Damn, I thought I was doing so well

Ok, so I haven't posted in a long time, mainly because I do not feel like recounting the adventures of Spring Break. Long story short, then:
First part of Spring Break: Tunisia. We saw Tunis, Sousse, Djerba, Douz, the Sahara Desert, Matmata, Tozeur, Tataouine, oases, Tunisian language students, other Tunisians, dead lambs. We ate American buffet food, shwarma, tuna, tuna, tuna, tuna, dates, sand bread. I liked all of it.
Second part of Spring Break: Budapest. We saw the Danube, a parliament building, a lot of wedding dress stores, Burger King, Subway, TGI Fridays, dramatic hills in Buda, silent Europeans. We ate Kebaps, goulash, giant pizzas, delicious Japanese food on conveyor belts for Matt's Birthday. We drank beer. Matt punched a woman, epic lolz.

I had friends during Spring Break: Matt, Adam, Mike, Bridget, Kelsey, Evan, Haley, Ashley, Kim, Rachel, Jeff, Amy, Lexi, various other Tunisians. Bob in Budapest.

After Spring Break, Jon came to visit and we had a lovely time in Rome, Florence, Bonano, and Orvieto. He wrote a way better update on it anyway. Sad to see him go :(

This week was St. Patrick's day, which was spent wonderfully with friends, including Phyllis German. What a woman. Then Thursday was another open bar night, Friday was Bone Church and Keyhole day, then delicious beers in Trastevere. After 3 hours of sleep, we went to Siena yesterday, got lost, saw a slopy piazza, then had fun! It was fun! I hope that gives everyone a great idea of what I have been doing. I will try to put up pictures or something soon. Sorry.

Midterms and such

So today is Wednesday, which means only one more day until Spring Break; in that time, I have a test for Jan's class and my Italian midterm. Jan doesn't know my name yet, which is heartbreaking, especially because I consider him my little Belgian Wafflecakes. Oh well, I will prevail over the tests and the sorrow and make it to Tunisia.
In a few days I will be in Africa. In preparation, my roommate Adam and I have been growing our beards out. Mine is not quite a fist yet, but I hope I blend in. Since I'm a horrible person, I have entertained the idea of bringing my broken iPod to barter with in the markets. Mike warned me that I could be the victim of an honor killing if they find out it doesn't work, so I don't know if I will take the risk. Going along with the iPod thing, I'm thinking of buying a shitty mp3 player from Euronics, the Roman version of Best Buy. I saw some onsale today for like €16, which is not bad.
Last night we went to Scholar's for karaoke night with Marissa and her friends from her program since they are visiting Italy for their Spring Holiday. Italians love the idea of Irish pubs, so coupled with karaoke, Scholar's last night was especially novel for them. I guess they like pubs for the same reason we do, since its a place to stand around with people, get wasted on drink specials, then try to take advantage of drunk American girls. Who knows. Haha some guys dudes were in suits and smoking cigarettes in the bar last night- 2 eprops, amici.
Way more culturally exciting than Scholar's (which is definitely hard to top, lolz), I went to the Borghese gallery. We saw some awesome displays of opulence, including a few sweet Bernini statues. No cameras were allowed in the museum, so I didn't take any pictures. Not that I would post them anyway, but just so y'all know.
In weather news, it was very sunny and beautiful today and yesterday. To celebrate, I sat in Piazza del Popolo and then hiked into Villa Borghese for some scenic views. I guess it was the best thing I could do as a loner that wasn't studying. Either way, it was wonderful. Unfortunately, the rain has returned. It's ok though.
Oh, I have no clean clothes. Hopefully I remember to do laundry, which is a perpetual stuggle, btw.

Night Life

At night, I emulate the ancients and drink skins of wine, usually blacking out. Not really, but the wine does flow cheaply here, the cheapest being a liter box for €,89, or a 5 liter jug for €5,45. But who's counting?
On the whole, we have been trying to experience the night life like Romans. The closest that I've come to that is by going to a club called Init that Bob found. It was fun, and I was able to get my dance on. We also go to the cocktail bar called Stairs in the Trastevere area; since Italians are irrational and inefficient, they have open bar for €18 on Thursdays and Fridays, giving out top-shelf liquor. Idiots.
Aside from trying to go to new places, I've found that we drink at American style bars or Irish pubs. It's not that I am rejecting Italian culture, it's just Italians are the same here as they are at home- not fun to drink with. So we go to Irish pubs and spend way too much money of beer.
The idea of Italian drinking is to be seen and to maintain a bella figura, or seem in control. For Americans, it is a bit different. So I've been trying to reconcile these concepts with other American college students...

