Yeah... I'm posting again because I'm bored.
After working on our project this afternoon we realized we didn't actually have class again so we went out to run some errands in the rain. Both of my roomies brought voltage converters but both of them have either been fried or simply do not work so I was going to get one since we now don't have one... we also had to find a sim card for one of the girls (cell phone deal). We ran all over the city and kept getting told to go in different places. We ended up at the railroad terminal which is basically a big mall. We didn't get ANYTHING that we meant to get though. The sim card store (which we FINALLY found) didn't have any left so we have to go back tomorrow and we could only find plug adapters, not voltage converters. That might become a problem although we're borrowing from another room for now.
That was my evening. Oh and it was raining really hard so we just went to the snack bar across the street. I found chicken and potatoes there :) I've been missing chicken.. don't get me wrong, I love pasta but I really miss chicken and they don't seem to have it anywhere here. They are big into pork (if you've never had it go get some Pruschetta...I believe it's dried ham, SO GOOD!) - oh and I totally butchered the spelling of that one.
Now we're just chilling. Tomorrow should be more interesting, I think we're going to be seeing a lot of famous paintings and such. Monday will be the Vatican day so that's fun, and then most of the rest of next week is tests and then it's off to Florence! Time is starting to fly. I miss home though... but I'm definitely cherishing this experience because really how many in your times do you get to do something like this? (apparently twice... haha)
Anyways, I'll stop boring you. I love you all!
Ash
P.S. It's in the 40's here dad, it's actually not that bad as far as weather goes. It should be getting colder when we get to Florence and Venice because they are North of here and Venice is on the water. I've actually been trying to find a new Winter coat here... my old one is falling a part and I don't love the one I just got. They have some cute coats here and since tomorrow is technically Christmas for them (it's the Epiphany) a lot of the stores have been having MAJOR sales. I'm also thinking I might need something a little bit warmer than what I have when we get to Florence and Venice. We'll see though... only if it's a good deal haha
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Day 6
hello all,
Today is another boring day. We had lecture this morning, worked on an assignment, and we have lecture again this afternoon. It's raining here though so it's not the end of the world that we aren't running around outside. My feet are happier too.
I'm just sitting here eating a delicious pizza (it's more like ham and cheese panini but whatever.. it's still delicious) so I hope you are all jealous :)
We also moved rooms this morning. Ours was too loud and while I can sleep through almost anything my roomies can't. Our new room is actually nicer though so it's all good. There is really nothing exciting to report though. Last night we had a nice dinner... nothing exciting.
I miss you all!!!
Lots of love,
Ashley
Today is another boring day. We had lecture this morning, worked on an assignment, and we have lecture again this afternoon. It's raining here though so it's not the end of the world that we aren't running around outside. My feet are happier too.
I'm just sitting here eating a delicious pizza (it's more like ham and cheese panini but whatever.. it's still delicious) so I hope you are all jealous :)
We also moved rooms this morning. Ours was too loud and while I can sleep through almost anything my roomies can't. Our new room is actually nicer though so it's all good. There is really nothing exciting to report though. Last night we had a nice dinner... nothing exciting.
I miss you all!!!
Lots of love,
Ashley
Friday, January 4, 2008
Day 5
Bonjourno!
I'm working on my Italian! Did you know that Gratzi is pronounced Grat-zee-ay? It is... :)
Haha I feel really dumb here not even being able to properly say easy phrases so I'm trying to learn and use them. It's kind of fun! We're all also working on learning the city. We've gotten the hang of some of it but roads here NEVER seem to go straight.
Last night we ate at this really good restaurant. It was a little expensive but I tried rissoto and it was DELICIOUS! It's basically just rice... but still that's pretty adventurous for me
Today isn't exciting. We had lecture this morning, then we have lecture this afternoon. We also have an assignment to do today and a 3 page paper to write. We're all just working on stuff today. I don't think any of us will really go out or do anything. It's a little bit frustrating because EVERYTHING is group work... and my group has decided to sleep and shower.. but we have plenty of time so it should be ok. Besides, that means I get to go online really quick :)
But I should get back... Sorry I don't have anything really fun today. We have to do work sometimes though right? I'm pretty sure tomorrow is boring as well. Oh well... I'm still in Rome and it's still wonderful. I'm getting really excited to go to Florence and Venice though (especially Florence as I haven't been there before and it won't be such a BIG city...)
