The Final Countdown (June 18th-June 21st)

Well, ladies and gentleman, this week was the final week of the Summer A term...which meant two things. 1) Next week Shelley, Jennifer, Jenn, and me would be heading out to Paris, London, and Normandy. and 2) It was time for the St. John's kids to make their way home to New York.

I'll be the first to say that these past 4 weeks have flown by. It feels like just yesterday I was boarding the plane in Jacksonville on my way here to Rome...and though I'm not leaving, having the St. John's kids leaving marks the mid-way point in my Italy adventure. Tonight was the farewell dinner at a local restaurant. Everyone gathered for one last night as a group. Tomorrow, my group would leave for Paris and the St. John's group would leave for Venice. Dylan made a wonderful toast, Hangover quotes and all. (video on my Facebook page). It's hard to really reflect back on the whole trip and highlight my absolute favorite parts. And it's especially hard to do it without sounding incredibly cheesy and cliche. So, as per usual, I have made a short Farewell video...

Tomorrow morning, at 3:45 a.m., I'll be rollin' out to Paris, France. Though I'm not bringing my computer, I will have my Droid to "take notes" on. Hopefully, this time when I return from my vacation within a vacation I won't take nearly as long to get caught up with my writing. Until July 1st, Ciao! Bon voyage! Orevuar!

A Week of Work (June 11th-June 17th)

You know those weeks where you feel like you're just running around and never really get a chance to stop and smell the roses? (in Rome's case...the city). Well, this was one of those weeks. If I broke it up into a day by day post, you'd probably be extremely bored and disappointed. So, I figured this go round I'd just do a whole ESPN highlights kind of deal, except with my life.

Round 1 of UF exams were finally here. A small part of me thought that they would never come, and that our study abroad experience would just become an "abroad" experience. False. Marketing exam on Tuesday, Management exam on Thursday. In Gainesville, a week like this would consist of me just sitting in my room all day studying, watching Ellen, and napping periodically. In Rome, however, I still was expected to go to Italian class every day for 4 hours and also to get out in the world and see things. Like the Pope.

Wednesday morning, everyone, St. John's kids and all, went to the Papal audience. Every Wednesday and Sunday, the Pope comes out and greets the people of Rome. Lines were bound to be long, so we got a early start and headed out at 8:30. (Two hours early). Even with the head start, the Vatican was packed with people from all across the world. Lines were completely disregarded and we all just made a run/shove for it. For some reason, the Papal audience was held inside today...possibly because of impending bad weather that never came. Greeted by the super fashionable Swiss Guard, we made our way inside to a giant auditorium and prepared to wait. When the Pope finally made his way out, the crowd erupted like he was a Hollywood star or a famous athlete....or the head of the Catholic Church. The Pope speaks a lot of languages, 6 or 7 I think, English being one of them. He addressed everyone in their own language and also called out to specific groups present in the audience, St. John's included. Well, he didn't call out to the groups, but this really cool guy with an awesome old school British accent did.

The St. John's crew (plus Josh from Oklahoma State) are leaving soon. So, we tried (and succeeded) to organize a group beach day to Nettuno Beach on Saturday. A "short" hour train ride would take us to Nettuno where we would have to walk 10-15 minutes to arrive at the public beach. It was beautiful. Black sand and all. The water was crystal clear and beyond blue. And beyond cold. A group of us ventured out into the salty sea and swam to a line of rocks in the distance (a longer distance than we had anticipated) The weather was absolutely beautiful and not humid, unlike Florida. Surprisingly, I don't think a single person got sun burnt. Other than the sandy/dirty train ride home, it was a rather lovely outing. Good group bonding time. It's unfortunate that we are all becoming so close right as everyone is getting ready to leave to go back to New York. (How many of you read "New York" with an accent? I sure typed it with one.)

As we are getting closer and closer to the St. John's students leaving, us UF kids have to start planning our trip for the week summer break we have coming up. Details to follow of course. Hope you all are having a fabulous day, wherever you are!

