Dopo le vacanze di primavera!

Cari amici,

Okay so this update is still pretty late, but again, life has been nuts. Absolutely nuts. Also, this could be a factor: I hate writing in the first person--to me, it just connotes a sense of complete self-absorption, and if I updated this blog *every single day* I think I would get tired of my own self and describing all the wonderful things that have happened specifically to *me* (especially when everyone else is having their own unique experiences that make their time here special as well). There are enough blogs that do that, you can go read those. I'd rather provide summaries of what has occurred instead of super detailed, up-to-the-minute details of every single amazing experience--the mind is a powerful thing, so I'll be able to remember the most personal details, because certain experiences and thoughts should be kept silent and sacred, not aired for the whole online world to read. I guess blogs themselves are inherently for the promotion of the self, something I'm not really comfortable with; maybe it's silly, but humility happens to be a favored virtue of mine, and I try to abstain from speaking pridefully (whether I am successful at it or not is up to you, haha). Then again, blogging lets everyone back home know what I've been up to here in the Eternal City, so in the end I guess it's not such a horrible thing. :)

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I'd like to make a list of all the Stational Liturgies I've been to this Lent. Eighteen out of the 40 isn't too shabby, taking into account I've traveled outside of Rome most weekends, which automatically eliminates about three days each weekend. Remember, this entails waking up at 4:30 or 5 in the morning to make it to these 7am Masses all across the city. I now know the Roman metro and bus system like the back of my hand, which is very empowering, I must say. :)

1. Ash Wednesday, Santa Sabina

2. February 24, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

3. February 26, Ss. Dodici Apostoli

4. February 27, St. Peter's Basilica

5. March 1, the Basilica of San Clemente

6. March 3, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

7. March 4, Santa Maria in Trastevere

8. March 6, Ss. Pietro e Marcellino

9. March 8, San Marco al Campidoglio

10. March 9, S. Pudenziana al Viminale

11. March 10, the Basilica of San Sisto

12. March 11, the Basilica of Ss. Cosma e Damiano

13. March 15, Ss. Quattro Canti

14. March 16, S. Lorenzo in Damaso

15. March 17, San Paolo fuori le Mura

16. March 18, Ss. Silvestro e Martino (S. Martino ai Monti)

17. March 23, S. Maria in Via Lata

18. March 31, S. Maria Maggiore

Through this Lenten pilgrimage, I have met so many wonderful and faithful Catholics--priests, seminarians, and lay people--and made so many new friends from other study abroad programs like the Catholic Studies students from the University of St. Thomas, students from Marquette, and other Catholic schools across the country. The most incredible part of this experience is that I have finally found my faith maturing and deepening, due to almost daily meditation on the Sacred Mysteries, Christ's sacrifice, and the theology of the Mass itself. Being in the heart of Catholicism and its glorious array of magnificent churches has only strengthened this spiritual growth, which, and okay this sounds confusing, but it makes my heart leap and remain silently still at the same time....that's the only way I can describe the feeling, which inexplicably brings a little smile to my face. :) My goal for the rest of my time here--only five weeks left now!--is to go to all the station churches I haven't been to yet. The daily liturgical pilgrimage may be over, but you know, the spiritual journey is everlasting :)

Okay, so that's the spiritual side of things---on to the material! haha so last week was Spring Break for us at John Cabot, and a couple of my roommates and I (Katie and Anne) went to Sicily for the first half of break, came back to Rome for a day to recharge, and then we jetted off to Istanbul, Turkey, for the rest of break. Sicily was gorgeous--we stayed in the little seaside resort town of Cefalu' for most of the time, and if you saw my pictures on facebook, you could probably see why ;) Istanbul was INSANE. I can't describe the city accurately--there's no way to truly comprehend the amount of history and culture encapsulated in just one place. Istanbul is truly where East meets West, and the best place to buy really cheap souvenirs :D At 5am every morning, I was woken up by the call to prayer from the Blue Mosque, which was literally right up the street from our hostel. We spent almost an entire day at the Topkapi Palace, the residence of the Ottoman sultans for hundreds of years, and then ventured into the Blue Mosque--sans shoes and sporting headscarves. We were serenaded by the nearly hourly calls to prayer that echoed across the city as we explored the metropolis once known as Constantinople. We took a ferry up the Bosphorus River almost to the point where the river opened into the Black Sea, and stayed on the Asia side of the river for a few hours before returning back to the city. We descended into the depths below the city and marveled at the Basilica Cistern, full of stunning Corinthian columns and marvelous red lights that illuminated the cavernous subterranean space. I finally saw the Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar, was accosted by male shopkeepers and waiters every few feet along the sidewalks, ate kebabs and Turkish delight almost every day, and made friends with a shopkeeper in the Arasta Bazaar in between our hostel and the Blue Mosque. I bought a beautiful watercolor painting of the city from him, and several other things that will remain a secret since they will be given to certain special people upon returning to ND in May for senior week. ;)

