Italy – Page 8 – #RamblersAbroad

Beautiful Egypt

By luctechco | October 31, 2017

This year for fall break (which was a glorious 10 days long) my father and I traveled to Egypt and Turkey. Why those countries, you ask? They’d been at the top of my bucket list for years. Before, my dad used to say that we couldn’t go, which was probably right with all the political happenings. But this year the trip was planned and booked by June.

My dad met me in the Cairo airport. I landed first and late, so it wasn’t very crowded. I wandered around baggage claim waiting for him, trying to find WiFi to let him know where I was. He got in two hours after me, and then we met our driver and transit guide (from EMO Tours) outside. This was our first major interaction with an Egyptian person, and he was nothing but kind.

The drive was about an hour, and we must’ve driven for about five minutes before we left the secure airport area. The “highway” was surprising clear, as I’d learn later, and we drove past signs for New Cairo, Maadi, and Giza. There were no lines on the road to separate lanes, and there were tons of billboards lit up with English and Arabic words. People were gathered on the side of the highway, waiting for a bus of sorts to come pick them up.

Our hotel was gated and the car was scanned before it was allowed to pass. Dad tipped our driver and guide in Egyptian lira. One of the most heartbreaking things about Egypt is that 1 USD equals 17 Egyptian lira/pounds. We ate at the hotel restaurant a few times, and our bill would say 98 pounds, which in reality is just under $6. And it was good food too, no detail missed.

The next morning we saw the pyramids for the first time from our hotel window. They were just as grand and I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was actually there. When dad and I went downstairs to meet our guide for the day, a woman holding a sign with EMO Tours on it met us. Her name was Ola and she wore a long black skirt that swished around her ankles, a warm-looking green long sleeve, and a black hijab. Over the day, we would learn much about and from her, and she would come to feel much like family.

Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, the first mosque we visited.

The building on the right is what the majority of buildings in Cairo look like. Some are even empty, and you can tell which ones those are because they don’t have windows yet.

Over the first day we visited mosques, the Step Pyramid in Sakkara, the three major pyramids, the Sphinx, a major historic street, and so many other gorgeous sites. At every site, we went through a metal detector. There were usually multiple armed guards, and tons of salesmen trying to sell cheap little Pyramids, scarves, and other souvenirs from China. And of course, a good number of tourists and Egyptian people alike.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was one of my favorite sites. First of all, it’s one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and probably the only one I’ll get to visit in my lifetime. Second, the view from up there was amazing, and it was my first time seeing the sandy and dark brown city from above. The air was warm and dry, and the sun was baking. Third, I got to stand on the Pyramid! (We didn’t go in because we’d heard that there wasn’t much to see and that it was just cramped.) The blocks that made up the Pyramid itself were huge, and the ones we walked on were worn from shoes. It towered over us, and put history in perspective. Ola was very kind and let us explore on our own a little bit because she knew my dad and I both loved photography. She waited patiently for us and gave us tips on how to avoid getting scammed out of our money, one of which was don’t take a picture of a camel because the rider will charge you money for it! Another bit of advice was avoid the people in bathrooms trying to turn the faucet on for you or give you paper towels because they will ask you for money too.

The view while standing on the side of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Great Pyramid of Giza with the Pyramid of Khafre in the foreground.

We ate lunch at a local shop, where Ola ordered us food that she thought we should try at my dad’s request. It was amazing. My dad asked Ola tons of questions, some on the etiquette of men and women in Egyptian society. Ola told us that if I hadn’t been with them, another woman, people would have frowned upon Ola because she was with an unfamiliar man (my dad) who wasn’t her husband. When we first met her, she shook our hands, which she later explained wasn’t normal because she wasn’t supposed to touch a man. She greeted/said goodbye to me by “kissing” both cheeks, which I came to expect while in Egypt and Turkey. We stopped at a papyrus shop on the way back to our hotel where we learned how papyrus paper is made, and purchased a small bit to take home.

The next morning, we left for the airport at 3:30am. We were flying to Luxor, Egypt, which is about 400 miles south of Cairo. Our second tour guide, Shimaa, met us at Luxor Airport. Our driver for that day had a car with a bright, lime green interior. It constantly baffles me that although the average income in Egypt is $300, the majority own cars.

