Roman Around!
Wow! My apologies for not posting recently, we haven’t taken a break since we arrived! From classes to the Orientation Trip it’s been a crazy week and a half! I’ll post more this week to get you caught up on all the happenings of Rome!
Let’s rewind a little first. The first week/weekend we were here all the JForcers were excited to get out and explore the city and get to know our home for the next 4 months.
The day after we arrived the SLAs set up a picture scavenger hunt for us with instructions such as “Take a Picture Praying in Front of St. Peter’s” or “Take a Picture with the Carabineri (the police).” It forced us to learn how to navigate the city (with a LOT of help from some extremely nice Italians) and do some quick sightseeing. What a blast! We didn’t win (we ended up with 25 points and the winners had 53!) but it was absolutely a blast. That night and Friday night we then went down by the Tiber River where tents were sent up with shopping and food and drink. The city becomes even more alive at night (if that’s possible) and it was so much fun to be out with tourists and locals, while checking out all the Italian street fashion.
Saturday, then, we started out bright and early to see the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Stepping inside, seeing how expansive it was and how much history has happened inside its walls…wow. It was overwhelming. Everywhere you turned, especially in the Roman Forum, you discovered another piece of history. Professor Evers briefed us before going on some major things to look for, like the Arch of Titus and Basilica of Maxentius, but even with all they told us we knew we were seeing more than we could ever comprehend. Luckily, I’m in Art in Rome this semester and we’re going back to the Roman Forum on Wednesday to study even more of the architecture and art found in it. I can’t wait!
Saturday night then a bunch of us went to Trastevere, a neighborhood across the Tiber with fabulous shops and restaurants and wonderful little side streets to discover. We tried some fantastic cheap Italian food like suppli, a deep fried rice, meat, and cheese. Delicious! I think I felt most Roman while we were sitting on the steps in the main piazza, eating suppli and sipping on a Peroni, the main beer in Rome. Watching the people, enjoying the company and just slowing down and taking it all in, it was perfect. 
The next day we all hopped on the bus and traveled to Maccarese Beach. Although it was rainy and overcast most of us still braved the water and jumped straight into the Mediterranean Sea. It was cold, but worth it! We ended the day with a fabulous seafood buffet with fresh FRESH seafood pasta, pizza, and deep fried veggies and fish. We were all stuffed by the end of it, and were ready to head back to campus and rest up till classes began the next day!