I love you all and hope all is well!
Ash
I'm working on my Italian! Did you know that Gratzi is pronounced Grat-zee-ay? It is... :)
Haha I feel really dumb here not even being able to properly say easy phrases so I'm trying to learn and use them. It's kind of fun! We're all also working on learning the city. We've gotten the hang of some of it but roads here NEVER seem to go straight.
Last night we ate at this really good restaurant. It was a little expensive but I tried rissoto and it was DELICIOUS! It's basically just rice... but still that's pretty adventurous for me
Today isn't exciting. We had lecture this morning, then we have lecture this afternoon. We also have an assignment to do today and a 3 page paper to write. We're all just working on stuff today. I don't think any of us will really go out or do anything. It's a little bit frustrating because EVERYTHING is group work... and my group has decided to sleep and shower.. but we have plenty of time so it should be ok. Besides, that means I get to go online really quick :)
But I should get back... Sorry I don't have anything really fun today. We have to do work sometimes though right? I'm pretty sure tomorrow is boring as well. Oh well... I'm still in Rome and it's still wonderful. I'm getting really excited to go to Florence and Venice though (especially Florence as I haven't been there before and it won't be such a BIG city...)
I love you all and hope all is well!
Ash
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Day 4
Hello Again!
Today we had a short lecture and then went to see a lot of churches. One of them was "the pope's church". This houses the chair where the pope must sit before he can actually become the pope! He holds mass there as well. I believe it had the burial of John the Baptist but I might be getting that one confused with one of the other Disciples... Here all churches have relics in their alters. We went to one that supposedly had wood from the manger in its alter. It was very cool. The churches were so beautiful. We also saw this smaller church which had the oldest known mosaic in it. It was pretty... we saw a lot of frescos (paintings done with plaster) as well. Seeing art that is SO old makes my head spin a little. The paintings were so pretty...
It's also interesting because I have been learning about the different styles in my class. It's a lot of history and history of art and how these things were used as visual communication. A lot of it was propaganda. They used the immense buildings and such to show power.
After this the girls in my room and I went shopping :) I got a cute sweater... I'm a little excited
I think tonight we are going to get something to eat and then go to a pub that is having karaoke night... that should be interesting. A lot of people were excited about it though so I figured I'd give it a shot!
That's about it, keep leaving comments :) I love reading them... it makes me feel like I'm not SO far away...
I love you all!
Ash
P.S. Dad: Raphael was a famous artist... try google...
Today we had a short lecture and then went to see a lot of churches. One of them was "the pope's church". This houses the chair where the pope must sit before he can actually become the pope! He holds mass there as well. I believe it had the burial of John the Baptist but I might be getting that one confused with one of the other Disciples... Here all churches have relics in their alters. We went to one that supposedly had wood from the manger in its alter. It was very cool. The churches were so beautiful. We also saw this smaller church which had the oldest known mosaic in it. It was pretty... we saw a lot of frescos (paintings done with plaster) as well. Seeing art that is SO old makes my head spin a little. The paintings were so pretty...
It's also interesting because I have been learning about the different styles in my class. It's a lot of history and history of art and how these things were used as visual communication. A lot of it was propaganda. They used the immense buildings and such to show power.
After this the girls in my room and I went shopping :) I got a cute sweater... I'm a little excited
I think tonight we are going to get something to eat and then go to a pub that is having karaoke night... that should be interesting. A lot of people were excited about it though so I figured I'd give it a shot!
That's about it, keep leaving comments :) I love reading them... it makes me feel like I'm not SO far away...
I love you all!
Ash
P.S. Dad: Raphael was a famous artist... try google...
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Day 3
Hey all!
Today was BUSY... we had lecture for about 3 hours, I think I took about 6 pages of notes. After that we had a quick lunch and then headed out.
Today we saw the Colosseum, it was AMAZING. It's HUGE! The floor is gone so you can see into the chambers where the kept the "gladiators" aka prisoners and the animals. They would raise them up through a pulley system to the floor. It was very cool. It looks just like the pictures.
