Day 25: SUN 1/31: flea market fun

I finally got up early! Blake and I headed to the weekly flea market. It’s pretty close by, but Lord does it go on forever. One of the first things I noticed was a leather jacket stand. It was actually pretty legit- it was all brand name vintage leather jackets and motorcycle jackets. There was a mirror and everything- it was pretty nice. I tried one on but left to do some more exploring. After a while the leather jacket just sitting back there started to get to me. We turned around after going quite a distance without seeing anything comparable. I snagged the jacket from the guy. I tried to haggle, but the prices were written down and he gave me a considerable “student discount”. Well we were in the process of leaving when the rain came back. We tried to stay huddled under the tents on the way out, but got sprinkled anyway. Luckily the tram rode by and we jumped on it at the last minute. We grabbed some lunch and headed home. I felt European with my new jacket. I thought people were addressing me in Italian now- but they probably always do that. Regardless I now have something else to wear other than my fleece. I went on a cleaning spree all around the apartment thinking that the guys were going to get home any minute. Turns out it was actually tomorrow morning. One more night to myself.

Day 24: SAT 1/30: river walk & MAXXI

It's been a while- I'm sorry. But I've journaled everything- I just want the entries to be nice and the pictures to be well done. So enjoy my mass postings over the next few days!! Be sure to read back a few posts because I might post more than just one day. After that disclaimer, read on!


I woke up in an apartment to myself. It was a slow day. I got together with Blake and we went for a walk along the river and all about the town to go see the Stadio Olympico. On the way there we saw lots of interesting things such as a used heroin needle, and telephone stuck in a tree by the river (due to all the high water) and the Communist Party building which was quite beautiful. The weather was spotty and off and on drizzling briefly while the sun was shining the whole time. After quite a walk we finally made it to the Stadio Olympico right at dusk. It was a bit underwhelming. We couldn’t get really close to it, but the Fascist bridge was actually pretty nice. The MAXXI Museum designed by Zaha Hadid was right nearby so we HAD to go see that. The last few touches are being put on it- it’s open without any art sometimes, but hopefully they’ll move the art in before we leave. We got some good photos (just look below). We saw some guy with his laptop sitting on a porch stoop on the way over. Blake correctly guessed that he was probably using someone’s WiFi. We ran back over there so I could get mass transit directions on my iPhone. Luckily it pointed us in the right direction for a bus nearby which saved us about an hour and fifteen minute walk home. That night Blake and I made dinner and just took it easy. I went to bed a little early to try and wake up for the flea market tomorrow

lots of new stuff soon!

here's a teaser. enjoy!





click to see more

Day 23 FRI: 2/29: MR FLASH

Friday morning I woke up in a quiet apartment and enjoyed walking around in my underwear for a while with nobody to see me. Enjoy that image.

I had the flyer saved for almost two weeks now. Ed Bangers presents: Mr Flash. I was so excited- I just needed to get to the club- Brancaleone- which is not close by. I talked with Sino and Angels to see what they were doing to get there. Sino wanted to leave by cab @ 10:30, but I wasn’t ready yet. I cooked dinner with Blake and headed out on the town (Blake had an easy night in). I met up with Angels at her and Olga’s place. There were five other people there who I recognized from previous night. I had a Bergen Brau (the cheapest beer in Rome which is excellent) and we headed out. We split up 4 and 4 in each taxi to have equal fares. The ride was much nicer than the first taxi I took and the fare was reasonable when split 4 ways. Well we walked in and the place was huge. I think they had 3 different rooms for DJs and one big area in the middle. The group DSL came of first to open for Mr. Flash. They played Pharoahe Monch's “Simon Says (Get the F*** Up)” before Mr Flash came on- I was already going nuts. Luckily we brought some entertainment to the show. Because they don’t check bags at these things we could bring in our own dranks. Hey it saves money. Well the show was insane. Some highlights from the show: “still dre”, mr oizo- “positif”, the proxy- “who are you”, daft punk- “television”, lil wayne- “a milli” (yes I know it’s lame, but it surprised me… I mean it’s italy… come on).

The best part of the night was when Angels dragged me and Hannah over towards the back wall off to the side of stage. She walked up and started talking to this bouncer standing in front of a black curtain that I hadn’t even noticed. Immediately Hannah grabbed my hand and interlocked fingers. She leaned on me and sort of grabbed my arm. I gave her a funny look and she fiercely whispered in my ear “DON’T SPEAK ANY ENGLISH!” I immediately understood what was going on. The bouncer stared us up and down then finally parted the curtain aside. Hannah clenched my arm as we walked through the curtain with a forced air of confidence. We were now backstage. I was in a room with a few people that I felt were giving me a cold stare. I kept my composure and walked to the left to look at Mr Flash from behind. You could see out across the stage towards everyone in the audience. I slowly slid my camera out of my pocket, held it waist level, and calmly tried to take a picture without anyone seeing me. I thought I was sly. Angels got some free champagne and then we walked right back out. I realized that I never had a picture of the VIP room so I carelessly snapped one behind my back as we were walking out of the room. The flash lit everything up behind me, but it was too late- we were already out. I hope my picture turn out OK. I’m still waiting for the film to develop (which takes FOREVER here, not just 1 hour like in the states).
UPDATE: here they are:







CLICK ON THEM TO SEE THE WHOLE SET

Day 22: THR 2/28: giganti

Thursday started off a bit rocky. I left by myself on my way to class. We were supposed to meet at the Modern Art Museum. Unfortunately my phone wouldn’t load my mail with directions before I left and I confused that museum with the Ara Pacis museum. Well when I got to the Arac Pacis I was headed in the right direction but quickly realized upon seeing nobody there that maybe I wasn’t in the right place. I asked the lady at the desk for directions to the Museum of Modern Art which was on Viale delle Belle Arti. She guided me in the right direction but I had to stop and ask directions a few times. I got sort of lost. I also went way too far and had to start at the beginning of the Viale delle Belle Arti and walk all the way to the museum. I also left my memory card for my camera in my laptop so taking pictures was not a possibility. I arrived exhausted and embarrassed 45 minutes late. Fortunately for me- three other students had walked in right before me. They had taken a bus that took them on the “scenic route” throughout the city. Anyway, the museum was great and had a nice collection of modern works from the early 20^th century. They had some work by Marcel Duchamp which was really interesting to see. He’s the artist that submitted a signed urinal into an art show. He’s the first person to ask the question and begin the eternal discussion of “what constitutes art?” I argued something about this and my teacher was happy that I was interested. I just wanted to try and smooth things over after my more than fashionably late appearance. After the museum we walked back and had a lecture at the school (the way back was a lot less confusing). That afternoon we had studio and tried to make some more progress with our building- it’s difficult this year not having any mandatory deadlines. We have to push ourselves.

            Fortunately that night was much more fun. Yes this is a two-parter. A lot of the guys here went to Barcelona that night on their own trip. That left me to the whole apartment. That night I met up with Sino- the DJ/producer that I met last week at Jack Beats. He was playing at I Giganti on Campo dei Fiori. The first time I went to meet up before the show he wasn’t there- he had to run back and get some equipment. So I ran home and made some food and came back later with my laptop and stuff. He said he wanted to listen to some music and trade stuff. When I got back I saw him and about 8 other guys sitting at a table at the restaurant next door (owned by the same person). The owner treated everyone to dinner and wine. I just ordered a tomato and basil bruschetta (which was amazing). All his friends were somehow involved in music whether they mixed or produced or whatever. It was great getting to meet everyone- they were really friendly and it was fun getting to hang out with people who have common interests. Well Sino went inside to keep setting up (the DJ stand was up a ladder and looked out over the bar). Meanwhile some more students from John Cabot University showed up- lots of girls and guys who all knew Sino. Pretty soon I was surrounded by people I knew from last week at the Jack Beats show and new ones. It was an amazing time- the music was great and the drinks were cheap. At one point things got a little crazy and a young lady leaned arched her back onto the bar and lifted up her shirt to “reveal her assets”. The bartender poured cherry syrup on her stomach while another helpful coed cleaned up the mess the mess he made. Unfortunately for her, she went to John Cabot and was surrounded by many fellow students who knew her. At first I thought “Wow! Europe is pretty wild! I knew they didn’t care about breasts, but dang!” I wish I had more hands so I could give them titties four thumbs down. Rick James would have had a field day. Later though, a local told me that that never happens and that an Italian girl “would never do that”. After a bit I left with me and my new friend Chiara- we went to scholars lounge for a bit. All in all it was a great night- a nice way to meet music lovers and learn about cool places. All the John Cabot students rock.

Day 21: TUE: 2/27: sketch sketch sketch

Wednesday morning was another early one- we had to meet up for our analysis through drawing class. We got our assignment for the semester- that we have to pick an object, building, or place in Rome and thoroughly analyze it through hand drawings. We’ll turn in a presentation on nice paper at the end of the semester in addition to our sketchbooks. After the lecture we sat down with Professors Finn and Davide. They looked over what we had drawn so far and provided us with feedback. I have to draw a lot more if I want to do well in the class. After that I was done for the day class wise. I drew a little and then took a nap. The rest of the day was pretty lazy. I'm already sleep deprived.

Day 20 TUE: 2/26: Trajan's Forum

Tuesday I woke up early again (which I have to do every day this week). We went to visit Trajan’s Market and the Imperial Fora. We met at Trajan’s Column and it started to rain. The museum was nearby and was very cold. The ancient market building was big, but then after I saw the computer rendering of the area reconstructed it became massive. The Romans built structures (other than the Colosseum) that are mammoth even by today’s scale. The fact that they are all structural masonary and not steel makes them even more unbelievable. We were allowed to take pictures here (unlike yesterday) so I’ll post those soon! After the tour we went to this restaurant on Corso Vittorio that’s near the school. Some of the guys recommended it and so did one of our professors. However, upon entering in a big loud English speaking group we were greeted with “tourist prices”- 8E for a plate of pasta. Some people left until our very Italian professor Davide came in and set things straight with the manager. Now we have cards to get fair prices, but I still feel slighted by the restaurant. The food was mediocre, but the coffee (like everywhere in Italy) was superb. The weather was really wet and cold and I was tired so I didn’t go out that night.