Positano and the Amalfi Coast (June 9th-June 10th)

June 9th, 2012

After yet another poor night's sleep, the eight of us woke up bright and early to catch the first bus into town. This bus would take us to a bigger, nicer bus that would travel on a 45 minute journey to the town of Positano. Poistano is another small town along the coast of Amalfi, similar to Sorrento. I ended up "sleeping" for most of the bus ride there. I was extremely tired and couldn't help but nodding off, literally. However, I woke up startled when I heard a bunch of commotion in the bus. I opened my eyes to see another Astro bus, trying to pass on the extremely narrow road. The two bus drivers maneuvered back and forth, back and forth, until one of them finally felt comfortable passing the other. And did so...with maybe 3 inches to spare. I'm pretty sure I heard on of the tires from each bus nudge each other, that's how close we were. Once we regained our position on the road, the bus broke into applause for the driver, who just nodded humbly. I'm sorry, but if I was our driver I probably would've burst out in quick chorus of "All I do is Win" or "Dirt Off Your Shoulder".

After what seemed like an eternity of winding roads and perilous cliffs, we made it Positano. We were not on a guided tour today, so we would be responsible for finding the times of the buses that go back to Sorrento and making our way to the bus stop at the appropriate time. Within 5 minutes of walking down a street, we stopped in a bakery for canoles. I'm personally not a huge fan of canoles, but my group said that they were delicious and I believe them. The streets in Positano are much more...angled than the streets in Sorrento. Walking to and from little shops requires a moderate quad/hamstring/glute workout. One of the shops we visited was playing Aladdin's "A Whole New World" in Italian and Jennifer and I felt the need to burst into song and dance. (small portion can be found in Jennifer's video on my Facebook wall). I am so glad that there is someone else in my group that just enjoys being extremely goofy. My favorite store we found was full of paintings. Particularly, of trees. Now anyone that truly knows me knows that I have a small obsession with trees. These paintings were absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, by this point in the trip my camera had died so I don't have any pictures of them, so you'll have to take my word for it. (Like you have another option.)

By 1:30 or so, Jennifer, Kaleb, Shelley, and me were completely exhausted. A few days of no sleep and extensive walking around will certainly take a toll on the body. We decided to make our way to the bus stop after a quick sandwich for lunch. Our timing for the bus was impeccable. We may have waited 5 minutes before the big blue bus came around the corner and picked us up. The brief amount of air conditioning on the bus was a relief and we made our way back down and around the mountain. Our little green cabins welcomed us back with open arms, but we didn't stay long. A quick freshening up and we were headed back down to town, on yet another bus. It was safe to say that by this point, we were feeling pretty comfortable with this whole "public transportation" thing. Dinner tonight was at a small local American place, where I ordered a cheeseburger and fries. Praise God for American food. Every now and then, there's not much better.

Tomorrow, Melissa, Joanna, and Katie would head out early to spend the day in Naples before catching our evening train. Jenn made her way back to Rome this evening to meet up with her friends for the weekend. Kaleb, Jennifer, Shelley and I would spend the morning at the pool and then make our way back to the Naples train station.

June 10th, 2012

The night before was the best sleep I had in our little green home. I think I may have gotten a solid 6 hours. The remainder of our group spent the morning lounging by the pool, where we all got some good color. We had lunch at the same American place as the previous night. I know, I know. We repeated and that's against the rules. Sorry. We were just looking for somewhere quick and filling before catching our commuter train to Naples....and I think we all wanted some more American food. This go round I had a hot dog and fries. Best hot dog ever. What makes it the best hot dog ever you ask? Well, 1) It was huge. 2) The bun was two separate pieces of a giant hoagie roll toasted and 3) it was only 5 euros for the hot dog and french fries. Success. We hopped aboard the commuter train exactly one minute before it was scheduled to pull out of the station. We were officially public transportation professionals. An hour later, we arrived at the Naples train station where we proceeded to wait for two hours for our departing train to Rome. While in the train station, we befriended a stray dog. I was told not to talk to strangers as a child, but stray dogs are fair game.

Our train back home was a vibrant red like the Hogwarts Express, but there was still no sign of Hagrid. After an hour train ride, there was something about stepping of the metro and onto the street in Rome that was extremely comforting. We obviously had an amazing weekend away from Rome, but there's something to be said about coming "home". After a much needed shower, I threw my hiker's backpack in the corner, turned my sleep machine on, and passed out on my bed.

