Top 10 Memories in Italy

10. Making crepes with Nutella

9. Hiding in the creepy bathroom cupboard to scare Maggie

8. Wine Pong

7. Buying my leather purse

6. Watching the sunset over Florence

5. 4th of July Party and Dance-fest

4. Running to the Pantheon in the rain

3. Swapping first-kiss stories with my roommates

2. Crest presentations

1. Jumping in the fountain

Apartment Coat of Arms

Our last assignment for art history was to make a "crest" representing our apartment. This could take the form of an actual design, a powerpoint, an interactive presentation, or whatever we wanted, so my apartment decided to do a song and dance. We adapted Beyonce's "Single Ladies" to "Campo Ladies," and watched her music video numerous times to learn dance moves. I wrote three verses of lyrics using a lot of our inside jokes and special things about our group:
All the Campo ladies (X7)
Climb on up Up to the top (top)
Key stuck in the lock (lock)
Doing our own little thing
We decide to eat (eat)
Now we want some meat (meat)
Cuz pasta everyday is nasty
Pizza bian-ca
Now some pillow talk, yeah
We gotta go get more matches
Takin a trip (trip)
To the Drunkin Ship (ship)
The Campo is the place to be!

'Cause if you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!
If you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!
Don't be mad if he didn't put panna on it!
If you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!
Oh oh oooh...

Blackfoot bear cub
Water in the bath tub
Always hear the clarinet playin
There’s dirt on the floor (floor)
Ben’s at the door (door)
He’s gonna sing and read poetry
Erin’s sleepin on the couch (couch)
No money in our pouch (pouch)
Prego free taste, hello!
Sittin' with our laptops
Boyfriends in the backdrop
The campo is the place to be!

'Cause if you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!
If you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!
Don't be mad if he didn't put panna on it!
If you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!
Oh oh oooh...

If nothing is happen-in'
We’ll be nappin'
Or makin' some crepes and tortillas.
Foxy scented toilet paper
Stove makin' gas vapors
Surprised we haven’t burned this place down?
Drinkin’ study wine (wine)
All the frickin’ time (time)
Makes the reading packet go fast-er
Home sweet home (home)
Here in Rome (Rome)
Campo is the place to be!

'Cause if you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!
If you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!
Don't be mad if he didn't put panna on it!
If you like it then it's 'cause you put Nutella on it!

Oh, oh, OH!

Some of the girls stayed up late choreographing the dance, most of which involves us pantomiming the actions described by the lyrics. Then this morning we did a dress rehearsal at 9:00 (all wearing running shorts and red/pink/purple tank tops!) and learned our moves. Then the entire group came over and we performed it, to a standing ovation of course! A close second in terms of awesomeness was the crest of the Bacchina boys. They did a powerpoint presentation that described their group as a family, with one being the Dad, another the Mom, another the middle child, etc. The best part was when they took a picture of Nikhil dressed as the Boy With the Basket of Fruit from Caravaggio's painting! It has been a long-running joke that Nikhil bears a strong resemblance to the boy in the painting, much to his dismay. We all laughed so hard at this picture! Doing the crests was an awesome way to end the program! Yay Campo Ladies~!

The Bird Poop Incident

Last night a big group of us was enjoying one of out last nights together by hanging out at the Pantheon before getting gelato at Giolitti's. We improved on our previous 6-person pyramid and made a 10 person one--Maggie on top! Then we were milling around and Maggie and I began dancing. Yogesh was videotaping as we laughed and spun each other around. At one point I noticed something on Maggie's arm that looked suspiciously like bird poop, but I didn't have a chance to point it out. We rubbed our arms in a swing-dance move, and next thing I knew the poop was on MY elbow! I screamed and we looked at each other in horror. We had to run to the nearest fountain and wash it off. Once again, Yogesh caught the entire episode on video. We still couldn't figure out how the poop got on Maggie in the first place, but she also had some on her pants. Definitely a bonding experience, right?

Villa Farnesina: Renaissance Pleasure Palace

A Renaissance Pleasure Palace—Villa Farnesina

Secluded behind tall walls near the banks of the Tiber River, Villa Farnesina stands as a reminder of the opulence of a forgotten Renaissance family. The villa was built from 1506-1510 for Agostino Chigi, a wealthy Sienese banker. Chigi came from a family of well-respected businessmen in Siena, and after coming to Rome in 1487, actually became treasurer to Pope Julius II. Eventually Pope Julius bestowed on Agostino honorary membership into the Della Rovere family, a great honor and symbol of their friendship. Chigi’s wealth and influence was absolutely unrivaled in early 16th century Rome. His banking industry made him one of the richest men in Italy, and he also enjoyed close personal relations with some of the most powerful men of the city.