Luxor was much quieter than Cairo, with far fewer cars, and much warmer. We drove alongside the river, past a herd of sheep, tied up horses and donkeys, and gatherings of kids on the tall bank above the water. Trees sprouted at the edge of the water and on the higher banks. Both in Cairo and Luxor people still use horses/donkeys to pull carts of produce. It’s definitely a unique cross of developed and undeveloped.

The herd of sheep we passed while on our way to the Temple of Hatshepsut.

Our first stop in Luxor was the Temple of Hatshepsut. It’s carved directly out of the side of the mountain, with three layered terraces each with an impressive set of columns. It has a “modern” feel, that was not repeated in that time. Shimaa, our tour guide, told us the story of why the temple was built so large, which was because Hatshepsut was unhappy each time the designer added another layer. On its walls it featured beautifully painted walls that were mostly faded, but some held their color.

Next up was Karnak Temple, a huge temple that’s still largely intact. It had absolutely gorgeous columns carved with Egyptian symbols. Then we ate lunch at one of the open restaurants, which was rice and stew. We also met a family of six that was originally from America, but were living in Saudi Arabia. After lunch we went to our last place of the day: Luxor Temple. It is a good sized temple with huge statues of Egyptian kings and pharos, such as King Ramses II and King Tut. It has giant columns like other temples, and at sunset the light shining through them was beautiful. That night we returned to Cairo.

On our third day in Egypt, Ola was our guide again. She took us to the Egyptian Museum, which we breezed through. We saw hundreds of artifacts from King Tut’s tomb, which must’ve taken up half a floor of the museum. We spent only an hour there, when we could’ve spent five. Next we visited a series of religious buildings, which included a Catholic Church, two mosques, and an old synagogue. The last hour of the time we had with Ola she took us on a cruise on the Nile River. We got on a huge sailboat and ate koshari, which is a traditional Egyptian dish made up of rice, lentils, pasta noodles, and topped with tomato sauce. It was delicious! Dad asked Ola if we could make it at home, and she laughed and said no because it would take a long time because there were so many parts. When it came time to say goodbye to Ola, we tipped her 50 Egyptian pounds (about $3) and €20, which for her would go a long way. We wanted to help her out, even though we knew that it wouldn’t go very far for long.

View of Cairo from the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.

We spent a lot of time in traffic on the last day, but the first two days were fairly easy. Friday and Saturday are holy days, so nobody works. Sunday is a work day, which caused every single car it seemed to be on the road. Cairo, and Egypt in general, is a country that never sleeps. We were out at 12am and a decent number of people would still be out. A interesting part of Egyptian culture is that they eat breakfast around 10am, lunch around 4pm, and then dinner around 10pm and sometimes even later. Traditionally, only men are “allowed” out at late hours. Families hope for boys to be born because they have much more freedom than women do. Egypt is a country tied to their traditions, although some are trying to change the norms. The difference between Ola (living in Cairo) and Shimaa (living in Luxor) was vast. Shimaa said that she believed that believing in her religion was enough; that she didn’t need to pray the allotted five times a day because Allah already knows that she believes in him. Ola, on the other hand, prays as much as she can. She finds comfort in it, and at one of the mosques we visited, my dad and I explored while she went to prayer. Ola also told us that she doesn’t listen to music because it’s forbidden, while Shimaa talked openly about what music she liked.

Walking around Cairo people stared at us. My dad asked Ola if she noticed it once, and she said yes. She said it was because he was there, and that I had my head uncovered and was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt. Ola said that they appreciated us being there because we were tourists. After the revolution in 2011, the tourism at some monuments dropped 95%. Its made a slow recovery, but nothing like it used to be pre-revolution. That is evident in the “average” life of Egyptians, where they work hard if they have a job and work hard if they don’t. This was the closest to poverty that I have ever come. Ola worked incredibly hard and suffers from neck and back pain. She doesn’t complain because she has to work to help support her family (husband + two kids). I hope someday that I can return to Egypt and see her. I’ve never had a friend in a country like Egypt, and it tugs at my heart when I think of her.

Me and our wonderful, amazing tour guide Ola. I hope to see her again one day!

P.S. Turkey is blogged about in a different post. Happy Halloween!

My Internship in Rome (Week 5) – Midterm Post

By luctechco | October 28, 2017

This semester in Rome, I was fortunate enough to get hired as a marketing intern for a company called The Roman Guy. The Roman Guy specializes in various VIP tours of different tourist attractions all around Rome, as well as several local food tours in different areas. As an assignment for my class ROST 370, I am required to reflect on my experience of working as an intern for this company.