That's about it to catch you guys up on what's been happening lately! Look for an update in a couple days on Holy Week--it's only Friday and boy, have some exciting/somewhat dangerous things happened already!

Bacci,
Laura

La vita e' bella, veramente!

Hey everyone,


It's beyond official now--I'm a complete and utter disaster when it comes to blogging! In my defense, I've been doing so much I can hardly keep track of everything in my head, much less write it down for other people to read every few days....Well, I'd better pick up where I left off last month, then! I went to Dublin, Ireland, the weekend of February 19-21 to see Megan Reece and Meagan Drone, my best friends from the piccolo section of the Notre Dame Marching Band. I had the BEST time--we gallavanted around the Irish countryside, toured ruins of ancient castles and monasteries, went to a *real* Irish pub, and I reveled in not having to pay for two nights of hostels :D I can't wait for Meagan and Megan to visit me in Rome!!



The following weekend I stayed in Rome, as the next week was a vicious onslaught of midterms; I'm very glad I chose not to travel outside the city, because, well, there *is* a reason why we're all here--to experience Italia and its people, and improve our grasp of the Italian language. You know, I bet I could have gone this whole semester speaking only English and grudgingly speaking Italian in class, like most of the American students studying abroad here; it would infuriate the locals and waste my two semesters of Intensive Italian, of course, but it's possible. However, that is not how I operate--if I'm going to be away from my family and closest friends for four whole months, then there's no WAY I'm wasting this time! Therefore, I've set a practical goal for myself: become as proficient in speaking and understanding Italian as I can before May 9th rolls around. So far, I think I've been doing a pretty good job of fulfilling that promise to myself. For instance, my piano lessons with Stefano Scarcella, my instructor, are an hour outside the city, where hardly anyone speaks English (including Stefano), so improving my Italian skills has practically been forced upon me. Two hours of speaking nonstop in Italian during my piano lessons has done wonders for my comprehension and speaking abilities! Stefano has noticed the improvement, and our conversations get more and more complex as the weeks go by. Then there are conversations with shopkeepers and waiters, people waiting for the buses, people on the buses, people at Mass, people walking down the street.....honestly, some days I feel like I speak more Italian than English. Which is awesome, because that's the whole reason I wanted to study abroad a year early--to learn the language even faster, and to experience all there is to see as soon as possible.


Surprisingly, the most exciting part of this semester so far doesn't even pertain to traveling; ever since Lent began on Ash Wednesday, I have attempted to attend the daily Stational Liturgies held at different churches across the city each morning. One of my friends from the North American College (a seminary here in Rome) informed me this morning that the tradition of the Roman Stational Liturgies has been in constant practice for 1500 years! And most of the churches haven't changed, but for a few that were destroyed in wars and stuff...anyway, the NAC has organized a series of 40 stational liturgies at 7am each morning--these liturgies have been held at churches as close to my appartment as St. Peter's Basilica, or they could be an hour across town, like yesterday's station Mass at the Basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura. This entails me waking up at even more insane hours in the morning (usually 4 or 5am, depending), and while this endeavor has deprived me of much-needed sleep, the spiritual awakening and nourishment that has resulted from this daily pilgrimage far outweighs the physical discomforts.

