The Best Worst Day ever...

This past weekend the entire program went on a trip to Pompeii, Naples and the Island of Capri. We left Friday morning, drove the three hours to Pompeii by bus, spent a few hours there then ferried to Capri. We spent all day Saturday in Capri and then left early Sunday to head to Naples. One walking tour of Naples later and we were on our way back to Rome. Right now I'm going to focus on the first day, Friday, which was by far the best WORST day of my life. It went a little like this...

The day started cold and rainy, not the best start to a weekend on the coast. We got on the bus (a private tour bus) and headed to Pompeii. We then prompty got into a car accident. It was the other driver's fault completely and in reality it was just a little nudge. But since it was a huge couch bus against a teeny tiny smart car the smart car's side was all scratched up and the side mirror was broken. The best part was watching the exchange between our bus driver and the driver of the car, both must have thought they were in the right and so there was tons of yelling and hand waving typical of Italians. Kind of entertaining actually.

One of the good things about Italy is that an accident like that won't hold you up all day. They yelled at each other for about 3 minutes then she drove away and we were off to Pompeii again!

Here's the part of the day that was definitely both amazing and horrible. It was Pompeii so no matter what it was going to be amazing, but Professor Gadyine must either really hate Pompeii, or been in a very bad mood because he worked us to the bone on that walking tour. We all know he really REALLY hates tourists so it's likely that the close proximity of so many tourists in Pompeii was irritating him, but it was still kind of unfair to us. We were always practically running from place to place, had no time to stop for pictures, and didn't even talk about the volcano or the human remains found. Our whole group was split up into two groups, on with Professor Pestili and the other with Gadyne. Pestili's group got to stop for 30 minutes and have a nice little lunch. Gadyne's group never go lunch, period. And to top it all off, it kept raining on and off the whole time we were there. Retrospectively it was still very awesome to see Pompeii and I did learn a lot from Professor Gadyne, but at the time is was very miserable. 

 Mt. Vesuvius in the background! Almost looks like its erupting...

Had to take pictures while chasing down our Professor! Jessica on the left, Crystal on the right.

Me and Crystal!

Not cool or anything right?

There were stay dogs EVERYWHERE! This little girl followed us around the whole time.

So sad...

After we left Pompeii, still with no lunch and it was 3 o'clock by this time mind you, we headed to the Naples harbor to take a ferry to the Island of Capri! It had stopped raining by this point, and we had a little time before our boat left so I ran over to a little bar (the Italian name for cafe) and got some much needed food!

Unlike Rome where no building is allowed to be taller than St. Peter's basilica, Naples looks more like a modern city.

Just like in Rome-go ahead, park ANYWHERE you like.

FINALLY FOOD!!! Naples pizza...yum

Our ferry

Mt. Vesuvius again. It started to rain on the crossing over...

The boat ride started off fine enough, the ocean seemed pretty calm. But about 10 minutes into the 40 minute ride we began to hit some waves and it began to storm again. We were hitting pretty big waves every couple of seconds and so the ride turned more rollarcoaster than anything. You know that feeling you get in your stomach right when you go over a big hill to fast and you hit weightlessness? We were experiencing that every 20 seconds. Needless to say the puke bags came out after a few more minutes and pretty soon there was a chorus of upchucking going on. Thankfully I had taken a motion sickness pill an hour before and so was fine, but sadly, my friend wasn't so lucky. The program has been going to Capri for ten years now and the director said the crossing over has NEVER been that bad. Oddly enough, I wasn't ever scared, just more oh-why-are-we-doing-this.

The harbor of Capri-Note the American flag-no matter how far you are from home you can always find a small part of it. 

After that fantastic ferry ride we had to take mini buses up to our hotel. The island of Capri has two main towns on it, Capri at sea level and Anacapri on top of the cliff. We were staying at a hotel in Anacapri. The roads that lead up to the top of the mountain were incredibly narrow and twisting and so a regular bus would have no chance of making it. So, instead we crammed 52 people into two minibuses in ways that would be so illegal in the US. The aisles had little fold out seats, people were sitting on the steps, next to the driver, against the door. It was unbelievable and an excellent addition to the events of the day. Not to mention we had all our luggage with us. 

While the whole day was in the end an amazingly exciting adventure, it still definitely qualifies as the 

Best Worst Day of My Life.

We made it! Let the adventures of Capri begin!

First weekend in Rome!