When I first started this internship, to be honest I did not know what to expect. I’ll admit that I was really excited but also scared over the thought of having an internship in a foreign country. Upon visiting the office for the first time, I expected it to be a huge office with a lot of workers. This surprised me when I first arrived, because the office is pretty small with only about 30 employees. It also surprised me how young the majority of my coworkers are. When I had my first meeting with my bosses Lorna and Sian, they told me that for my internship I would be doing a lot of research on different tourist destinations in Rome and a lot of writing. My internship so far has been filling this expectation, because every week I am given an assignment to finish a blog post about a tourist attraction. For example, this week I had the assignment of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. I spent one of my work days researching the history of the chapel, the artists who painted there, their artwork, and specific rules the chapel has upon visiting. After gathering all of this information, I then have to write a blog post about it and send it to my other boss Francesca when i’m finished for revision. She then looks it over and asks me to change anything if it needs it, and then she sends it over to the graphic design team who then publishes my post to the company’s website. I also expected this internship to be strengthening my marketing skills, and so far having this internship has been filling that expectation. Part of my job is to run the companies instagram, and this previous week I had to read different articles on how to appeal more to your audience and gain more followers. From this, I began to create more aesthetically pleasing posts which helped target a specific audience and ultimately helped us gain more followers. So far, the most interesting part of my internship is when I create different tourism attraction posts for our company’s website. It is interesting to me because I am improving my writing skills drastically and also it is interesting to keep learning new things about different attractions in Rome that I never knew before. It is also awesome to see my finished blog post on our company’s website because it makes me proud of my work. So far, one of the tasks that I have to do that I find the least interesting is editing blog posts using the blog life cycle. For each blog post, there is a checklist that our company has to follow to make sure that the blog has each aspect in order to make a strong post. This is my least favorite task because it usually takes a while to change a specific blog post because some are harder to edit than other ones. Also, it can be frustrating when you have done everything that you thought you could have to make a blog better but WordPress says that the post is not good and still needs more editing. So far, this academic internship has been improving my understanding of concepts that I learned from other marketing courses in college, but in a different way. In my internship, we use aspects like having a target audience and using general marketing tactics to make our company more well known. It is different in a sense because most of my marketing courses focused on marketing a huge corporation or a product, and this internship focuses on marketing our brand as well as a photo, event, or a blog post. Some personal learning goals that I have for this internship are to expand my marketing skills, strengthen my writing, and improve my creativity. So far, I have been achieving my goal of expanding my marketing skills and strengthening my writing, but at this point in my internship I am focusing on being more creative with our content and being more independent with my work. So far, that is my complete reflection about my internship and so far I am really enjoying it. I can’t wait to see what the future holds and how I will change as a person once this internship is completed.

Thanks for reading and ciao amici!

My Internship in Rome (Week 4)

By luctechco | October 12, 2017

This week at the Roman Guy, I have completed several tasks that were fairly similar to my tasks from last week. I found reviews online about our tours and posted them to the company’s website, I researched and wrote two articles on the Colosseum arena floor and the third tier, I edited and revised five different blog articles using the rules of the blog lifecycle, and I interacted and posted on our instagram page called The Roman Foodie. Previous classroom knowledge has been helping me a lot with my internship because my job is very writing intensive, so my english classes that I have recently completed have been very useful. One of my learning objectives that I have is to improve my writing skills for blog posts, various social media apps, and articles by following the blog life cycle. I have been working to fully achieve this objective because the past weeks that I have been here I have been focusing on writing and following the blog life cycle. I see myself improving significantly, because the first couple of weeks I could only get a couple of posts done and now I can get a couple of them done in a day. Some challenges that I have been facing recently regarding my internship is balancing work and school with one another. It is midterm week, so I have been very busy with school and tests but on top of that I have to work as well. This week was hard because I stayed up pretty late after working in order to get school work done and it left me exhausted. For the future, I am going to try to get the majority of my school work and studying done on the weekends so that the school week isn’t as stressful. Something that has been impressing me a lot recently about my internship is how organized and professional the office is. All of the workers here are really good friends with one another, yet they still manage to get a lot of work done, be professional, and not let their friendships get in the way of their work. My expectations for the following weeks is that I am going to keep working on writing Rome’s key attraction pages. I am also expected to keep interacting and gain more followers on the Roman Foodie’s instagram. After fall break, I am going to be learning and taking over our The Roman Guys pinterest and posting on there. So far I love my internship and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. Arrivederci!

