No Pasta Left Behind: Update from La Citta Eterna

I think I need to start a collection of bizarre roommate stories, because strange things tend to happen to me in dorm settings. Especially when it comes to roommates, humor and patience are very important. In fact, humor and patience are necessary. When a girl tells you she's terrified of sharing a toilet with another person, you know you're in for a reality check. My assigned roommate had experienced way too much anxiety and culture shock in a two-day period and decided to leave in the early hours of Sunday morning. She packed her suitcase and boarded a flight without telling anyone.

So, with a second closet to store my belongings, I settled into the room and finally uncovered the last of my belongings from the depths of my suitcases. Thank you, Italian customs, for not confiscating my Wild Berry PopTart stash.

On Sunday afternoon, I joined a group of lovely St. John's students for a Piazza walk through Rome (in case any of you are reading this: Ciao! You got a shoutout. Wooohoo!). I had been so concerned about meeting new people, especially considering everyone in the program already knew each other from the NYC campus. However, the transition was seamless and it feels like I've known these people forever. We share an equal love for New York diners and an equal dislike for the state of Florida. (Nothing personal, just the humidity, crocodiles, the police blotter. Bath salts? Really?) I doubt any of us would survive south of Battery Park.

We walked thorugh a bunch of Piazzas throughout Rome, each of which had complicated Italian names that could've totally passed for names of pasta shapes. One of the Piazzas we visited was La Piazza della Rotunda that housed the Pantheon, gladiators smoking cigarettes, doe eyed tourists with matching t-shirts, and pushy vendors trying to sell selfie sticks. (3 euro, in case anyone is in the market for one.) Nerdy art history fact: the inside of the Pantheon is sized such that person can see the entire space from the doorway. Architecturally, it is right at the limit of human vision. Instead of overwhelming visitors, it places dazzling architecture and symmetry within the scope of human perception. Meanwhile, when you stand in St. Peter's Square, you are overcome with the immense size of the Basilica and the power of the Church seems almost overbearing. Nerdy rant over - back to the fun stuff.

We stopped for gelato on the way back to campus. I had to indulge in Italian Ice because cross contamination can be a real pain in the Bernini. (Is that a phrase? It is now.) After our walking tour, we reconvened for dinner. The restaurant we went to had insanely delicious mozzarella. I might go back and order just straight cheese. After we devoured pizza, we went to an outdoor bar and enjoyed a few glasses of wine by a bonfire. European living is so much more relaxed than American living. While the traffic is insane and the street vendors are creepily pushy, everything comes to a halt when the sun goes down. At around 7:30, dinner restaurants just start to open and hoards of Italians emerge from their villas and apartments to share a meal with one another. Eating is not so much a necessity here as it is an experience. During dinner, our waiter never rushed us, never pushed the check in our faces, and also didn't expect a tip. In America, the waitress or waiter to never leaves your side and asks if everything is okay every two minutes. Eating is sacred time here, and I love it.

On Monday we had a floor meeting and class. I almost forgot that study abroad had to involve studying at some point. Bummer. So far, the course seems exactly like first semester Civ at PC minus the heavy reading and plus more art. (For those of you who don't know what Civ is - it's basically western european history, philosophy, literature, and theology all packed into 4 semesters of fun and class bonding.) I thought I was done with Civ but I'm not. I'm never going to be done with Civ at this point.

Tuesday morning we went to Altare Della Patria Roma for Festa Della Repubblica. It was a military parade where all of the Italian soldiers marched in uniform and sang, flew planes, and rode around on horses. It was quite intimidating but also really awesome. I had to fight the urge to salute them.

After the pomp and circumstance, we walked to Crypta de Balbi which housed an archeological dig that dated back to the time of Julius Caesar. The site rested on a small theatre and grain distribution center. The Roman government operated under a "bread and circus" policy wherein they would keep citizens happy by feeding them and entertaining them. Which, to be honest, is also the way to my heart: give me carbs and make me laugh. The historical background of the site made it more interesting, otherwise I would've assumed that the museum housed a bunch of old rocks. (Then again, a majority of Rome is simply a bunch of old rocks. But, it's a bunch of old rocks that Julius Caesar might've touched. And that guy has a salad named after him, and a Shakespearian novel, so you know he's important.)

I have a three hour break before we all reconvene for afternoon coffee and shopping. In the meantime, I'm going to catch up on sleep. Jet lag is still a pain in the Bernini. (That phrase will catch on. I'm telling you.)

Ciao!

- Sue :)