Day two

So here's the Israel blog you have all been waiting for, in great detail.


My day started early today as I was determined to get to the school early and make sure things were settled. However, you have to flick a switch by the bathroom if you want a hot shower and it takes 30 minutes to an hour before you get hot water. I waited 30 minutes today and apparently that's not enough, so I had a cold shower. Tomorrow I'll be sure to flick it earlier. Though by 6 AM the sun was blazing and it was on it's way to being hot so I guess a cold shower is not the worst thing to have happen. So after a light breakfast I headed out towards campus, following the stream of students headed there, despite the early hour of 8 AM.

Here are a few pictures of the view from my window, the blazing sun at 6 AM, and the pattern the sun makes when my metal shade is down. Yes, the shades are metal. Why, I'm not sure.


















Now, everything here has security. All the gates to the student village, the campus and even malls and the grocerey store, though the grocerey store is just a man sitting in a chair but still. All with security gaurds. Not having my ID to get in yet (as that's the only way to get in!) it was difficult to explain since some know no english, but I made it in smoothly, having my bag checked and going through a metal detector just to get into campus. After a bit of wandering I found my way to my school. Two things about campus: it's HUGE and confusing. And it's beautiful. For a desert it's packed with plants, botanical gardens and wonderful landscaping. Have some pictures:

























So Long story short money wise I'm all set. I got all registered, got my ID, set up my computer account, and bought "points;" points are how you pay for trips. Each trip is 1 point and four points is 100 dollars. There is one to underground tunnels and the west wall and the old city, another to the Dead sea, another to Tel Aviv and Jaffa, and another to some famous caves where the jews resisted the romans. I met a few students at this point and struck up a conversation which a boy named Greg, who is from NY. We exchanged numbers after reigstration. But more on him later. After I was done there I found the book store and purchased my textbook and a notebook.


On my walk back to the student village which is about a fifteen minute walk with about ten minutes additionally to get through campus so after twenty five minutes in heat that felt like 90 I was tired and crashed. An hour and a half later I realized I needed to buy groceries. I called Greg up and asked if he'd like to go with me since he didn't know where it was and I didn't know Hebrew. Fair deal.

Here I learned a bit about Greg:

He's an orthodox Jew
He's been to Israel 8 or 9 times before
He's very very helpful to have on hand to explain things.
He just graduated college, this is just for hopefully grad school credit/ fun

And so he's fun to be around but his flirting made me a bit uncomfortable at first until I told him I have a bf, just to be safe. So he knows I have a boyfriend very clearly and that should help. However, he's a good person to know and we hit it off right away. It's good to have a friendly face here.


I'm still bad at grocerey shopping so I got:



Milk
Cereal
Mango Juice
Water
Hummus
Crackers
An extra towel
Three yogurts
Grapes

I believe that's it and it cost me 130 shekels.


Anyway after that we went to orientation and got a campus tour where I met more people.


Jessie:


Another Orthodox Jew, except, only dependng on who he's with, according to him. He's been in Israel a year and this is his second summer at Hebrew University, but during the year he was actually studying at a religious seminary. Ironically now he's less Orthodox and only keeps it up when around other orthodox jews. If he isn't he'll break kosher and even watch TV on the sabbath. One girl asked him what he actually believes right now and the answer was the same "depends on who I'm with" which I found cryptic and intriguing. He shrugged it off but he said before he came he was very orthodox. I wonder what changed him. Anyway, he knows all the cool places in Israel to go, like for scuba diving and hiking and all sorts of amazing things. He speaks Hebrew and is learning Arabic now. He's from New York and looks so American yet he's completely at home in Israel.



Marie Ann:


I dont know much but she's very friendly and this is her first time in Israel thought she's been here for longer than I have, a week I believe just being a tourist. She's in my class.



There were a few others but I dont know as much about them.


Then we went on a shopping trip and I sat next to a girl named Christine, a Yale graduate who is 26 and in the peace corps now. There is a trauma and resiliance special seminar going on here that has brought people from all over the world who work with trauma victims. These arent students but older people. Anyway, she's currently stationed in a tiny country I cant even remember the name of and is her eon vacation time because she has been working at places like rape crisis centers and with refugees seeking asylum and such programs and wants to learn how to help them recover from their trauma as a career. She's asian and we got talking about religion and I asked her if she was Jewish and she isnt but appreciated me asking because so many people make assumptions based on race. I dont, not here because there are so so so many Jewish people. Heck every scrap of food on campus is Kosher.


Then I met Joel who is in the same class as Christine. He is from the Netherlands and is very friendly. His boss is not only paying for him to be here but paying him while he's here! He has the lightest white blond hair ever and also got dropped off in the middle of nowhere by a nesher van except at 2 AM!


However, those two are in class every day from 9-3 so i dont know how much they will be around unfortunately.


I met a few other girls but their names blur and I'm so tired right now. i actually met lots of people and I was really happy everyone seemed really friendly.

I am beyond tired so i leave you with... a picture of my room with my bed, which am going to sleep in now!