My Internship in Rome (Week 3)

By luctechco | October 4, 2017

This week at The Roman Guy, I had several tasks that I needed to complete. Some of the tasks that I completed include finding TripAdvisor reviews and posting them to our website, editing three different blog posts using the blog lifecycle rules, posting two pictures on our instagram page (The Roman Foodie) and interacting with followers, and writing an article about the Colosseum Arena Floor for our website. Classroom knowledge has helped me significantly so far, because I have been using a lot of the skills that I previously had been taught in my marketing classes for my internship. As an intern, I was required to create several learning objectives that I want to achieve by the end of the semester. One of my learning objectives is to improve my writing skills for blog posts, various social media apps, and articles by following the blog life cycle at The Roman Guy. I have been working to achieve this learning objective a lot recently, because these past couple of weeks all of my tasks have had me very involved in writing which is ultimately helping me improve my writing skills. There is a lot more than what meets the eye about blogging, and now I am finally getting used to how the structure is for specific writings that I have to complete as well as strengthening my writing skills in general. Some problems that I have been having recently regarding my internship is transportation and being late because of class. There were two different times in the past two weeks where I didn’t get to work on time, because I had an onsite class and it went a lot longer than expected. Also transportation here isn’t that reliable. One day I had to wait three different times for the 990 bus because it was so packed and other times the regional train was delayed 10 minutes which caused me to be even more late. Im resolving this for the future by making sure that I leave extra early so that I can guarantee that I will be on time. Something that has been impressing me so far about my internship is the graphic design team. They work very long hours and the teamwork that they have with one another is outstanding. Everytime I go to our company’s website, there is always something new added and it looks fantastic! Some of my expectations for the following weeks include interacting and gaining more followers on the company’s instagram page, working on editing more blog lifecycle pages, writing more articles about different key attractions in Rome, and creating/researching my own blog post for my company’s page. So far I have been loving my internship and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me. Arrivederci!

My Internship in Rome (Week 2)

By luctechco | September 28, 2017

Specific Tasks

This week at the Roman Guy, I had almost the same tasks as last week. I found good reviews on trip advisor and posted them to our website, I continued to edit blog posts using the blog life cycle, brainstormed and researched ideas for my companies study abroad blog, posting on our company’s instagram, and I completed my Underground Colosseum essay for our website. Information from my marketing class that I took last semester has been helping me a lot so far with this internship, making certain marketing strategies a lot simpler for me to complete because my professor taught me this previous semester.

Learning Objectives

One of my learning objectives is to attract and communicate with travel bloggers in order to help market The Roman Guy tours and blogs. I have started to work towards achieving my learning objective because I have been interacting with some bloggers on instagram. I will find bloggers in the area and reach out to them, or bloggers that already know our company I will post their pictures and give them credit to our thousands of followers and they will do the same in return. Although this is just the start, by the end of my internship I hope that I could attract a wide variety of bloggers in order to help market The Roman Guy.

Challenges

Something that I have recently found very hard for me to do is to write for several hours without losing focus. I can easily lose focus if I am working on the same project for too long. My coworkers on the other hand can sit and write for the whole entire day without any breaks. Some efforts that I have been making to fix this is that I set a goal for how much I want to write and a certain amount of time, and when I achieve that goal I give myself a small break and go for a walk around the office. I also switch up my tasks frequently, so that I don’t get easily bored of doing the same thing.

What impresses me about my internship

Like I said last post, the main thing that still impresses me the most about my internship are my coworkers. It amazes me that in the marketing department, all of the girls will sit on their computer for several hours straight without any breaks and just write for that whole entire time. All of my coworkers experience in their field really impresses me and also how well everyone works together as a team in the small office to be successful.

Expectations for the Future

In the future, I am going to continue working towards improving my writing because next week I have my study abroad blog due. On this blog, I am researching the best places to see amazing street art in Rome. After writing about six places, I have to go to each of the places and take/edit pictures of the art on my own. After I finish this project, my next project will be working on a different Rome Key Attraction post for the Roman Guy’s website.

