so we started school this week. classes are good, a lot more difficult then I expected John Cabot to be. I must have gotten into my brain that this was more a "vacation" so when actual 2-3 hour long classes started it was hard to adjust. Sorting out my schedule was stressful (as always!) but I got basically the all-star line up for classes: Intermediate Italian, Ancient Rome and its Monuments, Drawing, Independent study painting and Advertising Management. My advertising class is so great, I felt at first I would be behind since everyone in the class is a business major and has taken 2-3 marketing classes as a pre-requisite (and I have taken none) but my internship this summer has allowed me to relate to everything the professor says!

Last week I explored the Colosseum and the forum with a bunch of Connecticut College kids I met which is really fun, we want to get a game of laser tag or hide and go seek in that joint. Then I met up with a few friends on the Tiber River at a bar with a live band and listened to some music. The Tiber river always has stuff to do which is nice lots of cute stands for shopping, a hookah bar and lots of bars. The night life in Rome is just amazing. I went to the Vatican for church on Sunday at St. Peter’s Basilica. The pope was not there sadly, but it was just amazing to say, hey I went to church at the Vatican! It is actually kind of small (the mass) because it takes place in the back of the basilica and have only so many seats. They give everyone communion who wants it though which is nice for the people in the back.

I didn’t go out on Sunday night because of school the next day, but made it up on Tuesday night at 2 for 1 drinks at the drunken ship and discovered: the Long Island Ice-tea. Oh yes…I had a ball with that one. Got up the next day for my 10:30 am art class feeling not great at all. Oh well, I also met my independent study painting professor this week. He is so cute…he’s 34 from the states but I think has lived in Italy most of his life. Of course though, he gave me his website (www.williampettit.com) and I did a little exploring on it (I am NOT a stalker) and he’s married (sigh) and has the cutest baby I have ever seen. So much for that fantasy haha.

On Thursday night a bunch of guys from AU invited like over 20 people to their apt and cooked us all dinner. It was so much fun to just be with everyone and chill. We toasted to the beginning of our adventures in rome with Champagne and had a great night. Instead of going to the bars as we usually do we decided to try something different: Italian Bingo. I actually went to a huge lounge place where we played BINGO. Which is diff then American bingo, a lot faster, but it was a blast. We paid a euro a card, and the pot to win was around 150-200 euros each time to win. My friend Lee has won 2 or 3 times, and laslt time it was over 200 euros! I think its funny that I have never played it in America and I came to rome to play Bingo…when in rome right?

Yesterday we went to the beach at St. Maranela with like 15 of us taking a train there. It was a blast and so incredibly beautiful. It is only about 30 mins away so we are pretty close and the Mediterranean is so beautiful. Me and my friend Laura met some Italian kids (and I mean 11 year olds) talked in broken Italian to them and they let us on their little boat and took us around the sea! It was sooo funny (because we ambushed these 11 year olds and commandeered their kayak-boat thing) and yet a great time. They were really fun kids, didn’t understand too much English and kept saying there were “animale” and “medusa” in the water! Which we can only assume is a really bad thing.

I drew a bunch of sketches at the beach.

Last night we went and hung out at the Trevi Fountain which is incredible to see up close. I just sat and stared at it thinking that someone chiseled that. I have no words for how beautiful it is.

Tonight is la Notte Bianca (“white night”) and apparently an additional 100,000 people are coming to rome. It is this huge festival where they have music, art and performers everywhere in the city and they come out all night long till 8 am where people can just enjoy in the festivities. All the art museums stay open late and have like trapeze artists in front of this castle and jazz music everywhere. AH I am so excited!

Ciao