Capri (June 8th)

Well, I can't say that sleeping in Cabin 17 was the best night's sleep I've had. Oh well. Ready or not, at 8 a.m, we marched down the side of the mountain of our campsite to a rather large rock. It was here that the boat would be picking us (and 30 other people) up for our tour of the island of Capri (actually pronounced KAH-pri). As we climbed aboard the boat, I noticed a couple that brought their dog on the boat with them. Italy sure is something. Dogs get to do everything and go everywhere; I love it. The eight of us got the best seats in the house...the bow of the boat. With the breeze blowing in my hair and the gorgeous view ahead, I felt like I was aboard the Titanic. Except for the part where the ship sinks and everybody dies. Before we would actually dock on the island of Capri, we made our way around the southern part of the island and to the Blue Grotto cave. The Blue Grotto is famous...well, for being blue. The rocks that form the cave don't touch the bottom of the ocean so the sunlight comes up underneath them and creates a luminous effect when inside the cave.

Our big boat pulled up to the Blue Grotto, where dozens of other boats were waiting for their chance to go inside as well. Little by little, small boats pulled up to the side of our boat and people got in, four at a time. These boats resembled the boat from The Notebook, for those of you that have seen that movie. Aka, all of you. Shelley, Jennifer, and I made our way towards the Blue Grotto with our tour guide. In order to get into the cave, you must lie completely flat until the boat makes its way under the entrance and into the cave. How exciting! Once inside the cave, it's pitch black except for the water. It was by the far the most beautifully blue water I have ever seen in my lifetime. I wish I could've stayed longer...unfortunately, the Blue Grotto has become somewhat (very much so) a tourist trap and for 12.50 euro, customers tour the cave for less than two minutes. My boat was pretty bummed when we exited the cave so quickly, but it was one of those times when you had to bite the bullet and do it. Once in a lifetime.

After the Blue Grotto, we made our way to Marina Piccola (small marina) and docked the boat. We would have almost six hours to explore the island of Capri by ourselves before rendezvousing with everyone at 4:00 p.m. Now, six hours is a lot of time to try to condense into a few paragraphs, so bear with me.

The eight of us split up into two groups: 1) Jenn, Jennifer, Shelley, and I 2) Melissa, Joanna, Kaleb, and Katie. Now I can't tell you all about their time on Capri, but I'm sure it was wonderful. My time on Capri began with a bus ride up the mountain. Having been in Sorrento the previous day, I figured bus rides here would be similar. Not the case. The roads in Capri are twice as windy and three times as narrow. Buses fly around corners and come within inches of walls and other buses traveling up and down the island. All I know is that my mother and my aunt Kathy would not have done well with the transportation. Our bus took us to the far side of the island, called Anacapri. Once off the bus, I was immediately ten times happier and excited to begin our day. The main thing we wanted to do in Anacapri was ride a chair lift up the mountain. Thanks to Jenn, we knew exactly where to go and exactly how much it would cost. For 10 euro, we purchased a round trip ticket up the mountain on a chairlift. Money well spent. This chairlift was well over 15 minutes each way, and the view was breathtaking as I'm sure you would assume. Even from way on top of the mountain, the water looked just as perfectly blue. Once we made our way up the mountain, we spent a solid hour or so walking around up top, taking in the views, and of course...socializing with other people. Many of the people in Capri were tourists, so most spoke English. As per usual, the Schmidt extrovert gene in me came out and I made a few friends. Passing by what looked like a podium, Jennifer and I felt the need to Tebow, and did so with a few praises from the "crowd". After making our way back down the mountainside, we climbed aboard yet another bus and took it back to the town of Capri.

The town of Capri very much resembled Sorrento in the way that the streets were all lined with little shops, many of them carrying Limoncello. While perusing the shops, we discovered that Capri is VERY expensive and resolved to not purchase anything. Well, almost. Shelley bought a couple of charms for her charm bracelet and that was it. Oh, and I bought the most delicious lemon slushie I have ever drank in my life. But that was it. We spent the remainder of our time in Capri hanging out on the beach, after meeting up with the rest of our group. Contrary to the beaches in Florida, Capri's beach is lined with rocks...and the water is ice cold. Nonetheless, we waded into the water, climbed aboard a giant rock, held hands, jumped off it, and screamed like girls do as we plummeted into the freezing water below us.