Sooooo this morning, I was a teeny bit late for the Station Mass at San Martino ai Monti, a basilica founded in the 4th century (okay, more like twenty minutes late, but shhhhh); a word of advice: never listen to directions given by little old Italian ladies, haha. Alas, everything turned out well in the end; San Martino was a gorgeous church, and after Mass they opened up the Scavi underneath the building for us to tour. Apparently the complex under the basilica was where the Council of Nicaea was planned, as well as the site of mass burnings of Arian literature (the Arian heresies were quite troublesome for the early Church). While in the Scavi, my good friend Fr. Avram (long story for another blog post) coerced me into introducing myself to the Bishop of Pittsburgh, who had said the morning's Mass--he was super kind, which was quite a relief; one doesn't just walk up to a bishop every day, it's pretty darn intimidating! Anyway, after touring the Scavi, Fr. Avram and I began walking towards Piazza Venezia, where we would split off--me to JCU in Trastevere for my 9am history class, and he to the Pontifical Gregorian University. While on our way to the Piazza, we happened upon the ancient basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli, or St. Peter in Chains; this church is quite famous in Rome, because according to legend, the Empress Eudoxia (wife of Emperor Valentinian III) gifted the chains of St. Peter's imprisonment in Jerusalem to Pope Leo I, and when he compared them to the chains of St. Peter's final imprisonment in Rome, the two chains miraculously fused together. The chains are kept in a reliquary under the main altar in the basilica....it was so cool! Near the altar is Michelangelo's fantastic tomb of Pope Julius II, which has a truly magnificent sculpture of Moses--due to a mistranslation of the Old Testament, he is depicted as having horns protruding from his head, instead of "beams of light..." it was kind of amusing seeing such a dignified figure with two stubby little horns poking out of his head. After exploring St. Peter in Chains, I had less than half an hour to get to class--we were only just approaching the Roman Forum, when we stumbled upon another church; this time, it was a little parish church secluded off the noisy main street. Normally, when I think of a parish church, I envision a small, simple, comfortable place of worship; however, every inch of Santa Maria ai Monti was completely covered in glorious Baroque frescoes and precious marble....Rome never ceases to astound me. Due to our quick little jaunt inside S. Maria, I had about twenty minutes to get to my European History class, but I didn't mind--we strolled alongside the Forum and all these ancient ruins until we parted ways in Piazza Venezia....somehow I managed to cross the ridiculously busy streets without getting hit by a car or moped, and get to class early! What a morning. :)

Tomorrow morning officially marks the beginning of my spring break--my roommates Anne and Katie and I will be in Sicily from Friday to Monday, where we will stay in Palermo and in the beautiful seaside town of Cefalu'. We're coming back to Rome for a little breather, and then on Wednesday we will fly to the great city of Istanbul (Constantinople!!) and return to Rome on Palm Sunday. Even though I went to Sicily last weekend, I fell in love with the island and desired to see much more of it than just Palermo....call me crazy, but I can't help it! Istanbul is definitely the part of spring break I'm most looking forward to--the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Great Bazaar, cruising the Bosphorus, the museums of ancient civilization, Greek Orthodox churches and gorgeous Byzantine icons.......I think I'll be in heaven for those four days :)

Okay, I think I've bored you all enough with this exhaustive update (and I haven't even mentioned half of what's gone on since the last post). Thanks for being such troopers, I honestly will try and be much better at updating from now on!

Vi amo,
Laura

In Irlanda!!

Dia dhuit, friends!

That means "hello" in Gaelic--you wanna know why I used that phrase? Because I'm in IRELAND!!! Indeed, we landed last night at Dublin International Airport and stayed at the Four Courts Hostel--which, by the way, is a pretty darn good deal with free internet, free breakfast, clean beds, friendly staff, etc. I wish they'd had this place in Fox Glacier, New Zealand, last summer. Worst hostel experience of my life. Well no, there was that one hostel in Auckland...anyway, I'm here in Ireland for the first, but hopefully not last time in my life! My primary goal on the agenda today is to tour Trinity College and see the Book of Kells, the most famous illuminated manuscript in the world, dating back to the 9th century....I've basically spent half my life dreaming of Trinity and seeing the Book, so who cares about the 13 euro entrance fee!

However, what's possibly even more important about today is that I get to see Meagan Drone and Megan Reece again!! They're here in Dublin studying abroad with St. Mary's College, and are my very, very good friends from the piccolo section of the Notre Dame marching band. I'll be spending the weekend with them, and even join in on an SMC-organized daytrip to the Rock of Cashel and various other historic sites in the Irish countryside tomorrow. Apparently, the Rock of Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick himself in the 5th century AD.