Daily Life in Rome

As I detailed in a previous post, I have class Monday- Thursday. They are going well, and I am establishing a routine, which is cool. Basically, I wake up, take the Metro from Cipro to Flaminio (Piazza del Polpolo- uscita lato destro), walk to school, get a cappuccino from the vending machine and go to class. After Italian, I eat lunch with Haley, Matt, Bridget, and Mike, sometimes with Evan and maybe we even seen Kelsey! It is honestly one of the best times of the day. After that, I usually try to do homework in the computer lab, then I finish classes if I have it. Most day I walk home, go to the GS, get my eat on, then sit around and talk all night. I don't do much for school- midterms start tomorrow, so we will see how that works out for me, LOL!
Laundry is hard as shit to keep on top of, so I've been hand washing my clothes a lot. Also, I snore so loudly that Bob has trouble sleeping. Sorry, man. He made a song of clips of me snoring. In small news, I broke my iPod kind of, so that really sucks.
I am making an effort to cook more instead of spending money on pizza or something. Best food in Rome is from this Rosticceria near my residence. Other places that are good are near school, just a simple Pizza Rustica and Mondo Arancina. Good stuff.
We go out a lot. Next post.

Let's try this again

It has been a while since my last post, perhaps a bit too long. Many of my fans (I love y'all) have requested that I update, so I will do my best to write about how my life has been.

I guess one of the most exciting things about this experience is the opportunity to travel around Italy, Europe, and the world. Thus far, in Italy, I have seen Rome, obviously, Todi, Sutri, Via Cassia, Viterbo, Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli, the catacombs of San Sebastian, Venice, and Florence. All of these trips have been interesting, exciting, mentally stimulating, and visually arresting. Unfortunately, I saw the first few unfamiliar cities under the guidance of Rob Huber, a Renaissance Johnny Depp douche bag with a dumb hat who blows into the microphone. Oh well, I will live, and he is very knowledgeable. As for the catacombs, I took a daytime excursion with Bob, Matt, Adam, Bridget, and Mike to see them last weekend. Again, our tour was not long enough, but we saw other cool things like the Appian Way and huge chickens. Great times. I went to Venice two weekends ago for the beginning of Carnivale. Bus2Alps, ftw. Not really, we got lost on our way there and it took 11 hours to get home. It was still an amazing day; honestly, too many cool things happened that I can not even type them up. Finally, I just got back from a weekend trip, Thursday through Sunday, to Florence with Matt, Kelsey, Haley, and Ashley. As expected, we had a great time. Unexpectedly, I got a leather jacket. I am considering smoking again to complete the look. Updates on my health to come.
In all seriousness, I am so fortunate to have been able to participate in these excursions. I realized this weekend how lucky I really am, all thanks to my parents. They will never see the things that I am seeing, never experience the same things, never feel how I am feeling; they made a conscious decision to allow me to do this instead of them. So, thanks.
In case anyone is wondering about my travel plans, I leave for a 6 day trip to Tunisia this coming Friday for my spring break. Upon return, I may travel outside of Italy again. I will return to Florence on March 12th when Jon visits from Oslo. The following weekend, I'm hoping to go to Cork. The second weekend in April, I go to Ravenna and Aquilea with Jan for our class trip. Over the second to last weekend of the program, I think I may be going to Prague. Finally, after the program, I'll venture to Oslo. Then, who knows.
As I said before, I'm so lucky and thankful for all of this. Next, more musing about Italian stuff.

Classes

I haven't updated this past week because I think I've been establishing a routine, which is pretty exciting to do in a foreign country, albeit expensive. Instead of detailing all of my experiences from the past week, I am just going to describe my classes. Plus, I have pictures too. Fuck yeah, right mom? OK, here it goes.

