It really is the good life.

Look at me, blogging already.  You all really should be proud.  I mean really, this is quite impressive.

Everything has been going swimmingly thus far and life in Roma continues to be an adventure.  We are often so busy that by the time we get back to our apartments, I eat dinner, pretend to do homework, and then reside to my wonderful bed for some much needed sleep.  Time is really flying by and in under a month I'll already be home.  flkfjdskgkdfjgkfdgh.  That actually describes my emotions quite accurately.

For our first weekend away, we went to Subiaco, Italy.  This a annual event that this program always goes on due to the fact that there's the St. Benedict monastery.  We also visited the St. Scholastic monastery, where of which we were provided an amazing 3 course lunch.  Each of these places were absolutely gorgeous.  St. Benedict's is built into the side of the mountains and the view is just breathtaking.  It was great to be in the actual place where St. Benedict lived and prayed; it really put into perspective what my college is based on and built after.

Such a beautiful place

Beautiful city

St. Benedict Monestary

Look at how cute we are!

The following day, Kate, Laura and I went to english mass which was oh so appreciated.  We've been to masses in French, Italian, Greek, Latin.. Spanish.. ugh.  It was so nice to actually understand!  Following that, we went to the huge Sunday market our director, Greg, recommended.  Seriously, it's so huge.  And it be quite honest, a lot of it is odd.  If you need some undies (sick), of all assortments, this place can help you out.  I mean how not creepy is it to buy your personal items from a vendor yelling, "1 EUROOOO!"  in your face.  Don't worry, I didn't buy any, or anything else for that matter.  We enjoyed exploring and may venture back again before we leave.  I mean, it is cheap.  Following, Laura and I spent the afternoon exploring the streets of Rome.  Her and I really enjoy walking without an agenda.  It isn't any wonder that we often migrate toward one another, Kate included.  We enjoy having no plan and just seeing what we find.  It's always a great way to spend an afternoon. 

The beginning of the week was filled with class excursions that I particularly liked.  For theology, we toured through 3 churches, my favorite being Santa Sabina Basilica.  It's quite old and not in the best condition, but it's location and historical background make up for it.  Here, the Pope says Ash Wednesday mass every year.  Our professor, who works for the Vatican, attends annually and said that even though it's packed, it's an amazing service and one of his favorite churches in Rome.

On the following day, Greg took us to San Carlo Basilica.  It being one of his favorite churches, he wanted us to go and reflect on its style, architecture, art, and particular characteristics.  A tad bit too much gold for my taste, but the Stations of the Cross were some of the most beautiful I've ever seen.  After that, our group went for gelato.  Awww, the joys of gelato.  This place, hidden amongst the sides street, was delicious, but odd as well.  I had cinnamon ginger, which was oh so good, but they also had flavors like bleu cheese, pepper, and mustard.  They were tempting to taste, but I just couldn't do it.  Maybe next time.

Following that, my roommates and I went to Piazza Navona, which is one of my favorite squares of Rome.  One of the girls had been recommended a restaurant called Monte Carlo.  You all should go, it's cheap and delicious.  Margherita pizza for 4 euro baby.  Better believe it.  Great food, even better company.  I truly love my roommates, they're so great.  Following that, we went back to the square and meandered around listening to musicians and looking at art.  Wonderful evening, indeed.

The proceeding morning, a few of us managed to get up and go see the sunrise at the Spanish steps.  Turns out that us Americans are actually the only ones that call them that.  They have this connotation merely for the fact that they link to the Spanish embassy.  They were actually constructed by the French and the church at the top is French.  So really they're really the French steps.  Maybe I should break the social norms and call them that.

Anyway, they're packed.  All the time.  Another fun fact about Rome, when you sit down to eat somewhere, there is usually a charge to do so.  They call it a "service" charge, but really they just want you to pay for the view or that precious little seat.  So having this ginormous staircase to sit on for free is something everyone takes advantage of.  Well, at sunrise my friends, they were completely empty.  NO ONE THERE!  We didn't see the sunrise (not elevated high enough), but hey, they were empty.  That's awesome enough in itself.  Now, to make our morning even better, may I introduce you to Tokyo man.  

When we were at the top of the steps, simply minding our own business, this cute little man comes up to us and asks for us to take his picture.  Of course we agreed, that wouldn't be a problem!  He was so grateful, bowing and repeatedly saying, "Thaaank you, thank you!!" But after we did that.. he requested a picture of us.  We thought he offered to take our picture, but oh no, he just wanted a picture of us on his camera.  So we all pose and thus automatically end up being his "American friends".  By this point we were all laughing because this man was just way too awesome.  Gets even better.  He then hands the camera to Laura (he really wanted her to take the picture) and motions to the rest of us to be in his picture.  Oh but that's not all, he wants us to squat.  Yea, squat.  So here we are, all staggered about super hero style with our arms extended and thumbs up.. squatting.  Oh the joys of 7am.  This guy made my day, actually week, most definitely.