At 4:00 p.m., on the dot, we boarded the boat back to Sorrento. By the time we made it back to Sorrento, we had made our way around the entire island of Capri. It was by far my favorite place we have visited to date. Exhausted from our trip, we grabbed a quick bite of pizza for dinner before calling it a night. Jennifer brought her video camera along for the trip and created a brief video of our trip, which can be seen on my Facebook profile page. Enjoy! :)

My Birthday: Part 2 of 2 (June 7th)

Upon arriving at our hostel, we glanced up at the sign that read "Village Camping". Yes, we would be camping. Or very close to it. We were one step up from tents, miniature cabins. The eight of us would split up into three different cabins: 1) Me, Jenn, Kaleb 2) Melissa, Joanna, Katie 3) Jennifer and Shelley. Guided by the "English speaking" personnel, we arrived at each of our respected cabins...and laughed out loud. It looked exactly what I imagined it would look like for 9 euros a night. Each cabin was a small, bright green house on wheels. Ours included: one queen sized, one twin sized bed, cheap wood paneling, two electrical outlet, one window, and no air conditioning. Yes, there was no AC. *gasp* The eight of us put on our happy-go-lucky faces and just looked at the situation like a group of great stories waiting to unfold.

After setting our luggage (in my case, backpack) down in our very hot cabins, we made our way back to the entrance of the campgrounds and waited for another bus to come take us down the mountain and into town. The goal for the night was to explore the town of Sorrento and find a local place to have my celebratory birthday dinner. Once we made it down the mountain, we hopped of the city bus, picked a street that looked busy, and started walking. Every other store was full of Limoncello, where they gladly handed out free samples of their precious drink. From just the Limoncello drink to chocolate balls filled with Limoncello, it was very clear that Sorrento is famous for lemons and very proud of it. Many of their other stores were filled with shoes, leather bags, and other nice products. It was very relaxing to spend a few hours just strolling up and down cobblestone streets exploring the small shops. Around 6:30 or so, I began to get very hungry. Being the birthday girl, it was my choice for dinner. However, I had no idea where in the world to go and Jenn had looked up a place in her Rick Steve's book for dinner where they served seafood on the water. I love seafood, so it was decided. Jenn is sort of like our pack leader. With her Rick Steve's travel guide book always handy, she has places for us to visit and knows how to get to them. Within twenty minutes or so, we made it to our dinner place. (I forgot the name) It was a breathtaking view as the sun was setting and the weather was perfect.

The menu was small and didn't included the typical seafood that I am used to seeing. Examples are: catch of the day (sea bass), anchovies, fried mixed fish (no idea what kind), and fried calamari. I settled on the calamari for 10 euros. When my calamari arrived, most of it looked like onion rings. And...there were three miniature squids, tentacles and all. No sauce, no fries, just the calamari. I pushed the thought of what I was eating out of my mind, squirted some lemon juice across my plate, and began eating my dinner. It really wasn't that bad once I stopped thinking about it, but there wasn't a whole lot of food and I was still hungry afterwards. Kaleb befriended a stray cat at dinner which he decided to call "Charles". He fed/threw him leftover calamari and gnocchi, some of which landed on Charles' back and caused quite the laugh at dinner. Around 10:00 or so we made our way back up the mountain to our campsite, this time by foot. Fireworks (someone probably told them it was my birthday) illuminated the night sky from a boat out in the harbor. Tomorrow we would take a boat tour to the island of Capri, but for now, it was time to get some shut eye in Cabin 17.

My Birthday: Part 1 of 2 (June 7th)

June 7, 2012

Hello there. Just a heads up: these next posts will probably end up being rather long. So, pour yourself a cup of hot coffee or a glass of wine, grab a blanket, plop down on a chair, prop your feet up, and get comfortable.

My birthday actually began in the gym. At 7:30 a.m. Before leaving for four days, Kaleb and I decided it would be a fantastic idea to workout the morning that we left. Well, it was something. My body is not nearly ready for that kind of movement at 7:30 in the morning, but I'm glad we got a workout in. It's nice having someone else here that thrives on working out as well; we make a good team.