Yes, I was in tears for about 5 hours straight.

So I'm here safe but it has been nothing but tears my first morning.

The shared taxi refused to take me to the school even though they offer door to door service for 50 shekels to everyone. They told me it was out of the way for the current van going. I asked to wait for a van going to that area/ in that direction but they pushed me onto the current van telling me I would be taken to a bus station in jerusalem where I could get a taxi to take me to the school. There was no reason for this other than it might have inconvenienced them and they thought they could get away with it by inconveniencing me instead. So fine, they didn't give me a choice even though I knew I was being cheated, how else could I get to Jerusalem but a taxi that cost 60 times more? Then, once in the van while everyone else got door to door service, the driver even refused to take me to the bus stop since he spotted a few taxis outside a hotel and told me it would make no difference if I took them from there and pulled over.

Now, I didn't know where I was and it DID make a difference because I was stranded outside some random hotel and not at a bus station where people could assist me in getting when I needed to go. He told a taxi driver where I wanted to go and took my money. I was supposed to get 20 shekels back but he pocketed it despite my protests then told the taxi driver to charge me 30. The taxi driver screamed fifty and they started fighting in hebrew until both were angrily going to leave me there as if I HAD BEEN ARGUING OVER THE PRICE. The van driver slammed his door, the taxi drver slammed his trunk and I was terrified I was going to be left in the street with my luggage. I ran after the taxi driver as the other taxi had disappeared and no one was in sight and begged him to take me, I would pay 50 shekels.

Now he told me he knew were it was but once we started driving he wasnt so sure and started asking ME the street names and how to get there. I had no idea and he got frustrated and started yelling, messing with his meter punching in prices higher than what he had agreed to. I was NOT about to be robbed for everything I had so I said no, you agreed 50 shekels to this location and you said you knew where it was. Then he started demanding american money which was worth double the price, in addition to the 50 shekels. It didnt matter that i was being aware of what he was up to. In the end he had me trapped in his taxi in a strange city, bottom line.

When i didnt have it he started swearing and getting upset with me so I was clearly frightened and upset. We somehow made it to the school gate and i got out, not caring I wasn't at the right building. He made a huge deal about beng rid of me and drove off.

Finally after a few tears I dragged my luggage and found the international building and went to register. To find I was a day early. Then the woman says I haven't paid. I owe 1700 or I cant start class. Holy Cross was supposed to have taken care of this before I had arrved, I told her so. She said she knew of no arrangement with holy cross and had gotten NOTHING. I told her it must be amistake and she said it didn't matter, she needed proof which I didnt have. She was very angry when all I had was my housing confirmation, she crumbled it in a ball and threw it away saying it told her nothing and sent me away to get a taxi to the dorms.

Now I was really panicked. Half way across the world and being told I wasn't even going to be allowed in the school. Well she agreed to let me into the dorms for tonight but if it didnt get resolved... I could pay by credit card. That was my option, no leeway or I didnt start class. So either max out my credit card or get in touch with Holy Cross and hope they have an explanation and solution ASAP.

So finally downstairs some other friendlier people calmed me down and got me a shuttle to the student villages. The driver (from the school) was so angry on my behalf about the van and taxi drivers. Everyone said it was absolutely out of hand. At the student village the people n the office also were much kinder seeing how distressed I was. I was allowed to move in and when the time zones allowed I called Holy Cross.

The bottom line is this: the money was sent the 26th and to the NEW YORK OFFICE. The associate driector made two calls and sent out emails notifying hebrew university that the money was on its way and Holy Cross was indeed responsible for my tuition and housing. This happened after the offices here closed though, so in the morning I have to face that woman again and hope it's good enough and she doesn't make me pull out my credit card. She terrifies me. She looked at me like I was so pathetic and ridiculous for coming so unprepared.

In other news, I live in an apartment on the 7th floor with three other girls who are actually from Israel and have been studying here all year. It's exam time for them now so they arent in class but are still living here. They are all around 24 years old since college starts later here dure to required two years in the army. One girl I have only seen briefly, another introduced herself and made small talk but is standoffish, and the last has been truly helpful and outgoing. I am so beyond grateful for her kndness. She showed me the internet set up which they had in place here that I can use. They also have all the kitchen supplies (cookware utensils, etc) which they are happy to share with me so i dont have to worry about that.

As nice as the ne girl is, I really would like some other american students s I can get settled in and not have to do everything on my own. The trip to the grocerey store was intimidating and overwhelming. I still need an ID and my books and to find out where to go the first day of class. Tomorrow I need to get everything done for class Wed morning. I am really hoping things get resolved or I am halfway across the world and screwed. though my dad has offered to do anything I asked of him, to put money in my account and do anything he can, but they only take credit cards and so I dont know what to ask of him. Though he has been there for me 100% since I called him on the verge of tears this morning.

