Hello everyone,
Sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I kept telling myself that I would do it that night...but then kept forgetting. There is so much to update you all on. The last time I updated this it seems as if it was mid-Feb before I made it to Rome so I will start there.
We went to Rome the weekend of the 18th of Feb. We left early on the 18th and made it to Rome by 10 or 11am. The first thing we did was go straight to the Vatican after a short coffee break. All of the kids, and especially our tour guides who are also our TA's except for one, are reliant on coffee. I have become a fan of cappuccino. Anyway, once we finally made it to the vatican, we had to put our stuff through security. But the pointless thing was that when I put my bag through the machine, there was no one watching the monitor and the buzzer went off when I walked through the machine. It didn't make much sense. Maybe since we were a group tour we would be more trustworthy?
We walked through the entire Vatican and it was everything I thought it would be. Absolutely gorgeous and EXTREMELY crowded. It wasn't a big issue if we weren't close to the guide because he had a whisper phone (which is like a walky talky, he speaks into it and we hear him in our ear piece). There were three groups of guides and one of whom everyone wanted to be with. He was the one that didn't say "umm" or "uhhh" all the time. I was the one that figured out you could change the channel from the girl that I had (who was the worst and who I had the rest of the weekend) to Rocky. He was not only able to not say "umm" or "uhh" but he kept you engaged by asking questions or telling jokes. The other girls just sucked.
Everyone was just trying to push him forward because everyone was just so antsy to see the sistine chapel. One of the girls in our program didn't know that she wasn't able to take pictures and was kicked out of the chapel. I felt bad for her but it was pretty funny seeing two Italians trying to tell an English speaking person that she was kicked out. The language barrier can be really funny if you are put in the right situation. I thought my class was the class that got the private tour of the Sistine Chapel but it was the class that went the next weekend. But I learned so much about chapel. It was absolutely gorgeous.
After the chapel, we walked over to St. Peter's Basilica. I had no idea how big the basilica was. Our guide said it was 200 yards in length and he said we could fit the length of the Duomo inside the Basilica.
After we saw the Basilica, we had a few hours off to get lunch before getting back onto the bus. We went and found a small Ristorante. When we were sitting down, there was a big table of old people who looked very sophisticated and I noticed a few of them had a badge on their jacket. It looked more like a badge that a soccer team would wear on their jersey more than like a cop's badge. I was thinking that it could be the owner's of Roma (the soccer team in Rome) but still to this day I am still curious. I wanted to ask the waiter but my italian was not very good at the time so I didn't bother.
That night we went to dinner in the area where we thought the bars were supposed to be located. We refused to take a cab/bus to the Ristorante because we wanted to see the city and make it to Trivie fountain. I hear that if you throw money into the fountain over your shoulder, you become rich? Is that the case? Does that mean I will be rich? Well anyway, the fountain area was packed with people. I could just sit there all night and just stare at it. I have heard so much about it that I was so excited to finally see it. After that, we gave in and took a cab to Trastevere. The cab dropped us off about 3 blocks away from where we ended up going but as we were walking, we saw one of the saddest things. There was a homeless woman sitting in the streets with her head down with a dog along with 6-7 little puppies. Everyone in my group stopped and gave her a Euro or 2. I felt so bad for the her and the dogs.
We got dinner and I am really becoming a fan of gnocchi. I don't think I have ever had it before I came here. Now whenever I go out to dinner, I always end up getting gnocchi because you can almost never go wrong with it. (hint hint mom, although you do still make the best flank steaks). After dinner we all wanted to go to a bar but we didn't know where anything was so we decided to head back to the hotel and maybe we can find something near there. We found a bar and looked at the prices and left. 7Euro for a pint was not worth it. The next bar was very similar so we turned around and just went to sleep.
