8/25/08

First of all, it takes a REALLY long time to upload pictures to this blog since 6 girls are sharing one internet connection. basically everyone loads pictures like crazy. so forgive me for the sparsely decorated blog but most pics will be on facebook anyways

Also,thanks for the comments guys. I really appreciate it cuz then i feel like SOMEONE else other than myself is reading this. Keep them coming- you can always tell me how to make this easier/more interesting for a person to read.
8/23/08

• the UC center organized a guided tour of the Forum/Palatine Hill/Colosseum by one of the professors that i'm going to take- Crispin Corrado. Sounds like a dude huh.. but it's a woman. she seems super nice and passionate about her work which is always a plus

there she is...

• Basically, the forum/palatine hill is a mish-mash of buildings from different eras and rulers and each building has an unique story.

thought this picture epitomized the ecletic collection of monuments

• Prof. Corrado told us one bit of history that i thought was really interesting. There was a temple for the goddess Vestia (goddess of the hearth) and that there were six vestal virgins that were picked specifically to keep an eternal flame going in the temple.
  
• they were chosen at around the age of 6-8 and would serve for thirty years- during which they could not be touched or have contact with any men. they alone (other than the emperor) could be carried around the city on a platform. they had special houses and guards. basically the most powerful women in ancient rome. after their service, they could get married and have kids and get a huge dowry from the emperor. thought that was pretty interesting
  
• palatine hill is basically where emperors used to live
  

Colosseum

• tip for anyone who wants to come here: buy the ticket from palatine hill because lines here are really crowded.

• Afterwards, we ran to the colosseum where we sat down and talked more about the history of the place- they used to stage performances all day here because ppl were bored and wanted entertainment. so in the morning, there would be exotic animal hunts; executions in the afternoon; and gladiator battles later.
  
• execution for criminals were interesting. there would be two guys- one naked while the other one is in armor w/ weapons. obviously, the dude w/ weapons kills the naked one. then he is then stripped of his armor and becomes naked. the next guy who comes in, wears the armor and kills naked dude. incredibly morbid isn't it?
• Never come to Rome in august because everyone is on vacation since it's so hot here so the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed. but there are always ok alternatives. had some salmon penne, ice cream/gelato in a cup, and half a limoncello- 12 euros!

8/24/08

Morning-Flea Market:

• most random day ever: one of my rooommates asked me if i wanted to go to the flea market the night before and i said maybe...depending on what time i woke up
  
• i woke up at 6am!! i've been waking up pretty early everyday here. pretty weird
• so i woke her up since it's supposed to be the biggest flea market in rome (Porta Portese) and known for pickpocketers so i wanted to go early so we wouldn't get distracted by the big crowds
• everything was pretty cheap- mountains of clothes for 1-3 euro.
• got myself a pair of sandals for 3 euros (mine broke and i only brought one pair) and a pair of house slippers (1 euro)

afternoon adventure

• we tried to go to the beach but in order to get on public transportation, you gotta buy a ticket from a tabacchi shop which is basically a store that sells cigarettes and they're everywhere
• but on sundays, almost EVERYTHING is closed so no go
  
• but we definitely needed to buy stuff from ikea- most notably mosquito nets cuz some of us are getting bitten to death. AHH!!! SOOOO ITCHY!
• so we called up a cab and then took it w/ all six of us. only 10 euros round trip for each person and sooo much better than spending 2 and a half hours on public transportation.
  
• european Ikea looks pretty much the exact same as the ones in the US cept it has much cooler stuff like mosquito nets, one set of shirt and pants, comfortable slippers, moist wipes, conditioner, luggage, etc.
  

8/25/08

• first day of 3 week language praticum
• We had to test into a certain level but i think they base it off of how many quarters/semester u took which sucks cuz i'm in the top middle and i'm having ALOT of trouble remembering stuff from two yrs ago and getting mixed up w/ french!
• later that night, we got our free welcome dinner- traditional italian three courses
• first course: meat plus bruschetta (pronounced brus-K-etta); second course: pasta; third course: salad, roasted potatoes, and 3 pieces of very dry pork
• plus of course a cup of red wine
  

8/23/08

8/21/08:

• The day before yesterday, we had orientation at UC Accent Center and there's about 100-120 ppl in the program. With only 15 boys, so for all of those ppl who bestowed me with wishes of finding someone w/in the program- i don't think it's gonna happen since i'm pretty sure that some of the guys are gay too. and one dude is here with his girlfriend.
  
