Warning: This post was written in the context of yesterday but I didn't have a chance to finish it and will post an additional one explaining somethings and about today.
These past few days have been crazy and I'm going to need to post more often to remember everything that I have done. The first morning of the program we met the staff who then took us on a trip around the Aventine to orient us with our new surroundings. As I have found it is confusing for many people I want to explain how my program works.
As a student at Oxy I applied to study abroad through Oxy who pays for the tuition and the credit while abroad. Oxy doesn't have their own campuses abroad so all of our programs are through other American schools or schools in the country. I am attending Trinity College's Program in Rome which has its home base in Hartford, Connecticut. So naturally most of the students are from Trinity College, about 30 of them, while the rest is made up from students all over the US (the program total is 59). The campus here is on the Aventine hill in between the neighborhoods of Testaccio and Trastevere both very old and historic sections of the Eternal City. The actual campus is a convent where nuns live and make our meals for us. It is a small place that has 3 class rooms and a few offices where the staff work. The rest is a dorm where many of the students are housed and a eating area. The nuns prepare breakfast and lunch 5 days a week and for the rest of the meals we are to fend for ourselves. I am however living in a hotel which is rented out to house more students (about 20 of us) about 5 minutes away from campus. This is a god send; initially, I thought I wanted to be in the convent but the hotel is much nicer. I have a single and my room is fairly large and I don't need much else. My bathroom is across the hall which I share with 3 other students who are also in singles. I can explain the intricacies of an italian bathroom on a different post where I am in a more comical mood and suffering from the symptoms of going out all night and sleeping a total of 15 hours total this trip.
Since the program technically started on Friday, today was my first day of classes. This past weekend we had walking tours all over the city and lots and lots (and I mean lots) of partying. I'll break it up day and night and kind of combine days because really it has been a world wind of information, meeting people, walking all combined with copious amounts of free flowing tequila, vodka, gin, whiskey, vino and beer.
Each morning began with a terrible breakfast (now I know Europe doesn't have the traditional american style breakfast but I am not a fan of that either). The past three times I've been to Europe the breakfasts usually consists of light pastries, cold cuts (like proscuitto), cheeses, and coffee. Ours however is made up by bitter coco puffs, corn flakes, and coffee. They have this bread I believed called Nuns Buns for some reason like most slang doesn't make much sense but the technical name is rosette. They are hollow round shaped rolls that literally are full of air; it is insane; they are crusty and almost stale like most italian bread and when you open one side there is nothing in the middle except a little doughy part that makes up the inside of the crust.
After we left breakfast with our stomachs growling more than it did before we ate, we were divided up into groups to go explore the city and get our bearings. The first day we went to Testaccio and the Aventine where our leader showed us close by restaurants, stationary shops (buying italian binders is another story), and other places we will frequent often. It is a great area, the Aventine being a very wealthy residential area, and Testaccio, a working class neighborhood, full of culture, restaurants, clubs, bars, and markets. The next day on about 5 hours of sleep we walked all the way to the Spanish Steps with many stops along the way. We saw the Bocca Della Verita, or the mouth of truth, where women were slaughtered if they got the feeling from this sculpture that the woman was unfaithful and adulterous. First we walked to the Piazza Campidolilo which has a spectacular view of the Roman Forum ruins and the Colosseo. The buildings that surround the Piazza were designed by Michaelangelo and are gorgeous. Big yellow and green buildings now museums and the national archive with grand columns everywhere. We stopped at the Palazzo Venezia a huge roundabout with tall buildings was crazy with cars traveling at high speeds in many different directions. From there our journey continued down Via Del Corso, a famous street known for its fashion shops, towards the Trevi Fountain. Although very touristy and always packed with people throwing coins over their left shoulder (which legend says will guarantee you a speedy return to Roma) it is very beautiful and serene with the loud gushing of water. It is attached to a building and we saw someone looking out the window down at everybody. I was told that it is a private residence or building (God what I would give for that house).
Next stop was the Spanish Steps, though we didn't spend much time there and only gazed at the glistening white steps. This was the farthest from the school that we ventured that day and on our return walked Via Condotti which houses lowly brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Prada, Feragamo, Bulgaria, Gucci, and Dolce & Gobbana. This was our last stop because we were late to getting to lunch had to hurry to get some food before it was all gone.
After a very long night (bedtime approx. 7 am), we were reunited and ventured in to neighboring Tastevere area. Which is across the Tiber and a very historic area. We roamed through tight cobblestone streets and ended up at a church that I am not very sure of the name of. From there we went to S. Maria Church; a very ornate and elegant (and large) church that was full of people for sunday mass. It was a great experience to witness the spectacle with many priests dressed in robes decorated with gold and many colors and crowds of italians singing songs. The ceiling of this basilica was gold painted wood which gave off a great aura to compliment the pretty music.
This tour ended with a quick walk past the Jewish Ghetto where Palestinian we saw the outside of the very protected Jewish synagogue that was made famous by abomber in the early 80s. The morning walks were very entertaining and I am glad we walked everywhere because it replaced the non-existent work out I had been missing.
More to come and I will post about Monday, today, and the past few evenings when I have more energy. Now sleep (I'm making up for the weekend's lack of it).
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