WOW. The Book of Kells *and* castles *and* important religious sites?? This is exactly why I came to Ireland :)

Well, my internet time here at Four Courts is almost up, so I'll have to end this blog post. I realize I never wrote anything about Venice, but in reality, no words can describe Venice during Carnevale!! You just have to experience the wonder for yourself :)


Slan agat, and saol fada chugat (goodbye, and a good life to you),
Laura

La nevica a Roma!?!

Oh Dio! I know I said my next post wouldn't be up until Sunday, but certain events occurred today that must be shared with you all!

First of all, it snowed today in Rome. Seriously, there was snow EVERYWHERE. It fell in huge clumps, totally covered cars and sidewalks, and generally turned the whole of Rome during rush hour into one slushy, snowy mess; the daily raucous cacophony of car and bus horns added to the chaotic atmosphere. Needless to say, I had the time of my life trying to preserve my dignity as I walked the slippery sidewalks to Ciampi's piano store and to John Cabot. I had a lovely conversation with an Italian woman on the bus about how incredible the snowfall was (in Italian!) and how she had never seen snow like this in the city before. Apparently Rome hasn't had a single snowfall in over twenty years!?!? That's nuts. By the way, if you're tired of me getting excited about talking in Italian with people here, you're just going to have to deal with it because it seriously is so thrilling to talk in a language completely different from your own! I mean, that's exactly why I came to Rome--to meet her people, learn the language, and come to function positively in a totally foreign place that's thousands of miles away from my dearest friends, family, and university. So far, I think I'm being pretty successful :)

Second, I will officially be running the Rome Marathon on March 21, 2010. Yep, you heard me--in one month Laura Jane Taylor will run 26 grueling miles through the most famous sights in Rome, starting and ending at the Colosseum. Perhaps training for said marathon will counteract the effects of all the amazing food we've been having! :)

Ah it is now almost time for Chrissy's sure-to-be-amazing eggplant parmesan dinner! Complete with a caprese salad appetizer, yumm :D After dinner, my roommates and I are going up to another girls' room to celebrate the survival of our first full month in Rome with all the rest of the ND students. I can't believe we've been here a MONTH already--are there seriously just three of these left?? Time really does fly when you're in the most beautiful city in the world.

Tomorrow will certainly be an adventure--our bus to Venice leaves at 8am from Termini Station, and we've got a six-hour bus ride ahead of us until we reach the "City of Water." We should arrive around 3pm if all goes well, and our bus will depart Venice at 1am--that leaves us ten hours to experience as much of Venice and Carnevale as possible!! Goodnight friends, and I'll be back on Sunday!

Vi amo!
*~*Laura*~*

E' notte, e non ho niente da fare

Buona sera amici,

It's Thursday night and I am embarrassed to say that I have nothing to do except update my blog, because I finished most of my homework for Tuesday (excluding a two page paper for Italian...that can be pushed off 'til later, of course). I guess I could have gone out to the bars or discoteca with people, but somehow, all I ever want to do at night is be a homebody in my Notre Dame sweatshirt and flannel pajamas and read or talk to friends from back home. I was already boring enough back at school--you'd think that living in Europe would be a transformative experience and I'd become a raging partier thriving on the Roman social scene...but no, I've become even MORE dull, if that's possible. I guess I shouldn't bemoan this unfortunate character trait of mine, because no one reads blogs to hear such things--I'm sure you all want to hear more about my crazy experiences with Italian men, right? Well, I can definitely oblige, if that's what you're interested in ;)


So, the day before yesterday a group of us ND kids had to make an hour and a half long journey out to the central police station/immigration office here in Rome as part of our continuing nightmare with the permesso di soggiorno. Note: the police station was definitely NOT central. We had to take two metros *and* a bus. And, there was a squalid Gypsy camp literally right outside the electric fence that wrapped around the police compound--note: Gypsies do NOT live in the middle of town. They reside in cramped, inhospitable camps on the outskirts of the city, and spend their days avoiding police raids....uh-oh, I'm about to go on a tangent, so watch out:

Before coming to Europe, I possessed a more romantic notion of Gypsies--you know, the whole handsome dark-skinned men and beautiful women, colorful clothes, wild violin music notion--but now, seeing how they live and work as beggars and swindlers, I have to say my attitude has changed drastically. Actually, my attitude towards a lot of things in life has shifted, and I feel like I'm having to struggle to retain whatever shreds of naivete I have left. I guess that's what happens when you go abroad...you see what the world is really like--you experience the squalor and injustice of the poor who fight every day just to survive, the corruptness of government, the plight of the immigrant, the horrific apathy of the middle and higher classes...ah, it's so much to think about all the time. I just saw a lot at the immigration office I wasn't expecting to see, and it made me treasure my American citizenship all the more.