After working out, showering, and packing with lightening speed, we all hopped on the Metro for a ride to the train station. Can't say that I hated the metro any less this time around, but I was excited to get to the train station. I would like to tell myself that I have a pretty good sense of direction, especially when it comes to airports and theme parks. However, that "sense of direction" of mine was a little less prominent when everything was in Italian. With the eight of us all putting our smart UF brains together, we managed to come to a conclusion on where our train would be pulling out of. We found a mob of people all staring at an electronic board with departure times and "bin" numbers as they call them here in Italy. Apparently, the procedure is to stand around and watch the sign until your train is assigned a bin for departure. The bin assignment usually happens within 10 minutes of the scheduled time to leave, so when that number flashes up on the screen, mobs of people start flying in different directions, dragging their belongings with them through the crowds. When our bin number finally flashed on the screen around 10:30 (time to depart was 10:39), we scurried our way over to the train and boarded. I was seated in Car 8, Seat 15. Joining me in my cabin were Kaleb and Jenn. These little train cabins are exactly what I expected them to look like after reading the Harry Potter series; however, we were not aboard the Hogwarts Express and the trolley with Chocolate Frogs never came by. That being said, shortly after the scheduled departure time, I was pulling out of the train station on my very first train ride.

Riding a train is very similar to flying in an airplane. The only differences are that you have more room in a train, tickets are cheaper, and you never get in the air. So, at least in Europe, train is the preferred method of travel. It was a quick two hours to Naples, Italy and I "slept" for most of the way. I have trouble sleeping sitting up, so that's why slept was in quotes; I never actually fell asleep, but I was very relaxed. Upon arriving in the Naples train station and meeting up with the rest of our group, we headed to the ticket office to buy a commuter train ticket for 4 euros that would take us into the little town of Sorrento. We bought our tickets at 13:00 (Italy runs on military time) and the next train was leaving at 13:11. By the end of this trip, we were public transportation pros; this was our first test. As a group of eight, we moved through lines (mobs) of people and made our way to the platform (sadly not 9 3/4) where the train would be arriving. Now, this commuter train works very differently than the train we took to Naples. Seats are not guaranteed, they are first come, first serve. Despite our Italian efforts of disregarding lines and making our way to the front, when the train pulled up there were no seats available and we perched up by the handrails and stood. Our commuter train would take 1 hour to reach the town of Sorrento, with 33 stops along the way. I was discouraged at first with the possibility of standing for an hour touching a dirty pole, but as we got further and further away from Naples the crowd began to thin out and we all got seats, one by one. Once seated, the train ride was a breeze, figuratively speaking. There was no AC and certainly no breeze blowing through the train.

Once in the town of Sorrento, we purchased yet another ticket for the bus that would take us up to our hostel. Public mode of transportation number two. Unfortunately, the next bus wasn't coming for over an hour so we decided to have a bite to eat at a restaurant by the bus stop. It was a smart move; I was absolutely famished. Sorrento, as we would come to find out, is a very touristy town. Most of the restaurants either cater to Americans with their menus or with their staff that speaks English. Our lunch spot did both. I ordered a Caesar salad and a Coca Cola. I had been craving a Caesar salad since we got to Italy, so I was pumped. Most of my group ordered burgers and fries. I guess we were all just craving some American food. My Coca Cola came out in a old fashioned bottle with a glass of ICE. I can't tell you how much I have missed cold beverages with ice, so that small gesture by this restaurant completely made my birthday. My Caesar salad did not look like the Caesar salads we make back home. Sorry I don't have a picture to show you, but I will do my best to describe it. There were four clumps of Romaine lettuce, topped with mounds of chopped bacon, a few croutons, smothered in dressing, surrounded by eight semi-circles of thick cut Parmesan cheese. Needless to say, it was delicious.

Our lunch ended with complementary samples of Sorrento's famous liquor, Limoncello. Sorrento is famous for their lemons and limes, and for the liquor and other drinks that they make with them. The Limoncello was very lemon-y and rather harsh. My throat burnt for a little bit afterwards. Can't say I would buy it on my own, but it was interesting to try. With our window of time running out before the next scheduled bus, we paid and made our way to the bus stop. And waited. And waited some more. Fun fact: Italians are never on time; they much prefer a more laid-back lifestyle with no need for punctuality. So, about 20 minutes or so after the scheduled arrival time, we boarded the city bus and made our way up the mountain. We had printed of the address of our hostel and shown it to the driver, hoping he would let us know when to get off, and he did. We hopped of the bus and began walking in the direction we believed was towards our hostel. The streets in Sorrento have no sidewalks and cars and mopeds come racing around corners so we all lined up single-file and marched our way to our home for the weekend.

