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.