Gelato, Art, and Scavenger Hunts

       I apologize for keeping you all waiting so long for this update (because I know that you have all been checking my blog every single day for new stories) but I have been so busy living life in Rome that I haven’t spent a whole lot of time writing about it! I’m going to try and update you on the entire month of May without making this a three page letter…

       This past month I have gone to see a few things that I hadn’t before (for the most part, churches) but I spent a good amount of my time with the other students here at Villa or with friends from school. Or at this little restaurant/pub right around the corner from LUMSA (my university) called Hungry Bogart – you know, like a word play on Humphrey. There is probably only room for 25 people in the whole place (that is, if you are able to squeeze through the chairs), but I'm pretty sure that the owner's main interest is to make as many friends and hear as many stories as he can. I'm usually there two or three times a week, along with the few other ''regulars,'' all of which are students, to talk and pass a few lazy hours. I'm really starting to love the European meals which always last at least an hour, if not two or three. This is also the time of year when the summer trips start (at least at UD, where the winter semester has ended), so I've been able to catch up with some of my friends who have come to Rome - like the infamous Gretchen Berkemeier! I took her to one of the best gelato places in Rome, and right out front we found a red vespa - what a perfect afternoon.

       It's actually an interesting time of year for me, because I'm trying to study and prepare for exams (my first is tomorrow), but all of the American universities are done. Therefore, my American friends are heading back home and it's turning more and more into a semester where I'm the blonde American hanging out with the Italians. Since Gabriella and Marie (the other two American girls) left Villa, I am the only American in this building. However, I have also been able to witness how much fun it is to be at this residence in the summertime, as it's finally warm enough for everyone to be outside in the evenings. In the past week and a half, we have had two birthday parties, an ordination anniversary party for the Cardinal who runs the place, and a 'Community Day' where we spent four hours on a scavenger hunt (it had four different parts and included poetry recitals, costumes, decoding). Our team, ''What's for Dinner'' had a pretty slow start, but we were able to catch up in the end, and we later had a cookout and karaoke night. It's a lot of fun trying to keep up with all of this social planning...

And this would be our team trying to put it all together...and dressed up as the characters from Pinocchio. Yes, I am wearing blue trash bags over my dress, for those who are curious.

       And of course, the most exciting part of the whole month - Mom and Dad came to visit! We spent the week wandering Rome and also took a day trip to Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance. I think the most impressive part for me was realizing how much I've learned since I've arrived - not only about the history and significance of the sights in this city, but also how to use the public transportation systems and navigate us all from place to place without too many problems. I really enjoyed showing them 'my city,' but it was also a re-realization of how much I do love Rome. I had started becoming so used to walking past the Vatican on my way to class that I didn't even turn to admire it anymore...che peccato.

       I'm sure that they can share all sorts of stories with you from their point of view (ask Dad about how much he appreciated the wine, for example), but my favorite part of the

At the Uffizi Art Gallery

week was Florence. Firenze is a city that is on the must-see list of Italy, but that I hadn't seen yet, and if there's one word that I have to choose to describe that day, it would be art. We saw the David, went into probably the best art museum in the world (okay, so I may be a bit biased) and Mom and I even still had the energy to climb the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo (the main church in town). Although it was a tiring day, we were still able to catch a great meal before heading back to the big city. The next day (Sunday) we also wandered around, but to a few places that I hadn't seen before, including La Bocca della Verità and the Capuccin Crypt. The ''Mouth of Truth'' is a big face on the wall of a church with an open mouth, where people had to put their hand after being tried. If the hand 'bit' them, it meant that they had lied in court - what they didn't know was that one of the priests regularly checked to make sure that the scorpions he placed there hadn't vacated the premises. The Capuccin Crypt is a set of rooms in the basement of a church near the Trevi Fountain where the bones from hundreds of monks are affixed to the walls and ceilings in decorative patterns - slightly morbid, but a great reminder of mortality. I loved it! I'd add more pictures to these descriptions, but as I played tour guide all week, I let mom play photographer...so I don't really have very many pictures here with me. I'm sure if you let her know, she'd love to share all of those stories with you!

       For now, I'm going to go re-study the contemporary history of the world so that I can ace my exam tomorrow - until next time!