I havent eaten a proper meal in almot 24 hours of had a nights sleep since saturday night so this is a rather dismal first entry. Getting off the plane I was full of wonder and happiness and had a much more fascinating first blog planned. That has been postponed as my battery is dying. Oh yeah, I got the wrong adapter so I cant charge my camera or laptop until I find a place that sells one for american plugs. Good god, but at least I HAVE INTERNET IN MY DORM THANKS TO THE GIRLS HERE!! Its a pain to set up and costs extra so it will be a HUGE relief no having to make the 15-20 minute walk everytime I want to sign on.

Well hope tomorrow I have better news.

Hopefully tomorrow everyone is satisfied enough to wait for the payment frm Holy Cross, and I can go about getting set up, you need a student ID card here because there are security gates to get in and out of the student village and campus and you have to check in with security guards showing your ID. Which i dont have.

Also managed to get to the grocerey store but things aren't even in our alphabet so I left with some yogurt apples and pretzels feeling too overwhelmed to get anything more.

In transit

Guess who made it to London? Amy did! And is now paying through the nose to update you...and have something to do for the next two hours. Okay so first i must say british Airways PWNS Alitalia, the airline i went to Italy on. (for those who don't speak 21st century college student- that means it is MUCH better).

Each seat has it's own personal TV screen and you can select movies, TV shows, music and games, with a very recent and varied selection to choose from. I watched watchmen, and plan on watching some Harry Potter and scrubs episodes next flight. I also listened to lady Gaga's CD and Lily Allens new cd during my flight. It was a very nice flight, with helpful videos you can view about tranferring once you land to connection flights so when i got off the plane I knew exactly where to go. Absolutey wonderful. 10 out of 10 stars.

Also they feed you twice as much as they have to on international flights which is wonderful so I'm not tempted to blow money when I land! Though that could not balance out that i had three little boys behind me and while they weren't loud, when not asleep they couldn't keep still and the youngest being directly behind me was always moving in such a way that jostled my seat. Sometimes it felt like he was outright kicking it he was so antsy. I was losing patience though over six hours when my seat was almost consistantly being pushed or kicked in some way. Luckily he fell asleep at one point I think or went to sit with his father so I had a reprieve that kept me from turning around and reprimanding him. Well I probably would have asked nicely that he stop but I think he was just unable to sit still. Whatever, it's over. Hoorah.

The exchange rate here gets no stars. I refuse to buy food or even a keychain. 500 US dollars equals 269 British pounds. How people studied here for a year, i do not know. I'm stressing over being here for three HOURS. I'll get a british flag patch and stitch it on something. No one will know. And technically it's not like I've really been here, I'm just passing through so getting something would be like being a total poser because people would start asking me all about London.

Also it's funny to see Americans taking off shoes at the British security check points as the lady goes, no no, keep your shoes on. haha. I was savvy and kept mine on so i looked very well traveled and knowledgable. Oh yes. Though during the flight when I realized I was halfway to israel with no hebrew language knowledge in me I did have a What the HELL am I doing moment. It comes and goes. Every now and then i get supremely anxious about getting to campus, which will be the hardest part of my trip, getting from tel Aviv to Jerusalem and to the right campus, because Hebrew University has THREE campuses in Jerusalem. Also the gate I need is a little known back gate and with a language barrier I'm predicting some issues. Also there is a time limit here, if I dont make it in by 2 PM Amy gets to find a hostel for the night. Wish me luck people, really.

Hopefully tomorrow morning you all wake up to another wonderful update confirming that i'm not trapped in some twilight zone between London and tel Aviv or lost in Israel!

To Jerusalem!

So I'm baaaaaack!

Well I'm still in the US for about 25 more hours. This shall be my night before entry. I haven't finished packing and just got back from running around and getting more essentials. Like magical socks from EMS. I do not kid, they will not let you get a blister no matter how much you walk in whatever shoes... well, I wouldn't recommend pairing them with stilettos, but you get the idea. Though to be safe I do have the matching magical shoes which are hiking sneakers (in case anyone would like to follow my new trend). But I needed more socks, because one can never have enough of those.

I also got some light weight pants since it doesn't go below 80 from what I've been seeing in the Jerusalem weather reports (which i have followed obsessively on my weather.com desktop) and it gets up to 90. So I invested in the good stuff. Well, one pair. Well, technically dad was the one investing. Bless his soul.

I also finally picked up the books I desperately needed for some critical background that i am lacking on my Judaism/ Israel and Jerusalem history. I meant to have them read by now but as some know my father was in a car accident (edit: thought I might want to add he's okay now for the most part after just throwing that bomb out) and so even the best laid plans... well, bottom line: I'm slightly behind on my reading. Actually, again, I can thank Dad for the books.

Oh, oh oh, and spiffy new addition: a camcorder! I will be your host and now we can travel Jerusalem TOGETHER. No lie. As soon as I learn how to work it. So as you can see I got a lot done today. As a result packing is only about 3/4 done.

I should be doing it but I would like to note I am much more apprehensive on this trip. I will be traveling alone, and landing in the city of Tel Aviv at 5:30 AM. It's about a 45 minute dirve to Jerusalem and there will be no one at the airport to greet me. I am planning on taking a shared van (much like our local knights limo service I'm presuming) and hoping the language barrier is at a minimum. Well, i have to address and a map of where I need to go, and a phrase book...somewhere.