The empty Spanish (French?) steps!

I could continue writing, but I feel as if Tokyo man needs to be the end of my post.  Plus, I'm really hungry and tired of typing.  I will write again soon, I promise.  I hope everything at home is going wonderfully for everyone.  I am missing you all very much and looking forward to being with you all again.  This week we head to Florence for our Thanksgiving break.  Although I'm beyond excited, I will miss Thanksgiving at home immensely.  Enjoy all the delicious food and football for me!  And being away from school =)

Love & Godbless you all!

Livin' the Italian life.

To be quite honest with all you readers (if there are that many?), I'm really lacking in motivation for this blog.  I am constantly reminding myself, "aah man, I should really blog!"... but it just never seems to happen.  There is one very legitimate reason for this.

I'M LIVING IN ROME. ROME, ITALY.

There is so much to do!  And another important factor is that from today, I leave in exactly a month.  That's right, 30 days folks and this girl will be back in the United States.  There is so much to be done and seen before that point, so as you can now understand, blogging is not quite the main priority.  After that little rant, I am ready to update you all on my wonderful life here in Roma.

It has almost been 3 weeks since I've arrived and I can hardly believe it.  So much has happened since that point so I will do my best to highlight the majority of what has occurred.  To begin, my apartment is awesome.  We are on the fifth floor and have a terrace.  Yeeeep, no joke.  Now, the amount of steps to get up to our apartment is a painful amount, but our outlook over the city and ability to sit outside, drink tea and read (yes, I've done all these things) makes it completely worth it.  I am living with 6 other girls and it has been pretty much perfect thus far.  Plenty of space, two bathrooms, and lots of bonding.  It's so great.
Our school staff at CEA is incredible.  Well generally, Italians are incredible.  Immediately I felt so at home at the school and everyone is extremely helpful.  Not to mention hilarious.  My Art history professor, Paulo is such a character.  Plaid shirts with checkered scarves, tinted glasses, and a turquoise coat can hopefully paint a bit of a picture for you.  My Italian language professor, Mario, is a heart throb to every girl at our school, and my Theology professor has the thickest British accent I've ever heard.  He's quite intimidating, but he also has a subtle humor that can be very entertaining.  My history professor... well he's one of a kind.  Though he fills our brains with way too much information, he is hilarious and bought me and a few others pastries recently.  If he understood my dessert obsession, he'd know how many points that gains with me.  Overall- they're incredible.

I must mention the Italians and the Roman lifestyle.  So first off, these Europeans in general really have no sense of personal space.  Getting in your face and shoving right up next to you are your normal everyday occurrences.  At first, I found this very uncomfortable, but by now, it really has grown on me.  I love the comfort they feel with everyone.  But this simple difference shows me a lot.  People are not afraid to get in your face, to push your limits and challenge you a little bit.  I've really come to appreciate it.  Also, Italians specifically are obsessed with their car horns.  It's actually ridiculous.  If someone honks, it's as if everyone else joins in just because they can.  If a light is red, you might as well honk until it turns green just because.  Apparently the loud obnoxious-ness of it doesn't phase them.  Another note on transportation is the blessed bus.  A lot of people hate it, and I can understand why.  You cram in with way too many people and bump your away around the city until you get where you need to be.  Not only that, but the bus comes whenever it wants.  Sometimes it's a 5 minute wait, and others it's a 45 minute wait.  I've experienced both.  You'd think I'd hate it, but I actually love the bus.  I can to see the whole city and get places fast (relatively).  It's great.  Another European thing is time.  People aren't in a rush, ever really.  For example, we've had quite the plumbing issues in our apartment since we've arrived.  From toilet issues to flooding from our heater, we've needed a lot of assistance.  Well, that assistance shows up whenever it pleases in Roma.  Sometimes quickly, but sometimes a week later.  The awesome thing?  They do just fine.  Europeans are just more relaxed.  Things will get done when they get done and you manage in between then.  I have also come to love this.

Now to move on to what I've been doing!  During our first few days, we had to start Italy off with a bang by having a Halloween party.  My apartment, being 7 of us, decided to dress up as the 7 Deadly Sins.  These 7 sins consist of Greed, Envy, Lust, Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth. We had so much fun planning this and I was fortunate enough to be Wrath.  Muahahaa, I enjoyed this way too much.  After putting on loads of crazy make-up and fierce clothes, I pretty much rocked the part.  Many did comment that my look was quite legit.  Overall- huge success, we all looked awesome.

Legit, right??

