Primo Giorno di Scuola

Marianna & Holly 

Claire & Mathilde

Obviously the first day of school was a while ago, but I thought all these pictures were really great. 

Anyways, our schedules go something like this: wake up at  6:30 (I think only Holly and I do this, haha...), have breakfast at 7, head to school at 8:30, be in class at 9:00, break at 11, and class ends at 12:30. From there, students either eat at da club (lol) which is basically the school's small cafeteria/cafe in the basement, or go and eat lunch elsewhere - the train station has good selections like McDonalds and Mr.Panino. 

It's a really nice schedule because we really have all afternoon to do whatever we want whether it be exploring the city, doing our homework, reading at a cafe, or sleep (lol). 

Emily, Holly, Paulina, & Sarah

Paulina, Professoressa Laviosa, & Holly

Ciao!! We have now been in Rome for a week, and I couldn't be having a better time than I am right now. While I expected to see all of the things that Rome is so well known for such as the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and The Vatican, what I did not expect was how genuinely immersed I would feel in the culture. After only one week, everyone I encounter in the streets speaks exclusively Italian to me, I can almost walk 10 minutes away from the hotel without getting lost (which everyone on the trip knows is a big feat for me), and I now know how to make authentic Italian cappuccinos.

Class has been interesting, and every day we get to hear from a speaker, discuss Italian current events, or present to each other what we have seen and learned about Rome (all in Italian, of course!)

To the right is a picture of what my favorite American beverage, Diet Coke, looks like in Italy. It's like it was made for me, haha.

Gli Italiani con Stili

Jan 6, 13 | La Piazza di San Pietro

Jan 8, 13 | La Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti

Jan 8, 13 | La Via del Corso

Jan 8, 13 | La Via del Corso

Jan 8, 13 | Vicino al Pantheon

Jan 8, 13 | La Piazza della Rotonda

Italian Movies!

Ciao!  I hope you are all enjoying reading our blog.  There's so much going on in Rome and I'm glad we can each give you a little taste of what we're experiencing. 

Today was our second day of class.  We started out by sharing our experiences from the previous day and new vocabulary words we had learned.  We then covered grammar and discussed Osvaldo's presentation from the previous day.  The three and a half hours seemed to pass quickly!  After class, most of us decided to have lunch in our school.  We ended up sitting, eating, and talking for an hour and a half!  Then we went back to the hotel to do some of our homework and make plans for the rest of the day. 

The highlight of my day was going to see an Italian movie at a cinema!  After doing a lot of research, I was able to find a cinema near our hotel that was playing an Italian movie.  You wouldn't think it'd be that hard, but most films in Italy are American or English movies dubbed in Italian.  Surprisingly, the only Italian movie I found at the cinemas near our hotel was a movie about a group of Italians traveling to America.  How ironic!  In the trailer, they were constantly struggling with language barriers and other cultural differences so I thought it would be funny and somewhat easy for us to follow.  After dinner, Professoressa Laviosa, Cindy, Sarah, Hannah and I all went to the 21:00 showing of Mai Stati Uniti.

It was SO funny! We laughed the entire time, including Professoressa!  The movie was about 5 Italians who are called together and are told they all share the same father, a man none of them have ever met.  In order to receive their inheritance, they must travel to their father's favorite place, a lake in Arizona, to scatter his ashes.  Of course they all have crazy personalities, run into several wild American animals, and are constantly losing their father's urn (and sometimes their clothes).  Oh and the main song of the movie was Drive By by Train...which played at least 4 times in the movie...(along with other random country songs) so obviously we thought we were so cool when we knew all the lyrics to the songs played in Italian movies.  Anyway, we all had a good time and it was a great way to end our day. 

Here's the link to the trailer if you'd like to see it (whether or not you understand Italian):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwPiyg22hHk

Also, shout out to Graeme: I've eaten SIX oranges today!

Buona notte!

Emily

When going to school....

This is pretty much how I feel when following Professoressa in the morning. 

January 7th: Fast food, Italian style.

Still trying to overcome jet lag, we’ve managed quite well “grazie a” the tastes this city has to offer. 

I’m not a fast food junkie but could be convinced if I lived here for a while.  Hungry for a little snack? Here’s a peek at yesterday’s highlight in Campo dei Fiori.

             

 A daily fix of Italian gelato may be the best cure of all.  Vanilla and chocolate are passé….we’re on to fichi con noci (fig and walnut), marron (chestnut), sesame e miele (sesame and honey), pistachio, fior dip anna, cocco (coconut) and nutella…. These flavors are beyond description.  Ci vediamo alla gelateria! Buon appetito!

Cinzia                

A Great Day to Explore

Yesterday was incredibly busy as our first full day in Rome! I was most excited for sightseeing and, of course, gelato (which we eat daily). Sunday morning a group of us decided to go to Piazza Navona for the Feast of the Epiphany Festival, and stopped by the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon along the way.

 This is the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini in the center of Piazza Navona. For L'Epifania there were stands set up in a ring around the piazza where you could buy food (including giant donuts) and souvenirs.

After Piazza Navona and a quick lunch near Piazza Campo Marzio, some of us decided to explore Trastevere.


On our way to Trastevere, we stopped at the daily market in Campo de' Fiori. In addition to souvenir stands, there were places to buy fresh produce, spices, and favorite local snacks.

 
 This is a view of St. Peter's Basilica from the Ponte Sisto, one of the bridges to Trastevere. We've been lucky to have really beautiful weather.

  In Trastevere, we wandered along several side streets before discovering Santa Maria in Trastevere, a beautiful church made up of many different styles. I particularly loved the apse mosaic!

Buona giornata!