Day 19: MON: Catacombs

I woke up early Monday morning to go on a tour of the Roman catacombs. We met and the Pyramide and took a bus from there along the Appian Way. The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian are some of the oldest in the world. Burying people started as a Christian tradition because before, the Romans would simply cremate people. Throughout history the tombs were sacked and so most of the marble plates and goods are gone. The catacombs weren’t officially discovered until the 1920s when they excavated under the church. The emperor Constantine? actually built the church over the tombs. It was a fun tour- I had to duck most of the time, but it was really interesting. I couldn’t imagine having to walk through there with just a torch. Afterwards we walked to the Domus Snc Di Massimo Magnanimi E Figli. It used to be a monument to an emporer’s death, but was turned into a fort in the middle ages. We walked back down the Appian Way and in towards town a bit. We visited the Fosas Ardeatinas- a monument to a group of Italians who were shot by the Nazis and then buried. They turned it into a museum and monument. It makes you realize just how old Italy is when you see some of the oldest and newest (by their standards) monuments in one day. BC-1940s is a long time. After the trip we went back to school and got our partners for studio. I am with Blake which I think will work out well. We have been in the same studio three times and sat by each other twice. Either way- we’re familiar and have similar interests which hopefully should help considering this is a team project (which we haven’t done before). We are also in the studio by the Piazza Navona which is a great location. More pics from studio soon!

Day 18: SUN: taco night

I set my alarm for 8. Snooze. Snooze. Snooze. I reset it for 9. Snooze. Snooze. Reset for 10. Snooze. I finally grabbed my phone off my desk and passed out again in bed, holding it while trying to change my alarm. I woke up at 12:30. Needless to say, I didn't make it to the flea market. Fail. Again. I'll try really hard to go next weekend. That day was leisurely. We tried to have taco night, but couldn't get ground beef so we made chicken tacos. They were delicious- I brought some salsa and spicy cheese. I miss Mexican food.

Day 17: SAT: new things in rome

Saturday was a chiller day. I got up and grabbed Cassidy. I wanted to go get some pizza so she came with me. We went to the 4E place and got some 'zza (i'm busy- I can't type the WHOLE word). On the way there we ran into Blake who said he was going to the Ara Pacis museum- the new building on the Tiber River designed by Richard Meier. We walked there along the river. The water was finally low enough to go down there. It's so quiet there. I found half of a CD player- just the lid that washed up from the river. All that time in the river had made it look really old and worn- like a relic or something ancient. I felt so old, imagining myself trying to explain to my children what a CD player was for. I could hear it now: "You could only put how many songs on it?" We finally made it to the museum as the sun was setting. Using the rough side of travertine on the wall and exterior was a really interesting take on a common material in Rome. The wall also has a fountain on the other side that runs along the street and down the steps. It blocks out a lot of noise from the nearby traffic. We didn't actually go see any exhibits, but we did go in the giftshop- I bought a postcard. After that we strolled about the city- they had an icerink nearby. It was a nice afternoon /evening. That night for dinner we had American night! We made cheesburgers, mashed potatoes, green beans, and drank beer (we even found some Budweiser). I brought a peach pie. I didn't realize that I missed burgers that much. I ate a whole box of olives that night. After dinner we went for a bit on the town and just sort of wandered around Trastevere without ever going into bars. Well we went into a sports bar for a bit, but then we left- the prices were too high. In the end we just decided to go home early and wake up for the flea market on Sunday.

