Have I mentioned we like to eat...

Kate Schlinke and the Cornetto al Cioccolato*



We love our neighborhood bakery. (Maybe we should stop going there daily...but the cornetti and bombe con cioccolato are just too good.) Points to those who know what this song is from.

*I totally spelled her name wrong in the video. My bad.

Because all I do is post my professor quotes

"And the Romans had festivals like every few days. That is why Italians are so lazy." My History professor after explaining how business were closed on days there were festivals.

"It isn't like they were walking around saying, 'Hey I am in a penis-shaped forum!'"My Art History professor after pointing out that the Forum of Augustus sort of looks like a penis from above, but not from the ground level.

Eat, Pray, Love...and eat some more

So last night API hosted an English movie night. They took us to see "Eat, Pray, Love" at a movie theater that had American style popcorn. I can see how people wouldn't like that movie, but I loved it. I do like bad movies though.

I must admit that in the beginning when she was in New York, I got really homesick. Especially on the cut of her leaving, when it panned out. I miss my New York streets. But then something weird happened. They showed her leaving, and I mentioned how much I miss home and I thought of how beautiful it was. And the I realized she was in Rome, not New York anymore.

She was standing on the Castel Sant'Angelo looking out at the Vatican. That is part of my daily bus route to school. I realized I associated that as home to some extent as well. This is my home for the next few months, and that area is really part of my everyday experience. Then as she went around the city, I knew everywhere she was going. I walked by those restaurants before, seen those sites, experienced the same type of people. I really loved the part when she was eating gelato with the nuns, because I ride the bus with a group of nuns every day. And I see them everywhere, so that felt very real.

But I have been noticing a lot of things she 'learned' in the movie. Italians know how to live, where Americans know how to work. I keep noticing how much longer the Italian meals are, how they drink to taste every sip, walk slowly and talk loudly. The one that really hits me is how much slower they walk. Being from the city, I tend to hate slow walkers, but being here I keep trying to force myself to slow down and relax. When in Rome, right?

The food though. Don't even get me started on the food. I am not holding back in any sense of the word, I love it so much. Not just eating out, but I love the grocery store and going shopping there. I have been cooking a lot, and I love it.

Long story short I admire the Italian ability to live and enjoy everything. I hope that I can pick up some of that before I leave. They are so much more relaxed, I envy it.

Professor Quotes take II

My Lit professor was on a roll today. When talking about how Rome transitioned from a monarchy to the republic, and how this model is applicable for all past present and future governmental overthrows he said:

"It really helps if there is a sex scandal."

After talking about a particular legend as told to us by Livy he said,

"And this is where we get the phrase 'I will put my hand in the fire'. Do we say that in English?...I guess we don't"

And last but not least, after telling us how they are studying the Etruscan language at the University of Wisconsin in Madison (or is is the University of Madison Wisconsin?) he said,

"Some of the strangest things happen in the strangest places"

Sunday Flea Market

So Savannah and I, in an effort to resolve our stir-craziness, decided to go for a walk. We tend to only go through a certain half of our neighborhood in our day to day activities, so we walked in the other direction. We found this great little park square thing that had a fountain in the middle, and, as it turns out, on Sundays they have a flea market there. It was really nice, they had great stuff. I hope it is a weekly thing, I would love to bring people there.

I love our little adventures.

We just love the tiny cars here

More images after the jump

Struck by the Muses

My trip to the museum today proved to be very inspirational. I've been drawing from the photos I took. This isn't the best photo of the picture, the lighting in my room isn't the best for this type of thing, but I am really happy with the drawing. Took me 20-30 minutes. Hopefully this is the start of a lot more, I haven't been drawing nearly as much as I would like to be.

A few more words about my trip last weekend

My lovely roommate Savannah just posted some pictures from our trip, and I want to share a few with y'all.

The first of which is a picture of the amazing gnocchi I was telling you about. Alas, she didn't have a picture of one of us eating it so you can't see the amazing texture of the sauce. But now you have more of a visual. Just think that since it is a tomato sauce how much mozzarella they had to put into it to make it that color. It is a masterpiece.

She also snapped a candid of me on the beach in Capri.

Haven't been up to too much today, I went to the Capitoline Hill and the museum there and wandered around the area. Here are a few of my favorite pictures form the bunch that I took.

Now this is why I am studying abroad

I love Thursdays. I have my best classes on Thursdays. (Luckily this week Friday is a make up day for the Thursday we miss for Thanksgiving, so I have two Thursdays this week. In a row nonetheless!)