Agostino Chigi had a boisterous personality to match his immense wealth and power. He was known as Il Magnifico, “the magnificent.” He frequently entertained his powerful friends and business partners at dinner parties, and, as legend has it, would instruct his guests to fling their expensive silverware out the windows and into the Tiber. This was an over the top way for Agostino to display his wealth, although his servants later collected the lost silver in nets, unbeknownst to the impressed guests. Like many wealthy Romans of his day, Agostino also enjoyed flaunting his money by patronizing the arts. The villa was the ideal way for Chigi to display his power to all of Rome, and also created a space for some of the greatest artwork of the age to be commissioned and preserved.

Villa Farnesina was originally known as Chigi Villa, but was renamed in later centuries for the Farnese family who acquired it after Agostino Chigi’s death. Primarily, the villa served as a suburban pleasure palace. It was designed to be a serene refuge for its wealthy owner, an oasis in the middle of a vast metropolis. The villa’s design is significantly different from a regular urban palace. Rather than being entirely rectangular and defense-oriented, villas in Rome were open and airy spaces, often incorporating large gardens and breezy courtyards. For Agostino, the villa was an ideal place to entertain his formidable friends. It was not uncommon for the pope or various cardinals to be in attendance at his lavish parties, along with the usual crowd of high-ranking nobility and affluent leaders. Villa Farnesina also hosted major events, including Chigi’s own wedding on August 28th, 1519. In typical Chigi fashion, Pope Leo X himself officiated the ceremony.

Agostino Chigi wanted his villa to be truly magnificent, so he settled for no less than the best and most talented architects and artists to design it. Baldassarre Peruzzi was chosen to oversee the project when the land was purchased in 1505. Construction began in earnest in 1508 and the villa took over a decade to complete. Peruzzi, a student of Bramante, put his architectural genius to work when designing the villa, and worked alongside a team of impressive artists who decorated the interior with lavish frescoes. Overall, the villa is classically inspired and incorporates beautiful decorations based on pagan mythology. Interestingly, the villa originally sported colorful friezes all over its exterior which contained images from pagan myths. However, much of this artwork has been lost to time, and only fragments of scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses remain on the top of the villa’s exterior wall. Inside, Villa Farnesina is defined by four major rooms, each housing brilliant frescoes: the Sala di Galatea, Sala delle Prospettive, Sala di Sodoma, and the Loggia di Psyche. Throughout the villa, a central theme of an idealized mythical world remains, with different legends presented by various artists. Sebastiano del Piombo, Sodoma, and Giovanni da Udine were among the artists commissioned by Chigi to beautify the interior of the villa, along with Peruzzi himself. However, the most famous master at work on Villa Farnesina was Raphael.

Raphael was one of the most prolific artists of the Renaissance, and his frescoes at Villa Farnesina are widely considered some of his best works. Raphael’s father was also a painter, and after being orphaned at a young age Raphael became an apprentice to Pietro Perugino. His contempories Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo also influenced his work. Though many of Raphael’s famous paintings depict Christian scenes, his frescoes at the Villa Farnesina are purely secular in nature. They satisfied Agostino Chigi’s vision of a heavenly, relaxing suburban villa, meant to enchant visitors with its mythological imagery and emphasis on nature. On the ground floor of the villa, one of Raphael’s mythic masterpieces, the Triumph of Galatea, greets visitors as one of Villa Farnesina’s most fascinating works of art.

Raphael’s depiction of the Galatea myth was completed in 1512, the earliest of the villa’s main frescoes. He chose not to depict the entire pagan story, which recounts the tale of Galatea, a beautiful Nereid who falls in love with a shepherd, Acis, inciting the jealousy of the Cyclops, Polyphemus. In the Sala de Galatea, an image of Polyphemus was painted by Sebastiano del Piombo, and is positioned next to Raphael’s Galatea, so that the jilted Cyclops appears to be gazing over at Galatea. Raphael’s work focuses on one scene from Galatea’s story, her apotheosis, when she is exalted as divine. Raphael’s scene is immediately captivating: Galatea appears surrounded by sea creatures, which include nymphs and tritons. She stands exultantly on a chariot made from a shell, propelled by two dolphins. The image of the shell evokes a reference to Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, with a similarly idealized female figure as the centerpiece. Though Galatea is the centerpiece of this fresco, she does not appear alone or separated from the figures around her. She is accompanied by an entourage of subordinate figures, including typical mythological characters like sirens, cupids, and tritons. Galatea’s gaze is directed upward towards the heavens, and the busy scene around her suggests that an important transformation is taking place. Generally art historians believe Galatea to represent idealized feminine beauty, exalted somehow above the mythic world around her through divine blessing. Another fascinating facet of the Sala de Galatea is the astrological detail. By analyzing the placement of celestial figures and deities, scholars have actually been able to construct a specific date, the day of Agostino Chigi’s birth: December 1st, 1466. Perhaps, like Galatea, Agostino believed himself to be a recipient of divine blessing and wanted to extend this impression into the artwork of the villa.

