Those pictures are a few that I have taken in the past two weeks.
Well classes are well underway now; yesterday we had our first Italian quiz! We are starting to use our Italian more in daily conversation. I know some basic phrases like, "how much is that," "where is..." "what is your name," and "where are you from." It is fun to try and communicate with the locals--but it can be very difficult. A lot of the cab drivers and store owners don't speak English.
The weather here is very spastic. When we leave to go to class in the morning it is usually around 50 degrees. Then it will start raining midday and sometimes go into the night. Yesterday it was miserable, the rain was so intense and our food and culture class had to walk outside for about two hours to go to an open air market. The area that we went to was very poor in early Rome, so they have a tradition of eating the intestines and organs of the animals because they cannot afford anything else. So at the market, we were able to see the insides of all these animals.. and a lot of dishes include them at restaurants in this area. It was disturbing to say the least. My choice to not eat meat was heightened at the market. However, we did find some amazing foccia bread and sugary Roman donut holes. They were so much better than any baked good that I have had in the states. And I would know best, working at Morningfields Bakery for two years.. But we did run into a problem at the market; Courtney, Alex, and I tried this unidentified cheese from a lady who didn't speak a word of English and two of the three of us got food poisoning. I was fine though, which is ironic considering that I used to have the weakest stomach. The other two are fine now, with some medicine in their stomachs and lots of rest.
Anyways, our walk home from the market was absolutely miserable. My boots were sopping wet and of course I didn't have an umbrella so my coat was soaked through. We walk so much living here that everyday when I get home my feet are absolutely killing me. I would not reccommend wearing flat boots on the cobblestone roads. So in an effort to ease the pain, Courtney and I decided to search for some cute gym shoes after class. With the downpour continuing we walked down Via del Corso, a major street in Rome, looking for the Foot Locker. On our way to finding our saving grace, we came across about 244432 cute stores that we had no idea existed! We live in a very nice area of town and have only seen expensive boutiques until yesterday. Down Via del Corso we walked into Habbana, Zara, Nike, Miss Sixty, Guess, Addidas, and many more. After about two hours of searching for Foot Locker and popping the newly discovered stores, we finally came across the Nike store. The women's gym shoes were bright purple high tops. We left immediately. The two of us ended up buying similar New Balance kicks, and I can say that they are like walking on clouds after spending the day wearing them today.
The strange fashion in Rome doesn't end at the bright purple high tops though. Today we saw a cluster of highschool girls wearing Timberlands. Yes, gigantic, tan Timberlands. Not to mention, they were emo skater girls.. like every teenager in Rome. No joke, all of the highschoolers wear skinny jeans, skater shoes/Timberlands, and try to be emo. It is very different than in America where that is simply a subculture. Something else that is very prevalent in Rome is graffiti. This is not as big in the area that I live in, near the Trevi Founatin and Spanish Steps, but in Trestevere about 20 minutes out of the main area, graffiti covers every wall. When I first saw Trestevere I though I was in Mexico. The buildings are yellow and pink and there are palm trees everywhere. It is not at all what you would picture as a beautiful area in Rome. The other students in our program all live in Trestevere though, so my roommates and I almost wish we were over near them. However, because we live alone we are getting accostomed to the Roman public transportation. Yesterday we took the metra, which is like our el in Chicago. I have never seen more people commuting in my life. The train is huge, and there are just hundreds of people waiting to board the underground train. What is interesting is that we were leaving for class around 9:30 and we saw so many people going to work and school. So, we're not quite sure when business hours/school hours are for people in Rome. Also when you take a bus or the tram (above ground train) you don't have to pay when you get on. You are supposed to have a bus card to show if someone asks you.. but it is really just based on the honor system. I find this ironic considering it is on public transportation that you are told to watch your purse and not trust anyone. I guess I'll just avoid bus 64.. that is what the gypies go on.
