My Birthday!

All right, y'all ready for some serious blogging? This'll be the last Friday/birthday blog, and then I'll tell you about Florence! (I know you're anxiously waiting.)

[Also, unfortunately I don't have many pictures from the past few days -- a combo of forgetfulness, battery, and "no cameras allowed." Most are stolen from other people -- thanks guys/Facebook! Once I collect more I'll post them.]

1) So because we would be off to Firenze ("Florence" in Italiano) for the actual July 3rd, my amazingly generous program-mates decided we would spend Friday Jul 2 celebrating my birthday too!! :D So amazing! I spent pretty much NO money on food, and because there are so many lovely people on my trip, probably gained 5 birthday pounds from gifts of food! Free cafe freddo latte (iced coffee with milk, way better than S-bucks, sorry sista!), free nutella-pie pastry, free carbonara for dinner (that's spaghetti with egg and ham!!), free tiramisu, free strawberry smoothie, free home-made gelato (I tried ginger and kiwi)... the list goes on. Thank you all so much for my beautiful birthday pounds! :)

2) Speaking academically, for my "birthday" we had Amara Lakhous, the author of one of our course readings (a sweet, cultural mystery novel called "Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vitorrio") come speak to us. He speaks ("only") Italian and Arabic, so via a Rome Center translator, he spoke to us about immigration, his experience as a writer, majoring in anthropology and philosophy, and culture clash in Italy. Unfortunately, slow translation + Friday morning exhaustion = sleepy Molly, but I asked a few questions and he even signed my copy of the book! it says:"A Molly -- A-scribble Lakhous" :)

3) We also visited the Villa Borghese, a glorious combination of complex art, gorgeous palace, green/tree laden parkland, and THE LONGEST/HOTTEST WALK EVER TO GET THERE. Totally worth it though (despite the dehydration). We got more sweet earpieces, and Lisa fearlessly led us through the Villa. My impressions: apparently, newly commissioned sculptures and paintings seemed to be the social events of the time (I guess that's what they did before Netflix?); a lot of women get attacked in mythological stories... this leads to rather traumatic sculptures; Carvaggio is the bombest painter. THEN WE TOOK THE LONGEST/HOTTEST WALK EVER BACK -- stopped on the Spanish steps to see!

4) That free carbonara/tiramisu/smoothie came from a wonderful birthday dinner with roommates (plus honorary roommate Bryan! ) We finally tried actual food at Magnolia Cafe, where we get the cheapest juice on the menu so we can watch the World Cup games. Thanks to Kate and Yuting, we all learned how to sing happy birthday in Chinese! Jew-nee shung-rrr kwai-luh!!

5) There was a bit of panicking over hotels for Florence also. More on that later. :)

6) Then Gelato del Teatro! Then they sang happy birthday! Then we all stayed up really late together, and I snuck a couple of hours sleep before the train to Firenze! Y'all ready for that blog post?

7) Miss you!

We all Crashed!

Don't worry not literally crashed or anything!

1) But first: Tuesday update. I got lost TWICE! Once when coming back from a tasty dinner at Mauna's apartment (thanks girls!) -- I was fine once I found the river, except then I went very far downstream instead of correctly upstream where Ponte Sisto was... But Bennett saved me! I also got everyone slightly lost later that night on a gelato run -- the sweet-looking Piazza that was JUST AROUND THE CORNER is not just around the corner if you go the opposite way... But it was a very nice walk in a circle!

2) BACK TO WEDNESDAY: It's hard to believe we're halfway through the Rome part of the trip! AHH I miss it already! I think this is why everyone crashed hardcore on Wednesday... we were all very grumpy, sleepy, exhausted today! Despite this had many adventures, including walking, walking, seeing a sweet open market at Piazza Vittorio, dehydrated walking, seeing a museum, and seeing a castle!

3) Found the best gelato place in Rome. Hands. Down. It's like the Molly Moon's (for you Seattlites) of gelato, and which by the way, is much better. Definitely going back soon again, hopefully for a birthday gelato run on Friday! :D I got tartufo (which was like 4 types chocolate), lemon pie (YUM), and chocolate orange.

4) Visited the Capitoline hill, and the first museum. Ever. It had some really sweet old things, including the oldest symbol of Rome ever (the She Wolf), and some giant heads.

5) ALSO HAD BEST ROOMMATE DRINKING PARTY EVER. Don't worry, completely non-alcoholic! We had 4 types of fruit juice (apricot, orange-carrot-mango, peach, and pear!) and they were all very sweet'n'tasy. My roommates are the best. Kate dressed us up in headscarves and showed Bollywood movies, Maggie took pictures, and Yuting learned a new word: "Nu-di-ty!"

6) David is making teriyaki beef and we are all watching a movie called The Leopard in the air conditioned UW Rome Center tonight. Yay Thursday!

7) Miss you!

HELLO POPE!

We have the afternoon free here so I am catching up on blogging, eating, and some work! Gotta love study abroad. ;) We visited the Vatican yesterday!!!