This weekend Lily, Crystal-two of my friends here-and I decided to hit the beach. The weather here is still nice, high 80s everyday and this weekend was absolutely beautiful weather. Not a cloud in the sky. The beach was on our list of must dos so we asked out resident advisor, Tunde, a 27 year old permanent Rome resident where the best beaches were. She told us that there was one quite close, but it was very touristy and very crowded. She then went on to say that there was one farther way that she and her friends all go to. So, we all got our bus passes, loaded up on the sun screen and headed for the farther away but "locals" only beach. It was a little stressfull trying to find the right train and the right stop, then getting off and finding the right bus. But we did it and boy was it worth it! I've only ever seen the ocean once before and so it was still a very exciting moment for me.

We ate at a little bar right on the ocean and then went swimming (Yes I know you're supposed to wait an hour, but it was the ocean, come on!). I was very glad the waves were small because they totally still freak me out. I completely forgot that it was salt water until a "huge" wave hit me in the face and I drank a mouthful. It was quite a shocker, but only added to the "OMG I'm at an Italian beach!" feeling. The beach was crowded, but it was a beautiful Sunday so it was to be expected. It definitely was mostly natives though, and since Italians around this area are quite dark skinned my paleness stood out like a freakin' polar bear among brown bears. I did lay out a little, but the Mediterranean sun is too intense for my skin. I put sunscreen on like 3 times in the 3ish hours we were there. It was worth it though, because I did not get sunburned anywhere!

The sand was so pretty I took some home in a water bottle!

We WILL be going back!

Night on the town...

Tonight I went out to Campi di fiori with a bunch of friends, had a lovely dinner, then used our direction following abilities to find a gelateria (ice cream store) recommended as the best in Rome. The night started as a simple walk with one of our directors to a gym that we have the option of joining while here in Rome. I miss my gym back home so I went along just for kicks. This gym was located in the Campi di fiori, a small square located about 20 minutes on foot from the convent. Since we all didn't remember how to get to the Campi di fiori a bunch of us went along planning to get dinner around that area afterwards. There are tons of great little places to eat ranging from simple pizzarias to full scale fancy dining and we were feeling like a nice sit down outside meal. So, after the gym tour we asked our director directions to the Campi di fiori and a good place there to eat. He did so, and though we had every intention of going to the place he recommended, after entering the Campi di fiori we got distracted by this restaurant on the way and decided to eat there. The square is a popular night spot for people to hang out, locals and tourists alike, and there was music, street venders, and artists everywhere. We ate outside and our waiter was this hilarious Filipino man who spoke a fair amount of English. He made everything funny and entertaining, like when we would try to flag him down across the tables he would wave back and yell "I love you, too!", or when he brought our water bottles he said "Vodka for you, gin for you..." It was all very funny. I had a delicious tomato and mozzarella pizza. Fantastico! It was really cool just to chill there, talking, listening to the music and bustle of the square, and enjoying some fabulous Italian cuisine.

After dinner we decided we needed gelato. We had been told by our resident assistance, Tunde, that the gelateria Fior di Luna in Trastevere was her favorite in Rome, and since Trastevere was very close to the Campi di fiori we decided to go. We had gotten directions from Francesco-the man who took us to the gym-and we tried our best to follow them. It was a mixture of his directions, our memories from orientation, and stopping and asking taxi drivers (luckily two of us spoke pretty good Italian, thank you Jessica and Chrystal!) where it was. But we found it, and oh my goodness was it good. Best I've had so far, definitely worth the walk. Not half a bad night at all!

Buonasera a tutti!

Getting around…

 So, the first time someone ever rides a subway should probably not be in a foreign country right? That would seem like a logical piece of advice. But, unfortunately there’s not a lot of subways in Iowa (ha funny…) or much public transit of any kind really so, in fact, the first time I ever rode a subway WAS in a foreign country. Ok, in reality it was all fine, I didn’t get lost, didn’t get pickpocketed, and everything went 100% perfectly, but STILL. It’s hard enough trying to read the subway map in Italian, let’s make it even harder by it being the ONLY subway map I’ve ever tried to read.

 All of this was for my first walking tour class this morning. Here at Trinity some of the classes consist of two parts, a 50 or so minute lecture class at the convent on one day, and then a 3 hour walking tour around the city on another day. I absolutely love this concept because it really lets you learn while being out and part of the city, but it does necessitate getting to the meeting points your professor specifies. And the professor is not going to meet you at the convent, no, you will have to travel to whatever location her or she specifies as the start of class, be it around the block or 40 minutes away. And of course, my first walking tour’s location start was in a subway station 2 stops away. All in all though, I guess it could have been worse. The nearest subway station is only a 5 minute walk away and from there it was only 2 stops. I was with 4 other girls who were in my class and all of them had taken the subways back home countless times. It took us only like 25 minutes to get to the meeting place and it really was easy. It’s still just a little funny to me that the first subway, and really the first public transit I ever ride is in a foreign country.