My on site class is amazing. I love it so much. It really epitomizes why I chose Rome as my study abroad location. I toyed with the idea of England or Ireland, and even Sicily, but when it boiled down to it what better place to study the Classics than Rome? In "Ancient Rome and its Monuments" I get to walk around one a week for three hours just looking at the remains of Rome, and learn about them in that context. It is such a unique experience and I love it so much. My professor is awesome, and we get along nicely. But it is such a fantastic class and I am so glad I get to take it. I get to study Rome not just from a textbook or a photo, but in person walking around each monument and really getting to see it.

Then I also have Literature and Society of Ancient Rome which is an amazing class. My professor is so smart, I could listen to him all day. The two classes, along with Roman history, really compliment each other nicely. Everything I learn is getting really enforced by my other classes, and I can reference my discussions from one in the other.

Today in Ancient Rome and its Monuments we went to the Capitoline Museum and did a tour of the Triumphal Temples. Yesterday we walked all over the Palatine Hill and Forum Valley. I am so dusty from walking around outside, my jeans and shoes are much grayer than they were on Wednesday, but I love it.

Tokens from my travels

As promised I will show you some of my lovely souvenirs, whether you care or not.

Now Sorrento is known for a few things. One is lemoncello, which I mentioned before. And you can find stores filled with bottles of it. However seeing as I couldn't finish one glass of it, I decided to go down a different road when it came to souvenirs. The area is also known for inlaid wood pieces. So Savannah and I found a cute store specializing in inlaid wood boxes. Most of them were obnoxious music boxes, that no matter how beautiful they were on the outside the music annoyed me too much to buy. The store also had a few beautiful small little boxes. I had a rough time deciding between this black one an a faded turquoise one, but black won out in the end.

As you can see in this shot I am using it to hold my jewelery. Also you can see that the ring I normally wear every day is in there, which leads us to my next purchase.

While on Capri we stopped at one of the many jewelery stores. These store were FILLED with coral, pearl, and cameo jewelery. Some of my roommates also went shopping there, Catherine got lovely cameo earrings and Kate got coral earring for her mother, and a pretty silver and coral pendant for herself. I got a ring. I like it, it is really simple. That plus my seashell bracelet Joelle gave me and my pearl pendant I've been wearing, I really seem to be going for the jewels of the sea.

While on Capri we went to the beach. Now my mother has me trained so that if I am anywhere rocky I immediately look for heart-rocks. I found a cool one there for her. (Mom, I will give it to you when you visit. I tried to find you one from Mt. Vesuvius too but that didn't work out.) It is one of the heart shaped hole variety. I had to flip the image so you could see the heart right side up, so the picture is a little weird but there you go. Hope you like it.

John Cabot Professor Quotes

As a lot of you will know seeing as about half of the people who read this are fellow Rockers, at Simon's Rock there is this wonderful thing called "Simon's Rock Professor Quotes''. It is a collection of quotations maintained and added to by students. Most professors don't know this exists, or if they do, don't know they are quoted on it. The quotations are hilarious, especially when taken out of context.

I am one of the students that posted there pretty regularly as I tend to write down the funny things my professors say. So out of habit I've written down what my professors here are saying. Having no other forum to share them in, I figured I would post them here and continue to do so as long as my professors are entertaining.

In Literature and Society in Rome the other day my professor (along with pointing out a lot of interesting parallels between the Roman foundation myth and the Old Testament) said a bunch of funny things. (I apologize if some of these are 'you had to be there' funny.)

"It seems like all famous people had fire coming out of their heads when they were young."

Not quite as funny, but I like it is:

"The greatest things come out of caves."

In Italian today we started to talk about food and such because she is planning a group trip to the market for one of our classes. When talking about why milk comes in such small containters she said

"We (Italians) don't drink milk. We drink wine."

And when on the topic of wine/drinking, she suggested we buy a bottle of expensive wine and enjoy is in moderation. Just a glass a day, that way you can taste it. (This is the best way to drink as Italians like to avoid getting drunk.) So after instructing us to buy the 20 euro bottle instead of the 4 euro junk, she said:

"And just a small glass a day. Otherwise you don't get drunk, you get poor."

These two are my more amusing teachers, so if I do happen to do this again I expect it to be more from them.

For anyone interested in the Simon's Rock Professor quotes, I think you can see them here.

In the Shadow of Vesuvius

So much happened this weekend I am not even sure where to start. I guess the beginning is the best place.


(I had a few issues with formatting, sorry if it gets a little funky)



Day 1: Mt. Vesuvius & Sorrento


Well first we had to meet at 9 AM by school to get on the bus. I left early with my roommate Catherine and we got there in good time. However since the bus by our house isn't super regular our other roommates took forever. They got there at 9, I was afraid they would miss the bus. The bus ride was long, about 4 hours, but beautiful. Driving through/by the Appenine Mountains is so amazing. The drive up the mountain was the scariest drive ever. So steep and the tightest turns ever, I can't even describe how scared I was. But it was all worth it, the view and the mountain was amazing.