Preparing for Sorrento, Sort of (June 4th-June 6th)

June 4, 2012

Well, I woke up feeling significantly better this morning. You may now stop your worrying and sending healing vibes my way. Thank you. This morning, I ventured to the local gym here in Italy. Kaleb and I are the "fitness nuts" of the group I guess, so we are now workout buddies. Unfortunately, his workouts are all on the erg (rowing machine) which makes for less than fantastic times. Fortunately, I do whatever I want. After doing Crossfit for the past seven months or so, I've gotten in pretty darn good shape. Or so I tell myself. But, Crossfit doesn't exist in Italy so I am having to improvise. My workout today consisted mostly of running on the treadmill and trying to lift weights by picking up dumbbells thinking they were measured in pounds and quickly realizing they were measured in kilograms. Darn you metric system. That being said, I'm excited to work out over the coming months and try my best to stay in shape. Gotta work off that Gelato...

After my morning workout, I took a shower. Surprise, surprise. Now without getting too weird on you guys, let's just say that taking showers in small rectangular places are hard. When it comes to shaving your legs, forget about it. I just shoot for like 60%. Following my refreshing shower, I had breakfast and prepared for class. Nothing too exciting. Italian was....Italian. We have our midterm tomorrow afternoon, so I will be studying for that all night. Well, actually I think we are trying to book our reservations for the weekend excursion ahead of us...so basically I'm going to study for like 30 minutes or an hour and then go to bed.

Tomorrow is Kaleb's (and my momma's!!) birthday, so after our examination in the afternoon I have been told that we are "going out" for the night. I think the whole crew of us is going, St. John's kids and all. Should be a good time. Side note/fun fact: I'm starting to become better friends with the St. John's kids. Yay. Friends in New York when I go to visit. So, I guess I should shout out to all my NYC people. (I know at least one of them reads my blog) HOLA.

June 5, 2012

Happy birthday to my beautiful, amazing mother! I am so sorry that I wasn't there to celebrate this big day, but I hope it was wonderful. Also, happy birthday to Kaleb! Two awesome people have birthdays today. Today was the day for our Italian 1 midterm exam. This whole study abroad thing becomes rather difficult when I actually have to study. I'll be the first to tell you it's nearly impossible to sit down and study in the city of Rome. Just not happening. I probably sound like an awful student right now...sorry to burst everyone's bubble. Either way, after maybe 30 minutes of studying or so, I took my Italian exam. I actually thought it was rather easy; I suppose in a few days my grade will tell me if I was right or completely wrong.

Tonight was the night that everyone was going out for Kaleb's birthday. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well today and Jenn and I decided to hang back and try to recover. We were aiming to be healthy for our weekend excursion. Sadly, we had to sacrifice Kaleb's birthday party in order to make that happen. With a few Ziacam tablets and one Benedryl, I dozed off into a deep sleep hoping to wake up on the other side feeling rested and ready to go.

June 6, 2012

Tomorrow we leave for our weekend excursion to Sorrento, Italy. And, tomorrow is my birthday. Best. Birthday. Ever. Today was supposed to be a "get ready for the weekend day"...not so much. I ended up watching UF lectures for most of the day. After class, Kaleb and I went to the gym for a workout and then headed to the supermarket to pick up some things for a quick dinner. Prosciutto ravioli, mashed potatoes, and oranges. Not the most impressive dinner I've thrown together, but still pretty tasty. While we were cooking dinner, we were joined by the 3rd floor St. John's kids. Most of the guys are pretty impressed by my cooking so far ;) I was invited to play cards downstairs and watch the soccer game with everyone, so I opted to do that instead of packing. Hindsight 20/20: probably should've packed some that night. Cards was fun though. I played a new game called "31", similar to the game of Blackjack and Spoons (for those of you that play cards) and ended up winning the entire game. Beginner's luck? I don't know. One of the guys, John, actually crafted a meme for me (seen above) about this particular event. If you don't know what memes are...don't worry about it. Not critical to understanding the rest of my future blogs :) I was treated to a victory Gelato by one of the guys, Darren. I had melon and strawberry again...by far my favorite combination yet.

