Novembre is here!

My first thoughts as we enter the third month of being here, when did that happen? It feels like we just got off the plane but when I start to look back, our past couple of months have been jam packed with traveling, excursions and school.  As Midterms are coming to a close, I will be going through my pictures and hopefully posting a few from all our adventures.

Let's start with the Florence Trip! Day 14

Midterms and Sorrento!

28 Ottobre 2014
Ciao! We are on our mid-term week so life is currently full of flash cards and exams.  Also my parents and sister are in Rome for the week so juggling seeing them with school is my main goal. As a break, I thought I would add another entry to the blog to talk about our latest weekend excursion.

The weekend of the 16th through the 18th, the Rome family took a trip to Sorrento.  Our first day we visited the Island of Capri and had a wonderful day exploring the Island and having a class in the Villa Jovis; there we got to see the living quarters of an Emperor who retired on the top of the Island.  The views of the blue Mediterranean were so tempting and after lunch a few of us got to go for a swim!   The next day, a group of us decided to go for a hike out to the edge of the peninsula in Sorrento.  The hike out was relaxing but we decided to go a different way back that was quite long but the views did not disappoint!  After the journey we spent a little time getting to see Sorrento before leaving bright and early Sunday for Pompeii! While the outside view of the town makes the town seem small, once inside the ruins, the town continues forever! The maze of streets and temples, government buildings and houses was striking and in a strange way, beautiful.  Everyone had been assigned a different structure to give a presentation on so our time was spent moving from place to place with the students (myself included) giving guided historic tours.  Could there be a better classroom for Pompeii but Pompeii itself?  After we had lunch and continued back towards Rome.  On our way, we made a brief stop at the Abbey of St. Scholastica as well as the Monastery of  St. Benedict on the cliffs of Subiaco.  The artwork throughout the monastery was incredible and Benedict's cave was beyond words.

Italian Word of the Trip: Grotta- Cave
Place: Villa Jovis, Capri, Italia
Pictures to Follow!

Hello Again! Welcome to Ottobre!

My apologies for not updating my blog since before we visited Florence! I have been enjoying school and the experience but I am often away from the computer. These past few weeks have been full of activities from a soccer game (GO ROMA!) to exploring St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum. Rome is always full of places to explore and for this I am truly blessed.  This week has already provided some highlights.  On Monday after history and Italian class, the students and I went to a conference on the Family and Marriage in the Catholic Church. Among the others allowed to the small gathering were several Ambassadors to countries such as Austria, Ireland and Canada as well as a special visit from Mary McAleese, the former president of Ireland.  We had the privilege of hearing from five panel members on a variety of issues that were being discussed in the Synod.  The conference had about 50 people from all over the world and they were all there just to listen like we were.
Today, we went to the Questura di Roma to the ufficio immigrazione where our existence in Italy became legal. This process has taken about a month and we are glad to have it finished! Hope I can keep this up and I will try to send as many updates as possible.

Italian of the Day: Ufficio- Office
Place of the Day: Questura di Roma, Roma, Italia

Vatican Museum

with Mary McAleese

in St. Peter's

Day 10 and 11

Days 10 and 11

Monday was a usual school day, Italian in the morning with Art History in the afternoon.  We learned about Michelangelo in Art and talked over the schedule of events for our weekend in Florence!

Tuesday, after our History class, we took our first quiz in Human Rehabilitation Studies (HRS).  The quiz explored the main ideas surrounding Human services.  This class is unique because it gives us a break from the classes based in history such as art, history and Catholicism.  While I love all my classes, the break allows our minds to switch to a different way of thinking and also allows us to notice things on excursions that normally would not have pointed out to us.  

After lunch, all of the students ventured to the Basilica which the smaller group stumbled upon on Saturday which happened to be the Arch basilica of St. John Lateran also known as the Cathedral of Rome.  This was the first legal church in Rome and serves as the only Cathedral because it holds the chair of the bishop of Rome, who happens to be the Pope.   Next to the Basilica is an obelisk which is the oldest man-made object in Rome because it was taken from ancient Egypt.  It also happens to be the largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world and weighs 455 tons. I would strongly recommend anyone traveling in Rome to walk inside the Basilica and around to the obelisk and the baptistery not for religious purposes but simply to enjoy the site itself.  For more information and a glimpse at the inside: http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_giovanni/vr_tour/index-en.html.

