Well well, after quite the exciting weekend adventure out of Rome, accomplishing life goals and drinking the tears of Christ on top of a voclano, one would think the following week would just not be able to measure up. But, one would be wrong. Because everyday in Rome is beyond amazing and beats most days spent in the states.
Monday was a good day. My orginally planned day was thrown off by the public transportation strike, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Because I couldn't go home as planned, I showed up early to the meeting place (the Colosseo metro stop) for Rome through the Ages and got to spend 30 minutes talking and sitting next to none other than, Dr. Hotness. It was amazing, as always. We laughed, I learned, we connected..it was magical. Then we visited the Triumphal Arch of Constatine (so cool) and then went to this super awesome church, the church of St. Clements, which is down the street from the Colosseum. On the way there, I learned that they do not eat sour cream in Italy, which is very sad and put a damper on our plans of having a Mexican fiesta. Anyways, we go to this church, which looks like your basic church from the outside...is pretty cool on the inside but then gets super awesome because there is a whole other SUB TERREAN level of architecture to explore. It was soooo awesome. You can walk downstairs, and basically walk through history. The main level of the church is what was rebuilt in like, the 17th century and then you go down a level and you see the orginal Christian church from way early times. There are still some floors, walls, columns, and even frescoes from that time period. And the, you walk even further and there are ruins of early pagan churchs and a temple dedicated to the cult of Mithros, which was similar to Christianity, but slightly stranger. It is so crazy that you can still see and walk through all this stuff. It was absolutly amazing to see and learn about. Rome through the Ages is definately one of the coolest classes I have ever taken. And not only because of Dr. Hotness..it is so exciting to be able to learn and experience 2000 years of history in the city I LIVE in. I mean, yay for Clinton..but its history pretty much consists of William Plumer Jacobs...not too exciting.
Wedesday we went to this place called Garbatella for photography. It was my first time riding Metro Line B, which was exciting, and also my first time getting seriously lost in Rome. It ended up being fine, other than showing up 30 minutes past the meeting time at the end of class. My teacher is super nice though, so it was ok. Garbatella is an area known for its unique architucture, so it made for a really interesting shoot. It had some really cool things to take pictures of, and it was nice because it wasn't ridiculously crowded like most of the city is. I talked to some really nice people while shooting as well, and was able to get some Italian practice in. People wanted to know what was going on since they say like, 15 people wandering around with cameras. I still am not completly comfortable with taking pictures of random people though, so it was nice to make friends before I started snapping away. I am really excited about getting those pictures back. That night I also went back to work at the soup kitchen, which was actually fun this time. It went a lot better than the first time, mainly because I got to work the front desk instead of working inside the eating area. I worked with 2 really nice people, both who knew enough English to where we could actually talk (I threw some Italian in when I could) and understand each other. This really nice man taught me the days of the week and is going to quiz me next week. I am totally going to be ready...Lunedi, Martedi, Meircoledi, Junedi, Venerdi, Sabato, Domenica. I don't think any of those are spelled correctly, but luckily, its going to be an oral exam.
Friday I went on a tour of Capotoline Hill, the Colosseum and very abbreviated Forum. We first walked through a demonstration, which I, of course, have no clue as to what it was about. There were a lot of colorful flags though. I got a little nervous though, because anytime we see or hear anything about demonstrations in mafia class, someone always gets shot. But, this one went on without any of that, thank goodness. Anyways, the tour was interesting. Most of the stuff I had already learned from Dr. Hotness, but it was interesting to get a different perspective, since our tour guide was younger, and American. He was really funny and focused more on interesting things to know, rather than the architecture and historical significance of the buildings. We also walked to the top of this cafe in the Capotoline museum, and we got an awesome view of the city.
That night we had a little dinner party and my friend Megan made some amazing gnocchi! Everything was sooo good and I stuffed my face. One of my roommates Katie, made dessert that we all devoured like crazy people. It was pretty funny...she set it on the table and we all attacked it. It was chocolate truffle something or other and it was soo good. I contributed nothing to the dinner. I didn't even help wash dishes. Shame on me. Then, we all went out afterwards and it after some very frustrating transportation issues...we finally make it into where we wanted to be. On the way there, it was nice out...not too cold, clear skies...Then, we are headed to a wine bar and it starts HAILING. It was the craziest thing...no one saw it coming. I was pretty upset because it was the first time I had straightened my hair since we had been in Rome and we all know that hail or any type of weather other than perfectly clear skies does not agree with straight hair. But it was still a fun night, even though we arrived at the wine bar soaking wet and looking rough.
Anyways, more adventures to come, as always. Every day gets better and better...and hopefully the weather will start doing the same. Ciao ciao si si va bene ciao si si si si va bene ciao ciao ciao ciao si va bene ciao ciao (this is how Italians say goodbye on the phone...one ciao is simply not enough).
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