1) Our art history teacher Lisa almost got arrested! She snuck us past the giant line waiting to get it (it was hot outside!) and then there were some pretty intense minutes when the scary man in a uniform talked to her... Great impression to make in a new country!

2) It's hard to describe the place -- everything was completely smeared with priceless art, and people were everywhere: smelly, loud, hot, pushing, and eyes open as wide as possible. I kept coming across SUPER famous art pieces that I (rather pathetically) didn't know were in the Vatican! My favorite was walking into a room, and suddenly recognizing the School of Athens on the wall ten inches from me. We wore earbuds and little radio devices to hear Lisa. She had a microphone and was teaching us INSIDE OUR HEADS!

3) I heard the cutest thing at the Sistine Chapel: a mom knelt down next to her daughter and pointed up to the ceiling, "See the Finger of God pointing up there, honey? He's there in white with all the angels. See how his finger is almost touching Adam?" No pictures allowed in the Sistine Chapel... but it was pretty cool.

4) AND WE SAW THE POPE'S HAND! As we left his motorcade drove by and we saw his car and his little old hand waving out at it! I stood behind some nuns and waved. :) David, Daniel and others got pictures but I missed it. :( I said "Hi" to him like Collyn and Jim wanted me to.

5) Got REALLY lost trying to take the picturesque way back -- but came across this gorgeous panorama view as we dehydratedly hiked through the city! I was so tired and hungry...

6) Kathie showed us a really sweet movie in the Rome Center about the Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio -- it is made of musicians from completely different countries playing completely different instruments, from Senegalese drumming to Arab violin to Indian tabla. I had this wicked cool Nutella snack pack: Nutella, cookie sticks, and tea!

7) Then we waited on the Ponte Sisto for fireworks Lisa had tipped us off to! Except they were behind the trees. So we ran after the fireworks, trying to see them behind the trees! No luck... so I went home and used the internet cafe. Got some tasty ginger ale to finish off my happy, exhausting day. :)

8) Miss you!

Best. Saturday. Ever.

Yesterday was best yet, favorite yet, tastiest yet, sunburnedest yet. I cannot get over how many cool things we did in one day! :)

1) Stopped at Cafe Magnolia for cappucino and my first cornetto (a hot, jam filled croissant, only 1.80 eu - jealous yet?). Up for bus and then a 45 minute TRAIN RIDE through Italy! We were all very tired, but I was just so excited to be riding a train in Europe!

2) Ostia Antica: where everyone needs an Indiana Jones hat. We walked through gorgeous little modern countryside neighborhood to Ostia Antica, what was once the main port for Rome and now is partially still standing. It was the most astounding experience -- sort of like the bunkers at Fort Worden, but times 50 for everything. Bigger, older, with more freedom to run around, explore, climb, and touch. We wandered in through the necropolis (dead people!) before crossing through the city walls. Lisa taught us about the bathhouses, and we saw the ancient and still-beautiful mosaics of Poseidon on the floors of them. The ampitheater was incredible (and partially filled with equipment for a modern-day concert there!) and definitely one of my favorite parts -- look at the view! We saw the Forum, and its own bathhouse, and climbed around the heating tunnels below it. Lisa was very excited to show us the public bathrooms, where the little toilets still stand! Found the forno (bakery) of the ancient Ostia Antica people -- do those funny shaped things look like ovens to you? It was incredible. I can hardly comprehend the age of the place.

3) Then we picnicked in some ruins. Yeaaah. FYI: Nutella + PB + Bakery ("forno") bread is delicious served both plain, and when served by the gorgeous Forum bathhouse, and beneath a shady tree.

4) We were very thirsty by the end of our adventuring, and spent a good half hour filling up water bottles at the only drinking fountain we came across. Italian drinking fountains are these little spigots in the ground that constantly run water directly up from the aquafiers down below the ground. ICE cold, 24/7. Very refreshing in my Kleen Kanteen. :)

5) Oh yeah, and then I SWAM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. Because the ocean line has receded many miles since ancient times, we took another train ride from Ostia Antica to the BEACH! It was PACKED with people, all with tans at least 50 times darker than hours. It must have been our pale, glowing skin that attracted tons of souvenir sellers to our quite-obviously-not-from-around-here group. I actually enjoyed the sun (up to a point) and got a tiny little sun burn! Look mom! :) Best ocean water, waves, and beach experience I've ever had.

6) So much salt! Took train back, walked back, bussed back, and finally made it to the hot (hooray) shower in our little apartment. After nearly bleaching myself trying to get the super salty (and oily) MEDITERRANEAN off me, I ate a mozzarella, pesto, and Saltine dinner! Salty salty salty!

7) So much sun = exhausted Molly. This incredible ended in an incredible thunderstorm (see the big raindrops on my apartment window?), incredible gelato (vanilla and chocolate hazelnut!), and incredibly nearly falling asleep at the very tense USA vs. Ghana world cup match. Don't tell anyone but I was a little happy Ghana won. :) Underdogs all the way.