7 Deadly Sins.

The following day, we had no class due to it being All Saint's Day, a Roman holiday.  A few of us decided to go to the Vatican for mass that morning and I was beyond excited, for it was my first time (of many now).  When I entered St. Peter's Square, my breath was literally taken away.  It is as beautiful as you would imagine.  Not only that, but St. Peter's Basilica is beyond words.  I wish I could describe how incredible it is, but it is something that one has to see.  God's presence and holiness reigns in that place.  As I knelt before the altar prior to mass beginning, tears filled my eyes.  It was one of the moments when you truly realize how blessed and fortunate you are.  Following mass, a cousin of a girl on our trip found us a offered us a free tour!  He is studying in the seminary and has been living in Rome for about a year now.  He was kind enough to show us around the Basilica and then proceed to show us his school and a beautiful view of the city.  Again, how lucky can a girl get?  Well, let me tell you, there was one more amazing event: gelato.  Now, I could talk to you all about gelato for about an hour probably, but I'll save that for a later date ;).  We had been recommended numerous times the Old Bridge Gelateria.  It is conveniently near the Vatican so that is where we finished our afternoon.  And, people were not kidding.  This place is AMAZING.  Not only is it cheap, but they give you SO much!  Now I've been there probably 4 times.  Yea, I'm not kidding guys when I say I'm obsessed with this stuff.  I'm taking full advantage while I'm here :). 

Speaking of food, later in the week our school staff took us on a pizza and gelato crawl.  Chyea, for real.  Doesn't get much better than that, right?  Anyway, we were able to try numerous kinds of pizza and then finish off with some gelato.  Ugh, we were stuffed but it was so delicious.  Plus, it was a great night out with the staff!  We love free food!  After we finished up with that, a few of us made a night visit to the Vatican.  That is another place that I will visit as much as I can while here.  It is very beautiful at night all lit up.

St. Peter's Basilica.

The next day, a few of us decided to go to the Colosseum for sunrise!  This was another idea that had been recommended to us by many.  It truly is the best time to see the main sites.  The Colosseum is amazing.  It is crazy how well it has stood throughout time.  Seeing it at sunrise is such a bonus.  The sun gleams through the windows and it's quite beautiful.  Plus, no one is there.  How great is that?  After the Colosseum, we decided to head to the Trevi Fountain.  This is one of the biggest fountains in Rome, but it has gained it's fame from coin throwing.  Seriously, eeeeveryone throws a coin.  I'd like to think you're supposed to make a wish, but apparently it means that one day you will return to Rome.  Wish anyway, is what I say.  Anyway, it's always packed, so I really enjoyed being there early as well.  Hardly anyone was there!  We've been doing this every week since.  When initially getting up, it isn't the greatest, but once outside and on the lovely bus, it's completely worth it.

6 am baby!

The Trevi Fountain.

That's all for now, I've rambled for quite sometime.  I hope all is well at home!  I truly miss everyone, but my time in Europe has been just amazing.  I am completely in love with Rome and I really don't want to leave.  No worries though, I'm sure by December 16th I'll be ready.  For now, I'm doing everything I can while here.

Love & God bless to you all.
Jen

Mid-Break: Germany & Italy.

Hello beautiful people!

Before our arrival in Rome, we were able to spend about a week traveling wherever we pleased.  A good portion of our group met their family, but the rest of us formed groups and went out on different adventures around Europe.  Laura, Kate, Nick, Wade, and myself decided to head to Germany & Northern Italy.  We first started out by going to Munich.  As our plane landed, the air was bitter cold & for a second, it felt as if we had landed in Minnesota.  We all felt a wave of homesickness, but it quickly went away as we found our way to our hostel & enjoyed our first dinner together.  The food in Germany: sooo delicious.  A lot of Germany reminded me of home, including the food.  At our first restaurant, I had delicious fried chicken with potato fries.  I was lovin' that.
Over our first weekend, we spent a day in Salzburg and the other morning at the Dachau concentration camp.  Salzburg was absolutely beautiful.  It's only about 2 hours outside of Germany & our train ride was just beautiful.  The entire ride was spent speeding through the country side with the alps present in every view.  Salzburg itself is smaller than I would have anticipated, but yes, it's gorgeous.  We toured the Cathedral & that was beautiful.  We also looked at Mozart's home & museum, saw Sound of Music sites, and ended with the Hohensalzburg Castle.  Nestled on top of a very large hill, this fortress was made available for touring & dining.  There is quite a lot to see, but my favorite part was just the view itself.  The fortress looks over the entire city and it's just really beautiful.  That night, we struggled finding a reasonably priced place to eat, so Laura, Kate & I ate delicious waffles :)  Mine was covered in berries, ice cream & whipped cream.  Oh gosh, sooo delicious.  Perfect end to an awesome day.
On Sunday, we made the journey to Dachau concentration camp.  We went on a guided tour & it was such a learning experience.  Though horrible things happened at this place,  it was still amazing and I feel very fortunate to have been able to go.  It is still quite haunting, for much of it remains standing.  Dachau wasn't known for mass executions, but rather housed more political prisoners than Jews.  40,000 were killed there but it's mainly remembered for being a model to all other concentration camps.  Others structured themselves around it and all commanders were trained and started at Dachau.  It started out as a labor camp & the people weren't treated nearly as horrible as they were nearing the end of the war.  At the end, people were starved, forced to do horrible tasks, used for medical experiments, and tricked into suicide.  It was a very haunting experience.  I walked through rows of cells still standing and at many points, moved to tears.  I was most affected by the crematory.  Here, we saw gas chambers and a cemetery.  The tombs simply read, "Thousands unknown are buried here".  This was especially hard for me; it made everything that much more real I guess.  I'm very glad we were able to go to this place & our tour guide was exceptional.  The experience is one that all should witness for themselves.  It'll truly altar how you think.