Word of the Day:

10: Guided Tour- visita guidata

11: chair-sedia

Place of the Day: 

10: Roma, Italia

11: Basilica San Giovanni, Basilica of St. John Lateran, Roma, Italia 

Day 8 and 9: The weekend

Day 8:  This week has been busy but I am currently in the process of catching up everyone.   On Saturday Nicole, Sarah and I went to check out a market place and ended up discovering another Basilica.  We hopped off the train at San Giovanni and walked over where we were the attention of a bunch of street vendors (a lovely fact of being a tourist: hold purse and be polite but firm).   After exploring the market which was somewhat closed, we walked through the city gates and into the Basilica of St. John Laterine.  The central section of the Basilica is home to the tomb of Pope Martin V and lining the central isle are 14 foot tall statues of the followers of Jesus.   The alter was completely covered in gold and above the alter are relics of St. Peter and St. Paul.   Later that evening, we walked through a popular night life area and got to see St. Peter's dome lit up.  Incredible day of exploration!

Location: St. John Laterine Basilica, Rome, Italy

Word of the day: bellissima- very beautiful

Day 9: Sunday was our day to get work done! We did our readings and prepared for the week ahead.  I went to a few stores and explored some of our neighborhood.   The people are mostly in their houses but the one's I did see offered a pleasant greeting and a smile.   We attended mass for a Cardinal in Italian, German and Latin which was an incredible experience in the church located in the Piazza Navona.  Pictures on the next blog!

Location: Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy

Word of the day: formaggio- cheese 

Day 6 and 7: History Class continues

Day 6: When studying in Rome there are many things to do, one of which is presentations.  I volunteered to present the Theatre of Marcellus which is partially why I ran our of hours for blogging yesterday. My apologies! Thursday is our last day of classes every week which also means it is a busy day! Three classes and we got our first passes for the Gym! These memberships are especially important to the people on sports teams because it allows us to lift and and strengthen our bodies outside of running.   I am looking forward to it!
Location: Rome, Italy--Our gym!
Word of the Day: libro- book

Day 7:  There are many classic Roman places to see while visiting this city.   The one that I have studied the most has to be the Colosseum.  Similarly to the the Colosseum is the Roman Forum, we went to both!  Our day began on the bus when we met some lovely tourists from Vermont (something quite uncommon is actually meeting tourists).   The morning consisted of walking over the Tiber and onto Tiber Island, viewing the first sewage system, viewing temples, and the Theatre of Marcellus.   We then walked up the Capitoline Hill, saw Marcus Aurelius on horseback with the Tiber and the Nile statues, and enjoyed the lovely view of the back of the Forum.   I would highly recommend the walk because it passes through the oldest, most historic lands in the heart of Rome.   Prior to lunch we walked down the back of the hill and into the Forum! I would HIGHLY recommend this site to anyone because there is something in it for everyone.  We touched ruins that were built over two thousand years ago and we walked around the building that all churches are modeled after.  For my love of politics, I saw one of the first senate buildings in the world!!  From triumphal arches to Emperor's secret passageways, the Forum is magnificent.  When we had exhausted the Forum to a certain degree, we had lunch overlooking the Forum and Colosseum.   After lunch, we made our way into the Colosseum! It was spectacular to say the least.  The arches, the detailing in the marble sculptures, and the stories behind every piece in the amphitheater are perfect.  When prompted to our own free time, Nicole, Sarah and I got on the metro back home.  Instead of switching to the normal train in the termini station, we decided to see what was outside the building.  There was a small green garden across the street which was, as we found out later, the outer portion of a National Museum of Rome.  There were benches outside with a lovely fountain so we took a small break before continuing around the block and discovering the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri ( Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs).   Exploring and getting lost in Rome is one of the most exciting things to do and even by taking a short detour, you never know what beautiful buildings and fountains you can find!   Today was particularly wonderful!
Location: Colosseo, Roma, Italia
Word of the day: rovine-ruins

Day 5: San Clemente

Today was very entertaining! In Italian class we learned the numbers, countries and nationalities.   We learned age and years as well.  For Art class we visited San Clemente, a minor Basilica dedicated to Pope Clement I.   There are three layers of building: an underground Mithraeum which was part of the main house in the 1st century, the 4th century Basilica complete with frescoes, and finally the present Basilica with the Chapel of St. Catherine.   The frescoes were so colorful! The stories behind them were fascinating and the reasons behind them are worth reading about!   The living classroom adds to my appreciation of Rome and especially to the pieces.   We have not been here a week and I already feel the growth in my understanding of what history means to this beautiful city.   Currently listening to a thunderstorm pass by; it is the first patch of rain we have gotten all week! It is so beautiful and the temperature has gone down significantly in a few hours!

Location: Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano, Roma, Italia
Word of the day: Temporale- Thunderstorm