I don't know a single other student going and really don't know what to expect. This program has you benig a lot more independent and I'm nervous, not that i doubt myself, but independence in a foreign country is a bit tougher than at home.

However, I'm hoping it has a more profound affect on me than Rome. I also hope you're all reading because I think this trip is going to be a very different one. Well I should probably finish packing, huh? I'm sure half of you are yelling at me as you read. Okay, I'm going, I'm going.

Home safe

So as you may have noticed I haven't been around for a few days. Well, I was absolutely consumed by studying for my finals and spending as much of my last days out and about in Rome as possible. It was amazing and I think I did that as much as I could have. I'm home now, and jet lagged and slightly dazed. I will be picking up this blog on the 28th when I leave for Jerusalem but until then I'll just be working and repacking, so I wont be updating here. Pictures can be found on face-book, and it'll be slow going getting them up but it will happen. Hope to see you all back here in July!!

Roman Magic

Last night was probably the most magical night in Rome. We went out in a big group of twelve girls for Fabiola's birthday. We started by eating the homemade tiramisu we made in Italian class, which is actually really easy to make. Then we went out to a late Italian dinner at like 8:30 by the pantheon. We were walking along the different restaurants, which all had outdoor seating with a view of the pantheon, perusing menus and all the handsome waiters were making us fabulous offers to try and get our large group to eat at their restaurant. Upon hearing it was Fabiola's birthday one place offered two bottles of wine on the house. Needless to say we went there. Upon sitting down a couple next to us celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary bought a round a champagne for our table for Fabi's birthday. Of course I didn't drink but since we all got glasses I got to do the toasts, and then I just gave my glass away. Even the waiters did the toasts with us! I got a great picture of the waiter popping the cork of our champagne bottle!

So we're sitting outdoors at this candle lit table right by the lit up pantheon, and an opera singer starts singing in the piazza right by our table and he was phenomenal. I mean, he had cds for sale and sounded professional. The girls got Fabiola to go up and he serenaded her in the middle of the piazza with everyone watching. The food was also amazing, I mean the best dish I have had in Rome so far. Positively suberb. I don't know how I'll go back to the pasta back home. Best of the all it was crazy affordable for this gorgeous romantic sit down dinner! Well romantic setting, not so much romantic since it was a huge group of us girls, but it was absolutely picturesque

Then we went for gelato at the best place and the girls paid for my gelato since most of the group was away for my birthday on Friday since they took a trip to Capri. That was very nice. Then they all headed off to this super trendy posh bar and I followed out of curiosity. They had these two sleek sporty motorcycles in the entrance way surrounded by red rope and we all took photos with them, looking very cool and trendy. I am so glad I don't drink, everything was so expensive, all nine and ten euros for ONE drink. They actually had a wide selection of non alcoholic drinks and one sounded so good, pineapple, coconut and kiwi, but it was 8 euro, which is like ten dollars, which is ridiculous so I skipped it. Though I really wanted it because it sounded so yummy and was nonalcoholic. Then some girls were leaving early so I headed home with them, my curiosity satisfied and my trendy posh pictures taken. I was in bed by midnight!

This morning when we went for our usual cappuccino the barrista somehow literally had pictures in our cups, I think made with cinnamon. I had Saturn with little dots for its moons, Kelsey had a crescent moon and tiny stars, and D had this overlapping star design. We were absolutely amazed and he has won us over. He was like, tomorrow I do a different one. We will be back tomorrow, oh we wouldn't miss it for the world. And yes I took pictures of each. Its one thing to draw a heart in the cream, but this was very impressive.

Today our class was wonderful, we took a bus about twenty minutes out of Rome where the ancient suburbs were. We were on the via Appia which was the first paved Roman road (and at first paved just meant with gravel- only later were large stones put in). It was like their equivalent to a superhighway because two carts going in opposite directions could pass by together without one having to get off the road to let the other by, twelve feet wide was a huge deal back then. Also it went on all the way to southern Italy, for hundreds of miles eventually, which allowed greater control of Rome's colonies since it made it possible to march military troops anywhere even in the rainy season where unpaved roads would be all mud and hard to use.

It was a beautiful road, with fields and Italian countryside all around, and houses were very spread out with lots of land around them. We eventually walked to the villa of Maxentius who was Constantine's rival, and as you can probably guess in the battle between them, Constantine won and Maxentius was killed, but not before he started building lots in Rome along with his big Villa and tomb. This was all because he was preparing to take power since he was one of the sons who didn't like the new tetrachy put in place (Constantine was the son of the other emperor). Actually, as a side note, the tomb was for his four year old son who died, and had lots of space for other descendants to come but it never got filled since he was killed by Constantine.

We also saw this large castle like tomb of a wealthy Roman woman and it was JUST her tomb. Which says a lot for a woman (at this time) to have this large funeral monument all to herself. I admired that. It looked like a castle too which was interesting.

