near tears day

sunday, june 7

today was INCREDIBLE. i know i say that about everyday, but i saw more beautiful, art historically significant, life-changing (i.e. making me reconsider art history as a major) things today than i probably ever will (until next week maybe...). we started the morning at the fori imperiali, focusing mainly on the forums of augustus and trajan and then on the column of trajan. seeing the column of trajan specifically was amazing because it's another monument that i've recently studied in art history classes; it's HUGE and just as beautiful as i imagined.

view of remains of trajan's forum, trajan's column, and a small temple-like structure in the background (not sure what it is now...i'll look it up later)

so after trajan's column, professor biow led us to the pantheon...wait, what? we're going to the pantheon right now? without any kind of intro or heads up? WHAT?!?!? i was FREAKING OUT like near hyperventilating walking in (for those who know me well, well you know how i can be...). WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW wow. teared up walking in and was stunned silent inside.
the pantheon literally is the most beautiful, tranquil, spiritual, awesome (in the literal sense of the word) space in the world; i haven't been to many but i know nothing can beat the feeling one gets standing in the dead center of the pantheon looking up through its oculus. the discussion of the meaning of the shape, center, space, blah everything about the structure and how it was built to literally connect the cosmos with the earth (the convergence of a circle onto a square, with the emporer hadrian as the center of it all...wow wow wow i get chills just thinking about it (for anyone who hasn't studied the pantheon before, what i just wrote about was probably meaningless to you and for those who have, i'm sorry i just botched such a beautiful and complex line of reasoning). ANYWAY, there's never enough to say about the pantheon and i could go on for days but i won't. you get the idea. i didn't take any pictures there because i was so blown away but brianna did so i'll just steal from her later! the weirdest thing about the pantheon though is where its situated, unassumingly in the middle of this piazza with street vendors and cafes all around it...very unassuming. one of the many mysteries of rome..

so after having such an intense experience at the pantheon, we went to santa maria sopra minerva, a beautiful gothic basilica (actually the only gothic basilica in rome). inside there is an early statue by michelangelo, an exquisitely carved textile-looking statue by bernini and a chapel with an amazing painting (experimenting with perspective) - all for free! i must walk in to more churches around rome because each one is truly a gem.

christ the redeemer by michelangelo

memorial to maria raggi by bernini

brianna and i actually did run into another church after s.m. sopra minerva and ran to italian class (a.k.a. nap time...oy need to work on that). after class we were determined to see the caravaggio exhibit, no matter how long the line was, so we grabbed pizza on the way back to the quirinale and found (happily) a shorter line! great success. it ended up taking us two and half hours but it went by so fast because we talked to the woman standing behind us, stefania, the whole time. she was AWESOME. she actually teaches french so she was very helpful and patient with our broken italian.

she told us some great stories about her travels in america (especially las vegas) and actually is interested in hosting kids from our program now! one of my favorite stories was the ordeal she had attempting to order an "ot do" at a restaurant; naturally, the waitress did not understand her (because she wasn't saying anything that sounded remotely like english) for about twenty minutes...finally she figured out how to express that she wanted a "HOT DOG" (those open "o"s for italians are a nightmare!). the way she still says hot dog though is actually one of the funniest things i've ever heard and she was just awesome. it was a truly rewarding experience spending those two hours with her :)

stefania and her daughter at the caravaggio exhibit line

then, CARAVAGGIO! the largest collection of caravaggio paintings together in one exhibit EVER and definitely worth the wait! although the lighting was TERRIBLE and it was packed with smelly italians (and even worse, smelly tourists...), it was still amazing and breathtaking and i just love caravaggio.

time for class, pictures later!

ok back.

funny side-note: if you've ever read an art history book (or attempted to read one) you know that the language used is incredibly lofty, over-the-top, and convoluted at times (maybe why i gravitate towards it...my writing is usually like that too...sorry). anyway, imagine that, written originally in italian (the trend transcends languages even) then badly translated into english by a very obviously non-native english speaker...BAD NEWS BEARS for people like me trying to read about caravaggio in RUN-ON, overly dramatized, lofty sentences - oy vey. but all in all, a great exhibit and a great day.

the beginning of an incredible week

sunday, june 6

it was so great to be able to sleep in til 10 this morning! ilaria's daugther (emanuella - sp?) and youngest granddaughter (elisa, 8 months old) came for lunch and then brianna came over so we could make plans for the day. there is a caravaggio exhibit at the palazzo quirinale in rome now until june 13 that the school is paying for, so we decided to hit that up today...BIG MISTAKE. we got to the quirinale around 4 and when we finally figured out the line and tickets and what not, we learned that the line was taking 4 HOURS to get through (by this time it was 4:30) and the exhibit closed at 10 that night, not to mention we both needed to be home for dinner...such a disappointment. we climbed up this HUGE hill to get to the piazza di quirinale and were so discouraged by the unfortunate predicament we found ourselves in because of the ridiculous line for caravaggio. we wandered around aimlessly for about twenty minutes but after consulting our blue guide to rome, decided there was a lot to see in the quirinale and sat on a balustrade at the top of the piazza to look at a beautiful obelisk from the forum of augustus, flanked by the statues of castor and pollux (a famous roman story of brotherhood...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_and_Pollux).