Capri State of Mind

By luctechco | September 24, 2017

Another early morning for a wonderful day trip. Capri was on the top of everybody’s list of places to visit, so naturally we booked a last-minute train and ferry to the island. Coming in to the island by ferry offered a stunning view of the rocky cliffs and sparkling waters. I grew up spending summers on the East Coast, so I was extremely happy to be close to the water again. I wished there was a sailboat I could rent for cheap to get out on the water! We got there by 10am, and the place was already a hub of activity. There were buildings climbing their way up the steep hillside, and taxis with open roofs and small motor scooters weaved in and out between tourists.

The port area is full of boats, big and small!

The first thing we did when we got there was try and find out how to get to the Blue Grotto. We ended up paying 14 euros and getting on a tour boat, which we thought would take us inside the Blue Grotto, and take us on a tour around the island. The boat motored out of the small harbor and into more open water, with the sun glinting off the surface like hundreds of ice crystals. The air that whipped by held only the faintest traces of salt, but I could feel it sticking to my sun-warmed skin.

We passed by huge cliffs, other tour boats, and smaller, private ones. The guide pointed out major spots on the island, and we saw a few other grottos. They were small, and the tour boat would turn around and stick the back end, where we were sitting, in as far as it could go. The water was absolutely gorgeous, and was my favorite shade of blue. I’m grateful now for the opportunity to visit such a beautiful place!

The most disappointing thing was not getting to go inside the Blue Grotto. When the tour boat approached it, there were about eight other boats already there with passengers waiting to get in line for the rowboats that would enter the Blue Grotto. The guide told us that it would be a three hour wait, time that we didn’t have. So we went on our way with only a glimpse of the outside.

Back on dry land, we made our way to the small rocky beach. I hadn’t brought my swimsuit, but two of my friends had so they jumped right into the water. I stood taking pictures of my surroundings, while my other two friends walked a little down the beach to a outcropping made of huge rocks. I was content just to stand with the air blowing around me, shaded by the trees behind me.

The small, rocky beach where my friends swam.

We found lunch at a uncrowded little restaurant, one of many lining the touristy street. Three of my friends then had a ferry to catch to Sorrento, while my roommate, Audrey, and I stayed. We’d catch our ferry back to Naples at 6. In the hour we had left, we did our last minute shopping (I got a postcard and handmade sandals, and she got a sweatshirt) and got gelato from the place we’d been eyeing. The sun was now blocked by the island itself, so the port was in the shade, dropping the temperature a few degrees. It was still beautiful out, and I didn’t want to leave.

All in all, Capri is worth it. I had a great time, and although we didn’t get to go into the Blue Grotto or see much other than the port area of the island, it was worth getting up at 4am for. It’s a photographer’s dream, and so I was content.

My Internship in Rome (Week 1)

By luctechco | September 22, 2017

Ciao! This semester in Rome, I was fortunate enough to get hired as a marketing intern for a company called The Roman Guy. The Roman Guy specializes in various VIP tours of different tourist attractions all around Rome, as well as several local food tours in different areas. As an assignment for my class ROST 370, I am required to reflect on my experience of working as an intern for this company.

Specific tasks

Working as a marketing intern for The Roman Guy is an interesting job because all of my assigned tasks frequently change and I am never stuck doing the same thing. For my first week, my job has been very writing intensive as I have been working on creating and editing blogs, writing an article about the Colosseum for our Rome Key Attractions Page, and posting on our company’s food instagram (The Roman Foodie). So far, classroom knowledge has helped me a lot because I am able to use an abundance of information that I learned about marketing from taking the class this previous spring semester and apply it to what I am working on at my internship in order to help market our content better.

Learning objectives

As an intern, I was required to create several learning objectives that I want to achieve by the end of the semester. One of my biggest learning objectives was to improve my writing skills for blog posts and various social media apps, and have the whole marketing department critique my work for improvements. Little did I know that my first week on the job I would already be making progress towards my learning objective. I am not the most confident when it comes to my writing, but I am happy that my internship had my beginning tasks be writing intensive because then that way I can have more time to improve on this skill throughout the semester. There is a lot more to blogging than what meets the eye. At our company, we have a checklist called The Blog Lifecycle where there are about 15 different extensive tasks that need to be completed in order to have a successful blog post. My first day on the job, I learned all about the cycle and this is what I am using as my guideline in order to improve my writing skills and create a successful blog post which will ultimately help me make progress towards my learning objective.