Salzburg.

Cathedral

When we returned from Dachau, we spent the afternoon exploring Munich itself and had dinner at the famous Hofbrauhaus.  Munich is beautiful.  Definitely one of my favorite cities we've visited thus far.  We visited many historical sites during the afternoon and enjoyed a walk along the river that runs through the city.  The Hofbrauhaus was also quite the German experience.  Kate, Laura & I shared a giant Radlar beer, which has lemonade in it.  It was good, but overall, not my favorite.  The food was interesting as well.  Everyone enjoyed it, but again, not my favorite.  The experience though, was awesome.  The restaurant is huge and a place that is always packed.  It's a really cool place and we spent over two hours there.  It was a blast!

The rest of our week was spent in Northern Italy, starting in Venice.  Venice is beaaaautiful; a photographer's dream, you could say.  Unfortunately it rained the entire time we were there, but I still loved it & took pictures non-stop.  After arriving, we had dinner and I had my first authentic Italian pizza.  Oh my gosh.  Deliciousness.  Can I live on this food forever please?  Another group member, Brigitta met us there and with only one full day, we took complete advantage and explored the entire time.  We started by going to St. Mark's Cathedral, which was beautiful.  Unfortunately, all the rain is flooding parts of it.  Because Venice is surrounded by water, this is something they have to deal with quite often.  It was sad to see what it does to the city.  Besides the Cathedral, half of our group went to a museum, but Kate, Laura & I decided to just explore the city.  I just love Venice.  Its beauty is so unique and everywhere you look, there is beauty.  We had a blast just getting lost in all of its narrow alleys and secluded streets.

In the late afternoon, our group went to the island of Murano.  Murano is a 20 minute boat ride away and it's known for its glass blowing.  The streets are lined with shops filled with glass products that are just so beautiful and unique.  Laura and I managed to find some beautiful watches for only 15 euro!  We had a blast just walking through all the shops and seeing the amazing things one can make out of glass.  That night, we made ourselves some pasta in our apartment and had awesome dinner conversation that I'll never forget.  I am quite blessed by the incredible people in this program.

Just gorgeous.

On Wednesday morning, we originally had planned to go to Cinque Terre, but the previous day it flooded horribly.  All of its trails are destroyed due to mud slides and the flooding.  The towns were horribly affected and over 9 lives were lost.  We had to make up new plans, get new train tickets, and find a place to stay all in one hour.  We managed to do so in the city of Florence.  That afternoon, we arrived there and fell in love immediately.  Florence is your small town big town and it's gorgeous.  Because we are going there later in the program, we decided to go to Siena, a Tuscan region, in order to save all the Florence tourism for when we're there later.  Although, we had dinner our first night at an incredible restaurant.  For 12 euro, we were able to have pasta, a main dish of meat and a side, then dessert.  I was extremely full, but um.. have I mentioned how much I love the food?
Siena was gorgeous.  It also is quite small, but the landscape is what I enjoyed the most.  We were so excited to see fall colors!  We toured the Siena Duomo, which is their cathedral.  It was huge, but for my taste, a bit too elaborate on the inside.  I enjoy churches with more simplicity.  Afterwards, we went to the Museo Opera Metropolitana.  This houses some amazing Italian art and from within, we walked up onto the Panorama, which overlooks the city.  The view was really great!  After that, a few of us left and just explored the city.  We managed to stumble across two colleges and find beautiful landscapes.  It was a well spent day, I'd say.

Siena!

That night, us girls had pizzas for dinner and then went out for gelato.  Mmk, the gelato here?  Out of this woooorld.  I am obsessed & it's okay because when I'm ever going to have this deliciousness again? Not for a long time!  I'm going to take full advantage.  I've gone quite a few times thus far, and there are many more to come, my friends.

Mid-break was awesome and our group had a really great time together.  On Friday, we explored Florence a bit, but then boarded our train to Rome.  Now, this is my home & I am in love.  Stay tuned for my adventures in Roma :)

Godbless!