On-Campus JFRC Activities
Living in Rome is so much fun, and living in JFRC certainly helps make it so! Whether you go meet a Swiss Guard with Father Al, see St. Ignatius’ rooms where he stayed when he was in Rome, or go on a gelato crawl with the SLA’s, there is always stuff to do if you’re on campus!
Of course, you’re always welcome to do things with your friends, such as movie nights, going out for aperitivo, or just hanging out, but here are some of my favorite things that I’ve done that were organized with the whole of campus! It’s not a full list by any means, and it’s just the things that I’ve done – who knows, when you get here, they may do the same things, and there may also be new and more exciting things to do!
Also, this is not including various so-called ‘Study Trips’ that you can sign up for at the beginning of the semester. These opportunities pop up every week!
First off, I have to tell you about my time at a cooking class here in Rome! We went a specialty location run by the people at http://www.cookingclassesinrome.com/ , where in just three hours we 25 students made food enough for forty with our own hands, and ate it too! From the Roman specialty pasta alla carbonara to home-made tiramisu, it was all delicious! And, it was only twenty-five euros, which is cheaper than what I would pay for a five-course meal like we had! We also made meatballs, and an artichoke contorno.
Second, I loved getting a meal with Father Al – I know I mentioned him before in meeting a Swiss Guard, but he also enjoys taking students out for pizza at a local neighborhood restaurant – on the Campus Ministry’s budget! And Father Al is a kind and generous – and interesting person. An Italian meal typically lasts hours, but with him and the other students as company, it just flew by!
Third, Dr. Andrews who is the Director of the JFRC, has an adorable dog named Bacio who is here every Tuesday and Wednesday for about four hours for students to visit as they please. He’s not really an organized event, per se, but he sure is cute. And more dependable to find than the JFRC cats!
Fourth, I love everything that the Student Activities Committee does! You can get involved too. SAC does a couple of annual events per semester, such as organizing a town hall meeting for people to suggest ways to better the community and the campus, a talent show (where yours truly aided a rendition of The Devil Went Down to Georgia by playing the air-fiddle, another girl juggled mozzarella balls, and the SLAs and Dr. Beazley, Dean of Students, performed a cheer routine), a silent auction wherein all proceeds go to charity, and more! SAC provides fun and free ways to be involved on campus.
And fifth, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Calcio! Calcio is the Italian word for soccer, or football as it’s known to the rest of the world, and Calcio unites us like no other. There’s a myriad of teams, usually six, that play against each other every week and then go out for pizza and beer together after! Of course, there’s no obligation to show up every week, but a little friendly competition lets you meet people and get to know them while working off the steam of academics! And if you’re not athletic, that’s okay too. The spectators have a lot of fun as well – this semester, each team has an unofficial ‘team mom’ who leads cheers, brings snacks, and is all-around the dependable fan. And if you’ve got a wide social circle, odds are your friends will be on different teams, making the nights when they go head-to-head ones to remember!
These are just a small sample of what’s to-do and what’s been done here at JFRC. What will you do?