We passed by two catacombs, which were underground burial places, mostly BUT not exclusively used by early Christians but our group was too big and we couldn't go in! I was pretty disappointed and am considering going back if I have the time, i love those creepy underground places.

It was a pretty relaxed and enjoyable site visit. Except we took a lap around the circus (circular space used for chariot race) at Maximus' villa and the grass was dry with these prickly things that liked to stab us. But other than that it was enjoyable.

Then walking back to the institute we met these two young American guys handing out flyers for a pub crawl. For those who don't know pub crawls are kind of like a guided tour through different pubs where you pay one fee and get so many drinks at each place. They are very popular here and we always are getting flyers. We actually asked what it was like having to corral and control people towards the end when you have a huge rowdy group. They said it could get hard and that Americans have this thing about walking in the streets when they get drunk. We also asked how they wound up here. The one from California said he just got himself over to Europe without a plan since he had a friend's couch to crash on and fell into the job by luck. He said as long as he made rent and food he didn't care that he's always broke because it's amazing just living in Rome, and he's always trying to get friends from home who are doing nothing with their lives to come over and work with him because even in this crappy job where you barely make enough to survive you get to live abroad in this amazing city and it's a million times better than doing nothing with your life back home.

These guys were so laid back and carefree, just taking it day by day. Though I could never do that. i think it takes a lot of guts to just come over to a foreign country, not speak the language (they didnt) and just kind of, i don't know. But he said they are a really tight knit group and always help each other out so he never has to worry about being hungry or homeless now, he's been here since february.

Crazy, huh?

Monday, week four

Today we started off seeing that baths of Diocletian where are the biggest baths built in ancient Rome, and the second to last to be built in ancient Rome (Constantine's were the last). They spanned a huge area, we walked all over to different points and were crossing streets and going past big hotels which took up part of where the baths were. One part of the baths, the frigidarium, which is the "cold room" is actually now one of Rome's really big churches. Michelangelo just knocked down a wall and added an apse to make it church like and decorated it, but the columns are still the originals from the baths.

We learned that all official business was done by noon since it basically started up at dawn, by 6 AM and people spent the rest of the day at the baths, socializing, eating, exercising, bathing, and there was even prostitutes, which was legal and taxed, though they were slaves so they didn't have a choice. The baths were really a hub of social life. Up until Hadrian's time men and women bathed together but I guess some scandals led to that being done away with.

We also saw the Servean walls, which were the first walls around the city for defense, with a dry moat around them. They actually worked really well, Hannibal got all the way here and decided not to attack Rome (even though it was actually really weak at that point) because the walls were too much trouble. It turned out to be his biggest mistake. Apparently he just thought he would steal all of Rome's allies and build a huge army but it never happened and he was defeated.

We briefly looked in at Sulla's gardens which actually were way below where we were standing. It showed the HUGE discrepancy between ancient ground level and modern ground level. I looked down and It was strange that back in ancient time all the ground was down there, and just got built on again and again until today's level was so much higher.

Our lecture was centered on the empire after Septemius Severus. He was a general and basically got to be emperor because he beat out the other three guys by force. His dynasty lasted for maybe three more emperors but then after him there was 26 emperors over 50 years which is just a very bad sign. The empire gets sacked several times during this period and things aren't looking too good. Finally, along comes Marcus Aurelius, who makes some big changes in the Military, has a civil war to get rid of people he needs to get killed, builds new walls, consolidates the east and west and within 5 years has things looking much improved. He isn't from a very high up family, he's just a general.

He gets this idea that since he cant rule alone, there should be two emperors and two junior emperors and when the senior emperors retire the junior emperors take their place and chose two new juniors. This is called a tetrarchy.Well this backfires because the new emperors chose people who aren't their biological sons for the junior emperor position, and so of the sons aren't happy of being cut out of the new system. So they revolt and try to take power. This is actually how Constantine becomes emperor illegally, he is one of the sons. He's always been known to me as the first Christian emperor but I didn't realize he took power so brutally and illegally. Interesting contrast, huh?

After that I'm pretty sure things go downhill again. By the sack of 410 the Roman empire is pretty much fallen.

So this is my last week in Rome and now comes time to focus on the impending doom of the finals, in Italian and our main class. The professor briefly touched on it today and it seemed pretty terrifying to be honest. I feel like I just got here, I dont remember anything, I'm confused!

Also the barrista where we go for cappuccino every morning started drawing hearts in our cappuccino, in the foam or with chocolate syrup. We giggle madly every time. i think he does it just to get a reaction out of us, but it really makes our morning. Plus the cappuccino is the best thing ever. Today is one the girls' birthday so we might go out to dinner again and to gelato. I'm pretty excited.

Bday recap!

So, my brithday turned out to actually be even better than I had hoped it would be. After class, and my last blog entry, I wandered off into Rome determined to find an affordable dress; I was sure that birthday magic would happen. After about two hours of dresses that didn't fit or cost too much, the magic kicked in. I practically accidently walked into this dress shop completely by chance, on a whim, and everything had the same affordable price and once I started looking I found cute dress after cute dress. Which would be lucky but not magical, yes that's right, it got better.