Problems and Challenges

Some problems that I have had involving my internship is writing for an extensive period of time. Sometime I have to be writing the entire time I am working which can be around five hours. At first it was hard for me to stay focused, but now I am getting used to writing for a long period of time and also finding out about the free espresso machine in our office made everything a lot easier. Another one of my challenges is using public transportation to get to my work. During my first week, I learned how to correctly use the regional train the hard way as I accidently got on the wrong train and it took me about 25 minutes outside of Balduina. This was scary, because I had no idea where I was and it was getting pretty late at night. When I asked several people for help, they ignored me or told me that they didn’t know how to help me. Luckily, I found this one extremely generous lady who helped me get on the right train and she even taught me how to correctly use the Rome transportation system so that I would never make the same mistake again. Now I always leave a bit earlier so that I can make sure that I have enough time to get to where I need to in order to prevent getting on the wrong train from happening again.

What Impresses me about my internship

So far, the most impressive thing about my internship is all of my coworkers, as they are all extremely talented and good at their jobs. The Roman Guy is an extremely small company that is very successful, so it is amazing to see how the whole staff works together to create great content and get more customers. I am very lucky to be working in the marketing department with my coworkers Lorna, Sian, and Francesca, because they all very experienced in the marketing field and they all inspire me in many ways. It is only the first week and I already have learned many new things from them that I can apply to my future career.

Expectations for the future

In the future, I am expected to keep improve my writing skills as I have to create about 10 blog posts total for our company’s Key Attraction Page. I expect this to be very difficult, because each post needs to be thought out and edited carefully. It also takes a long period of time to create just one post, so I am ready for this challenge that I will be facing in the future.

I am so excited for the future and to see how my internship will help me grow as an individual, and I will keep posting updates on my work. Arrivederci!

Three Weeks in Rome

By luctechco | September 18, 2017

Ciao amici! I have been living in Rome for the past three weeks and it has been quite a ride! Every single day there are new towns to be explored, amazing new foods to try, and incredible people to meet. So far these past three weeks have been completely unforgettable, and here is an update on how things are going while studying abroad in Rome, Italy.

Week 1

At first, it was hard for me to adjust to my new life living in Rome. When I arrived, I found out that I would be in a single room because my roommate had dropped out of Loyola’s Rome program. This caught me off guard because I have shared a room with someone my whole life; my younger sister at home and a roommate in college. The first night was different but now I love having a nice quiet place to myself after a long day of socializing. The second day here, I met some of the most genuine people and I became friends with them very quickly. Our school organized a scavenger hunt all throughout downtown Rome for everyone to participate in. I went with my new friends, Anna, Maddie, Maria, Ashley, Jen, Cecily, and Riley but as soon as we stepped off the bus we were lost. This was a blessing in disguise, because as we were walking around the city we stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon which was an amazing surprise. The next day, our school spent a day at the Colosseum and The Roman Forum. Both of these historical sites completely took my breath away, and I couldn’t believe that the sites that I have always seen in magazines and in movies were right in front of me. On Sunday, our school took a class trip to Maccarese beach and I could not wait to take my first swim in the sea. However, my excitement quickly faded as my two friends, Maria and Jen, both got stung by Italian jellyfish as we were all swimming. Despite this, everything was completely fine after they realized the lifeguard who would be helping them looked like an Italian Zac Efron. As the day came to an end, our extremely sunburnt class made our way back to campus, as we all needed plenty of rest for our first day of classes the following day.