8) :) :) :) :)

9) I did laundry today! Look, it is air drying! I think Yuting thought I was very silly for taking a picture of my laundry. :)

9) Today is spent reading, eating, sun walking, and some more reading. Probably some gelato too. Gotta catch up on relaxation before the busy week begins! Vatican, here we come!

10) Miss you so much!

We visited a church!

Forgot camera today :( So sad, because we visited not only our first (gorgeous) churches, but we saw two Michelangelo carvings! Once I figure out how to steal the photos from others I will post them here. :)

1) Exhausted! We had a hardcore walking day on Friday, trekking down near the Colosseum again to see Trajan's Column (this giant tower he built to commemorate himself and his glories -- it was very tall) and to see the old ruins and layout of the Forum he built. It was civilization's first indoors shopping mall, and just about as big as the modern ones!

2) After a busy lunch (in which I visited the phone store to figure out how much they're charging, got stopped by traffic from the second Italian protest-march I've seen in a week, grabbed cheap delicious pizza, finished my art history reading for the afternoon, and STILL had time to Facebook -- Italian lunches are looong!) we hiked down AGAIN to the Colosseum's neighborhood to see Michelangelo's Moses. It was in a church, and it was big! You had to pay 50 euro cents to light it up. :) Moses is seen as tied for Michelangelo's best with David -- however I actually liked what is seen as Michelangelo's WORST piece better than Moses! It was a depiction of Jesus Christ, and we saw it after stopping for more gelato and hiking halfway across the city. The Jesus Christ statue is disliked because of "poor proportions" -- meaning Jesus has a large butt if you look at it from the wrong angle (baby got back). Maybe it was its oddness that had me taken with it, as well as its anonymity. :)

3) Learned that the bridge I walk over every day from my apartment to class is ancient, and is built by a pope! His name is Sixtus, or Sistus, or something -- but the bridge's name is Ponte Sisto and the inscription on the side of it asks those who walk upon it to say a prayer for Pope Whatshisname. I will say prayers for him once I remember his name.

4) A fun Friday night out followed by the most incredible Saturday (hence the late post for Friday!). I hope to write the longest blog ever on it soon -- although I've already got a couple study parties scheduled for tomorrow! I'm sure I'll find time procrastinate though... gotta love Italian time.

4) Miss you!

Dress!

1) Another day of classes yesterday and some pretty fascinating stories. Resat gave us the entire (abbreviated) history of Italy in about a 40 minute lecture -- that's how I like my history! :) Kathie's class produced really great conversation and discussion, really opening my eyes to not just how many horrible situations are present in the world, but how good I have it. After Kathie's afternoon class, we booked it to gelato (cinnamon and hazelnut chocolate! :D ) and then watched Italy lose to Slovakia in the World Cup. The Italians were very sad.

2) Took a walk during lunch along the River Tiber and am even getting some SUN on my skin! I have color! I didn't even know that could happen! The Italians take long lunch hours, so we have like 2 hours every day to relax when the sun is hottest. I split a delicious crab, shrimp, avocado, corn and mozzarella salad with Mauna for actual lunch food.

3) Wore another dress today!!! I got compliments from "gorgeousss!!" to "bellisima!" to "woah, psychedelic..."

4) Had a delicious (and cheap!) dinner out at a restaurant, of rigatoni, tomato sauce, and BACON (they don't have vegetarians in Italy, really!). There were some pretty impressive 3 euro pizzas which I will definitely partake in next time. Per usual, honors kids had fun figuring out the bill. :)

5) Walk home after with Zinnia and roommate Kate produced some gorgeous pictures.

6) Miss you!

Another visit to the Pantheon... You know how it is :)

1) Yesterday camera was out of batteries so no pics really. :( After our classes, I joyously returned to my apartment to greet tasty mozzarella salad and the HOT WATER! This morning was my first hot shower in our tiny little bathroom at home -- so nice! I spent the night at the far away girl's apartment as we didn't have class until 2 today. Fun times and girl talk in their gorgeous, giant, clean apartment with (I'm not jealous... but will visit them lots!). It was a beautiful walk over there last night (after gelato for Emily's birthday!) and a pretty walk the next morning.

2) Today we visited the Pantheon - AGAIN! Kristin gave an excellent speech, and then Yuting/Kate got gelato without me. :( That shall be remedied today!

3) We also visited the Arch of Peace! It's an ancient temple built by Augustus to symbolize the prosperous peace he wanted for the Roman empire -- it was carved with images of fertility, growth, plenty. Lots of buxom women in very sheer marble clothing apparently means prosperity...? But I really loved it. Shurui told us that Augustus was a great emperor.

4) After touring with Lisa, we booked it back to Magnolia cafe to watch the Algeria vs US football game. US WON after a very trying 90 minutes! When the final goal was made, all the Americans (and others!) in the bar jumped up and yelled, etc etc. I am learning about soccer quite a bit -- so far, they run a lot, play dirty, and have trouble getting it into the goal. It is also exciting because Magnolia gives free chips when you sit and watch the football games!

5) So much pizza. So much pizza! PIZZA!

6) I FOUND AN ITALIAN DUCK IN THE RIVER TIBER!

6) Miss you!