Day 16, FRI: 1/22- Jack Beats

Friday I woke up and poked around. I did laundry with Hannah and got a hair cut. I was going to go work out, but then I thought I'd check my facebook and respond to this message from this DJ I met last week. He gave me some suggestions for cool places to go in Rome. I clicked on the first website and BAM in my face was JACK BEATS!. I couldn't believe it. Playing TONIGHT in ROME. I quickly made dinner and tried to round some people together to go out. Blake wanted to go so we headed off to GOA to try and make it before 1:00 before they came on. So we headed out the door- it was supposed to be a 40 minute walk, but we had never been there. We knew the general area though. I had my trusty iPhoner to try and guide us but it only works on wifi and was pretty much just a map for the time being. Anyway we got turned around a little halfway, but made progress! We ran into some Italian couple who knew where it was. They were super friendly and said they were going the same way so we walked with them, but unfortunately they were doing work on the metro in this one spot so we couldn't get one block over. We backtracked and got on the right track. We bid a Ciao! and hot footed it over to GOA. It was 5 minutes til one. "We're going to be OK!", I thought. rawng! There were at least 50 people waiting in line to get in. Unfortunately as I have found from living in Italy for this long- in addition to traffic laws, Italians also don't believe in lines. People were all trying to pile in but the bouncers were not letting the rope budge. Everyone who was getting in * in addition to being fluent in Italian* either A) had girls with them, B) knew someone who worked there, or C) knew a person behind the ropes who could get them in. They all still had to try and convince the incredulous bouncer to let them in. Finally, I grabbed this one bouncer and told him that it was just me and my friend trying to get in. He said "OK" and let us in just like that. The MOST fun I've had in Rome yet. We didn't miss Jack Beats- the music was amazing, the place was packed, and I had a ball. I met some really cool people there too- hopefully we'll get to hang out again some time in the future. When he got kicked out Blake was still inside. This girl I met, her friend kept telling me to leave Blake and go with them because Blake could fin his own way home. I told him no I'm waiting for my friend. He started giving me crap for it so I told him to "Keep wasting your breath because I'm waiting until my friend leaves". Blake made it out and we walked home along with another guy from the show who happened to like ultimate frisbee (Blake's favorite sport). It worked out well for everybody :)

Day 15: THR, 1/21: creeper night

thursday we went to the pantheon and sketched for the morning. we got to really analyze it and look at it. it's different when you sketch something from when you take a picture of it. you have to really look at it and analyze it. after that i ate the best slice of pizza i've had in rome yet: it had eggs, artichoke, olives, pepperoni (a rarity), tomato sauce, and plenty of cheese. we got it from this tiny restaurant from the Pizza Nazi. After that I ran back to the apartment for a bit and then headed back to school. We met up and then headed to Testaccio for a presentation on frugal architecture. Testaccio is by a giant mound which looks like a huge hill, but is really a giant pile of discarded pottery from a pottery factory. It's an old industrial area that's being converted into hip locales. Anyway, the final presenter was Danny Wick from the Rural Studio at Auburn. The lecture was conveniently timed right after we got our emails from Rusty telling us who made Urban and Rural studio. I didn't make it which was a bit of an upset, but everyone who made it in really deserves it- it was a really tough crowd and a good group of people. I'm also really excited about on campus next semester. Anyway the lectures were nice, but a bit boring and draggggged on. This left Danny with no time. His presentation was good, but a bit sped up. they tried to make him hurry and he said "look, i know you want me to hurry, but i need to finish!" his presentation was BY FAR the best and really embodied "frugal architecture". It makes me sad I won't get to do rural studio, but I'll go down a lot over the weekend next year. anyway we got out of the lecture pretty late and we walked home. That night we would up at scholars lounge. It was great until we left. Somehow I got left at the bar and I had to walk home by myself. I've done it before so i didn't think much of it until some guy started walking next to me and chatting me up. It seemed innocuous enough, but I was a bit cautious seeing as how it was 3:30 and i was alone. It wasn't too far of a walk and it was in a busy neighborhood but there was no one out an no cars. He started telling me that he lived nearby and that i should go to his apartment. I kept saying "No, No"- hoping he'd leave me alone. He was a little older and much shorter than me so i didn't feel immediately threatened, just really creeped out that he might have a weapon or something. We got the bridge and he started saying some dirty things so I finally grabbed him by the shoulders and forcefully said something to the extent of "NO! Now leave me alone". He left and I power walked home. I got mad at Marco for the guys leaving me. There was no way they couldn't have seen me outside the bar. I don't want to walk around alone late again. In retrospect it wasn't a big deal, but I think it's a good lesson about being careful in the city.

Day 14: WED 1/20: cities of the dead

I woke up early at 7:00. I was not going to be late. We were out the door by 7:45- we had to be there by 8:30. We all traveled in a group walking first, then by tram, then by bus but we made it on time. The Termini train station was a grand building- modern and streamlined and covered in marble. We went and waited inside- I got a croissant and some of the guys were overwhelmed with joy to find a McDonalds that serves breakfast. We met up with all of our group and then got to the bus. Excuse me, “coach” as they call it over here. This thing was nice. Huge, spacious, new inside and out with reclining seats and a bathroom DOWN a tiny flight of stairs. It even had an ESPRESSO MAKER built in at the front of the bus. It was the most Italian bus I had ever seen. We sped off throughout town and out through the gates of the ancient city wall. I tried to get some sleep but it was hard at first because the historian with us kept talking in the microphone and I had a speaker right above my head. An hour and a half later- we were there: the city of the dead or the "Necropolis". The Necropolis is in a small town called Tarquinia which used to be a Vatican state. It is on a hill by the sea and is heavily fortified. We visited a bunch of elaborate ancient tombs. Apparently they have discovered over 6000 of them but we got to see some of the best preserved tombs. After that we went to the museum nearby that was filled with ancient Etruscan artifacts, including a lot of pottery and vases. There were no cameras allowed :(. Etruscans were very advanced because they had built all the tombs and women were equal with men in their society. After that we had lunch at what seemed to be the only open restaurant. It took a long time to serve everyone and we were about 30 minutes late. We all piled in the bus and squeezed through the tiny roads to the tiny town of Cerveteri. Cerveteri is a farm town that only until the 1980s discovered it was on top of thousands of graves. Most of them are still covered and are sitting wide open on public property or farm land. We went to a museum type place that had sectioned off some excavated big specimens that were in good shape. When it got dark we piled back on the Italian bus and were off to the city. We hopped a bus back to the apartment from the Piramide.