Ahhhh enough of such depressing stuff--on to the Italian men, which I know you're probably very curious about! Okay, so while we were waiting in line to fill out paperwork for the permesso, there were these two youngish soldiers in uniform who would pace around the room and shamelessly flirt with the girls in our group, paying particular attention to the blondes, who did their best to not draw attention to themselves (great idea!!), and one idiotic redhead stupid enough to make eye contact with them. Well, one soldier kept coming over to me, teasing me about either not reading like everyone else (I was tired of reading about the intricacies of British foreign policy in the 1880s, okay?), or generally just trying to find out more personal information, which, of course, I was very cautious about! Anyway, it was my turn to fill out the first round of paperwork, and I had to tell the bureaucrat at the desk my cell phone number...thinking myself particularly witty, I conducted the whole conversation in Italiano. However, Mr. Soldier was conveniently within earshot, although I wasn't really paying attention at the time....I go to the next room for the fingerprinting and my phone buzzes...it's a text from an unknown Italian number: "Ciao! You are so pretty....sorry for my English!"

I just about died of laughter. Italian men are RIDICULOUS. The bureaucrat taking my fingerprints explained in Italian that it was because I'm a redhead; however, I just think it was because I'm a girl, period. Also, this same bureaucrat was shocked when I told him I was a theology major--actually, his face registered a slight horror when this happened. I asked him what was wrong, and he was like, "Are you going to become a sister??? You can't do that!! You are too pretty to be wasted on the Church!!"

Again, I couldn't help it--I burst out laughing. Guys in America are totally not like this at all!! Just today, as my friends and I were walking back to our apartment from school, two men in a tiny little car started honking the horn wildly, and the passenger exuberantly blew us a multitude of kisses as they passed by. Stuff like that does NOT happen at home!! It's so funny, and I guess the reason it's so amusing to me is because I know that it's completely harmless. Well, it's harmless when I'm with a group of Notre Dame students in the daytime, at least....


Alas, that's about it for my exciting tales of Italy since my last post! My roommates and I are going on a daytrip to Venice this Saturday for the centuries-old festival of Carnevale, which is going to be INCREDIBLE!!! My family and I went to Venice quite a few times when we lived in Germany back in the '90s, and I can't wait to return to the city as an older, hopefully slightly wiser individual. Look for an update on Sunday, when I will regale you with tales of La Serenissima, the most romantic city in the world! :)

Vi amo,
Laura

Return of the Prodigal Blogger?

Ciao tutti!

I have officially realized that I am a horrendous blogger, as it has been at least 25 days since my first post. This is obviously a sign of my woeful commitment issues. As for life here in Roma, if you think a ton happened in just the first three days of the semester, the next three weeks have been full of even more excitement, weekend trips, and amazing sights! If I explained everything in minute detail (like I desperately want to), this blog would probably swell to beyond novel-length; so, I'll just recap things in a nutshell to get you all caught up on my whirlwind romance with the Eternal City :)

Here's a summary of my schedule for Monday-Thursdays. No Friday classes=extra day for TRAVELING :D


Monday Class Schedule

-5.15PM: Philosophy of Art and Beauty

yep, you read that correctly--my first and only class on Mondays is at 5.15 in the afternoon. oh, it's sweet not being a freshman with 8.30AM classes every single day anymore.


Tuesday/Thursday Class Schedule
-9AM: History of Modern Europe II: The Age of Imperialism (aka AP US History from a European perspective)

-10.30AM: Italian Conversation and Composition. I thank Alessia and Patrizio daily for giving us more than we could handle back in the days of Intensive classes, because this one is just the same. *sigh*

-2.15PM: Public International Law. My professor is a Harvard Law grad, therefore, there are hundreds of pages of reserved reading, intense debates, and general tossing around of esoteric political theories left and right (although I prefer to think of it as more of an avalanche). In spite of these things, however, this class is causing me to seriously consider a career path in international law, and it makes me wish I were a political science major....because then I'd actually have some idea of what's going on in this class.