Another captivating space in the Villa is the Sala delle Prospettive, or the “Hall of Perspectives.” This space was engineered by Baldassarre Peruzzi himself, who completed a series of frescoes in 1517. The Sala delle Prospettive uniquely captures the spirit of Agostino’s villa; Peruzzi covered the walls with nature scenes, and his use of perspective provides the illusion of depth, transforming solid walls and paint into windows and scenery. This harmonious room created an inviting space for guests. In fact, it was the perfect room for Agostino’s wedding banquet in 1519. Peruzzi was able to express his creativity and sense of space brilliantly in the Sala delle Prospettive, incorporating architectural illusions like columns to contrast with his artificial “outdoor” landscapes. Some of Peruzzi’s original colors were tampered with during the renovations of 1863, but have since been restored. Furthermore, maintenance done in the 1970’s revealed graffiti on some of the walls dating back to the sack of Rome in 1527. These messages left by German invaders remain visible today, reminding modern visitors that “the Lansquenets have made the pope run.” Peruzzi’s unique design is a testament to his skill and to Agostino Chigi’s personality—only the lavish Il Magnifico would commission an artist to create artificial landscapes to compensate for the lack of natural scenery.

Agostino Chigi’s bedroom, located upstairs near the Sala delle Prospettive, was designed by Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, known as Sodoma. The walls and ceiling are decorated with numerous mythological scenes, but the highlight of this space is Sodoma’s fresco, The Marriage of Alexander and Roxana, which was completed in 1517. Alexander the Great stands as the painting’s central figure, being led by several putti towards his waiting bride, Roxana. Roxana reclines on the bed as putti undress her, and off to the left, her ladies in waiting exit the room. On the right stands a nude man representing the god of marriage. Sodoma’s fresco draws the visitor’s eyes—in addition to the captivating scene between Alexander and Roxana, the intricate four-poster bed and loggia in the background showcase the artist’s attention to detail. Its subject matter, an obviously sensual nuptial encounter, is perfect for the bedroom of Agostino Chigi’s pleasure palace. The figure of Alexander the Great showcases Chigi’s own hubris—he saw himself as a conquering hero, and, like the Alexander depicted in Sodoma’s work, Chigi himself fell in love with an ultimately married a foreign woman, Francesca Andreazza, bringing her back to Villa Farnesina. Sodoma’s technique displays the amalgamation of multiple Renaissance elements; he combines pagan mythology and striking realism to create a breath-taking bedroom for Agostino and Francesca.

Without a doubt, the most famous room of Villa Farnesina is the Loggia di Psyche. Guests could enter the villa through this breathtaking loggia and enjoy the frescoes and access to the outdoor gardens. The ceiling of this large rectangular room was designed by the great master, Raphael, and is in many ways the centerpiece of Chigi’s villa. The main fresco depicts the legend of Love and Psyche, and was completed by Raphael and his students in 1518, just two years before Raphael’s death. The story comes from Apuleius’s The Golden Ass. According to the legend, Psyche was so beautiful that men venerated her more than Venus, the goddess of love. Jealous Venus tells Love, also called Cupid or Eros, to make Psyche fall in love with the most disgusting and deformed man possible. But Cupid falls in love with Psyche himself and takes her away with him, but won’t reveal his identity. Finally one night Psyche grows curious, scaring Cupid off. Venus causes Psyche to suffer through many trials, but she overcomes them all. Finally Cupid makes Jupiter promise to have Venus stop persecuting Psyche, and they can be together. Raphael did not include every scene, in fact, the fresco was originally meant to cover more of the lower walls, not just the ceiling. As a result, several of the scenes show characters pointing downward towards panels that were never painted. The two most important scenes take prominence at the center of the ceiling. Here, the viewer can observe the Council of the Gods and the Wedding Banquet, scenes which complete the saga of Cupid and Psyche. These two panels are painted to look like tapestries stretched across the blue-painted sky, further enhancing the natural feel of the loggia. In addition, all the scenes are divided by garlands bursting with fruit, painted by one of Raphael’s students. Overall, the story of Cupid and Psyche constitutes a fitting zenith of the art in Chigi’s villa. The theme of love and pleasure-seeking certainly fits into the villa’s function and the personality of its owner.

Agostino Chigi desired a pleasure palace fit for a true Renaissance man, and Villa Farnesina delivered. Every aspect of Peruzzi’s design contributes to the overall function of the villa, making it the perfect urban oasis and entertaining center for one of Rome’s most powerful men. The artwork done by Raphael, Sodoma, Peruzzi, Sebastiano del Piombo and the other artists only enforces Chigi’s overall vision: each room is succulently bedecked with frescoes bearing some relation to idealized beauty, be it the feminine form or the beauty of creation. In the Sala delle Prospettive the use of perspective creates landscapes out of bare walls, and in the Loggia di Psyche the entrance to the outdoors is merged with sprawling ceiling scenes of abundance and pleasure. For modern visitors Villa Farnesina serves as a snapshot of Renaissance Rome, providing a glimpse into the life and personality of Agostino Chigi.