Day 13 TUE 1/19

Tuesday morning I got up at 8am and was in class by 9:30 for my first Modern Architecture class. Our teacher is cool- she's very enthusiastic. Rome has been through a lot of transformations. We learned about the different city plans it has been through. Later on we'll get to go on some really cool field trips. That afternoon we met up with our groups in studio. We went over to the new studio building which is right by the Piazza Navona. It's a beautiful building and very old (of course). We got another set of keys which brings me to about 100 now. We worked on building a 3D site model for the project. We have to model all the buildings in the area. Luckily Francesco had a CAD file for the city so we got to lay everything out pretty quickly.

more stuff is coming

in the mean time check out my flickr link above to really see what i've been up to. also- here's a link to the full size panorama i posted earlier. ENJOY!


BIG OLE PANO-FREAKIN-RAMA!

Day 12, MON 1/18: First Day of Studio

I woke up after everyone else in the apartment because they had a class at 9am. Luckily for me I just had to go to studio at 2pm. Studio was nice. We got split up into groups for the early part of the project. We all signed up our own names- I chose the 3D modeling group. By coincidence everyone in our group is over 6'0". It's really just all the tallest guys from both schools! Anyway we learned all about our project for this semester. We will have a partner and it's an international steel competition. Our school's project is set (obviously) in Rome. We have to design a park area into a rejuvenating spa type area. It will be interesting to see what comes out of all of this. We went and visited the site. It's really close to the Colosseum and it's in a residential neighborhood that borders a busy road. After that we walked around and go to look around the area of Parco Ninfeo di Nerone. We walked back to Trastevere and I walked back with the Arkansas kids. All in all it was a good day- I'm really looking forward to this semester. CHECK MY PICTURES!

Day 11, SUN, 1/17/10: lazy sunday

sunday was a very lazy day. we chilled out and watched defiance. everyone came over and we just hung out. i went on a search for a bottle of wine late at night. i also wound up getting a nutella crepe for the first time ever. it had powdered sugar and was quite delicious. quite delicious indeed. i went to bed relatively early- i had to have a productive day tomorrow for my first day of studio!

Day 10, SAT, 1/16/10: taxi cab times

I woke up on the later side Saturday. Everyone left and went touring around the city, but I decided to have a productive day. I FINALLY reported my IDP credit from this summer which is a huge weight off of my shoulders. That night we were supposed to meet up with one of Marco's friend's Mattheo that he knew from Auburn. Mattheo lives is Rome and said that he would meet us at the discoteca in northern Rome. This was great but the issue suddenly became not where to go, but how to get there. Marco, Hunter, and I headed out and went to the Via Trastevere to try and hail a cab. Hunter started running off in some direction for no apparent reason. We didn't know if we should chase him or not. We thought he'd turn around but before we knew it he was gone. We figured he'd be OK given that we were only a few blocks from the apartment. Anyway we tried sticking our thumbs out for a can and yelling, but nothing seemed to work. I finally asked someone who told us about a certain square to stand in to get a taxi. We got in line and soon enough were on our way. Let me put this cab ride in perspective: I have had some crazy drivers in New York and I had seen the way that Italians drive (they don't believe in traffic lanes). But nothing could prepare me for this cab ride. Zoom we were off into the night. Our driver floored it in between cars and through yellow lights, around mopeds and squeezed past pedestrians. He even went into oncoming traffic at one point to get around some slow cars. We felt safe (given that he was a taxi driver) but the ride was electrifying. We finally made it to Le Carrozzerie- it was a really nice place. Only one floor, but similar to Galleria dei Serpenti. The place didn't get packed until about 2 though. When we went outside to the ATM we walked by some Italian girls. We had a conversation with them in Spitalian (spanish+italian=you get the picture). That went well- I just wish I knew more Italian, it's sort of embarassing only knowing english. anyways we went back in danced a bit. it was a great time. fortunately we were able to hail a cab home, only this time is was a little less hair raising.
PS- Oh and I almost forgot to mention- Hunter wandered around apparently for 3 hours in the neighborhood in a state of delusion before making it back to his digs.

