Sunday: Sunday I woke up early in the morning to go to the Vatican and see the Beatification of Pope John Paul the 2nd. No one else in my apartment got up because they were all too lazy, but one of the guys decided to walk around with me. It was 7AM and the police had already closed St. Peter’s square because it was so packed with people. There were people everywhere all over the area that it made it difficult to cross the street, especially since the Police kept blocking off areas to keep more people from getting to close. By 7:45 we knew there was no way were going to find our way anywhere near the Vatican so I ended up going back to my apartment and chilling until 10 am and I watched the beatification on TV as it was happening half a block away from me. That was completely crazy. After watching the beatification on TV for a while, we decided to get away from the Vatican area before the people started dispersing all over the city and making crowds a nightmare. So a couple of us walked to Campo to get kebabs for lunch and hang out with the guys a little bit. After that we walked up to an orange garden at the top of hill so we could look out over the city. The weather was beautiful so we ended up staying there for a long time before meeting back up with everyone else and going to get gelato. We got gelato at a place called the Frigidarium, where they dip all of their ice cream in chocolate after you order it. That was delicious but I somehow managed to get it all over my face and my hands while I was eating my ice cream. Lovely. Then we walked over to the Villa Borghese, which is this gigantic gorgeous park in Rome. We wandered around there for a long time just exploring the sights. It was quite the enjoyable afternoon. After that we went back to the boys apartment and made Mexican food for dinner, which, while not quite the same here as in the US, it was still good. I made quesadillas for everyone. Then we went home and went to bed.
Lunedi: Monday was our first day of class with Claudio. His teaching style is definitely different from that of Ruggero, but we will be speaking more Italian in his class, which I think is more beneficial for the remainder of the quarter. After class Chris and I decided to go try and find a post office to figure out how we could mail stuff home before we go to Rogliano. We found the post office, but it was tiny and nobody spoke any English at all so we ended up heading back to the Rome Center to ask the people there what to do. While we were walking back, a camera crew stopped us. They were filming a tv show about fashion for an Italian style Disney channel and the host of the show wanted to take pictures of my dress. Then they made us sign all these forms to release our images to the public. So apparently I’m going to be on TV even though I have no idea when! After that we went to the Rome Center and the ladies who worked there told us about a Post Office that was rather far away but that spoke English and were very helpful. So we took the address down and then I went home to start packing a little bit. After I finished packing the bag I wanted to mail home, one of the girls and I got gelato before catching the bus back to the Rome Center because they were doing another movie viewing. The movie was called, “La Doppia Ora” and was kind of a psychological mystery romance film. Afterwards we got to do a question and answer with the three screenwriters who had written the film. That was really cool listening to them. After the movie screening we went back to the boys apartment and made dinner, chicken and pasta, and just hung out and played games. After that we went home.
Martedi: Tuesday morning we started the day off with a tour of the Macro museum, a museum of contemporary art. It was very different from everything we’ve seen so far in Rome, but it was nice having that change. After the tour a couple of us stuck around the museum and explored a little more before they kicked us out for not having a ticket (Ruggero had it). So then we walked back towards the bus stop to catch it back to campo and on the way we spotted an Italian Mexican restaurant. Of course we had to stop and check it out. The food was decent but nothing like real Mexican food. I don’t think Italy even has the same ingredients to make Mexican food that we have. After lunch we got the bus back to Campo and went to class. Day 2 of class with Claudio was hilarious. Our class has a great energy to it with him as a teacher. I haven’t laughed so hard in class since class with Sra. Herbert and Mr. Lang in high school. After class we all went and got gelato at a place near the Pantheon that the boys really enjoy. Then we all went and hung out at the boys place until we decided to go out and get dinner in Campo for the first time. The food was delicious, but the restaurant was definitely a tourist trap kind of place. Some of the people I was with ordered a bottle of wine that ended up being much more expensive than they originally thought. Luckily I was just drinking a liter of water so I didn’t get caught in it too. After dinner we went back to the boys place and played games until we decided it was time to go home.
Mercoledi: Last day in Roma!! Boy was this a crazy day. Class had been moved back to late in the afternoon so Chris, Rosin and I decided to go to the post office in the morning and mail some stuff home before our trip to Rogliano the next day. We got to the post office at 12:30 and it was the one the ladies at the Rome Center had recommended as very helpful and English speaking. Let’s just say they were not helpful and they did not speak very good English and the only Italian they spoke was the Roman dialect. We couldn’t understand anything they were saying. Thus our “quick trip” to the post office last 3 whole hours. 3 hours of a lot of gesturing frustration and awfulness. We finally got our packages off and sent but at that point class had already started and we still had a 25 minute walk back to Campo so we essentially missed class because of the post office. Chris and I decided that if there is a hell it is the Italian post office. So since we had missed class we met up with some of the older kids that were already out of class and I went with the girls to go walk around Rome (the girls wanted to go to Sephora and Zara). After that we met back up with everybody and got gelato. My last gelato in Rome. :( It was delicious. After gelato we went with the boys to buy groceries to make our last dinner in Rome and then we went back to finish packing. After we finished packing we met back up with the boys and walked around Rome for a couple hours, exploring the city by night one last time. Then we got crepes and headed home to go to bed for just 2 hours before we had to get up and do the trek from our apartment to the bus stop.
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