Week 2

The first week of classes were very laid back since it was syllabus week and everyone was still getting to know each other. It is so nice having class at the John Felice Rome Center, because everything is in the same building which means I can literally roll out of bed five minutes before my class starts and still be on time. The week went by very quickly, since we don’t have class on Fridays here which is the most amazing thing ever. On Friday, our school had a class trip to Umbria, Italy. When we arrived, I was astonished by how gorgeous the Italian countryside is in person. There were cobblestone streets everywhere, huge hills and mountains all around us, and cute little churches on every street. Our school took a boat ride to a small island where we got to try traditional mediterranean seafood. The food was interesting to say the least, but I am happy that I stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried some new food that I would never usually eat. The next day was by far my favorite day, as our class took a trip to Le Climate do Montefalco which was a beautiful winery in the countryside. We got to take a tour of the whole vineyard and taste some of the different types of wine that were made at the vineyard. After the vineyard, we went to a small village in the mountains where we toured an old church and a mummy cemetery. Everyone in my group was completely freaked out by the mummies, but I thought it was fascinating because it reminded me of The Catacombs in Paris that I went to in high school. After the museum, we had the option to attend mass of to explore the town. I originally wanted to attend the mass but my plans changed as I saw that the last bus left without me. Although I was bummed, it was a blessing in disguise because me and my friend Anna decided to hike in the hills and we found an old castle. The castle wa so beautiful even though it was damaged and falling apart. It had the best view of the whole entire town and it was a moment that I will never forget. After that, our class went back to the hotel where we had an amazing dinner of traditional pasta bolognese. The last day in Umbria, a huge storm came which resulted in some of the plans being canceled. Although this was a bummer, I was happy that it was raining because Italy has been in a severe drought for almost four months. The day seemed like it lasted forever, but I couldn’t wait to get back to the campus which is a place I now consider my home.

Week 3

After a long exhausting weekend of traveling in Umbria, I was excited to be back at school and I couldn’t wait to start exploring more of Rome. On Wednesday, our school had the Mass of the Holy Spirit to wrap up the end of orientation. The mass took place at one of the most beautiful churches that I have ever seen in my life called Chiesa di Sant’ Ignazio di Loyola. The interior of this church was some of the most intricate architecture and as the mass was going on, I couldn’t help but gaze all around the church and admire its beauty. After mass, we went out to dinner and I got to try the infamous pear pasta that everyone always talks about. It was one of the best things that I have ever tried and I can’t wait to go back and get more! The week came to a close and my friends and I took our first planned trip of the semester to the Amalfi Coast. We had to wake up on Friday at 5:30 in the morning in order to catch our train which left at 7. Although we barely slept and were extremely tired, it was all worth it when we got to the Amalfi Coast and saw how beautiful it was. My friends and I rented an Airbnb that was located on a lemon farm and was incredibly gorgeous. Our first day, we took a bus to a town called Positano which was personally my favorite part of the whole trip. When we arrived, we went out to eat and a restaurant that had the best view of the whole town, and I ate some amazing cream pasta. After lunch, we explored the town and went shopping where we bought limoncello, gifts for our friends and family, and a ton of new clothes that all put a huge dent in my bank account. As the day started to come to a close, we went to Positano’s main beach where we swam in the sea, watched the sunset, and saw a small local concert. Although it was the most amazing day, our bus ride home definitely put a damper on my friends and I. Everyone got extremely car sick because our bus driver was driving very fast and the roads on the Amalfi Coast are all hairpin turns which we are definitely not used to back in Chicago. Although that wasn’t the best experience, the end to our day was perfect because we got takeout gelato and pizza. The next day we had to wake up early again in order to take a ferry ride to the island of Capri. When we got to the island, I was amazed at how perfect the town looked with the gigantic cliffs and the crystal clear blue water. We had lunch and then took a private boat tour for two hours that I really enjoyed, but my friends did not since the waves were huge that day and it reminded us of being car sick the previous day. After the boat ride, we went to Anacapri where we took a chair lift to the highest point on the whole entire island. This was my favorite part of the day, because the view was incredible, as you could look out and see the other islands in the distance as well as look down at the whole entire town of Capri. After this, we went back to our airbnb and got the same takeout pizza from the night before because it was too good to pass up. On our last day, we explored the town of Sorrento and went on a shopping spree again. It was so much fun to bargain with all of the street vendors and get some of the best deals ever (I got an Italian leather purse for just 25 euros)! After a day of shopping, we departed on our long journey back to Rome. Although the Amalfi Coast was amazing, I couldn’t wait to get back to campus and be at the place that I now call home. These past three weeks have been full of amazing adventures that I will never forget, and I cannot wait what the future of me living in Rome has in store. Arrivederci!

Mass of the Holy Spirit

By luctechco | September 18, 2017

Last Wednesday we had our Mass of the Holy Spirit which concluded the orientation activities. Students traveled to Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola or the church of St. Ignatius of Loyola for a mass where we were blessed and encouraged to continue our journey of education in the eternal city. There is an altar to St. Robert Bellarmine, one of the many people I have to thank for my introduction to the Jesuits and all that they stand for.