Well, I must go pack now. Tomorrow Courtney, Alex, and I venture off to London for our first trip! Our flight takes off at 4:30pm, which is 9:30am for all of you. I'm super excited and eager to have our first hostel experience. I will obviously update when I return back to Roma on Sunday morning. Hope everyone has a great weekend, and I can't wait to speak to people in Enlgish! Ciao!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
So we have now been in Rome for six days. It has been a great experience so far. We are still trying to get used to everything. For one, the Italian people do most things much slower. When my roommates and I went to buy internet for our computers, it took about an hour to get everything set up. The process in the US would take about fifteen minutes. Another thing is walking on the streets. The people walk very leisurely. As Americans, we are used to walking at a fast pace and Italians enjoy walking at a slower pace and enjoying the company of others. Speaking of that, it is very intriguing to see Italian men walking arm in arm down the streets; that is surely something that is unheard of in America. Also, someone pulled my hair as I was walking into a store the other day! He also pulled the other girl's hair that I was with. I've been warned that the men are creepy, but this was just strange.
Last night my roommates and I went to get our first cup of gelato. It was obviously amazing. We also made our first trip to the Spanish Steps. There are 138 of the steps. At the top of the steps is a gorgeous church that we saw nuns praying in and at the bottom is a fountain and the beginning of the Michigan Ave. of Roma. Some of the stores we saw were Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, and Prada. We are definitely planning on going back dressed up as American heiresses so the Italians treat us as if we will make big purchases. The street itself was gorgeous and lit up beautifully. Today we visited Vatican City. We had a guided tour through the Vatican, which was awesome, but so long. I will post pictures soon. It was amazing to see all of the ancient artwork and especially the Sistine Chapel. When we left the Vatican, Courtney and Alex and I wanted to stop somewhere to eat. An older lady approached Courtney telling her about this restaurant and she ended up leading us down an alley to a hidden restaurant. We felt bad, so we stayed and ate at the restaurant-- however we were the only customers. The pasta was mediocre and there was nothing special about the place. When we received the bill there was a 9 euro fee for bread and service! No one in the restaurant spoke English and we were already irritated with the bad food so we just paid and left. That has been our only bad experience so far with food in Italy. Everything else has been great! We have been trying to eat dinner at home a lot though. We make mozzarella and tomato sandwhiches and buy fruit at a market right down the street. However, that meal could get old soon..
Well it is almost 9 o'clock here and we are going out to a club called Gilda tonight. I'm sure the nightlife in Roma will beat out Champaign by a longshot...
Last night my roommates and I went to get our first cup of gelato. It was obviously amazing. We also made our first trip to the Spanish Steps. There are 138 of the steps. At the top of the steps is a gorgeous church that we saw nuns praying in and at the bottom is a fountain and the beginning of the Michigan Ave. of Roma. Some of the stores we saw were Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, and Prada. We are definitely planning on going back dressed up as American heiresses so the Italians treat us as if we will make big purchases. The street itself was gorgeous and lit up beautifully. Today we visited Vatican City. We had a guided tour through the Vatican, which was awesome, but so long. I will post pictures soon. It was amazing to see all of the ancient artwork and especially the Sistine Chapel. When we left the Vatican, Courtney and Alex and I wanted to stop somewhere to eat. An older lady approached Courtney telling her about this restaurant and she ended up leading us down an alley to a hidden restaurant. We felt bad, so we stayed and ate at the restaurant-- however we were the only customers. The pasta was mediocre and there was nothing special about the place. When we received the bill there was a 9 euro fee for bread and service! No one in the restaurant spoke English and we were already irritated with the bad food so we just paid and left. That has been our only bad experience so far with food in Italy. Everything else has been great! We have been trying to eat dinner at home a lot though. We make mozzarella and tomato sandwhiches and buy fruit at a market right down the street. However, that meal could get old soon..
Well it is almost 9 o'clock here and we are going out to a club called Gilda tonight. I'm sure the nightlife in Roma will beat out Champaign by a longshot...
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
FIrst Few days!!
