The Halfway Point

03/14/11, 03/15/11, 03/16/11, 03/17/11

     The dreaded week of every semester had quickly creeped up on me, midterm week. It really put things into perspective that I had already been in Europe for 2 months, hit the halfway point and only have 2 months left. I can’t believe how quickly time is flying by. I guess time really does fly when you’re having a good time! The week started off fast, we had two midterms on Wednesday (Food & Culture and Food & Media) and then a take home essay for Italian Society and Culture due on Thursday. Since we didn’t have class until 1 on Monday, I woke up early to start the readings on the two tests on Wednesday. There were a total of nine readings between the two classes and me alongside the rest of my program had yet to crack them open. That said, it was going to be a long couple of days! While this wasn’t an ideal week, we all put it into perspective knowing that this was the first time we had done a lot of actual work in the whole two months we we’ve been here as compared to the amount of work I’d be doing at home. By then end of Monday night I had finished all the readings so I just had to make study guides and memorize the material (that’s the only way to study for exams here).    

     Tuesday morning I went to my Layers of Rome class where we went to the Chiesa Nuova Church. This lesson was particularly interesting to me because it is the church located directly next to our school that we sit on the steps at everyday. While inside, we explored the similarities and difference between this church and the millions of others we’d seen. In general, this church had more gold in it than I’ve seen yet. This church was different in that it was built during the Baroque period so it was much more theatrical. It was also built as part of the Counter Reformation. 

Inside the Chiesa Nuova Church

     The rest of Tuesday revolved around studying for our exams. Later that night me and my five other roommates sat in my room to talk through what we took away from the readings. I think we were all lacking sleep because we couldn’t stop laughing at things and it was one of the funniest hours of my trip. Not to mention, we couldn’t help but be annoyed that it was Gina’s 21^st birthday at midnight and we were studying for two exams. However, an hour before midnight, Gina got the e-mail she had been waiting for. She wants to go to law school and had applied to U of I’s early acceptance law program. To do so, she wrote several essays, got letters of recommendations, etc. After this, only 40 were selected for interviews and she was one of them. They select 15 students to offer acceptance to and as she opened the e-mail, she screamed out with joy that she had been offered a spot! I had never been so excited for anyone and almost started crying for her. After working so hard, she truly deserves it! We couldn’t study after this and just hung out the remainder of the night. 

     Wednesday dragged on and finally our tests were over. I had decided to save my take-home essay for Thursday morning and afternoon because we only had one class. We planned to go out Wednesday night for Gina’s birthday. First we went to Dar Poeta, one of the most famous pizza places in Rome that we had yet to go to. While there, I got a pizza with tomato, mozzarella, salami, and chilli pepper. It was the first time they offered chilli peppers on pizza and it hit the spot. The crust was super thin on the underside and the crust was thick, just perfect! Following dinner, two of Gina’s best friends from home came into Rome. One is studying in Milan and the other was on spring break so she came in to visit for her break. Following dinner, we went to the club La Maison for the night and had a great time. Today, I woke up early and cranked out my paper so I had as little to do as possible after class. I finally finished it around 4 and sent it in, officially declaring it spring break! 

My pizza from Dar Poeta

     Now, I have to try and pack for a 7 day vacation in a backpack… should be interesting! We are flying into Barcelona Friday, going to Amsterdam Tuesday to Thursday, and then Gina and I are flying back to Rome while the rest of our roommates go to Berlin. We’re coming back because two of our good friends from school, Ali and Kelly, are meeting us in Barcelona for break. They really want to see Rome and so we’re coming back with them to show them around for the last part of the break! I can’t wait it is going to be a great week!