It was so cold, and API had told us to wear shorts and stuff so we were freezing. It was really cloudy and windy, not to mention how high up we were, so a lot of people bought 'Italia' sweaters from the souvenir stalls. 

It was so beautiful from the top though.

The roommates at the top of the mountain

We were tired though so we all slept on the bus. It wasn't a grueling walk, but it was long.

But then we arrived in Sorrento, which is the cutest little town. We wandered a bit and then got dinner. The "Gnocchi alla Sorrentina" was mind blowing. It has a tomato/mozzarella sauce. SO good, the sauce is full of melted mozzarella and gooey and amazing. It got the constancy of the cheese, so it was stringy and my favorite dish so far.

Sorrento is known for its 

lemoncello, had to order some

 Day 2: Capri & Sorrento

So then we took a ferry to Capri, which was awesome. (I have some videos I will post tomorrow along with a description of my souvenirs, exciting no?) This was such a beautiful island. Kate and I decided to skip out on the boat tour (we didn't quite have our sea legs) and wandered around a bit and took the most amazing cable car ride. We aren't sure which town it took us too, but we don't care. Capri is full of ceramic shops. I seriously fell in love with so many mugs and bowls, but they aren't cheap.

There were also a bunch of really nice jewelery stores. But more about that in my next post.

A Caprese pizza in Capri

We were only in Capri for like 5 hours, which definitely didn't seem like enough. We all wanted to see a few more of the towns and spend a little more time on the beach. The beach was beautiful, is was a pebble beach like Brighton Beach in England. The water was the most beautiful clear blue though.

I think some of these photos of ceramics were actually from Sorrento, but whatever. When we got back we crashed in the hotel for an hour or so (such an exhausting weekend) then we explored some more, had another amazing dinner (I had gnocchi again...) and went to a wonderful gelato place.
 Kate and Catherine got these beautiful leather bags there, and I was really tempted to get one too. I am holding out for the Florence trip though.


Day 3: Pompeii and back to Roma

 After our exhausting few days we went on a 2 hour walking tour of Pompeii. It was so incredible. It is really easy to picture life there, what with all of the little details. Our tour guide was hilarious too. He kept referring to us as his mafia family. I don't even know how to describe Pompeii.

Ancient brick oven. Wonder what the pizza was like

The original McDonalds

As we were walking around I just kept thinking about all of the things I learned about in Latin class about Roman society and life. You really can imagine people just going around and living there. Much more so than at some of the other ruins I have been too. The infamous brothels there were also really fun.
  After this we all got back on the bus for the umpteenth time that weekend to end our sojourn to the Napoli region. (Their pizza is really different from Roman pizza - funny how different things can be that are so close together.) We were so tired that literally everyone slept on the way back. I once stood up to stretch a bit and turned around, everyone was slumped over. To be fair most of them did everything I did plus stayed out till 3-4am partying. As soon as we got back to the apartment we all just collapsed and went to bed.
It was an amazing trip, albeit expensive. Eating out for every meal plus souveniers really wiped me out. I am eating at home this whole week. I also might try to go to one of the towns near Rome sometime this weekend.

Well I am probably forgetting a ton of things, but that is it for now. Stay tuned for videos and my list of souvenirs that I bought/found.

Buonasera! 

Classes

Boungiorno (Salvete to my Latin friends) 

Well considering I have been in classes for over a week now, I guess a description of them is overdue. Mondays I have 3 classes starting at 10 30 and going pretty much straight through till 3 30.

My first class is Latin. There are only 2 other girls in the class, so it is very small. The professor is this young Italian man who did his graduate work in England and when he is speaking English he occasionally goes into a British accent. It is very cute, but it does get a little confusing every now and then. Right now we're reading Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius which is pretty fun. Very once upon a time. Halfway through the semester we're going to switch to poetry. He is thinking either Ovid or Virgil.

Next I have Roman History which is HUGE. A lot of Study Abroad students wind up taking this class, so most of them aren't Classics or History majors. I can tell it is going to be interesting, but it hasn't gotten so yet. Just a lot of the basics and contexts which I already knew.

Then I have Italian which is slowly turning out to be the bane of my existence. I really do not like languages (Latin was a fluke thing) and I really dislike language 101 classes. My teacher is very confusing and doesn't make anything clear and forgets she hasn't taught us how to conjugate verbs and get surprised when we can't write sentences. I sort of wish I had dropped it during the add/drop period, but I am in Italy - I should try to learn a little Italian. It is already sort of helping. (Mi chiamo Claudia. No, non sono Italiana, sono Americana. Sono di New York etc.)