The Aventine Hill

Where I live...

As part of our three day orientation here at Trinity in Rome we have a bunch of walking tours around the city. On the first day we started with a tour around the neighborhood that we will be living in on the Aventine hill. I love this area because it's away from the touristy area of Rome. We are still well within walking distance to the Colosseum, the Spanish steps and Trevi fountain, but the area we are in is a nice quiet residential area. Walking around I see mainly natives, not tourists and that really helps me feel like I'm living here, not just visiting. It also gives you the best opportunity to speak with locals, especially in Italian. Near the main tourist attractions everyone just speaks to you in English and won't bother to listen to your bad Italian, whereas around here most don't speak much English, if any.

Just around the corner from our convent. So quiet and peaceful...

We get meal passes for three dinners a week to 4 local restaurants and 1 local groceray store. So far, we have eaten at two of the restaurants and they are fantastic. It really is true that all food is better in Italy. I don't normally like pesto sauce and when I heard that's what we were having at il Rino (we didn't get options there) I was a little worried, but I tried it and it was AMAZING! Seriously, it tasted like Christmas (because of the PINE nuts...lol).  The pasta itself is just a 1000 times better than in America and the sauces are sooo good. There's just no way to describe how much I am loving Italian cuisine! We had a mushroom risotto the other day at lunch and I could not stop eating it, it was so fantastic. Even when I ordered a carbanara at L'insalata last night and it was a little too spicy for me it was still fantastic. 

And don't even get me started with the gelato... Coming here I knew about the famed gelato, but honestly didn't think I would be that in love. I do like ice cream back home so I knew I would try some for sure, but I did not think I would be so obsessed with it. I had my first gelato on the first night and I WILL be eating it everyday. It is the most heavenly, delicious, amazing, perfect thing I have ever eaten. It's so much thicker and creamier and richer than American ice cream it can't even be described as the same thing. So far I've tired this one shop's dark chocolate, milk chocolate, vanilla with chocolate chip, and peanut butter flavors and they are all amazing......now I just really want gelato....

Luckily it's now lunch time since all this talk about food has made me starving!

Ciao!

Quando a Roma...

Buon giorno!

I'm in Rome! It's absolutely unbelievable and still sometimes completely takes me by surprise. I'll be brushing my teeth and suddenly think "Oh hey I'm brushing my teeth in Rome!" or "Hey, I just bought Roman body wash!" (so what if it's still Dove). To start the basic information-I am studying at the Trinity College in Rome Program located in a very quiet residential district of Rome a short walk from the Colosseum! Getting here was an adventure. I had three flights in all and while the first two went fine the last and longest flight, crossing the Atlantic, had a "hydraulic malfunction" about 200 miles out to sea and had to TURN BACK, jettison tons of our fuel to make us light enough to land, then land a midst fire engines and emergency crews, be inspected by mechanics, and then after 4 hours, ignoring all the warning messages, refuels and takes off as planned. UMM WHAT!! But, in the end I did make it to Rome in one piece. They managed not to lose my luggage, which with three flights is a near miracle. Taking a taxi was a bit of a challenge because the driver didn't speech any English, but he was very friendly so all was good. When they say Romans drive the crazy people, they really mean it. The cars got like two inches apart, mopeds and bikes were squeezing between cars at lights and there was just a lot of general zooming forward and slamming on the brakes. And a lot of honking. It was terrifying and completely hilarious at the same time.

The students in my program are housed in two locations, half at the convent where most classes are held and half at a "Hotel" nearby. I'm living in the convent on the third floor (am I doomed to always live on third floors?) I'm really glad that I ended up in the convent, not only are most of the classes here, but it's just so beautiful and authentic. Not to mention that fact that it's pretty freaking cool to pass a nun in the hallways! I do have a single, which is awesome! I even have my own bathroom, European style, where the shower is just on the wall, no shower curtain or separate area for the shower space. Its a wet room so it's ok that water goes EVERYWHERE. It turns out that I am a huge fan of this European style of  bathing. I like the freedom to move around it gives you, oh hey is there soap on my face? I can just walk over to the mirror and see. Oh I left my shampoo bottle over there, ok I'll just walk over there and get it. But you do have to remember to take the toilet paper out of the room, or at least cover it with a plastic bag first...I forgot that the first time...oops...

There's so much more to say but that's all for now!

Ciao!