Not only could I actually buy a dress but the sales ladies treated me like a princess, giving me feedback, helping with sizes, bringing me similar styles and different things to try, all right up to my dressing room and in general being fun and attentive and wonderful. They made it so much fun!! I felt like a princess and thought they were great and loved what they were doing. I could have bought four dresses I absolutely adored but I kept it to two, one cute strapless dress that falls a bit above my knees and is black with white flowers and leaves along the bottom and another more sporty summer dress that laces up at the neck line and flares out after the waist.

Then I even found affordable shoes, and bought my first ever stiletto heels in Rome. Sure I couldnt have imagined how impractical they are, as I learned the hard way, but my, do I love them.

So I got all dressed up in my strapless dress and heels and my roomie, D, and Chris took me out to dinner. Chris paid for my meal as my bday present and it was absolutely amazing food at this quaint place where we sat outdoors. Chris also taught me how to say everything we needed to to the waitress, like can we have some oil for the bread? and can we have the check please? And I think I did well and she definitely appreciated that i was trying out some serious Italian! I felt very proud of myself. Then we went to this phenomenal gelato place and i made myself a fruit medley, mango, strawberry and watermelon. the watermelon flavor had me RAVING , and D paid for that for my bday. I'm STILL obssesed about that watermelong gelato, best flavor I've had in Rome! We ate sitting on church steps watching people go by, it was great.

Then we walked to St Peters at night and it was all lit up and the moon was out shining above. Unfortunately on the way home my feet were so sore I was walking with my arm around Chris' shoulders to alleviate the pain/threat of falling, looking like I was so drunk I couldn't even walk which was IRONIC since of course I didnt drink a drop, and I, of all people, looked like I had gotten smashed and couldnt walk home, not because of 21st bday drinking but thanks to my new shoes. It was rather amusing, and Chris pretty much saved me from falling down every five minutes, since have i mentioned its ALL cobblestone here? Well I was doing great on the cobblestone even in heels, which is a small miracle until my feet were in too much pain for me to be careful. So I clung to Chris D and stumbled along and I thought it was so funny.

Anyway, D and my romie Kelsey went out of their way to get me a bday cake and hid it from me and surprised me with it. I was SO TOUCHED, AND HAPPY AND EXCITED. Really it was a wonderful evening out with some good friends and it was exactly how I wanted my twenty first bday, well in Rome, anyway.

Today we did three days worth of walking tours and were very productive but really what you need to know is that I had my first real Italian canoli, and it was huge and heavenly, and wonderful.

Tomorrow I am free to do whatever I please and it will be glorious! Tonight I think we are going to walk around again and maybe go to a cappucino place that was recommended. So that will be super fun!

Friday (my bday)

So today we learned more about Mitra, the God worshipped in the Mithraeums I was describing yesterday, and I was RIGHT, it WAS secret cult! Basically, it was tolerated but not really approved so they had to meet secretly to be safe. We learned about the god actually being part of a larger religion called Zoroastarianism practiced in what is modern day Iran. We know almost nothing about this religion because no texts survive, except for the archeological remains in Rome that depict Mitra who was actually only a minor God.

It was popular with soldiers because they brought it back form where they were outposted and actually by the time Mitra was "in" most of the soldiers weren't actual Romans but people from all over the empire so they didn't really care about the Roman gods and that's why they adopted Mitra while the aristocrats and emperor didn't.

Anyway, the initiation involved a male (no women allowed) wearing all white and he had to get spattered with the blood of a bull and of a rooster. Why, you ask? Well Mitra's main job was the slaying of the bull, and while that may seem like a pretty insignificant role to us, it was a big deal back then since sacrifice was in and all.

The traditional depiction of Mitra is of him killing a bull while a dog laps up the blood and a scorpion bites of the bull's testicles. Yeah it's really strange, but that makes me love it more because it's so eerie.

Also, the followers were very into mathematics and astrology and had different ranks that corresponded to the seven heavenly bodies, which were the planets visible to the eye. Mitra also represented transitions, like light to dark and birth and death. One main selling point was it promised an afterlife, unlike the Roman religion which said when you died you just went into limbo.

This made it a competitor of Christianity and eventually Christianity stamped it out and built churches on top of the mithraeums which was no coincidence!

We also learned about the circus maximus which was a huge arena that held 250,000 people and was 5 to 6 football fields long! It was mainly used for these absolutely isane chariot races where people would shove each other while racing, or bribe each other before hand, and there was these crazy crashes and it just sounded like Nascar on steriods.

Another highlight was we saw this man made hill and how it was made was amazing. Basically olive oil was transported in huge jars about waist high, but couldn't be reused because the oil would spoil if they were reused. So what they did with these huge jars was to smash them up into very precise pieces in a very specific way and piled them up with dirt between them to create terrences that created a hill. Today you can see all the layers of jar pieces when you look at the hill! It was calculated that it was made up of 23 million jars over two hundred years. That gives you an idea of how many jars they were importing!