We also went back to the forum, there is so much there. We did not get there in time to walk through it though- another day. There is so much history there...
After that we went to the Pantheon. This time we went in. It's large but it's in the middle of a bunch of hotels, not what you might imagine. It was very cool though. Raphael is buried there too.
Then we ate dinner by the Pantheon. It was good, I haven't had anything AMAZING yet though.
We also went into a church which has the body of St. Catherine (as in the school....) and a bunch of other saints.
That's about it, we are back for the night. Everybody is pretty tired. I think we might just chill and do our reading.
I hope all is well!
Lots of love,
Ashley
Today was BUSY... we had lecture for about 3 hours, I think I took about 6 pages of notes. After that we had a quick lunch and then headed out.
Today we saw the Colosseum, it was AMAZING. It's HUGE! The floor is gone so you can see into the chambers where the kept the "gladiators" aka prisoners and the animals. They would raise them up through a pulley system to the floor. It was very cool. It looks just like the pictures.
We also went back to the forum, there is so much there. We did not get there in time to walk through it though- another day. There is so much history there...
After that we went to the Pantheon. This time we went in. It's large but it's in the middle of a bunch of hotels, not what you might imagine. It was very cool though. Raphael is buried there too.
Then we ate dinner by the Pantheon. It was good, I haven't had anything AMAZING yet though.
We also went into a church which has the body of St. Catherine (as in the school....) and a bunch of other saints.
That's about it, we are back for the night. Everybody is pretty tired. I think we might just chill and do our reading.
I hope all is well!
Lots of love,
Ashley
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Day 2
Hello!
Today has been much better than yesterday, got a little sleep, feeling a lot better, and got to see some cool things.
However we were rudely awaken this morning. Our room is RIGHT next to the breakfast room and EVERYTHING echoes in this place... so we were woken up at like 6am with that... and will probably have that happen every morning. I could probably sleep through it but my roomies were freaking out so I got up too. Oh well... 6 am is kinda sleeping in for me compared to when I have practice. Then this morning we had lecture which was very laid back and interesting which is good. After lecture we went out to "explore". We saw a lot of very cool things, my favorite might have been old Rome. We saw the Roman forum ruins and ruins of what would have been a Roman "mall". It was very cool. We also saw the Pantheon. Unfortunately today is the one of three days every year that it is closed so we didn't get to go in. We'll go another day though so it's ok. We also saw the Trevi Fountain. Yes, I made a wish :) We saw so much more and I already have more pictures than I know what to do with. It's very interesting though so I'm enjoying it. We also had some pretty good pizza and "the best gelato in Italy".
I have learned one thing about Romans... they don't do lines. They push and shove and budge and whoever is best at those three things gets helped first. It's really annoying.... I don't like being crowded and touched by people I don't know. Ick... Oh and the city is dirty. I really think I'm going to like Florence better, and I definitely like Venice better so I'm excited for the second half of the trip. But still, it's Rome and it's amazing.
We now have the afternoon off... most everybody is napping. I might do that too, or read for lecture tomorrow. I'm not sure what we'll do tonight. Maybe explore. Probably go to bed early.
Oh, and I did go out last night. We just walked around the city and got ourselves thoroughly lost for about 4 hours. Finally we split up into the people who actually wanted to get home and the people who said they wanted to get home but really just wanted to wander around. New years was kind of a bust though. A few of us were talking in the hotel and didn't even realize it happened. Apparently the other group though found this cool concert and did the whole new years thing. One of the girls got pick-pocketed though and lost her camera. :( Not good.
That's all for now. I'm still trying to get pictures up on here... I have a lot though so it'll be hard to pick and choose.
I hope everybody is doing well! I finally got a phone card so I'm going to try to use it today/tomorrow.
and HAPPY NEW YEARS!
I love you all,
Ash
Today has been much better than yesterday, got a little sleep, feeling a lot better, and got to see some cool things.