Top 5 Practical Things I've Learned in Rome

5. How to cross busy streets with confidence

4. How to make crepes (hint: spread Nutella on it and it will be good, guaranteed.)

3. How to make tortillas (thanks C'havala!)

2. How to live off of pasta and tomato sauce

1. How to haggle with street vendors (15 euro dress immediately becomes 10 when I come around)

Top 5 Best Things about Mona and Lisa

5. Mona's over-sharing. Trust me, we now know more about Mona and her family members than we ever really wanted to know. Actually, her stories spice up the class and give us better insight into her as a person.

4. Lisa's style. This chic is posh. She's always dressed perfectly and turns heads all over Rome. Oh, to be like you, Lisa.

3. Mona's voice. Honestly, I love her Romanian accent and her voice is so soothing it makes even long lectures feel like relaxing experiences.

2. Lisa's advice. It's been super helpful having Lisa tell us where to eat, where to shop, and where NOT to eat, shop, stand, etc.

1. Mona's grading scale. She pretty much told us on the first day of class that we would all get 4.0's. Way to "err on the side of generosity," Mona! We love you!

The First Time I Felt Like A Roman

On Monday we had two long art history presentations that involved walking all over the city in the intense heat. Afterwards, I was immediately in a rush because I was supposed to meet up with four of my middle school teachers for dinner at 6 PM (an ungodly early hour for dinner in Rome). The restaurant was over near the Campo, and we were now at the top of the Quirinal hill, on the other side of the city. The group was stopping by the Trevi Fountain to toss in coins (in order to ensure a return to Rome) and then getting treated to gelato by Lisa, but I had to toss my coin and run. Taking off from the Trevi and dashing throught the streets of Rome, I had absolutely no hestitation about which streets to turn on. I even took a shortcut past the Pantheon (never pass up an opportunity to go past the Pantheon) and made it to the Campo in record time. I haven't spent too much time alone in Rome, but navigating my own way across the city on side streets without a second thought was definitely a milestone. While I may not have looked like a local, at least I felt more knowledgeable than the average tourist. At dinner I was struck by the differences between my experience and that of the group of teachers on a tour of Italy. They had 3 days to spend in Rome, and I had 5 weeks and still feel like I haven't seen enough. Actually living in a city, in an apartment, buying food from the grocery stores, and generally rubbing shoulders with Italians is so infinitely superior to living out of a suitcase and struggling to pack as many famous sites into one day as possible. Of course, this place would come to feel like home only days before I leave!

Another Top 5 Gelato Flavors

5. After Eight (mint!)

4. Gianduia (maybe Nutella flavored...some sort of light chocolaty goodness)

3. Pistachio (I can't believe I've never had pistachio ice cream before! So good!)

2. Crema de Florentina (Found this one at the Frigidarium. It's kind of a mix of everything good.)

1. Bacio (a classic. chocolaty...nutty...goes down smooth)

Lately we've been going both to Giolitti's near the Pantheon and to a new place we discovered called the Frigidarium. They have fewer flavors but it's cheaper and they will dip your cone in chocolate for free!!!

Taking the Plunge

Thursday night was one for the record books. The temperature in Rome was in the mid 90's, probably our warmest day yet. After our afternoon of independent study presentations on Caravaggio and the Ecstasy of St. Teresa, Mona and Norm hosted a party in their apartment. We feasted on appetizers galore. My favorite was the cheese and salami. Lisa even brought Prosecco for us to toast with. Yum!

Mayme and I finally got to challenge Ben and Peter at wine pong, an event long in the making. Several of us rendezvoused at Ben, Peter, Alex and Yogesh's apartment, and after making some grilled cheese sandwiches, got down to business. Wine pong, we reasoned, was a much more appropriate game to play in Rome than traditional beer pong. I of course had never played any sort of drinking game, but I was pretty confident that I could excel. Unfortunately, Peter was on fire and sank nearly all our cups in no time at all. Mayme did get in one good shot for good measure, but we were ultimately defeated. :( Later in the night I partnered with Peter and we beat Ben and Yogesh, no problem at all. I really upped my game this time and made most of the shots for our side! I should include a caveat here and say that the total wine consumed by me in these two contests definitely did not exceed 2 or 3 normal glasses, which had no effect on me whatsoever. Though others were drinking some, no one was really drunk. That's how we honors kids do it, most of the time anyway. We all had a great time with the wine pong, as well as listening to music and dancing. But, as midnight came closer, and the temperature had still not dropped much below 90, we were itching to jump in a fountain. It was kind of a long walk through Trastevere, but we arrived at our destination brimming with excitement. However, we were somewhat taken aback by the large number of people milling around, so we sat down on the edge of the fountain in a corner to reconsider our options. The restaurant immediately to the left of the fountain was full, and many people were sitting near the fountain or standing at a nearby overlook point. Furthermore, our friend the Spanish embassy guard kept walking around talking to various people about parking or something. We debated for a while sitting there, but in the end we decided we just had to do it. The water is only about 2 feet deep near the edge, so on the count of 3 we just turned around and splashed on in. I had some trouble because my flip flops fell off and floated, so I had to collect them before I could get out. We were in and out in a flash, and running off down the hill around the corner, where we gathered for some laughs and a big group hug. There's no better feeling than taking a risk with good friends! This night was one when we truly lived.