Wednesday Class Schedule
-1.30 to 4PM: Politics and Power in Roman Architecture from Augustus to Mussolini. This class involves walking around the Circus Maximus, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, as well as a million other awesome Roman monuments and churches spanning from ancient/medieval/Renaissance/Baroque Rome to Fascist Rome in 1945. It's blissful!!

-Again, 5.15PM: Philosophy of Art and Beauty


**Each day ends with an hour-long walk with friends back to Medaglie d'Oro, where we prepare exquisite roommate dinners, often paired with our staple dessert: nutella and biscotti**


***Another sidenote: at the end of our third week here, our room of 7 is currently on its 11th, yes, 11th jar of nutella. And this one is dangerously close to being empty***


As for weekend trips, I've been to Florence, Lake Como, and Milan. The second weekend here we spent in Milan and Lake Como. Now, Milan isn't exactly what it's cracked up to be, although the Duomo is absolutely magnificent, and the Teatro della Scala really is as fantastic as it appears in pictures. Lake Como, on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air after the frenetic pace of city life we had been so used to over the past couple weeks!


The day after getting back from Milan, I experienced a windfall of epic proportions--only it had nothing to do with money. Oh no, it was something wayyy more important than that. Silvio Ciampi, the eloquent, grandfatherly owner of Ciampi's Pianoforti down by the Piazza Risorgimento (basically next-door to the Vatican), granted me permission to use the pianos in his store to practice on! And, he gave me the key to his store so I can go practice whenever I want. I was floored, to say the least! I mean, you'd never hear of that happening in America, and this man didn't even know me. And yet, he was completely trusting....there are very good reasons why I favor the Italian people over Americans sometimes. They're so much more expressive, they're quick to argue, absolutely ridiculous, incredibly kind, and although a lot of Americans get frustrated with the Italian lifestyle, which seems to have no direction....it makes perfect sense to me. :)

The next weekend trip was to Florence (Firenze, in Italian). This city was the home of the great Medici family, who ushered in the glorious Italian Renaissance by attracting artists like Alberti, Brunelleschi, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi. It is the domain of the magnificent Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore, the city of Michelangelo's David, and the famous Uffizi Gallery...we went to Latin Mass in the Duomo, climbed to the Piazzale Michelangelo, the highest point in the city, window-shopped on the Ponte Vecchio at night, and had the most amazing dinner at a thoroughly Italian neighborhood restaurant called Il Latini....

Anyway, my goal for this post was to have it up before I left for my Philosophy of Art and Beauty class, so here you go!!! Hopefully I can overcome these commitment issues and start posting on a somewhat regular basis....

Vi amo,
Laura

Fai un respiro profondo, perche tu sei alla citta eterna....

Originally, I wasn't planning on writing a blog, since pretty much everyone in the group of 30+ ND students seems to be keeping one. However, my surprisingly ridiculous experiences over just the past three days inspired me to begin a blog of my own! Even if the following is practically non-existent, just organizing my thoughts into a medium like this is better than any of my scattered and tangential musings in the travel journal I have yet to start writing in...so it's safe to say that blogging will be the more expedient route for now. :) At the moment, though, I must take a deep breath and gather my thoughts, for I am in *the* Eternal City....

Currently, I am sitting at the kitchen table in our little apartment, Medaglie d'Oro; a ten minute walk from the wonders of Vatican City, I could get used to this place pretty quickly. The incessant sound of traffic outside is strangely soothing, and the raucous late-night traipsing of various American college students up and down the stairs somehow lulls me to sleep. The first three days here in Rome have been a whirlwind of activity; after over 24 hours of traveling, we arrived at the Fiumicino Airport in more or less stable condition. We had our first encounter with classic Roman inefficiency when we had to wait nearly two hours for our bus to Medaglie d'Oro--part of this time was spent in the dreary rainy weather outside as six girls from another study abroad program tried to sneak onto our bus, causing a whole load of logistical issues and fraying the already worn patience of our exhausted group. Finally, everything was resolved, and we were on our last leg of the epic journey to the Eternal City. *One note: Italian drivers are CRAZY. They hardly ever think to use turn signals, or pay attention to stop lights or pedestrians crossing the street, and i motorini (Vespas!) weave in and out of traffic with ridiculous abandon. There have been too many close calls for comfort over the past few days. At least they drive on the right side of the road here, unlike in New Zealand last summer, where I spent two months teaching music, avoiding speeding school buses, and dodging reckless teenage drivers coming at me from the opposite direction. Thank goodness for small blessings like that!