Also, it's my birthday and this morning, everyone said happy birthday! I wore my white dress with poppies on it and everyone thought I had bought it here in Italy which made me feel very stylish. Tonight we are going to go out to dinner and get gelato which should be fun.

Thursday

Today was another of my favorite days. We went to a church that had an older church below it, and THEN had an even older ancient house that had become a mithraeum later. A mithraeum was a cave like place, because the myth associated with the god worshiped there took place in a cave. Basically some ancient man donated his house to be a place where people went to worship this god Mithos who was actually a Persian God that became popular with soldiers in the 3rd century AD. However it sounded more like a secret cult to me and only men were allowed. It was vastly different from the usual Roman worship of Gods and so it had an air of mystery, I believe even back then. Anyway the whole ancient building had just been walled off when the church was built above it so it was almost perfectly preserved because no one had access to go in and smash and deface things, it just sat untouched for centuries, well I'm not sure for how long but thats what i would guess. We saw altars and cave like rooms for worship and even the old church built atop it, which now has yet ANOTHER church on top of that, was very old from the 5th century AD and was amazing.

So, because they had kept building on top of each thing to get to the ancient part you have to go way way way way far underground through levels of different structures through the ages, its like it has a bunch of basements and sub-basements, but you have to remember when they were built they were all on GROUND LEVEL, and the ground level has just risen higher and higher putting them underground deeper and deeper as you get into the more ancient parts.

It was intensely eerie and magical being in these deep underground rooms of worship for this mysterious cult like group. Can you imagine?

Anyway, after that we went to this round church that had scenes of how the Romans tortured the Christians around the walls and it was extremely gruesome, people having hot lead being poured down their throats, being ripped apart or dumped into boiling oil, yes, those scenes. I thought it was strange the Christians chose to decorate their own church like this, but the last panel did show their triumph over it all. It was still a rather disturbing visit for me.

I wish I had more time but we have to go so I hope that was enough.

Wednesday

Hello everyone!

Yesterday we spent two and a half hours at the vatican museum and I couldnt have predicted how much amazing stuff is in there. i was just in awe the whole time, which I'm sure I've said about a few dozen experiences by now. But they had lots of Egyptian relics which was my favorite since I am always interested in ancient Egypt. They had more statues than I could count and I actually recognized some, and others I knew the stories behind the figures, for example A statue of Antonius (that's a male by the way)made me extremely happy because he was Hadrians lover. While hadrian had a wife, they weren't close and his real love was Antonius, most say anyway. When antonius drowned during a cruise on the Nile, Hadrian pretty much went mad with grief and erected all these staues and temples dedicated to Antonius. It's such a tragic story. But a lot of the background stories weren't provided, so you had to know who the person was on your own mostly. I also recognized Hercules without needing to be told, and a river god just by his lying down position, and guy who is laying down is usually a river god. So it was real neat to know some of the background when i went to the museum!

And of course the Sistine chapel was breath-taking. You cannot imagine the amount of detail in these scenes in this huge chapel. I dont know how it was done by one man!!!

After the Sistine chapel we left the museum and did a walking tour that took us up the Janiculum hill. We rain into the most beautiful wedding at one of our sites. The view atop the hill was breath-taking and the bride was having her wedding pictures done in the small tempietto by the church and right then I just wanted to be married in Italy, in Rome. The bride of course looked like a model and coming out of this picturesque church I was so jealous.

Anyway, after that I actually did meet up with my friend Chris who had taken the spring course at the institute and talking to him was really helpful as he spent much more time in Rome than I have. He's here for two months and trying to get a job here actually, since his Italian is beyond beginner.

Today we took the metro out to Ostia, a city outside of Rome that was originally a Roman colony. It was first a military base guarding the beginning of the Tiber, but also became an extremely important port because of it's location and Rome's grain was often brough from Ostia to Rome after it came from Egypt.

The site was rather we preserved in comparison to Roman ruins because it was not part of a city, so there were no modern buildings or roads and you really got the feel of what it was like living in ancient times since there was little sign of civilization once you go into the site.

We began our walk in the city of the dead, which was made up of buildings where cremation ashes were kept. You could still see all the little niches where each jar went. This was technically outside the city since they never buried their dead inside the city walls.

We saw warehouses filled withrows of jars which are now actually mostly emabedded in the ground, you just see the tops peeking up and one of the best preserved examples of insulae, the term for apartments, called Diana's house. We also saw a latrine! Yes, a bathroom, with the marble toilettes still in tact!! Really it was a long bench with holes cut in it, but under the "bench" would be running water to take the waste away.

We saw a theater and sat in the seats, since it has been restored and saw all the little shops. We also saw the public baths, where there was an area for exercise and hot, warm, and cold rooms so you could bathe at different temperatures, though I think there was a certain order you were meant to go from one to another in but it's debated exactly how it was done.

It was probably one of my favorite sites. We even went into an inn where people stoped and got food and drink as they traveled. You could still see the counter and shelves!!!!! It was so cool to be in the little town/city!

