights watching soccer and rugby in an Irish pub. It defeats the purpose of being as Italian as possible as all the employees speak English, but it's been fun. However, we spent Thursday night exploring our neighborhood of Monte Mario.

Emily and I watching the Liverpool/Tottenham game.

My room mate Kristen and I during the

Munster/Northampton rugby game.

We watched both games at the Abbey Theatre.

Leaving the Abbey Theatre last night,

we took a wrong turn.. and ended up at the Vatican.

Not the way I pictured seeing the Vatican for the first time,

but it was great and exciting,

and a good way to figure

out where we were/needed to be.

The staff at the Rome Center encourages us to

get lost and explore, as it is the best way

to improve your Italian and discover the city.

We live in a safe neighborhood, and are always in groups,

but there is so much to see and do,

exploring has been a great way to familiarize ourselves.

Miss you all, feel free to comment if you have specific questions.

LEX

Assisi

Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. our buses left from the John Felice Rome Center (JFRC) on the 4 hour drive to Assisi. After an hour we stopped for coffee. 200 students piling into the bar (coffeehouse) took forever. That's how it's done here though, apparently on the 8-hr drive during the fall orientation, the bus drivers stopped every hour as well. At the second stop we witnessed a large gathering of tourists/Catholics and their dogs at the Feast of St. Anthony in Umbria.

This is in front of the Basilica in which St. Francis died. There was a rose garden in the back, which was apparently a major place St. Francis prayed. At this point, with our sack lunches, I realized I had forgotten my jacket in my early morning haste. It wasn't too cold, just rainy. The cars lined the side of the Basilica, and the on-lookers stopped at the Ford Mustang - a 'foreign car'.

As our buses could not fit on the narrow roads of Assisi, we had to hike to the retreat center. Which was apparently comparable to a 3-star hotel? Once we were given our room assignments/room mates, we were taken on tours of Assisi- basically another hike. Somehow, everywhere I have travelled so far has been up hill. The fog masked our view of the town, but we still were able to see beautiful churches and basilicas. Of the 900 residents of Assisi, 500 are members of a religious order. There are 35 churches as well, so we just saw those that were most famous - the Basilicas of St. Claire, and of St. Francis.

This was our tour group in front of the Basilica of St. Claire - a follower of St. Francis. It is where she is buried. The fresco paintings on the walls were partially covered because they re-plastered the walls after the plague - fun fact.

Me&Annie in front of St. Francis' basilica. Another fun fact, St. Francis' name was actually John, but his nick name was Francesco because his mother was from France, and his father, a wealthy cloth merchant, sold mostly French cloths. We toured where St. Francis was born, died, and prayed. In the rain.

Monday, we had a 'cultural workshop'. Just tips from our SLA (same as an RA - student life assistant) about where to go, and where not to go.

After the morning workshop we piled back in the buses and drove to a neighboring town of Gubbio. We were not given any formal tours, but we hiked up the side of the mountain. Pope Pius XXI was buried at the top. I did not make it all the way to the top. My entire body aches from the amount of climbing involved in the last few days.

Today was another optional 6 mile hike that took the 7 people to finish close to 3 hours. My room mate finished, and I'm completely satisfied with my choice to sleep in. We headed back to JFRC and back to the real world. Classes begin tomorrow. I just have my on-site course - Art in Rome. Should be an adventure! I'm going to finally get my gelato fix in while I figure out where my class is going to be held.

My Room

Not great pictures, but it gives you a general idea of the room situation. I haven't spent much more time than I've had to in the room (to sleep) because there is no need! So much to see and do. I hope the weather stays this nice. -- I have the bottom bunk / broken closet door.

Day Due

Saturday, January 16, 2010

This morning we had a paperwork session to file our Permit to Stay (Permesso di Soggiorno). Those of us in the beginning of the alphabet, Conor, Emily, Mike, and I had the earliest session but then got out and got a few groceries. As the Rome Center sits on top of a hill, the walk was nice to the Supermercato, but the walk back was quite a hike to carry our food. We are served lunch and dinner in the Mensa (cafeteria) so snacks and breakfast foods were our mission. Between the 4 of us, there were pringles, oreos, coke, and dove soap. We were adventurous enough to buy some cold cuts, fresh bread, and cheese to try without being able to read the descriptions. The registers said our total and we were able to make our transactions fairly smoothly. Conor and Mike knew that the cashier was trying to sell us bags, I couldn't figure out what borsa meant.

Later this after noon we have a meeting regarding life at the Rome Center and in the local community: Medical Support, Safety, Student Mail, Computers, Phones, Fire Exits, etc. I'll hopefully be able to provide my mailbox number in my next post...

Then tonight is our Italian Language Survival Session #2. Last night we learned some basics: introductions, directions, and how to order from the bar (coffee house). No really, they call the coffee shop in our lower level, and all coffee places / sandwich shops 'the bar'. It was comforting to me that my entire group was looking around clueless through the session.

Tomorrow = an Orientation retreat in the Umbria region of Italy. We will be getting to know one another while the full year students lead the excursion to Assisi. We reconnected with Buddy Evans last night who has been studying abroad for the full-year. He was very knowledgable and helpful with our endless questions on where to go and how to get there.

We will be staying at the Pro Civitate Christiana retreat center in the center of Assisi. Buses are not allowed in the center of Assisi, so my new hiking shoes will be very useful. We will be touring the neighborhoods and visiting prayer site for St. Francis located on a neighboring mountain top. The events are scheduled but optional for those who are not so ambitious. We are free to explore Assisi on your own as well.

Bone un cappachino. I'll have a cappachino.
Ciao,
LEX

15/1/2010

HERE. SAFE.










Managed to switch seats on the plane next to Mike & Emily. Largest plane I've ever been on. Wine commenced. Almost all the passengers were students. The approx. 150 students probably consumed all the wine Alitalia had on the plane because all the < 21 students had to each have a glass with dinner. The food was Italian, the announcements were in Italian, the flight attendants were Italian. Jumping right in was a great way to start picking up the basics.
Our updates were in Celsius and KM. I'm not sure how far 7800 KM is but that was the distance from Chicago-Rome. About 9 hours on the plane. Up was the only movie shown, I watched Dexter.
30 minutes of sleep and a gross cup of coffee and we were in Rome waiting 2+ hours for our bags. Luckily the bright green of Lakeside Hoops jumped among the sea of black suitcases. We boarded coach buses to drive us about 45 minutes to JFRC. It is a beautiful day, glad I didn't bring my Uggs, but I'm not sure of the temperature... I'll have to figure out the conversions sooner or later. It's currently 14:25 = 2:25 p.m.












Everything is in Italian and English; signs, directions etc. Very convenient. I keep reaching for my phantom phone. Weird not having one or wifi. Forgot my Loyola I.D... not that big of a deal, but you would think I would remember something so basic... That seems to be the only thing I have forgotten.

Conor, John, and Shane beat us to the Rome Center. Conor has already had 2 bloody noses. More to come I expect. My room is great, beautiful view of orange trees. My room mate is a very nice Jr. at Loyola from Indianapolis. The Rome Center is all in one building set on the top of a hill. Tried the cafeteria food.. more to come about the food situation. I DID eat some vegetables. Green beans. Big step. Now to unpack before a survival Italian course at 5:00.

Picture 1= Emily, Mike, Me, and Annie @ O'hare
Picture 2 = Mysterious overhead compartment that kept opening during the flight. I ducked and covered. RIP Billy Mays.

LEX