Day 9, F: DISCOTECA

No school on Fridays is a huge plus. I slept in for a while, but then had to get up and go to the Colosseum. On the way there we always have to walk past the throngs of gypsys. One particularly creepy one had a white face mask, baby doll, and yellow dish gloves, and was covered completely head to toe in some black garb. Anyway the Colosseum or Colosseo was great. Unfortunately as soon as we got in and I reached for my camera I realized I left my memory card in my laptop. Joy. It was still an amazing visit and it was beautiful weather. I got some sketching done while I was there. We left and went and ate some food at Forno (bakery) in Campo dei Fiori. On the way home we wandered by some posters for shows and I grabbed a flyer for this one party. That night I decided to do something different. This whole time I've felt like I've been at bars in America with Scholar's Lounge. Great place, but I really want to experience some Italian nightlife in the few months that I'm here. So I did my own thing. I grabbed Cassidy, Blake, and Taylor and we headed out on a trek across town to the Rotor party with Beat Tank at the Galleria dei Serpenti. It was a bit of a walk past the Viktor Emmanuel monument but it wasn't too bad. When we finally made it the bouncer immediately stopped us. He let in some Italian guys, some girls, and then some more guys. I was very confused. I asked if he spoke English or Spanish when some other guy standing nearby said he spoke Spanish. I asked him why he wouldn't let me in to which the bouncer (I guess given then similarity of Spanish & Italian) seemed to understand and wasn't too happy about it. I apologized and then they laughed. I felt a wave of "what am I getting myself into". After a minute he finally let us in for no apparent reason. It turns out we were the ONLY native English speaking people there, it was a hip local crowd which made it all the more interesting and a great adventure. We got in and the cover was 10E and a free drink (I thought at the time that it was 10E and you had to BUY a drink). Blake got angry and I whisked him away from the entry people so as to try and make it seem like the Americans they actually let in should be here. After a minute they let us in for 5E (since it was 1oclock and closed at 5am) and we mozied to the bar. The 5E payed for itself with the free drink. As soon as I walked in I was greeted immediately with an ecstatic yell from the Italian girl I spoke Spanish with outside the bar near our apartment. I was equally surprised to see her and answered with a proud "Come va??" We talked and I met her friend who's photograph was on display at the party. It was all white because as he said "it's still a picture". Brilliantly simple. The music upstairs was nice but a little too chill and housey. However, once I went downstairs to the basement I immediately heard the siren call of some sick bass beats. It was a completely different scene: dark closed spaces with a lower ceiling vaulted on one side with a strobe light. Everyone was going nuts to the dubstep that the DJ was spinning. I scooted over and chatted with him a bit. Hearing this music really made my night and seemed to solidify that I am going to have fun in Italy- I just need to find the right people and the right things to do (like any new place I guess). We danced for a bit until we realized that Blake had disappeared. We looked all over the discoteca for him and then after a while we decided that he must have gone home. More on that later. So we went downstairs and danced some more. I chatted with some locals and reveled in moment with the music and the joy of finding such a great new place. After the DJ's set finished we went outside and talked with this guy who studied film in the US. Apparently the censor films in Italy which in no bene. Anyway he told us about some cool places to go which I will definitely have to check out ASAP. We drifted home and walked to Taylor and Blakes apartment. I went in to Blake room to find him lying in bed. I poked him with my key and woke him up. "Where the hell did you go?!?" He seemed confused at first and claimed that we left him. We stepped out of the room and he explained that he went outside, couldn't find us, and that he spent 3 hours walking around lost in Rome until he found someone to give him directions. Not good, but since we were in the club the whole time we really didn't know what to do about it. He conceded that he just must have been confused at the time. We all retired to our quarters for the evening feeling better knowing that everyone was OK and had a great time.

