On Top of the World

After school today a few of my friends and I walked to the Vatican. On the way we stopped by one of my favorite bakeries to get pastries and sandwiches. Since it was our second time visiting the bakery, Felipe(the store owner) gave us all a 25 percent discount on our treats! Generoso! We walked through the church and walked ALL the way to the top of Saint Peter's. The walk was a big one, but I couldn't being myself to take the elevator. As we neared the top of the dome, we were able to see the inside of the church from a bird's eye view. Once we emerged from the narrow stairwell to the very top of Saint Peter's, I was more than overwhelmed with the view. Not only was I on top of a world famous monument, but I could see every part of Rome. It was an experience I will never forget, and I recommend it to anyone visiting Rome! Afterwards, we ate Gelato at the famous "Old Town Geletaria." I decided to get melone and peach as my flavors, perfecto! So far I have had a blast in class, seen some remarkable monuments, eaten delicious food and been accompanied by wonderful people. I could Vivo a Roma forever!!

Scuola begins!

Today was my first day of class. We start the UC Center Rome program with a three week intensive language course Monday-Thursday three hours a day. My teacher walked in today and without introduction, started speaking Italian to everyone. Throughout the three hour class, she only spoke English about two times. So far she is a phenomenal teacher. Her name is Rita and she went to the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. Later she completed a specialist degree in Language Pedagogy from the Scuola di Specializzazione all’Insegnamento of Latium. She had the entire class sing "Bella Ciao," which is sung by Italians on their celebration of independence anniversary, similar to the 4th of July for the United States. It was sung by the left-wing anti-fascist resistance movement in Italy. We went through the basics of learning a new language like the conjugation of the verb "to be," how to greet people, the alphabet and numbers. There are only around 20 people in each class. I knew almost half the class from the apartment dorms we all live in. Its a nice change going from a typical UC class of 300 people to a small group of 20. The class was helping each other out with phrases and having a blast the whole time! Last night ten of us went down to the Tibre river, where they have hundreds of white tents set up along the river that turn into bars, restaurants and shops at night. We all had a glass of wine, sat by the river and talked for hours. It was a nice way to start the semester off right :)

The tour today went from our UC Center through the Piazza Navona and two churches. It was all places I had already walked through, but had not known the entire significance the professor portrayed. He told stories about the Piazza like how the Popes would fill the entire Piazza full of water and bring in ships that battled eachother for entertainment of the Romans. He also told us about the Greeks that would come into Rome and participate in athletic games in the Piazza. I went to a Jesuit church which was amazing with paintings on the ceiling and wall that were beautiful. I also saw an education center where hundreds of great philosophers came to Rome to study, one of which was where Galileo who would come to use his telescope on the roof. A few of my friends and I went to a restaurant called Meme's and Cocos that had fabulous food, somewhere I definitely plan on revisiting. My favorite memory of the day was when the professor giving the tour brought up how Sigmund Freud described Rome as the "physical human conscience." It has multiple different parts of it such as Ancient Rome, Medieval Rome, Renaissance Rome and so on but they all come together as the Rome we know today. Similar to how we have memories from our childhood, we don't have layers of our life, all of memories are mixed in together as our personal conscience. Rome has different aspects of its entire history made into the city as a whole, and I can't wait to explore more of it.

vivere e mangiare come un romano

I saw the UC Center Rome University for the first time a few days ago. It is one large building and all of the people working the program are very nice and always willing to help. Walking, its about 9 minutes to the Pantheon, 12 minutes from the Trevi Fountain, and if you keep walking a little bit farther you run right into the Colosseum! Everything is absolutely gorgeous. I had my first authentic Italian meal two days ago which consisted of bruschetta and fresh bread along with fresca salad and fresh pasta with olive oil and spice garlic sauce. It was the best thing I've ever tasted, so far ;)  I've had gelato at least once a day and have loved every flavor. So far, the Trevi fountain is my favorite place. Everything is so detailed in every part of the fountain, it's breathtaking. I've almost gotten use to the public transportation, the buses are crowded and everyone around you absolutely knows you are an American just by looking. I've tried to only speak Italian to the local people so I can get used to the language. I also noticed how people treat you a little nicer if you look like you're making an effort to learn their language and culture. I've also noticed how nothing is ever rushed in Italy. If something is wrong with your toilet, you wait until tomorrow to tell someone and maybe they'll get back to you in a few days. If you're bus is supposed to arrive around 9 am it will probably be there around 9:20 or so. If you ask for another bottle of wine for your group of friends you better have a little left over in your first bottle to wait another 30 minutes. If you just ordered at a restaurant you should intend on staying there for a long time because the check won't come for another hour. I love the culture, the stress level is low and everyone enjoys themselves no matter what they are going. Today I will be going on a tour with some of my fellow school mates. My plan is to stay as little as possible inside my apartment and discover as much I can about Roma!

Day 1

After successfully boarding my flight, arriving in Rome, and finding a taxi I thought I was golden. Except for one thing, I had already managed to loose my camera in a taxi.. Despite my setback, the apartment is amazing and apartment mates are all really sweet. Rome is beautiful and the local pizzeria is delicious. Day 1 - halfway successful and lesson learned.

Goodbye California, hello Roma!

Finally, the time is almost here. Tomorrow I depart at 7:30 am and arrive the following day around 11 am in Rome. We'll just see how I handle the italian taxi cab drivers and getting to my apartment :)