• But two of our counselors moved here because of love. They both met Italian guys- one in Italy and one in the US. Fell in love and then moved here to Rome so there's still hope!
• Got an Italian cell phone for those anyone who want to call me and incur the costs- it's 334-7654291. i believe u have to call 00-39 then my number but i doubt anyone will call me since Skype exists. my account name is- grace.hsueh i know....super original but whatevers, now's it's easier to find me!

8/22/08

• Nothing much happened yesterday except we went to see the Pantheon. Basically it used to be a big worshiping place for the Roman gods but then it got converted to a Christian church to save it from destruction.

• The famous part has a big round structure and in the ceiling there is a big hole to let in the only source of light- the sun. So there is nothing to cover the ceiling when it rains so the rain drops right into the center and there are these little slits in the floor in the middle that lets the water drain down. so i'm definitely going back when it rains.
  
• I sat on the bench and stared at the ceiling and thought how advanced that math and physics was back in the days to make such a perfect dome. yeah i know, sooo nerdy (i hope eva is proud of me)
• so that was my first big touristy thing....tomorrow, we are going to go on a guided tour by one of my professors in the Forum, Palatine, and the Colosseum.
  

First Day in Europe

Hello to everybody back in the US!
As I promised to many people, this is the beginning of my blog that I will hopefully have the time, energy, and motivation to update. And i want to apologize for any grammar and spelling mistakes cuz i'm way too lazy to reread and edit.

Plane ride (LAX-> Fiumicino Airport, Rome) :

• Warning for all future travelers: go super early to the airport if you have a visa because the airport might not have it on file. Such as the case w/ me since when I got to the kiosk and tried to check in, the kiosk told me that I had to talk to a representative in order for them to clear everything up. "Length of stay is not authorized" or something like that. Needless to say, I was ignored for a long while until a person finally helped me (i was on the verge of tears cuz i thought my flight was going to leave in 30 minutes) and then I had to literally run to security check in and to my gate. I was among the last few people to board the plane.
  
• There was a layover at Washington Dulles Airport. There, I found many of my peers who were on the same flight. I basically saw a girl that was the roommate of one of coworkers at Almare (gelato place in Berkeley). And she was sitting with a bunch of ppl.
• In Rome, luckily, two of my roommates were on the same flight so we all took a taxi to our apartment in Trastevere (a region within Rome). Taxi fare= 45 euros. So only 15 for me which is great since i originally expected to pay at least 50.
  

Apartment:

• It has a BEAUTIFUL courtyard- soo European. There's a big tree in the middle and the apartments form a sort of triangular shape around it. There's a triple room, a double room, and a single room. A living room with a small TV, wireless, kitchen, two bathrooms (YAY), and a washing machine (extra YAY). cept the washing machine is super super small and takes like an hour but hey, it's freeee!
  
• I have 5 roommates: two of them are white (Caroline and Karen), one is half chinese and half vietnamese (Gloria), one is Mexican (Brenda), and one is half chinese and half white (Allie). We're all really different but I think we've been getting along rather well. Everyone is pretty considerate and generous. But with so many ppl, it's hard to make quick decisions like where to go to eat, when we can leave the house, and where to go for our breaks and weekends. but SOMETIMES, the more the merrier ;)

Dinner:

• We went in search of a famous pizzeria near our place but in August, half of Rome is on vacation because it is SOOOOO hot here. For those who've been to Taiwan, you know what I'm talking about- humid, hot, and inescapable without AC.
  
• We had dinner at a pizzeria and all of us had a glass of red wine. As a not so big lover of wine, it was actually really good because it was dry which is what i like. then we had some Blue Ice gelato which wasn't really good in my opinion. I guess i'm too used to creamy soft gelato back at home because this one was pretty hard and more ice creamish.

• picture of "santa maria" church in trastevere

After Dinner:

• we watched Under the Tuscan Sun to get inspired- making Italy our home and a place to find amore!