My classes are getting really interesting. Today, in my Ancient Rome and Its Monuments class, we had to meet at the obelisk in Piazza del Popolo at 9:30 AM so my roommates, Christian, Cuyler, and I had to leave the apartment at 8:40 AM. Waaaayyy too early!!! When the whole class met at the Piazza, from 9:30-12:15 PM we walked around this museum in town that had ancient artifacts from the Etruscan people who lived near the present day city limits of Rome in the early centuries BC. WE learned a lot about how they lived and what kind of crafts they made. We saw a lot of carvings, clay figures, and learned a lot about their funeral rituals (which I was all about!) because they taught us alot about their everyday lives, their houses, and positions in their civilization. It was very neat, but we unfortunately could not take and pictures.
My History of Modern Europe class just finished covering the Fall of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette as the royal family in France and we are moving on to the Napoleonic Era. My professor just stands their and lectures the whole time as we feverishly write what she is saying, but she is young, and cute, with a sassy Scottish accent, so it makes the class worth it. My History of the Catholic Church class is by far my favorite course of all. It is taught my a priest who teaches at a Catholic University in Rome. He is very energetic and is very funny. He is very open minded and makes us all want to participate. He has taught me so much already, and we have only had the class three times. Tomorrow, we are going on a bus tour to the prison where St. Peter was taken before he was put to death. That should be so amazing to see!
On the way home from school today, I decided to walk instead of take the tram. It was nice, and I figured the exercise wouldn't hurt. On the way, I stopped for some dark chocolate and chocolate chip gelato, so that kind of cancelled out my walk, but it was still a nice treat. I also did a lot of observing on my way home from school today. I realized that I miss so much when I take the tram home instead of walk. In Italy, people park EVERYWHERE and ANYWHERE that they can. They will park on the sidewalks, in front of cross walks, in front of other cars, etc. There was a woman who came out of a store and noticed that she had been parked in. He car was parked perpendicular to the flow of traffic. Another car parked right in front of hers and parked her in. The woman proceeded to stand at her car and honk the horn until the person came out to move their car so she could leave. Then, I was crossing the street on the way home, and I clearly had the walk sign in my favor. Well, that doesn't matter for Italian drivers! They'll just run you right over and if they need to break for you, they will honk their horn until you move quicker - even though you have the right of way! Another thing that I noticed today is how messy Italian roads are. There are no lane lines! They have European round-abouts in the city that are about 8 lanes wide without ANY lane lines! I think going through De Pere, WI - the land of round abouts- is difficult enough, let alone a huge one without lane lines! Watching Italian drivers is VERY entertaining and always makes my day.
Before dinner tonight, I did some homework and went on Skype and talked with my really good friend Tom, from Rockford, IL. It was great to catch up with him since I don't get to see him very often. It was his lunch hour at his school, so since he had no students in the room, we had time to chat. One thing that I told him that I want to share with all of you is that I would recommend this experience to anyone! Once I got over the homesickness, and have taken on a love for Roma, it has bee nothing but amazing. Sure, I have down times where I miss home a lot, but I knew that was going to come with being thousands of miles form home for this long. I also told him that I do miss American culture very much because it is my comfort zone. Here, I am completely out of my comfort zone, I only have one close friend from home with me, and I am still learning how to be a local. Despite all of that, I told him that I was so thankful that I took this leap of faith and took advantage of this experience because I am living in a country that I am gaining a strong love for, I am living with people that I will have life long bonds with, and most importantly, I am learning so much about myself - and I have only been here for two weeks. Time is beginning to fly, so I can't wait for the adventures to continue! Thanks for all of your love and support! Keep it coming, and I can't wait to be reunited with all of you!
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