Romans & their Literature- Professoressa DiBrucia, MW 10:30-12:00
This class can count towards either my Classics major or my English major, which makes it worthwhile for me to take. We essentially what the title suggests- we read Roman literature. One very interesting aspect of the course is that, instead of assigning one text book, Professoressa DiBrucia copied parts of translations that she liked. Thus, we can really come close to experiencing these texts in their original form. Thanks, girlfriend.

Italian 001- Professoressa Lucy, MTWR 1:00-2:00
While studying abroad in Italy, I am enrolled in Italian. Since it is the most basic level, we are currently learning the basics of the language; the course's main goal is to help us survive in Rome. So far, it has helped me a bit, and Lucy is able to answer questions about Italian culture as well. A bumbling, dumb-ass American kid, I'm sure I have offended plenty of Italians, but thanks to class, I'm learning how to be respectful with the language (for instance, I should say Buongiorno or Buona sera when I enter a Bar or store instead of Ciao because they are not my friends, which BTW I haven't made any of, Italian or American)

Museum History and Theory of Rome- Professoressa Kalb M 4:30-6:00, T 9:00-12:00
As a museum nerd, this class is particularly exciting for me. On Monday nights, we meet at school for a discussion on the articles we read for homework and a small lecture. Then, on Tuesday mornings, we meet on-site at a museum that we tour for the 3 hours. Very exciting, but it will get expensive with museum fees; however, it is completely worth waking up, walking, and paying, since Rome is a city so rich in culture and I will be able to experience it in the classroom with someone very knowledgeable about it.

Late Antique & Byzantine Art History- Professore Gadeyne W 4:30-6:00, R 9:00-12:00
This class also counts towards my Classics major, which rules; Jan Gadeyne also teaches this course, which makes it worth taking in itself. Similar to my museum class, we meet on Wednesday nights for a lecture and discussion, then on-site on Thursday mornings. As my Belgian teacher explained on the first day, "this course is one of few of its kind, and it is the most interesting course taught in Rome by the best teacher in Rome." I can't argue with much there, Jan is the man. He is also one of the fastest walkers that I have ever walked with. Very cool. As if the course isn't interesting and great enough, we go on a 4 day trip in April to Aquilea and Ravenna to "look at churches and talk about churches so much that we will throw up churches." Can't wait.

This is going to be a great semester, full of opportunities to learn about Roman culture- both ancient and contemporary. The city truly serves as my classroom, and I plan on taking full advantage of it. If anything exciting happens in these classes, I will post about it. Until then, this is what I do every day. Ciao, friends.

Umbrian Meal and First Day

Permit to stay was a success, and I went to St. Peter's with Matt beforehand. We ate lunch, made an Italian friend, then I got my government on, followed by a SIM card. Then, in preparation for the meal on Sunday, we had an almost Italian dinner- the girls all ate together while Adam, Matt, and I cooked some pasta and sauce and ate together. After sitting around for about 2 hours, we went downstairs and hung out with the ladies, just chatting and swapping stories and phone numbers, excited with our new phones.
Yesterday we left Piazzale del Eroi at 8 AM and drove 2 hours north east of Rome to Todi, a small medieval town in the hills of Umbria. A few breath-taking views, a delicious breakfast of cappucino and strutoli, a church visit, and some giggles later, we rode up a windy road to a villa for lunch. 9 course meal, wine, good company- you get the picture.
After lunch we drove back to Rome, a ride which was very peaceful and relaxing. Perhaps because we all still had some of the homemade wine in us, we all decided to go out to Scholar's Pub, an Irish establishment near Piazza Venezia, to watch football. I think everyone else from the program had the same idea because we saw a lot of Temple students there. Fun night.
Just to place the experience into some sort of perspective, here is this story from last night. On the cab ride home, Ashley, Haley, and I told our driver to stop as we passed St. Peter's so that the girls could get a picture of the square at night while the nativity and tree were still up. After two pictures, we were on our way again. It's amazing that this city is so rich in culture and visually stunning structures that remain so accessible to the public, especially us since we live so close to the center of the city.
Classes were good today, but very tiring, so I will have to update more tomorrow about today. Class at 9AM tomorrow, can't wait!