However we were rudely awaken this morning. Our room is RIGHT next to the breakfast room and EVERYTHING echoes in this place... so we were woken up at like 6am with that... and will probably have that happen every morning. I could probably sleep through it but my roomies were freaking out so I got up too. Oh well... 6 am is kinda sleeping in for me compared to when I have practice. Then this morning we had lecture which was very laid back and interesting which is good. After lecture we went out to "explore". We saw a lot of very cool things, my favorite might have been old Rome. We saw the Roman forum ruins and ruins of what would have been a Roman "mall". It was very cool. We also saw the Pantheon. Unfortunately today is the one of three days every year that it is closed so we didn't get to go in. We'll go another day though so it's ok. We also saw the Trevi Fountain. Yes, I made a wish :) We saw so much more and I already have more pictures than I know what to do with. It's very interesting though so I'm enjoying it. We also had some pretty good pizza and "the best gelato in Italy".
I have learned one thing about Romans... they don't do lines. They push and shove and budge and whoever is best at those three things gets helped first. It's really annoying.... I don't like being crowded and touched by people I don't know. Ick... Oh and the city is dirty. I really think I'm going to like Florence better, and I definitely like Venice better so I'm excited for the second half of the trip. But still, it's Rome and it's amazing.
We now have the afternoon off... most everybody is napping. I might do that too, or read for lecture tomorrow. I'm not sure what we'll do tonight. Maybe explore. Probably go to bed early.
Oh, and I did go out last night. We just walked around the city and got ourselves thoroughly lost for about 4 hours. Finally we split up into the people who actually wanted to get home and the people who said they wanted to get home but really just wanted to wander around. New years was kind of a bust though. A few of us were talking in the hotel and didn't even realize it happened. Apparently the other group though found this cool concert and did the whole new years thing. One of the girls got pick-pocketed though and lost her camera. :( Not good.
That's all for now. I'm still trying to get pictures up on here... I have a lot though so it'll be hard to pick and choose.
I hope everybody is doing well! I finally got a phone card so I'm going to try to use it today/tomorrow.
and HAPPY NEW YEARS!
I love you all,
Ash
Monday, December 31, 2007
Day 1
Hello All,
I made it safe and sound, the flights weren't too bad. They have everything interactive now on the transcontinential flights... I got to watch like 4 movies. I didn't sleep much though.
Rome hasn't been too exciting. We haven't seen anything cool, I haven't eaten anything good, and I'm actually kinda sick.
I did go to a grocery store though... it was small...
I'm hoping that things get better tomorrow which as long as I'm feeling better I'm sure they will. I believe we are going to be seeing the Trevi Fountain among other things.
That's about it, I'm just hanging around the hotel with a sleepy roommate, everybody else went to look at the colloseum.
Tonight is new years- it's supposed to be really great here in Rome. I'll probably hang out in the room though. I really need to sleep and get feeling better. That's kind of a downer but I need to be fresh for tomorrow.
I hope everybody is well and has a wonderful new years! Be safe!
Lots of love,
Ash
I made it safe and sound, the flights weren't too bad. They have everything interactive now on the transcontinential flights... I got to watch like 4 movies. I didn't sleep much though.
Rome hasn't been too exciting. We haven't seen anything cool, I haven't eaten anything good, and I'm actually kinda sick.
I did go to a grocery store though... it was small...
I'm hoping that things get better tomorrow which as long as I'm feeling better I'm sure they will. I believe we are going to be seeing the Trevi Fountain among other things.
That's about it, I'm just hanging around the hotel with a sleepy roommate, everybody else went to look at the colloseum.
Tonight is new years- it's supposed to be really great here in Rome. I'll probably hang out in the room though. I really need to sleep and get feeling better. That's kind of a downer but I need to be fresh for tomorrow.
I hope everybody is well and has a wonderful new years! Be safe!
Lots of love,
Ash
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Day -1
Hello All,
I will be leaving for Italy in about 21 hours! I'm going to attempt to keep everybody updated with this blog while I'm gone. Feel free to share the link if you want.
Love ya!
Ash
P.S. I posted this at 6:02- the time stamp is in Rome time :P
I will be leaving for Italy in about 21 hours! I'm going to attempt to keep everybody updated with this blog while I'm gone. Feel free to share the link if you want.
Love ya!
Ash
P.S. I posted this at 6:02- the time stamp is in Rome time :P
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