We got up at 8 and left at 9 for the Colosseum and Roman forum. I was so excited to see the Colosseum but after the first day walking around without sunglasses was I needed to get some. (The weather in Rome while we were there was around 60-65) Luckily for me, there are all the portable gift shops all around the Colosseum. I bought aviators. The guy tried selling them to me for 10 euro and I just walked away and then he chased after me and said 5E and I said 3 and he hesitantly said yes. Score!
The Colosseum was just awesome. It was a lot bigger than I imagined it. Finally, I got to see the Colosseum after all these years of studying it and the Roman culture. When the group said to meet at 1045, we were outside waiting for them but no one was there. As we were waiting, we were getting harassed by the portable sellers. But it was hilarious when ever cops were walking towards them, the guys would get up and sprint.
Next we walked to the Roman forum which I didn't really understand at first, but it was just the area of the Roman public meetings and officials areas. The buildings are just insane. After the Colosseum and Roman Forum, we were off for lunch. We grabbed lunch and took it to the Spanish steps. The weekends at the Spanish steps are so crowded. After we ate, a friend and I walked up the steps to the very top to have someone take a picture of us. Once we got to the top, a random dude said to Kelsey, stick you pinky out. Once she does that, the guy just starts wrapping strings around it. She kept telling him "no grazie, no grazie. No te pago." which means no thank you no thank you Im not paying you. After finishing the bracelet on her, he came to me. So I had to do it. We tried walking away when he told us we have to pay then 4 of his friends came over to us and said 5Euro! So we gave it to him and walked away.
The rest of the sites we saw, we were just tested on in our mid-term exam. Which by the way went pretty well. Of course the pictures that I knew everything about weren't on the test. So frustrating.
Back to Rome, the last thing we did in Rome was Saturday night. We went to a bar that was made out of just ice. It was nothing like I have ever seen. They gave us gloves and a cape before we walked in. It was so fun.
I didn't get a chance to see my buddies from Trinity that study in Rome because they were all in Amsterdam. Poor timing.
Then this past weekend I was in Venice for Carnivale. We left Florence at 9am on a bus and arrived by 1245. Someone described Carnivale as the Italian Mardi Gras to a lesser degree. Everyone was dressed up or wearing masks. It just happened to work out that all of the guys that I missed in Rome just happened to be in Venice that same weekend with their school. So I met up with them just before dinner and went out to dinner with all of them. Oh another thing I forgot to mention, all of these guys came to Florence the weekend after Rome. So I knew all of their friends and such. Many of their friends happen to be other football players in the NESCAC (at bowdoin, colby and Bates).
After Venice, i came home and finished up studying for my exams. All of them went well. The hardest one in my mind was Italian and Family and Gender was a little difficult as well. But all in all, i think they all went pretty well.
No word on my Fam and Gender teacher about whether or not she will be coming back next quarter. She cancelled classes this past Tuesday and Thursday. She didn't tell our class but one of the ones to follow that she "isn't sure if she will be able to finish out the semester." No one asked any questions about what was going on but she was there today during our exam. She did seem to be coughing every other minute. That doesn't mean much but that is something that I noticed.
But now, IT'S SPRING BREAK! And I am off to a country where I can speak the language. I am so excited about that. All the people i am going with don't speak Spanish so I am excited to be the person that will be doing most of the conversing.
First stop, Barcelona. I will be staying with a buddy from high school in his apartment, Ray Sarno. Another girl from high school is coming in to visit us from Paris, Gabby Tarantino. I hope to see Michelle Joliffe which is another high school friend. Two of my roommates at Trinity are studying in Barcelona and I will definitely see them, Garet Moses and Herman Brito.
Next stop after an over night bus, Madrid. In Madrid, I might see Kayla Demers. Chris, you should remember her. You thought she was awesome. She is studying in Cordoba but might make the trip to come visit me. Then also I hope to see Allison Dorr who is one of Cody Saleh's friends that I met. She actually lives across the street from the Lomas Santa Fe GC.
But anyway, I will update you all upon my return to Firenze.
Ciao.
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