Sacrifice

1 Adam [a] lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. [b] She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth [c] a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.


In our study of theories of sacrifice, we have encountered several biblical stories, including the story of Cain and Abel. Our professor, Mona, immediately took issue with these initial verses, saying that there was no logical reason for Abel's offering to be favored over Cain's. Thus, she interpreted the story as portraying God arbitrarily selecting one over the other. I feel that the text does imply a crucial distinction between the brothers' offerings. Abel's is specifically identified as being of the firstborn of his flock, and the choicest portions. The Bible does not say that Cain's offering is inherently subpar, but the juxtaposition with Abel's implies that perhaps Cain did not approach God with the proper sacrificial attitude. Perhaps Cain did not select the best produce to use as his offering. We also read an interpretation by Ricardo Quinones, which expounded on the idea of a divinely imposed arbitrary distinction drawn between the two brothers. Namely, he infers that God simply designates Abel as good and Cain as evil. Thus, Abel's offering is automatically accepted, while Cain's is disregarded. However, this hypothesis is not consistent with what the Bible tells us about God's character. And, furthermore, it fails to account for Genesis's most crucial theological development, which appears in the previous chapter: original sin. There is no textual evidence in Genesis 4 to support the conception that Cain's offering is rejected due to an inherent division of moral status. Abel is not inherently "good," because Abel, like Cain, and the rest of humanity since, is a sinner. To assert otherwise is to negate the purpose of the sacrificial rite in the first place--Cain and Abel need to sacrifice to the Lord in order to atone for their sins.

Firenze

I was definitely looking forward to our group trip to Florence this past week. We left on Wednesday the 8th and took the Eurostar train, which took us to Florence in only an hour and a half. We had a pretty jam-packed schedule each day, with Lisa dragging us all over town to visit various museums and historic sites. A highlight of the first day was climbing the dome of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore. Although the experience was not cheap (8 euro) a group of us chose to wait in line and hike up the 463 stairs to the top of the duomo. It was fun climbing up, because we had to go through windy dark passageways that circled the dome until we emerged at the observation deck. Of course, there was a fantastic view of the city of Florence.

Each day Lisa gave us homework assignments called "Quests," based on the material from her lectures. One time we had to compare statues of St. John and St. Mark, and another time our quest asked us to investigate two gelato places and judge the quality of the gelato! Overall, the quest was not as fun as we had expected, but it did give us something to do in the afternoons and evenings.

We tried out a couple good restaurants. I had rigatoni and sausage at our first group dinner, and then another night Cat and I split rabbit ravioli and a giant leg of turkey! We were pleasantly surprised by the turkey, because we ordered it without knowing what we were getting.

Florence is famous for its leather markets, so we were all excited to pick up some bags, jackets, wallets, and belts. Lisa took us all to a nice leather purse store, and we got excellent discounts because she was friends with the owner! I was NOT intending to buy a purse, but I ended up walking out with one anyway, marked down from 80 euro to 50. Definitely my one splurge of the trip!

Our last night we hiked up a hill for an AWESOME view of Florence and the Arno River at sunset.

Top 5 leather things to buy in Florence

5. jackets (very expensive)

4. belts (of varying quality)

3. gloves (so classy)

2. wallets (lambskin?)

1. handbags! (at great discount with Lisa's connections)

Florence is filled to the brim with leather merchants. You can't leave without one of these items!

Top 5 Foods I miss from home

5. oatmeal

4. peanut butter (way too expensive here)

3. soft cookies (like chocolate chip. they don't exist here)