As midnight approached here in Rome, I knew I was somewhat cheating by celebrating my birthday "early". In the states it was only 6 o'clock, but here, it was officially my birthday. At exactly midnight in Rome, my momma and daddy sang to me over Facetime and they were followed shortly thereafter by Jennifer, Katie, and Melissa singing to me in person. If that didn't make me feel special enough, Darren surprised me with a birthday rose from one of the creepy vendors on the street (Brave man). At midnight on June 6th/June 7th, I felt like a very special lady. I was looking forward to traveling to Sorrento tomorrow and starting a wonderful birthday weekend in Italy.
 

Relaxing in Rome (May 30th-June 3rd)

May 30th, 2012

Today was yet another day for Italian 1. From 1:00-5:15 p.m, I sat in a small classroom and tried to learn Italian. Italian is very similar to Spanish and I have a solid understanding of Spanish and could probably speak it if I had to. I thought that knowing Spanish would make Italian easier...wrong. Though it does occasionally help me decipher what words mean, it usually confuses me. I tend to want to put o's and s's where i's should go and all sorts of stuff. That being said, we had a quiz today and I think I did rather well. This class is very fast paced. It's only day three and we have our midterm examination next Tuesday!


After class, we all went back up to our rooms and relaxed. Listening to someone speak for four hours a day is rather exhausting. Because eating out every night for dinner can get rather expensive, most of us have either bought food to cook meals or bought meals. We have been just eating on our own for the most part as of late. If I remember correctly, I had three bowls of cereal for dinner. Their bowls are more of a combination between bowls and plates. (I don't think they sell plates) I usually don't like cereal because it gets soggy so fast, but with these shallow bowls, it never does. Needless to say, I have become a big cereal fan. I spent a good portion of my evening doing schoolwork, which included studying for Italian, watching lectures for Marketing and Management, and outlining the corresponding chapters in the books.

Around 10:30 or so, the group of UF students and couple of St. John's students "went out" as the college kids say. We went to an American bar called the Drunken Ship and sang karaoke. I'm not really a huge fan of going out, I personally prefer to sleep, but it was fun hanging out with everyone and singing songs on stage. There's not much dancing that goes on at pubs/bars/clubs in Italy, it seems to be more karaoke which is interesting. I enjoy going out merely for the fabulous people watching that I get to do. I think it get it from my daddy, but I love watching people and trying to come up with their life stories or at least stories for the night. Though I enjoyed myself, I hope that the next time we go out we go to an Italian bar to get the Italian culture experience.

May 31st, 2012

Thursday was another rather uneventful day. It basically mirrored Wednesday in the fact that I spent a large amount of time in class and then studying. I guess this is a Study Abroad program, so that makes sense, right? I figured I'd use this day to tell you some things I have discovered about Italy/some things that I appreciate about America.

1. Cities are loud. Rome is a very compact city, with most buildings stretching upward rather than outward. This means that noises echo throughout the city, especially the sirens of police cars and ambulances. Their sirens are probably the most obnoxious sirens I've ever heard and even though I live on the fourth floor of the dorm, I can hear them clear as day. 
2. We take ice and water for granted. I am used to ordering drinks in restaurants that have free refills and ice for pretty cheap. The sodas and water here are very expensive and there is no such thing as free refills. Ice is an additional cost, probably another euro or so. Bring a water bottle with you if you ever travel to Europe as there are no public restrooms and water fountains. 
3. As Americans, we stick out like a sore thumb. No matter how hard I try to dress like an Italian, I'm clearly an American. My Italian isn't very convincing and I guess I look like a deer in headlights when I try to order things because the staff just groans and gives me a look like they're trying to be patient with Americans but they really don't like us. Other fellow Americans recognize us just by walking down the streets and we often exchange smiles as if to say, "It's so good to hear someone else speaking English". 
4.  The portions of food are smaller. In America, we order one thing from the menu and it usually comes with a side or two and a salad. Equivalent to a meal. In Italy, you have to order all of those courses separately. First course is your appetizers, second is the plain pasta dish, third is the meat, and fourth is the salad or the dessert...which adds up quickly. Whenever we eat out, I usually just pick either a plain pasta dish or one of the meat dishes.
5. Publix doesn't exist here. Unlike America where we have a grocery stores that has food, pharmacy, cosmetics, school supplies, and more, each of those categories corresponds to a different store in Italy. No one stop shopping here. (Probably why none of them are obese...lots of walking)