obelisk and statue of castor and pollux

but just as we sat down and got over our disappointment from the caravaggio exhibit disaster, a guard came over and told us we had to move...um what? not gonna lie, we were pretty pissed. then all of a sudden the guards start closing off the area and a big van carrying some military band comes driving into the piazza...people start crowding around and brianna and i just had to stay to find out what in the world was going on. turns out, there is a building in the piazza di quirinale in which the president of italy resides and EVERYDAY there is a military procession (band included) to signal the changing of the guards at the palazzo (imagine the white house with way less security, in the middle of an ancient roman piazza, with the band of the armed forces putting on a show to announce a shift change of security...um what? never in america).

military presentation of the changing of the guards at the palazzo quirinale

brianna and i could NEVER have planned a day that turned out like the one we had and although i was somewhat disappointed with the caravaggio exhibit, the military procession - just chancing upon it - was one of the coolest things EVER. there's always something INCREDIBLE happening in rome and the best ones to experience are the ones unplanned :) then brianna and i got some insanely delicious nutella garnished gelato and parted ways at the metro.

when i got home, i had dinner with the family, watched some scooby-doo in italian (an interesting culture shock to say the least), played dress-up with martina and went to bed! just another day in the eternal city...loving it.

a special trip to tivoli

saturday, june 5

this saturday, the program took us all on a special trip to tivoli (a small city about an hour outside of rome) to visit hadrian's villa and the villa d'este, two of the most beautiful villas in the world. we had a wonderful time there but at hadrian's villa i again experienced difficulty attempting to mentally reconstruct what once stood where the ruins are now.

an awesome wall thing at hadrian's villa

hadrian's villa

chilling with an alligator at hadrian's villa with some beautiful copies of classical roman statuary in the background


one of the many fountains at the villa d'este

it was a long and tiring day but tivoli is definitely a city i'd love to come back to again to escape the hustle and bustle of rome (i actually think i want to get married in tivoli...it really is just breathtakingly beautiful). also, i got a gelato with chocolate and melon, my new favorite combination. after i got home from tivoli (around 5 or 6), i walked around the area near ilaria's house (my house?) and stopped into some shops (dangerous!) and bought a great bag. the ladies that worked in the shop were so nice and patient with my terrible italian and i'm very happy with my purchase. it was a great day, but i did get homesick that night :( i really miss my people and yogi!!! will someone send me a pic of her (i.e. MOM AND/OR STEPHANIE!)? watching two episodes of mad men, painting my nails, and making an epic playlist did help me get over my homesickness though and now i'm good to go!

side note, i'm so glad brianna is here with me. we have had some of the coolest experiences together and i really don't know what i'd be doing without her! love that girl.

pictures! and filling in the gaps

i realized i left out a day of experiences on the blog! so here goes: june 3

we met in the morning at a bookstore near our school and had a little orientation session and then italian class. the school i go to everyday is BEAUTIFUL! commissioned by some rich brothers in the medieval era, it served as their castle for some time and was later acquired by the roman government and turned into one of the most prestigious areas for american studies in the world. every ceiling and wall and doorway and floor is beautifully decorated and the piazza it sits in is full of gorgeous statues and carved reliefs...i'll never be able to sit a regular classroom again! i'll upload more pics of the actual school periodically but for now i'm trying to take it all in! everyday i come in i see something more beautiful than i did the day before and wahhh it's just awesome.

brianna and i with one of the many statues at our school

anyway, after our morning class we had about an hour to kill before heading to the fora romana (roman forums) so we headed to a great little pizzeria called "PizzArte" for some delicious, authentic italian pizza. it really is just better here.


so after a delicious lunch we headed to the fora romana for our afternoon class. there we saw the ruins of what used to be the bustling center of rome during the republican and imperial periods. the remains of temples, rostrum, triumphal arches, living areas, shops, and other awesome ancient roman things are all over the fora and it was really cool to see those remains. although i must say that it is incredibly difficult to imagine what used to stand where the ruins are now and i am having a hard time contextualizing the overwhelming number of deteriorating remains we see everyday...one of many of my goals for this trip is to figure out how to do that...wish me luck. anyway, here are some shots of the fora, specifically the arch of titus (still in tact) with one of my favorite ancient roman friezes depicting the spoils of the roman victory over jerusalem.