2. Asian food

1. Chipotle burritos

Thunder and an Oculus

This happened a couple weeks ago, and I've mentioned it in several mediums, but one of the highlights of the trip was our gigantic thunderstorm and going to see the rain fall through the Pantheon's oculus. There have been several days when a hot muggy afternoon spontaneous morphed into a massive thunderstorm, including once when we were coming out Castel St. Angelo on our way to a wine tasting. I always find this to be exciting, since true thunder and lightning is pretty rare in Washington. On our way back from an afternoon art history walk, the dark clouds rolled in, and my roommates and I found ourselves scurrying back to the Campo to get inside before the rain hit. The storm was directly overhead, and we were spooked by some of the loudest thunder I have ever heard. Then the sky opened. We'd only been inside a minute or two when someone yelled "The Pantheon!" Then there was a mad scramble to find jackets and umbrellas and shoes, and we were off, sprinting through the streets towards the Pantheon. The rain was coming down so hard it was hard to see, and an umbrella was pretty much superfluous. All the Italians were huddled under cover, so the streets were deserted, and they just gave us crazy looks and we ran past, laughing maniacally. We made it there without being struck by lightning, and enjoyed watching the rain fall inside the dome. And, of course, we ran into two other groups of our classmates from UW. Everyone had the same idea and came from their apartments at the same time! We were all literally soaking wet and looking very Seattle-esque in our North Face jackets, but it was absolutely a moment to remember forever.

God Bless America--Our Patriotic Weekend

I'm not a big fan of the 4th of July. Historically my family hasn't put much stock in it, so I don't celebrate it with an intense amount of patriotic gusto. However, it was a little strange to be out of the country on the 4th this year. I think because we are immersed in another nation's culture, it made me miss good ol' American 4th of July festivities more. Early in the week we began planning a party for all of us to celebrate. We were originally going to host it at our (Campo) apartment, but our professor Lisa offered at the last minute to have us do it instead at the apartment of one of her UW professor friends in the Rome Center. This was very fortuitous because our apartment really isn't designed to hold 24 people. The day before a few of us girls ventured to the nearby butcher shop in search of ground beef for burgers. Though the butcher did not speak any English we managed, with the help of an Italian phrase book and some helpful hints from Lisa, to procure 40 patties of freshly ground meat. Other apartments were in charge of bringing salad, condiments, and watermelon. So, Saturday night, after spending the morning at the the Villa Borghese studying Bernini statues, we all descended on Doug's apartment. His place overlooks the Campo and includes a small outdoor deck with a BBQ! The food was plentiful, and music rocking, and the company superb. My favorite part was the epic dance party we had in Doug's bedroom in which we belted out some backstreet boys favorites and some more current hip hop songs and showed off our best moves. It was hilarious (and embarrassing) to realize later that that entire room is quite visable from the Campo down below, so the locals and tourists were probably quite entertained by our dancing! Towards the end of the night Lisa brought out sparklers for everyone and Doug set off a few small fireworks. (30 people+30 sparklers on very small terrace=sketchy) Definitely the best 4th of July party I've ever been to, and it was extremely satisfying to eat a hamburger! After another late night gelato run with the group on Saturday night, we got up early Sunday to catch various busses and trains to Sperlonga and the BEACH! It was SOOO nice to get out of town. The train ride to Sperlonga took us through beautiful picturesque Italian wine country, a sharp contrast to Rome. The sun was hot, and most of us got burned. But we all loved swimming and tossing a volleyball around on this beautiful, though crowded beach. All in all it was an incredible weekend spent almost entirely without studying for our test on the Gift today. But don't worry, the way Mona grades I'm confident we'll all do great on her test.

Gift & Sacrifice

One of our classes is called Gift and Sacrifice. It's basically a philosophy class. I'm glad I finally figured this out, because before it was irritatingly difficult to explain to people what I was actually studying while in Rome. We have two enormous reading packets full of articles from various scholars, anthropologists, and philosophers, all pertaining to the concept of a gift or a sacrifice, and how these concepts have manifested themselves in different cultures. It makes for some pretty good discussion at times, during our 4-hour classes held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. But it can also be frustrating, because some of the theories posited by these philosophers just don't add up or work in everyday life. For example, today we read an article by Simmel, which states that if you are given a gift of a vase, and you turn around and sell it, that is perfectly fine, because the it wasn't the vase that was the important part of the gift. The author justifies this by differentiating between the object that is given and the feeling and relationship behind it. While this may be true on some level, none of us would actually be ok with someone so disregarding our chosen gift and trying to sell it. The class also inevitably results in spiritual conversations, which is cool. For instance, today one of our discussion questions was about almsgiving, which developed during Christianity as a way of marking the rich and poor, and making charity somehow obligatory. We were asked whether charity is a true gift if we are just trying to gain God's favor, and also whether gifts from God are ever redeemable. Obviously from a Christian perspective the answer is no. We can never earn the gifts God has given us, especially the gift of salvation. We aren't worthy because of sin, and Jesus paid the price for us as a sacrifice and a free gift. However, some of the Catholics in the group come to the table with a different perspective, namely that salvation is more earned than freely received. As such, it is common for them to place a lot of emphasis on works such as charity, as if by doing so we can earn our salvation, or become equal with God. Combine this discussion with our visit to the Vatican yesterday, and religious themes are definitely in the air, which is awesome! It still continues to amaze us (the Christians on the trip) how so many of our peers have never actually heard the Gospel, even students who profess similar faith to ours. Too often they fail to see the contradiction in their version of Christianity. Praise God for the conversations we've already been able to have, and the assurance of more to come. As we move on to the theme of sacrifice, it will be impossible to forget that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for me.

