Sights and sounds

I’ve only been here one week and I already have to play catch-up! This might get problematic…

I feel like I’ve been here much longer than a week. I'm also positive I could live here for much more than five weeks and be perfectly happy. I love this city, it’s the NYC of Italy, super cosmopolitan, touristy, and diverse. I get the feeling that the Romans don’t realize how great they have it, I see most people walk by ruins like there's nothing there, without appreciating how much history they walk past on a daily basis. There are ruins in sandwiched between very modern buildings, and I find it hilarious that any time they try to build new metro lines they have to stop because they hit ruins.

Now that I’ve had a full week of classes, I can officially inform you that after 6 months of co-op, homework sucks. I haven’t had too much to do this week, but I will have papers and quizzes and midterms and finals over the course of the next month. I guess I need to stop going to happy hour every night. :-) I'm kidding about happy hour, but I have been going out every night to see more of the city.

In the last week I’ve seen:

- The Pantheon (from the outside…we were on gelato mission, but I’m going back with my archeology class)

- The shops, bars and restaurants on the banks of the Tiber River

- A communist festival, where I saw an Italian rock band, fulfilling one of my goals for this trip

- More of Trastevere, my neighborhood

- Circus Maximus, where chariot races were held

- McDonalds - we went there for an All American 4th of July, they had curly fries and shrimp!

- Campo dei Fiore, where there is a huge flea market during the day (I haven’t gone yet) and bars at night

- The pope - I went to the papal audience yesterday, one of the stranger experiences I’ve had. Ask me about it sometime if you’re interested.

My favorite sight so far was the Colosseum lit up at night. It was huge and eerie and peaceful and powerful. I had a really difficult time comprehending that I was actually there, that I was touching the building I’ve seen in so many postcards and on so many posters. It was absolutely surreal. I’ll be going back during the daytime for class, which I’m really excited for. I think I’ll be a gladiator for Halloween, who wants to help me make a helmet?

Last Sunday I went to the beach town of Sperlonga for the day with all of my new friends (it’s insane how close we’ve become in just a week, more on this in another entry). We spent the morning on the beach in 90 plus degree heat, and I got sunburned as usual. After lunch we all packed up and headed for gelato and a walk around the town. I thought the hilltop town looked pretty from a distance, but I couldn’t believe the views of the Tyrrhenian Sea, mountains and beaches I had from some of the elevated spots on the path around the town. I had chills from how beautiful everything was, definitely the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen. I’m not very well traveled, but I’m positive that places like Sperlonga don’t exist in the United States. It really made me appreciate that I'm spending this summer in a different and incredible country. The pictures should speak for themselves, but my amateur photography skills don’t even start to capture the sights.