Then on Tuesdays I don't have class till 5 15 and I only have Literature and Society in Rome. I really like the class a lot. It is filled with Classics majors which is new for me. There are a few that talk a lot (I normally wind up being one of them - yes I am obnoxious in class) and they give really interesting perspectives on the topics. I love the professor. He is this old American scholar type, who has traveled the world and seen and read everything. I want to make him pocket-sized and take him home with me.

Wednesday is the same as Monday, but Thursday I have Ancient Rome and its Monuments before Lit & Society. I LOVE that class. I added it after dropping Cities, Towns, and Villas a different on-site class, and I am so glad I did. The professor is awesome. She is a younger woman from the States, and while the class was walking from the Theater of Marcellus to the Circus Maximus we started talking. She is really smart and we sort of bonded.

All in all the classes are a little easier than what I am used to, but I am so happy taking what is essentially an entire semester of Classics courses. I would be lying if I said it hasn't tempted me with the idea of going to grad school for Classics...The overlap between them all is so cool. The work I do for one class really benefits all of them.

I guess that is all I have to say for now, I have about 4 pages of Latin to translate and a book of Livy to read. The post about my trip might have to wait till tomorrow.

Ciao/Valete

Home Sweet Home

Just got home from an amazing weekend in Sorrento, Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius and Capri. I will write a more detailed post tomorrow (maybe Tuesday), I need to catch up on some homework tonight. But you can expect stories, photos, AND videos. How exciting!

I will also let you guys know how the first week of classes went.

The week in review

Now that it had been 7 days, 5 zanzara (mosquito) bites, 3 gelatos, and countless hours of walking since I have arrived, I thought I would do a little look back on the first week.

I definitely have been busy, I don't think I have wasted any of my time here yet. I've been wandering around a lot, and have gotten very comfortable with the public transportation. I understand the metro, and my bus route. I don't really know the other buses yet - but I am ok with that. I also am starting to really know my way around by walking. I walked for like 6 hours give or take, today and was impressed by how comfortable I was walking around and how easily I found the places I wanted to go.

In terms of cultural differences I am starting to pick on them. I haven't quite gotten their meal schedule down, I get hungry earlier in the night, but I am beginning to adjust. I think. I have noticed that the Romans walk slower, talk faster, eat more, and worry less than what I am used to. When I am not walking to some place I notice that I do walk a lot faster, so I should learn to slow down. When in Rome, right?

One thing I do wish I had done more was sketch. Today was the first time I sketched in awhile, and I was definitely rusty. I drew pictures of some of the tourists at Piazza Navona.

I am nervous for classes tomorrow, but I should be ok. I just really need to find somewhere to buy notebooks and pens. It is difficult to find stores that sell what you need here. My roommate is on the hunt for shampoo and soap and such, and we haven't had much luck. 

I will post some more photos after the jump. 

Heaven is pasta cooked in a wheel of cheese

Seriously. Today was fun, we went to the open air market for fresh veggies and such but the highlight really was dinner. My roommate Catherine won dinner. Honestly all the food was incredible, I got really great ravioli and the bread was amazing but Catherine won hands down.

The first thing she tried to order she couldn't get because the restaurant wasn't finished cooking it yet. (We went to dinner at the ungodly early hour of *gasp* 7pm.) Then the waiter kept recommending stuff to her in Italian and of course we didn't understand anything he was saying. He pointed to one and said something like "Roman specialty" and it was something that sounded familiar to me so I told her to go for it. When we got our food hers was the last to arrived. He wheeled this huge wheel of cheese and a bowl out on this cart, and scooped out pasta from it into the bowl. The pasta had been cooked in a pot made out a wheel of cheese.

Yes. Pasta cooked in a wheel of cheese. Heaven. It was amazing. Two of my favorite things in the world combined together creating a thing of utter beauty.

We decided that we need to go back to this restaurant since it is right by our house and is awesome. We also found an amazing gelato spot, and a good pastry shop. I think I am going to go there with Kate before class on Monday and get one of their beautiful donuts. Got to love carbs. Tonight was wonderful though. We went by the Spanish Steps and I rode the metro for the first time.

I am going to be dreaming about a wheel of cheese filled with pasta tonight. I cannot wait.

My Apartment

Well I thought I would share my apartment with you all. It is messy already, I realize that. No need to point that out to me. (You *can* click on the images if you want to see them bigger.)

The stairs and elevator shaft

My bedroom

Our crazy orange closets

Our window and balcony

Our kitchen, notice more orange

View from the balcony from the kitchen

Rest of the view, perfect for people watching. And for noticing when we are the subjects of people watching.

We have also a little common area, but it is nothing super special. The hallways is also nice and big. The whole apartment gets a lot of light.

Speaking of my apartment. A few of my roommates have also entered the blogosphere. Kate, Savannah, and Catherine are now all also going to be blogging about their time in Rome. (Kate has a good blow by blow of the first week.)