a view of the fora from the street


arch of titus

arch of titus (detail, frieze: spoils of jerusalem)

after finishing at the fora, we went on a long trip to pick up our cell phones (an adventure in and of itself) and then home for dinner! a great (and EXHAUSTING) first day!

by the way, i apologize for the disparate use of present vs. past tense in my entries...switching between italian and english grammar structures is incredibly difficult. i think my ability to express myself in grammatically complex english is while i'm here detiorating, which is incredibly unfortunate. ha please don't judge me when i get back and am unable to form grammatically correct english sentences or when i randomly say "sì" instead of yes in everyday conversation (it happened while i was on the phone with my mom last night...). ok dinner time! mmm. arrivederci!

roman adventures

hello all! i'm sorry my posts are so spread out and long (this one is going to be...), but i'm still trying to figure out the most efficient, convenient way to use the internet - you'll know once i do because i'll be updating the blog more frequently :) and i'm also sorry about the lack of pictures so far! hopefully i'll find a wifi spot around my school this week so i can use my laptop. ok so here's the update!

june 4

such an awesome day! (even though i got sunburned...go figure). this morning for my art history class we went to the arch of constantine (AMAZING...i've written essays about that thing) and the colosseum.

the arch of constantine

view of the colosseum in the fora romana


inside the colosseum!

we finished looking around that area around 12 and had class at 12:30 so brianna and i grabbed a panini on the way and booked it to our italian language class. after class, we had our first italian adventure! we asked antonella (our italian teacher) what her favorite foods were (she's a native roman and knows what's up) and she suggested we try a supplì, a ball of rice, tomato sauce, and mozzarella, deep-fried to perfection. she also suggested we get gelato at a place called giolitti, which turned out to be ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS GELATERIAS IN ROME...the line was out the door but definitely worth the wait (i got chocolate and melon...melon is my new favorite gelato flavor). on our way there we passed by the pantheon, nbd (stands for "no big deal", one of my favorite acronyms...brianna and i say it in italian quite frequently as "ene b d"...not quite an exact translation but it works haha)

our next stop was going to be the trevi fountain when we just happened upon the COLUMN OF MARCUS AURELIUS, one of my favorite pieces of ancient roman art and then an obelisk that was originally placed in the forum of augustus and the italian government's parliament building...wait, what? we were literally just taking a leisurely stroll when we walked right into the piazzas with all of these famous pieces (fyi, the piazza's are piazza montecitoria, piazza colonna, e piazza parlamento). i was in shock and so happy (the pictures are great...especially with gelato dripping all over our faces...yumm).

one of the obelisks from the forum of augustus

that's one of the coolest things about rome: you can go on a walk with no plan or direction and walk by historic site after historic site. i can't describe how incredible it is to see these monuments that i've studied for so long and seen in art history books so many times...incredibile!

after that, we made our way to the trevi fountain which is unfortunately constantly full of tourists...i know i'm basically an american tourist but i can't imagine how annoyed ordinary romans must get with us...mamma mia. we decided to just walk around the area and take in all of the amazing buildings we were surrounded with. we spent a large part of the rest of the afternoon on the via del corso, a famous street with tons and tons of shopping. i'm definitely going back there to spend my money...i bought a water bottle at the north face store and brianna and i took many pictures of beautiful italian men in beautifully tailored italian suits (people really are just more beautiful here...the men at least). we actually felt good about our italian and were able to effectively converse with people working in the stores, even though we frequently omit essential verbs and mess up tenses all the time. brianna and i ended our day together at the piazza del popolo, a place i must spend more time at! by that time though our feet were hurting pretty bad (even though i was wearing my freaking chacos!) and we parted.

that night, ilaria's son stefano came over for dinner and we had a really nice time. he speaks a little bit of english which made conversation at the dinner table a little more engaging than it has been (i.e. me saying "sì" to everything ilaria says because i can't understand her...). i got pretty homesick after dinner and really just wanted to get on facebook (sad, i know) and really miss everyone so much (especially yogi...). but i'll be fine and to get over my sadness i just made a playlist, painted my nails and watched some mad men season 2 (if you haven't seen that show i highly suggest you watch it...grade A).

unfortunately i have to leave the internet cafè right now for dinner but tomorrow night i'm going on an adventure to find a place with wifi where i can use my laptop! i'll upload pics and fill in the gaps about saturday and sunday then. for now, ciao ciao ciao ciao ciao!