Unfortunately we got back at 1:40 instead of noon and so for Italian the gelato trip has been rescheduled yet again!!! Tomorrow hopefully nothing will happen! Well off to do a few other things now!

Tuesday!

So, today is an Italian holiday, I think I mentioned it. The institute (we call the school the institute because its called the American Institute for Roman culture, but every time I say it I think of x-men,haha) is having a breakfast party sort of thing and letting us watch from the windows since it's right along the parade route. This holiday celebrates the forming of the country in 1870, so it's like their fourth of July. I hope we get a good view of the parade from here, over an hour before it was scheduled to start the street was packed, we could barely get though people filling the sidewalks to get to the school! But it will be nice not to have to stand squished up against people trying to see over their heads!

On our way here we saw tons of guards in very regal, traditional looking outfits in formation on the steps of the Vittorio Emanuele monument and in front of it. the streets are blocked off and it seems like a big deal, police are everywhere. Even now I can hear music and jets are flying by in formation with Italian colors streaming behind them, warming up for the big show.

After the parade we are going to the Vatican museum to see the Sistine chapel and then to do a walking tour in that area. After that I'm hoping to meet up with a friend who happens to be in Rome for a few months this summer. He's from Holy Cross and studied at the institute in the spring and decided to stay in Rome even longer I guess.

This morning I made a huge discovery. Nutella and strawberry jelly tastes exactly like a chocolate covered strawberry. Yes folks, this is what I get excited about in Rome. I cant believe I only have eleven days left!

Tomorrow for Italian we go to the Geletaria since we didn't go on Monday. That should be fun! I think that's all for now.

You wont BELIEVE THIS...

Today we woke up and it was cloudy. So, being the smart person I am I brought my umbrella and my really good rain jacket. However, neither helped when it down poured. I mean torrential rain and it was thundering. And we still had our two and a half hour class outside, huddled under umbrellas, even with the wind blowing rain at us. It lasted a good twenty minutes at a time with it being very heavy rain so that we couldn't even hear what he was saying and were all to cold and wet to care to be honest.

At one point the girl couldn't even finish her presentation the rain was so loud we had to run under trees just to continue class. And still we couldn't go into the classrooms despite being rather close by. Also, our shoes soaked through and so did our pants, our bags were soaked through and no one could take notes because we were holding umbrellas and even then my notebook was still damp. Even when the rain let up the wind was still cold and we were all really wet by that time. It was miserable. Granted after class we went home and changed and i felt just dandy...until I opened my backpack. My books and notebooks were ruined. It looked like they had been dipped in water and all my walking tour answers that I meticulously wrote out very neatly were in there. I mean pages and pages of work now smudged and wet. The book I paid like about 50 dollars for (our text book) is now water stained and my camera was wet as well. I turned on the camera and it went on but I am nervous, it was a gift from my dad.

I really just wanted to cry because there was no need to keep us outside when we were so close to the school (a ten minute walk) when the rain was so severe and lasted so long. My shoes which I THINK were waterproof got so soaked I wont be able to wear them for at least a day until they dry.

I went back to the apartment and made myself a p b and j but was still in a bad mood so I had nutshell on bread. I bought it because its a whole euro cheaper than peanut butter not realizing its basically chocolate spread. And its GLORIOUS. Its like, chocolate...in peanut butter consistency. Granted its probably horrible for you and doesn't go with jelly, it somewhat soothed me. I also then took a nap. I'm feeling better but that doesn't erase the water damage to my things. I am going to have to use a damaged book and notebook for the rest of the program. And the other part is its going to rain for a few more days and it will be the same, we will be outside for hours in it. Plus don't forget every day we have walking tours to get done. Luckily I used Sunday to get today's and Wednesdays done.

One of our assignments is to go see the Sistine chapel, which is good BUT we have so little time to do these walking tours I hate it being rushed. And it is part of the museums at the Vatican, but our professor told us you cant do the museum in the order you want, you have to go through two and a half hours of stuff before you get to the Sistine chapel. Isn't that crazy? They have a route you have to take through the museum and it's so crowded you just march along behind people until you finally get to what you want to see. Which is annoying.

Sorry this has been a huge rant, but it really needed to get out! As for what we saw we barely saw much today and I learned virtually nothing because of the condition but I suppose Ill mention it:

The Colosseum
The arch of Constantine
Remains of the temple of Venus and Roma
Remains of one of the Gladiatorial schools.

It was kind of neat to learn about gladiators, who were actually slaves because they were dispensible and often didnt last over ten years, either fighting wild animals or each other- basically they made their owners money the better they were at fighting, like a race horse or something. People bet on them and trained them and then had them fight. I know its pretty disgusting that they were so expendable but it was totally normal back then because slavery was the norm.

For Italian we were supposed to go to a place and see how they make gelato but that got canceled which is also sad. I hope we reschedule, I was looking forward to an interactive field trip lesson. Ah well. We have tomorrow off for the Italian version of the fourth of July- haha. But if it rains we wont get anything done, so pray it doesnt everyone, PLEASE!