Roma

It's somewhat surreal living in Rome, surrounded by thousands of years of history and a vibrant culture that never gets boring. Everywhere I look, the juxtaposition between archaic and modern is apparent. The Ara Pacis, an altar dating from before the birth of Christ, is enclosed in a beaming glass structure, the result of modern architectural minds. Walking down the street, I encounter row after row of cramped, though quaint, apartment buildings, which, with their bronzy earthen roof tiles, warm hues, and sturdy wooden shutters, look for all the world like the picture of urban life in another time. And, of course, in many cases, they are. The streets are narrow and crowded with scooters and smart cars, where a millenia or two ago there would have been only people and animals making their way to the market. With this in mind, I consider that the gnarled cobblestone streets remain a constant. In the Campo de Fiori tourists and locals mingle, perhaps stepping into a bar or enjoying a cappuccino on the steps of a 19th century statue. However, on weekday mornings this space is overtaken by fruit and vegetable vendors, selling their wares in much the same way as any public market operated in antiquity. Walking down a typical road near the center of town, I pass by a massive gelateria boasting 50 flavors, then, around the corner, the mammoth Pantheon appears, rising into view, monopolizing my attention entirely. On the steps of this engineering wonder, this massive time capsule, the buzz of the bustling metropolis and chaotic passage of time seems to momentarily cease. Until of course a flashbulb pops and a swarm of schoolchildren on a tour engulf my nostalgia. Oh well, back to the gelateria.

Top 5 Unexpected Surprises

5. Our apartment came with a microwave and dryer, amenities that we'd been told not to expect.

4. How much I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. It'll be a little hard going back to the States and not being 21.

3. How friendly and helpful our professors are. They are knowledgeable and want to make this an awesome experience for everyone.

2. The grandeur of the Pantheon. Best building ever.

1. Pillow talk and bonding with the girls! Such good times we have in our apartment!

Top 5 Most Annoying Things about Rome

5. Heat/ Humidity--it was wasn't bad at all the first week, but the past couple days the temperature has been climbing. Now our long Art History walks are significantly less enjoyable because I get so sweaty. It's not unbearable yet but I suspect it will only get hotter.

4. Bugs--our apartment hasn't been infested yet but many of the other students have complained of bug bites. With leaving the windows open all the time due to the aforementioned heat, it's only a matter of time before the vermin visit us as well.

3. Not speaking the language--Playing the part of the ignorant tourist isn't very fun. I'm sure the shopkeepers are just as frustrated with us as we are with our oh-so-limited vocabulary.

2. Homework--Mona and Lisa have heaped on the reading for these classes. It's pretty much all we do when we're not eating, sleeping, or exploring the city.

1. The street musicians in the Campo--they know 4 songs, and repeat them endlessly. You can bet we know them by heart now as well.

Our Quaint Apartment--2nd Blog post from Facebook 6-26

It has been lots of fun living with 7 fabulous ladies in our Roma apartment. Our digs are right off the Campo, and super close to the UW Rome Center. While definitely not as chic as our lucky professor's pad next door, our accomodations are comfortable and have made this trip so much better. I am really glad we aren't living in a hotel or hostel, or even a homestay. As we have adjusted during this first week, though, we have encountered a few issues. The garbage man comes each day around 2 PM, at which time he buzzes our apartment to be let in. It took us a while to figure out where this obnoxious buzzing noise kept coming from and what we were supposed to do. Also, our hot water heater was broken for the first several days. Ice cold showers were NOT fun, even though it is warm here. But luckily we got an Italian plumber to fix it for us. Now we have hot water for our three bathrooms. Also, we got the password for our internet connection. It is painfully slow, especially when all eight of us are online checking facebook, but still better than having to visit the Rome Center everytime we wish to check our email. Another adventure was figuring out how to use the gas stove. We repeatedly turned on the gas, but couldn't figure out how to ignite the burners. There was no button to provide a spark, and none of us were very confident in our knowledge of archaic foreign stoves. We rounded up a couple of the UO guys from downstairs, but they were no help. No surprise. Then Maggie and Mayme ventured to the Drunken Ship, the neighborhood sketchy bar to scrounge up some matches from the unfriendly bartenders. With those matches we were finally able to cook a meal. Hurrah! And we didn't catch anything on fire, luckily, because I'm not sure there are any smoke detectors, and only one exit to this very very old building...Add to this a creepy cupboard, hidden balconies, dungeon-esque hallway, secret bathroom, and an unidentified loft, and you've got our authentic Italian home for the next four weeks. :)