sitting in a roman internet cafe :)

i wanted to post something while i was at the airport in houston but i ran out of time on the complimentary wifi service there :( but i have the entry saved so i'll try to put it up later. apparently my italian mom actually does have wifi in her apartment but her son needs to set it up for me and he hasn't been around yet. also, i have pictures of my room and other fun things that i'll upload as soon as i can! for now just try to use your imagination.
so to fill you in! the flight was long but great. brianna and i had the BEST seats on the plane, the first row in economy class, so we had tons of leg room and the best tv screens. i watched the movie "brothers" and an episode of mad men on the air france tv and slept the rest of the time. air france is so so nice; can't wait to fly it again :)

this is what i wrote in my journal in the air from paris to rome:

landing in paris was amazing! brianna and i could just tell we were in europe from the scenery - a landscape full of pastures, forests, and weird-looking power towers that were just SO EUROPEAN! the airport was cool and brianna noted that europeans are really really beautiful compared to americans. we were only in paris for a short while and i eagerly await my return.

sign at the airport in paris. bonjour!

on the flight to rome:

flying over the alps - AMAZING, so breathtakingly beautiful. unfortunately, there was a group of extremely annoying americans sitting behind me on the flight; i understand now why europeans dislike americans sometimes...they sucked.

the alps :)

other than that, everything european is so much better - even the plane food! air france gave complimentary biscuits (which are, in american terms, coconut cookies and extraordinarily delicious) and these cracker things which make pretzels seem like dog food. i had to listen to rome by phoenix to get me in the mood right before we landed and i couldn't have been more excited!!!

in rome

so now i've been in rome for 2 days and am having an incredible time. my italian mom, ilaria, is so so nice and accomodating and very patient with my terrible italian (i'm realizing every time i try to say something that although i did well in my italian classes at ut, im missing HUGE gaps of information regarding the italian language; i am trying though...). i have a great room with an INCREDIBLE view, including the dome of st. peters, a.k.a. my dream come true.

the view from my room, st. peter's in the distance

my room!

yesterday i spent about an hour unpacking and setting up the room and then i went out with ilaria to meet her daughter and granddaughter, martina, who i have slowly become best friends with :) we went to a little italian store to get some bread and cheese and cookies for breakfast (yeah, italians do that) and other little things. ilaria made a dinner consisting of pasta with grated parmesan, a zucchini and mozzarella fritatta, bread, fresh mozzarella and a salad. note: MOZZARELLA IN ITALY IS SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER THAN MOZZARELLA IN THE U.S., which my mom has noted many times tastes like nothing - here it tastes like heaven :) i have coffee with every meal and it's also a million times better than anything you'll find in the u.s...the coffee, so far, is the best thing i've experienced (in terms of food) since ive been here. after dinner i went to sleep! great first day.

note: i have a hard time understanding the language so, so far, i basically reply with sì (yes) to everything ilaria says...it hasn't gotten me into trouble yet but im kind of afraid it will...i need to spend serious time figuring out how to understand italian better! oy.

today

today was LA FESTA DELLA REPUBBLICA, an annual celebration of italy's indepedence from mussolini's fascist regime. i woke up around ten this morning and watched the military parade celebrating the republic on tv. it was really cool to see the branches of the italian armed forces and i can now recognize the italian prime minister and president! woo. ilaria's husband served in the military and she showed me a photo album dedicated to him - he was SO handsome. i was really touched by the pictures i saw and loved that ilaria was so willing to share something so important to her with me. yay bonding!

around eleven, ilaria's daughter and 2 granddaughters came over for lunch; martina is 7 and elisa is 8 months old. they are ADORABLE. martina and i clicked instantly, once she saw my shoe collection (haha people warned me that italians really judge people by their shoes and even the 7-year-old martina validates that!). she looked around my stuff and like any 7-year-old would, tried on all of my shoes (she liked my new wedges the best - note to mom: i'm so glad i bought those!), tried on all of my make-up and jewelry and painted each of her fingers a different color that i brought with me. we had a delicious lunch of pasta al forno (baked pasta with cheese), leftover fritatta, mashed potatoes, salad, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, and some other delicious things. i had my coffee and we had cannoli and biscotti for dessert. mmmm.

after lunch, ilaria et. al. and i went on a walk around rome. we went to st. peters where i nearly cried just standing in the center and also went to the church of sant'angelo. i didn't want to look like a tourist today so i didn't take any pictures but i know i'm going back for class so i'll do my touristy thing then. i did, however, stop in a little souvenir shope where i bought my now treasured pocket italian-english dictionary...i'll never leave my room without that now...great success! we also stopped and got some famous italian gelato (i got mixed berry and chocolate) and it definitely surpassed my expectations for deliciousness. we went to one of martina's favorite parks and i had a really nice time attempting to carry a conversation with ilaria and her daughter.

and now, i'm sitting in a roman internet cafe, slowly learning how to use italian keyboards which are a lot different than american ones...it took me almost half an hour to figure out where the apostrophe key is... but, I'M LOVING THIS EXPERIENCE! dinner with ilaria is at 8 tonight and i'm looking forward to eating a pasta with spinach and ricotta :) and drinking my coffee! i'll never go a meal without it. i've yet to have any pizza but i know it's coming...

i think that's it for now. ciao ciao ciao ciao ciao!