Typical days in Rome

01/25/11, 01/26/11

   Tuesday and Wednesday weren’t anything out of the ordinary. For the most part we went to class and explored in between. Tuesday was long and we got yelled at by Sonia during our on-site facilitator meeting for getting noise complaints at the apartment and for skipping class to go to Prague. I feel like I’m two years old with all the rules they have for us. 

   However, Tuesday was one of my favorite days I’ve had thus far in Rome. After our layers of Rome class where we visited temples and the Roman forums, rather than sit around, we used our time wisely and explored Rome. First we wandered over to the Trevi Fountain because although we’ve all gotten the chance to see it in separate groups, my roommates and I haven’t all made it there together. We all wanted to throw coins in the fountain and make wishes together and kept our word. While at the fountain, we made our wishes accordingly with the legend. Discovering the 25 picture camera shot on Ashley’s camera was the greatest discovery. It let us take a picture that quickly snaps 25 in a row and then plays them back for you. We took advantage of it by jumping in front of these famous landmarks. The pictures from both here and at Piazza Navona turned out great! After class, we just came home to relax, cook some dinner, and get caught up with friends and family from home. 

Making a wish in the Trevi Fountain!

Jumping in Piazza Navona

     We had an early morning on Wednesday where we were to meet up with Italian students at Roma 3 University. It’s located in Trastevere, the opposite direction from our apartment than towards the center of Rome. Unlike in America, it’s very common for the public transportation workers to go on strike. So rather than having a 15 minute train ride, we had a near 45 minute walk over to the university at 9 in the morning. We didn’t really know to expect when we got there, but we were disappointed by how unorganized and slow everything moved. We spent over two hours sitting around and never actually got to intermingle with the students until our next meeting with them. Our assignment with the students itself is actually unique though. We broke off into three separate groups as did the Italians for future meetings where they show us around the parts of Rome that only students experience and those studying abroad don’t as often see. On our walk back to class, we didn’t think we would make it because the transportation system was still down and not only did we have the 45 minute walk back to our apartment, but the 30 minute walk to class from there as well. Just our luck, it started drizzling and none of us had our umbrellas, but what can you do! Luckily we only had one class left and ended the day by 2 for the first time. Because we were done so early, Gina and I decided to take advantage of the afternoon and go for a run. We ran alongside the Tiber River and I couldn’t get over the fact that that was actually what I was doing. We were going out to one of the clubs we were looking most forward to since getting here called La Maison. Gina got into contact with a promoter in Rome name Alfredo Martinez who was going to hook us up at the clubs during our time here. We met him at Piazza Navona where he led us to the club, got our entire group out of cover, and even gave us free drink tickets. It was one of the best nights out our group has had all together since we’ve been here!