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