First Actual Bloggish entry, from Facebook dated 6-22

The past few days have gone by so quickly. I arrived in Rome on Saturday night, but it already feels like I've been here for way longer than two days. Most of us from the UW stayed at a hostel near Termini station, called The Yellow Hostel. It was moderately priced, though not the cheapest of Eurpoean hostels, and comfortable enough. When we weren't sleeping in our bunk beds or exploring the city, we were on our laptops taking advantage of the wifi next door in the bar. This morning we all made the trek across town to the UW Rome Center, which is off of the Campo de Fiori. Lugging a 50 lb suitcase on a crowded bus and up several flights of stairs was an exhausting experience, but we finally made it to the UWRC and were given the keys to our apartments. Eight of us girls are staying in an excellent apartment just around the corner from the Rome Center, directly off of the Campo. We go in a giant wooden door, then through a squeaky gate and up several flights of stairs to get to our apartment. There are three bedrooms with nine total beds, and three bathrooms. One bathroom is at the end of a narrow hallway near the front door that we didn't discover immediately, but it is spacious and even has a small balcony. The apartment's decor is pretty dated but it is big enough to satisfy us, and you absolutely can't beat the convenience of being so close to the action. Several of the other students are housed in apartments that are more than 15 minutes away from the UWRC. During the day we explored the Campo, which is a bustling market during the day and, apparently, an even busier party scene at night. I bought a delicious sandwich from the Forno, a bakery nearby. We also found a grocery store to stock up on items for the apartment, like soap, and some basic food. However, some things there are very expensive--a box of cereal goes for more than 3 euro. This evening our entire group met and were treated to a delicious (and FREE) dinner at Tratoria Moderna. They spoiled us with four courses...we were there for 2 1/2 hours! The appetisers, pasta, veal, and tiramisu were great, and we were all completely stuffed by the time we left. I could get used to this!

Top 5 Funniest Anecdotes and Inside Jokes to date

5. Little old waiters who flirt with us at restaurants, like the one who wrong-shoulder-tapped me the other night.

4. Aaron's exceedingly heavy backpack full of unnecessary booze he brought with us to the Spanish Steps one night.

3. Mona, our professor, being accidentally locked inside our classroom when a gust of wind blew the door shut. Ironically this has been a common theme. Not only does the door to the classroom not have a handle on the inside, but one of the bedroom doors in our apartment chronically slams and sticks. You have to lower your shoulder and ram it to unstick the door.

2. Mayme's anti-rapist alarm. The noise is super loud and Maggie can be frightened by the mere mention of it. Practical jokes are in the works.

1. Maggie's feet being stained from her new black shoes, and her resulting nickname: Maggie Blackfoot.

Top 5 Staples of Michelle's Italian Diet

5. Cheese-- It's no secret that I love cheese. So, one of the first things I bought at the supermarket was a block of asiago cheese. It makes for great grilled cheese sandwiches...which I've been known to eat for all meals of the day. This plan is much cheaper than eating out all the time.

4. Wine-- I'm in Italy. Vino=life

3. Bread-- from the Forno! Or the tiny toast I bought at the supermarket. Again, grilled cheese requires bread. Bonus: it's super cheap

2. Cappuccino-- cheap, quick. Drink it at the counter like a local. And NEVER "portare via," or "to go." This ain't Starbucks.

1. Pasta--duh.

Top 5 Reasons to Visit the Forno

5. It's a mere hundred yards from the Rome Center

4. It's versatile: pizza, bread, pastry, sweets, and sandwiches all in one

3. It's economical: a big roll for only 44 cents!

2. It reopens at 4:45 with fresh bread...just around the time late afternoon snack hunger is kicking in

1. Pizza Bianca. Nuf said.

The Forno bakery in the Campo de Fiori is one of the best places to get some bread. They have bread, lots of bread. Need I say more? There's no shame in going multiple times a day.

Top 5 Gelato Flavors to date

5. Stracciatella (chocolate chip)

4. Green apple (mela verde)

3. Caffe

2. Pink grapefruit (Pompelmo Rosa)

1. Dark chocolate!!


I dug deep and tried to expand my gelato horizons by tasting the fruity ones as well as my creamy favorites. Green apple was mild and tasty, while grapefruit was super tangy and delicious, if you're in the mood for something refreshing and love love love grapefruit, like I do. However, the dark chocolate at Giolotti near the Pantheon wins out so far. Mmmm!

Top 5 Ways to Die in Rome

5. Being run over by a scooter

4. The hand of Amanda Knox (go huskies!)

3. Heart attack--after eating filetti de baccala (ultra fatty fried fish)

2. Drowning in the Trevi Fountain after a misguided attempt to swim across. Or, being weighed down and dumped in a fountain, a la Angels and Demons

1. Second-hand smoke!


Everybody smokes everywhere, which is not unbearable but gets to be pretty annoying when you're sharing a table at a restaurant and the person sitting eight inches from you lights up. So far I've avoided scooters and fire, even if our gas stove is a little sketchy!

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