Day 8: R 1/14: Experiments in Mass Transportation / It's a Small World After All

Thursday was a grand day. Marco and I started the morning off with trying to commute to the site tour (the Palentine Hill) by way of mass transit. We left right behind everyone and walked to the bus stop. The bus was crowded and we scanned out bus tickets like tourists. Apparently nobody in Rome actually PAYS for mass transit. You just get a bus ticket and then ride all you want. No one enforces you to scan it. So people end up just standing by the scanner because the only way that you can be prosecuted for it is in the rare event that the police get onboard and check everyones tickets (which seems unlikely during the morning rush). Well after squeezing into the bus and crawling through the morning rush traffic we finally made it the Pyramid and hopped off to transfer to the metro. Marco (who is 6'4") and I waited on the platform for the train- we were the tallest people there (as usual). We wait and waited and waited and FINALLY the train came. And I thought New York's subway was crowded. We could barely fit on- we had to squeeze in- I was mashed next to some old man and leaning over this lady. I had to take my backpack off and hold it to my side in order to let the doors close it was that close of a call. We made it to the site 20 minutes late- it was pretty embarrassing, but luckily our professor was understanding. We didn't know any better. The the Palentine and everything was amazing. Photos soon! I went home and made lunch and walked in on the maid (thinking it was my roommates). While walking back to school to fill out some paper work I ran into Jason- a fellow intern I worked with this summer in New York. I flipped out- it's such as small world. Apparently he is here with 20 other architecture students from the Pratt Institute. Well I finally made it to school, but took a little longer than others to copy some documents. I took a bus to the Post Office which was right by the Vatican. Even though we reserved a line at the office- it still took over an hour to be seem. We had to pay almost 60E to send off our permit of stay application because we're here for 4 months. Afterwards, the Italian lady from the school who helped us send off the forms left with me to help me go back to the school. Her name was Vivianna and she walked with me and Michael to the bus stop. Along the way she explained us the history of the wall around the Vatican city. We made it to the bus stop and waited for the number 40 express bus. We hopped on board without tickets of course and rode the bus all the way to the shcool. I got out and walked to the next tram stop and rode it all the way down the Via Trastevere. I got back had dinner and headed out. I got a bottle of Rose at the 4E pizza place. All of the Rome students (all 17 of us) sat around the fountain in the Piazza by Santa Maria. It was great- we went out to the Drunken Ship and couldn't even fit in the bar it was so packed. We met some girls who were from Cornell- one of the girls had a Canon 30D, a Holga pinhole camera, and she just got a Diana for Christmas. Drool over that, camera junkies. Mike decided (since he is half Italian) that he would try and impress them with his Italian accent/ impression. It was hilarious. The girls didn't seem to amused and decided to go to bed- the bar had closed anyway. So we left and went to Scholar's Lounge- Blake and I walked and talked on the way there. The bar was dead and everyone left so we just drifted on home. I got home and ate some food and a pear. It was a good night.

Day 7: W 1/13: Rain Rain Go Away

Blegh. Light rain and grey skies- just enough to be annoying but not enough to cancel anything. Still a great tour today. We got up and trudged to the studio. I was behind because I didn't realize that I forgot my wallet until after I walked out of my apartment. I finally got to studio and we headed out to the (find the name) the place on top of the steps designed by michaelangleo, the big churh next to it, and then we scooted by the Viktor Emmanuel II monument (which is a huge "wedding cake"). Anyway- that was a nice trip and that night I took it easy. I cooked dinner and relaxed that night. Not anything too crazy.

Day 6: Tuesday 1/12: Karaoke Night

Today was our first REAL day of class. We had to be there at 9:00am. I was running a little bit behind so I walked there with Cassidy who had just gotten in yesterday (her flights were held over in London due to the freezing weather. We had a brief lecture about the sites were were going to visit and then we went a touring. We started off at the Piazza Navona and then toured the Basilica there. We went to the outdoor courtyard for the church only open once a week (lookup name) and after that we saw Santa Maria della Pace. It was absolutely freezing- my hands were about to fall off. That night Hanna and Christine were nice enough to fix us dinner- it was great we had penne pasta and garlic bread. After dinner we went to Scholars Lounge for karaoke. The the Saint Mary's (not Notre Dame) girls were there and we had a good time chatting it up. We got a group together under the name "Aubie" and sang "Sweet Home Alabama" on stage. However, the chorus came out more like "F*** you Alabama! War Damn Eagle!!" The one Alabama fan seemed mildly upset. It was a great time and 2 songs later that I sang "Juicebox" by The Strokes. I was surprised that they had it in their catalog. Fortunately I had Hannah on stage with me who helped me rock out. I think the performance went well even if most people had no idea what I was singing :P) It was a great night

Day 5: First Day of Class

Today was the first day of class. I woke up early and headed out with Hannah and Christine to try and get some cash money at the American Express. We walked throughout the city- it was by the Spanish steps. We got some cash (I got a cash advance which was a mistake as I now know) and walked to the Spanish steps. Some gypsy man tried to flag us down "Are you Russian?" "No" I responded. When asked where I was from I told him "Roma!" Sure enough at the top of the steps we looked back and saw him tying a bracelet for some poor tourist then heckling him for money. Don't acknowledge these people at all. Anyway after that we headed to class and got some food along the way. We stopped at a snack bar. I got apple strudel, an olive, ham, and egg sandwich, and pizza with olive oil sauce, tomatoes, oregano, zucchini, mushrooms, and artichokes. It seemed pretty authentic. Class was nice- we had orientation and surprise i fell asleep. Afterwards we went by the Wind store to look at cellphones, and then the arts supply store. I got a sketchbook. After that we went to dinner at Popi's which was very good. Evan spoke a little Arabic with our waiter which was funny. After that we went back and I fell asleep in my sweater then woke up absolutely baking. I tossed and turned and had a weird night. I had a dream that my dad had let himself go now that I was out of the house- that he shaved his head, was wearing a black leather bikers jacket and had gone overboard and bought a ton of cats- every room in our house just had more and more cats. Chew on that one Freud.