Hey everyone! So today is our third day in Roma, and it is absolutely wonderful. This city is so beautiful and the weather is amazing. The plane ride over here was pretty miserable. We had a 7 hour flight to Paris. Then we were in Paris for a few hours and had a two hour flight to Rome. When the traveling was over, we were taken by bus to our apartment at Via Rasella 137. I am living with Courtney, Jen, and Alex. There are about 32 students in our program, and we are the only apartment that is separated from the rest of the group. The location of our apartment though is amazing. We are right by the Trevi Fountain and near the Spanish Steps. We live down an old street with huge, tall doors and our place is on the third floor. The apartment itself is very small, We all have twin beds that are hard as rocks and tiny rooms with barely any storage space. The bathrooms are crazy small too. We do have a living room though with a kitchen table and couch. But our kitchen is about 5ft by 5ft... it is ridiculously small. We have yet to test the kitchen out because we have not had any time to go to the supermarket or cook our own food. The food in the restaurants has been great though!
Today was our first day of classes. Our apartment had to travel to Gambero Rosso, which is a combination of a cooking school and food and wine magazine/tv network. It is an awsome place to have school, however it took us 2 hours to get there today! We had to wake up at 7 and left our apartment at 7:45 to walk to the tram, take the tram to a bus, and then get lost walking to the school. It is safe to say that we have walked soooo much. We don't mind it though because it is so beautiful and the weather is great. After our food and culture class at Gambero Rosso we had to go back to Scuelo Leonardo da Vinci, where most of our classes are. This is the language school that the woman who wrote Eat Pray Love learned Italian. The teachers are great, but everything moves at such a liesurely pace in the classroom.. there is no urgency at all. We had art history and Italian today. Our Italian teacher refused to speak English to use, which was interesting considering noone speaks Italian in our program. But it is helpful to get some Italian lessons because not as many people speak English as we thought.
The Italian culture here is so different from American. For one, not only do we have to adjust to a time difference of 7 hours, but the meal schedule is so different. Italians eat dinner around like 9pm and go out around 11 or midnight! And like I said, most people are very liesurely about getting things done. Our orientation took five hours, yet everything could have been completed in 45 minutes. Today when we were walking to and from class, it got so hot that I took off my jacket, yet Italians were wearing puffy coats, hats, and gloves. They think that 55 degrees is cold!
Well we are trying to start making our trips now for the next couple of weekends. So far we have Switzerland, Venice, Dublin, and Greece on the calendar. But my computer is running out.. so that's all for now!
Ciao!
Today was our first day of classes. Our apartment had to travel to Gambero Rosso, which is a combination of a cooking school and food and wine magazine/tv network. It is an awsome place to have school, however it took us 2 hours to get there today! We had to wake up at 7 and left our apartment at 7:45 to walk to the tram, take the tram to a bus, and then get lost walking to the school. It is safe to say that we have walked soooo much. We don't mind it though because it is so beautiful and the weather is great. After our food and culture class at Gambero Rosso we had to go back to Scuelo Leonardo da Vinci, where most of our classes are. This is the language school that the woman who wrote Eat Pray Love learned Italian. The teachers are great, but everything moves at such a liesurely pace in the classroom.. there is no urgency at all. We had art history and Italian today. Our Italian teacher refused to speak English to use, which was interesting considering noone speaks Italian in our program. But it is helpful to get some Italian lessons because not as many people speak English as we thought.
The Italian culture here is so different from American. For one, not only do we have to adjust to a time difference of 7 hours, but the meal schedule is so different. Italians eat dinner around like 9pm and go out around 11 or midnight! And like I said, most people are very liesurely about getting things done. Our orientation took five hours, yet everything could have been completed in 45 minutes. Today when we were walking to and from class, it got so hot that I took off my jacket, yet Italians were wearing puffy coats, hats, and gloves. They think that 55 degrees is cold!
Well we are trying to start making our trips now for the next couple of weekends. So far we have Switzerland, Venice, Dublin, and Greece on the calendar. But my computer is running out.. so that's all for now!
Ciao!
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