June 1st, 2012

Jenn, Jennifer, and I ventured to the Bourghese Gardens around mid-day. We started out by walking to the Piazza del Poppolo and then made our way to the Spanish Steps. In order to get to the Bourghese Gardens, we had to climb the entire stairway. Something I've noticed about Roman stairs is that they are all built at a slant. I can't think of a functional purpose for this other than drainage reasons, but either way, these small slants makes scaling steps rather difficult. I imagine the Romans were very agile people in their togas. After making it to the top of the steps, we walked down what is known as the ritzy road in Rome. Here you will find hotels where famous people stay, fine dining restaurants, and the U.S. Embassy. Funny story about the U.S. Embassy. First of all, it's guarded by Italian people rather than Americans. Second of all, they yelled at me for trying to take a picture of the U.S. seal. Sad day. After a solid 45 minutes of walking we made it to the Bourghese Gardens...and not without a few wrong turns along the way.

The Bourghese Gardens isn't full of flowers, but rather full of trees, lakes, and paths. The air in these gardens is so much cooler and lighter than the air in downtown Rome and makes for a very relaxing environment. Jenn, Jennifer and I made our way to one of the lakes and rented a boat for 20 minutes. Having prior rowing experience, I felt pretty confident that I would be able to steer us in the right direction. (No pun intended) I was correct. We traded turns rowing and had fun just going in circles around the small lake, with the occasional bumper boat collisions. This should come as no surprise to most of you, but I befriended a duck while we were in the gardens. I would talk to him and he would literally wag his tail like a dog. We had some good conversations, although I think he was disappointed I didn't come bearing food.

We took a different route home and ended up overlooking the Piazza del Poppolo and the entire city of Rome. One of the most breathtaking views so far on this trip. With a routine Gelato stop on the way home, our day was complete.

June 2nd, 2012

Sadly, these next couple of days aren't going to include adventurous posts because I am currently battling a cold. I woke up this morning with an extremely sore throat and throughout the day, my head became congested. Two highlights of this day: 1) I caught up on my schoolwork entirely.  2) I got to Skype my best friends Katie and Holly. I spent a good hour on the "phone" with each of them catching up on life and our various adventures. No matter how much I love Italy, it's always a comforting feeling to talk to someone in America, see their faces, and not have to worry about the gigantic language barrier. Facetime-ing friends and family every day is one of my favorite parts of the day. I love being able to see my puppies back home, though they are completely confused at the idea of Facetime and usually run away from the camera. Around 12 a.m or so, I took a Benadryl and hit the sack hoping to feel better in the morning.

June 3rd, 2012

Not the case. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling worse and painfully trying to swallow. I tried my best to sleep in and spend the day resting, as I know that staying on top of colds is key to getting over them. However, around 5 o'clock or so I got cabin fever. So, I decided to cook a meal. Kaleb and I ventured to the supermarket to try and find ingredients for Glurp. (Recipe found on my Favorite Recipes page). This was one of the funnest adventures I have had yet. Glurp calls for cottage cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream. Piece of cake in America. Full fledged adventure in Italy. All of the cheeses are labeled in Italian and they all look the same. We knew we got the cream cheese right because it was "Philadelphia", but the sour cream and cottage cheese were challenging. We ended up just picking up things in the cheese section, squeezing them, smelling them and trying to decipher the pictures on the outsides. Some of our dialogue included, "Hmm...this feels like cottage cheese", and "This could be sour cream...but do you put sour cream on tiramisu like it shows in the picture?" Somehow, by the grace of God, we lucked out and ended up getting all the right cheeses. We got back to the dorm, opened the up, tasted them and then jumped for joy/laughed at the off chance that we got all of the right ingredients.

After converting all of the gram measurements to ounces, we were on our way to making a delicious dinner. Cooking in a kitchen other than your own is a challenge in and of itself, but we made it happen. Time elapsed: 1 hour 30 minutes. Bon appetit! We prepared Glurp (with pork instead of beef), sauteed asparagus, and fresh kiwis and peaches. Overall, it was definitely a success and the highlight of my day. Tomorrow starts another week at school, but a short one! We have Thursday (my birthday!) off and are planning a weekend trip to the island of Capri, Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast. Our first big excursion, yay! Obviously details and stories to come. :)