After mass we celebrated our survival and completion of orientation to Rome with one of the best meals I have ever had, at Osteria l’anima. The highlights of the meal included the famous pear pasta that was absolutely to die for and the amazing company I had that night.

The Birthplace of Pizza

By luctechco | September 17, 2017

At 3:30am on Saturday morning I rolled out of bed (well, not literally because I sleep on the top bunk), dressed, and grabbed the small backpack I had packed the night before. That day we were going to Naples! As it happened, the day before my roommate and I spontaneously bought cheap train tickets to Napoli. Friends joined us until we had a group of seven. Our train left at 5:30am, and we met in the lobby of JFRC at 4am to get a taxi to Roma Termini, where our train would be leaving from. We played the card game BS while waiting for the train, which served as a little pick-me-up for all of us groggy travelers.

We arrived in Naples at a little past 8am and immediately jumped on another train to Pompeii. This was unplanned, and resulted in a scramble for all of us to purchase tickets on the same train at the same time. The train ride to Pompeii was about 45mins, in which we snoozed, and we hopped off and took a shuttle to the archeological site.

Pompeii is an absolutely amazing place to experience. It is much larger than I expected, and seems like we only covered a small area in the three and a half hours we were there. We didn’t get a tour guide, which I partially regret, because we’re all broke college students and couldn’t spare the extra seven euros. So instead we walked and explored on our own.

The streets are made of huge, worn rocks that have been walked on a thousand times over by tourists. The walls and some bigger structures are still intact, and the first thing we went through was a large amphitheater. We followed our feet, catching snippets of information from tour guides as we went. Mount Vesuvius loomed in the background, but the most we did was observe it from a distance.

This amphitheater is one of the first things we saw walking into Pompeii.

One of the lesser traveled roads in Pompeii.

It’s easy to imagine what the flourishing city of Pompeii would’ve been like when you walk through their living spaces, walk the same streets, and see Mount Vesuvius. I could feel the history surrounding all of us.

After exploring the site, we exited and hung around the plaza browsing through the many souvenir shops. It was sunny and hot that day, so we all wanted water and some food. I bought some postcards and a cup of orange juice that was so worth the 4 euros.

By 3pm we were back in Naples and ready to find a yummy pizza place for an early dinner. Walking out of the train station in Naples at first made me nervous. Naples is a smaller city than Rome, population wise, however Naples immediately felt busier and more crowded. It is a bustling city, as they say. One of my friends said that they felt like Naples was the kind of city people warn you about concerning pickpockets, unapologetic cars and Vespa’s, and just overall danger. I felt unsafe for about 10minutes, but was always walking with our group of seven. After that I adjusted to the city and felt like not everybody was staring at us.

On our way to the pizza place, we stopped in a few stores. Andrew, the only guy in our group, stood patiently near the exit of each clothing store, waiting of the rest of us to be done. I was with him, though, because I’m not a big fan of shopping for clothes! Eventually we made it to a beautiful street that we walked most of in order to get to the pizza. It was narrow, with stores, shops, and a few churches on each side. Cars and motorcycles would honk and slip through the crowds of people walking, and we all kept an eye out for each other to make sure we wouldn’t get hit. Smaller streets led off of the busier one, and between the tightly packed buildings people hung string on which to dry their clothes on. The only downside of our walk was that it was around 85 degrees and the sun was setting right in our eyes.

The pizza place we decided on was quiet and the food was delicious. You can’t beat the prices in Naples, the birthplace of pizza, and the best part was that they had tiramisu for desert! I got a fried pizza that’s basically like a funnel cake. It was so, so good and was only 4 euros. Every pizza my friends ordered was amazing, even the traditional ones. We all got an equally delicious desert, and sat enjoying conversation.

Carole and her pizza from Pizzeria Donna Sofia.

The bill was paid and we set off down the street again to explore in the time we had before our train departed for Roma. It was more pleasant this time because the sun was further down on the horizon and not in our eyes, and we wandered in the general direction of the train station. By the end of the walk I could see why people would want to and wouldn’t want to visit Naples. The city itself has a fast-pace, and there is trash everywhere along with cigarette stubs. A huge part of downtown is residential, and there were street vendors along every street we walked.

Overall, I love the city. We weren’t there for very long, so we didn’t get to see many of the touristy places. If we go back, we’re definitely getting more pizza!