Midterm Week!!

I can't believe we're half way through classes and are taking midterms already!! This semester is flying!

I'll have to update about this past weekend in Pisa and Siena sometime when I have more time. Until then, I'll be studying slides for Art History on Thursday and practicing italian dialogue for the oral exam tomorrow.

And for more photo fun...

http://courtneylinrome.shutterfly.com/

for photos I took for class (and I'm trying to keep adding others from random adventures too).


Well, I'm off to Pisa and Siena for the weekend, be back Saturday night- then Roma soccer game on Sunday!!

Best discovery ever!

I've kicked the craving for american coffee.
I've kicked the constant urge to check my phone.
I've kicked the urge to text.
But I just couldn't rid myself of the craving I had for pretzles which seemed non-existant in Rome.
Today, I found pretzles. Not only did I find pretzles, I found them in "Euro Village".
yes, Euro Village- like Dollar Tree... but with Euros. Best discovery ever.

25 Years

Rome has not experienced snow in 25 years. We had some flurries in the early morning then late morning it really started falling. For about an hour, the Romans didnt know how to react. The shop keepers came out of their shops and took pictures with their cell phones. The umbrella salesmen who try to force sales on you in rain were having a blast. A woman even improvised and squeegied snow from her sidewalk in front of her store. Everyone came outside to take a look. As I walked down the street to the metro on my way to Vatican City, everyone I made eye contact with burst into a smile or even laughter becuase they just didn't know what to think of this event.

Probably one of my favorite days so far :-)

Progress?

I'm directionally challenged. Really, it took me about 2 years to finally be able to remember how to get to Ted's house and the end of this summer, I was finally able to get myself to Main St. Bethlehem without an issue for the first time. Driving stresses me out mainly because I never know where I'm going.

Here in Rome, I never have to drive which is pretty nice- I can just rely on the A & B line metros to get me to my usual destinations. However, 3 of my 4 classes are on-site classes. This means that they generally meet somewhere in the city other than the Temple University building. Sometimes they are in really easy places like the Coleseum- get right off the metro stop and you're staring at it- but sometimes its a little more difficult- especially for the directionally challenged.

Last night, in preparation for class this morning, I glanced at the syllabus for the location of my sketchbook class. This is a direct quote of what it said for today:

"February 11
Meet at bar on the Tiberine Island (Take bus 23 from Piazza Risorgimento or Bus 280 on the Lungotevere towards Trastevere)."

end of instructions.

At first glance, this looks like decent directions- but let me disect it:

• take bus 23 from Piazza Risorgimento (I've never been to this bus stop. I had no idea where it was. ok not a huge deal, I consulted a map to find out. Looked like if I took the metro to Ottaviano- one stop up, it would be right down the street from there... Hopefully)
• Or bus 280 on the Lungotevere (this might be across the street from the campus building, a 20 minute trip in itself. However, I'm not positive)
• Towards Trastevere (well that would have been helpful if it said the name of a stop to get off at...)
• and assuming we find our way "towards Trastevere," where to we meet? Meet at bar. Now let me interject by saying that bars here are not the same as the US. A bar is a coffee shop- thats where you go for breakfast to get your caffe and cornetto (pastry) and there are at least 2 or 3 on every block in the main parts of town. So lets think about this as a landmark for where to meet- "at bar on the Teberine Island." So glad I have such a descriptive land mark to find!!

So there we were, about 8 of my class mates and I with nothing but these slightly ambigous directions, a map, and our past experiences. Luckily that was enough to get us there- we did end up in the right place by some miracle. One of the guys in the class had another class in that area the day before so we were able to pick up the 280 bus at the Lepanto metro stop which worked out really well and from there we basically had to guess which stop as we got closer to the island.
I guess the point to this story- aside from the slightly humorous lack of specificity- is that the thing I fear so much has become a daily part of my life. A lot of times its frustrating and stressful but the more I'm faced with my fear, the easier it is to handle the next time. Maybe one day I'll even be able to navigate Rome :-) (ok that might be a lofty goal)

I love street vendors!

I just bought another pair of boots on a whim- 5 euro :-)

Family Dinners

These Photos were taken from Lauren's facebook since her camera got passed around last night and everyone took some pictures throughout dinner.
Shannon preparing french toast (left). Everyone awaits dinner, below.





One of the best ideas my friends have had in Rome is having "family dinners." We decided to rotate who does the cooking and everyone takes a turn to buy and make dinners. We have had great variety in what everyone has made- we have had everything from pasta to bratwurst to taco night. While one person usually volunteers to cook, often everyone contributes by helping out with the process or contributing drinks, ingredients, or sidedishes.


Last night Lauren and Shannon hosted breakfast for dinner in Lauren's appartment. The girls really went all out! Lauren scrambled 28 eggs total, with spinach, and had various cheeses to put on top. Shannon made french toast (which is really interesting to do when you're not using american style slices of bread). As far as we can tell, Rome doesnt have ground cinnamon so Shannon, Chris and I rotated turns of trying to grate sticks of cinnamon with a cheese grater.



Chris decided to make bacon in 7 different forms- the mashed potatos didnt really work out so they didnt make it to dinner. The gravy wasnt quite right either. However, the other 5 styles of bacon were fantastic. 1 pan was left plain, nothing added. One pan was dipped in honey, one pan- sugar and cinnamon (my personal favorite), a dish of sliced potatoes, bacon, and cheese which was hearty and a nice break from straight up bacon, and finally, as shown in the last picture, bottom left corner of the table, chocolate covered bacon.

French toast and scrambled eggs.

The whole gang enjoys dinner. Note the chocolate covered bacon.