We arrived at Medaglie d'Oro after passing through the crazily winding streets, acknowleding both centuries-old buildings and modern high-rises lined side by side, and encountered more waiting during the lengthy check-in process (again, in the rain). Upon entering my apartment, which I share with six other girls: Emily, Karla, Katie, Anne, Natalie, and Chrissy, I was relieved to discover two working bathrooms, a spacious floor plan with a decent kitchen, three double bedrooms, and a broom closet-sized single room. Ever the martyr, I volunteered to take the single and retain whatever vestiges of privacy I could. I've lovingly decided to name it the Harry Potter room, although I think he may have had a little more space in that cupboard under the stairs ;)

Alright, so it's already my fourth day in Rome and so much has happened since I stepped off that plane at Fiumicino that I'll try and be concise--although there is seriously wayy too much to describe in just one sitting! Basically the days have been characterized by numerous orientation sessions at John Cabot University, meeting up with Aida della Longa, our Notre Dame contact who works primarily with the ND Architecture School here, finishing up the paperwork process for the permesso di soggiorno (our permit to stay in Italy for the semester), and exploring the city. So far, I've been to the Vatican--emerging from the massive Colonnato into St. Peter's Square is a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life. It is truly more wondrous than it appears in pictures and movies, and I couldn't help but tear up due to the overwhelming tumult of emotions it inspired. As a theology major, this semester in Rome will literally be heaven on Earth. :) Other than St. Peter's, I've been to the Piazza Navona, the Chiesa di Sant'Agnese, the Pantheon, the Campo de Fiori (open-air market by day, American college student bar trap at night), walked through the winding streets of the medieval neighborhood of Trastevere, and strolled along the Tiber River more times than I can count!

Then, this morning, Saturday the 16th, our RA took some of us on a walking tour of our neighborhood at 11, which was actually really nice because we got to see so much more of what is around us. There are flower sellers, peddlers hawking their discounted wares, tiny mom-and-pop supermarkets, trattorias, pubs, farmacie (pharmacies that sell a little of everything health and beauty-wise), a metro station, an Italian movie theater that’ll be good to practice my aural skills at, discount supermarkets, and a HUGE indoor market that used to be the largest and most popular outdoor market in the entire city until a couple years ago, when they built a modern-style complex to house it. I have yet to visit the Mercato Trionfale, but something tells me I'll be going there quite soon :)

In the past four days, I’ve been hoodwinked by a Gypsy beggar woman outside the Vatican walls, gotten a whole pizza for 5 euro from a nice Turkish man at the pizzeria and kebab shop right below our apartment, experienced the heavenly place that is St. Peter’s Basilica, been helped by two wonderful elderly ladies when I almost got locked out of the supermarket down the street at closing-time searching for my friends, experienced xenophobia in the form of an American-despising clerk at the same supermarket, and have probably walked an average of fifteen miles a day since getting here. My Italian is woefully inept, but my earnest attempts to communicate in the language of the people have led to many wonderful experiences, often resulted in smiles, and even made some new friends. I’ve found that I don’t have the stamina to keep up with the wild college drinking culture here, but I think I’d rather get myself involved in the religious and musical communities around the city. This Monday before my 5:15 pm philosophy class, I'd like to visit the Ladies of the Work on the via Aurelia behind the Vatican; according to Father Neil J. Roy, they give "superlative tours of the necropolis beneath St Peter's in the Vatican." So cool!! Then I meet my piano professor, Stefano Scarcella, sometime between Jan. 26 and Feb. 2, which is super exciting. Although, I haven't touched a piano in days...that meeting is going to be entertaining, to say the least. And soon, I’ll begin my job with the Limentani family in Trastevere teaching English to their children Sofia and Andrea, ages 8 and 12.

Although the days seem infinitely slow, it means that more time can be spent savoring each and every moment in this wondrous city. Mass at St. Peter's Basilica tomorrow morning, one last orientation session at JCU in the afternoon, maybe going to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps after that? We shall see, for it is only the first weekend. There are fifteen more of these to go!! Well, thanks for bearing with this first, novel-length post--I *promise* the rest will be much, much shorter!

Love,
*~*Laura*~*