Day 4: They Put the Americans in the Basement

DINGDONG! It was 9:00am and the doorbell rang. No one gets up to answer. DINGDONG!! Fine. It was Christine- "Why did you ring the doorbell?", "Because it's morning"... -_- Apparently Marco or somebody wanted to get up to go to mass, but no one did. Everyone was sleeping pretty hard after last night. I drank a liter of water and got back in bed. (We talked about it later and laughed). Later that afternoon we just lounged around. Marco was upset because he had been waking up at 9:30 every morning and had gotten almost no sleep. He took some Tylenol PM and tried to go back to sleep. In the mean time I made some "breakfast"- eggs with pancetta and orange san pelligrino to drink. My day pretty much consisted of lounging around and chit chatting. I found out that Cassidy's flight is still delayed and that she won't be here until tomorrow (probably after classes start). I also finally set up Skype and had a nice conversation with my parents. I feel bad because I hadnt contacted them yet, but I'll keep in touch more often. For dinner we went out to this restaurant that served (you guessed it) Italian food. It seemed slightly more touristy and the waitress was all business, not very friendly. We have a joke that they put the Americans in the basement- both times we've been to a restaurant we've eaten down stairs. It might be because we are a large party, but we like to think that they want to keep us out of sight. The meal was good- I stupidly ordered the tourist menu which was 4 courses and way too much food. I think we'll go back to the local restaurant from now on. We called it an early night and went to bed except for me, because now I'm working on my blog! I can't wait to tell you about class tomorrow- goodnight for now!

Day 3

I'm already behind. Oh well. Saturday was a good day for photos. I finally took a bunch of pictures from our roof. The view from the terrace is epic. Right when we were about to head back downstairs we saw a rainbow. It was a really beautiful moment. I was tired and took a nap. We went out on the town. I made some dinner at home- tortellini with ricotta and spinach. It was very good- then we went out on the town. I brought some wine from the store around the block. It was awkward buying it. I tried to ask the guy if I could bring my own bottle (they fill it up in recycled plastic bottles: a litre of wine for 1.50E). I was having trouble communicating and he asked me where I was from. I told him South Carolina and he said "Oh, America..." and smiled wryly at the other people working in the shop with this look that suggested "Oh, stupid Americans". We say that now- whenever we see groups of American tourists. I just hope I learn Italian soon. So anyway we ended up at Scholars Lounge- the Irish Pub with friendly staff. We had a blast as usual, stumbled home, made pasta, chilled, and went to bed. A good night overall.

Day 2

I woke up with Mike telling me that we're going to the Vatican. I dragged myself together and got ready. On the way we got pizza- mine had mushrooms, egg, prosciutto. LESSON #1: pepperoni pizza is an AMERICAN thing (new york i think). it was only 4€ but we couldnt eat there so we walked around with our pizzas folded over and stood around the fountain by the Santa Maria Cathedral. It was a rainy day so I didnt bring my camera :(. After that we went to the cathedral which was really impressive. The detail of these structures is incredible. After that we walked to the Vatican- it was huge- there were a lot of Japanese tourists. Unfortunately it cost 8$ to go in the building and we will get in free later, so we waited. It began to rain so we started to walk back. We got gelato at a nearby stand which as delicious (of course). I got pistachio and tartufo. We waited for the rain to let up a little bit and headed back. We visited another cathedral on the way back and waited in there for it to stop raining. After that we headed to the Pantheon. On the way there we crossed the University of Arkansas' architecture school. We headed inside to check out our new digs. The building was beautifully detailed and welcoming. I can't wait to have to go to class there- it's a small step up from dudley in terms of style. After a brief tour of the school and a chat with Finn and another professor (I fell asleep of course) we left and went to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was massive. Seeing pictures in a book could never capture the magnificence of the space. After that we strolled throughout the street towards our apartment. We went out to eat at a restaurant by our house- it was great. I had spaghetti carbonara and white wine. Afterwards we went out on the town. At this one bar I decided to strike up a conversation with some locals. I actually felt sort of good with my very basic Italian. I found out however that they had lived in Spain for the past year and that they spoke Spanish better than they did English. We spoke Spanish better than Italian so then we managed to have a quite engaging conversation for a while- in SPANISH. It was a great moment finally having a conversation with some locals. Marco ran off to get some food and we headed to Scholars Lounge.

First Day in Rome So Far

So after a 2 hour flight delay because of a frozen water pipe on the plane we finally were transferred to a different plane. I got to Rome around 9:30am and hopped in the shuttle i reserved. The driver was really friendly and the drive into the city was a beautiful one. Once I got to my apartment I unpacked and then we went on a quest for some pizza. We ended up walking around and came close to the Spanish steps. Unfortunately we were so hungry we got ripped off at a tourist trap that charged 7euro for a sandwich and 7euro for a drink! (never going to do that again) after that we ambled to the Coliseum. I was exhausted and we headed back to my apartment. While I will upload more photos in a bit- I thought the most I can do for now is a few pics and a video. ENJOY!

View From Our Window

IMG_0073, originally uploaded by wofflepix.

First Post!

IMG_0070, originally uploaded by wofflepix.

I made it through security... now I'm just waiting for my flight to Atlanta- then off to ROME!