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This week has been a virtual time warp…from the trials of Odysseus to the trials of Italian class, the conquests of Hadrian to the nightly conquests of room 18. We started out with a trip to ancient Rome. It was absolutely amazing, we could see everything…the Colosseum, the Roman forum, Vittorio Emmanuel, even the outline of St. Peters in the distance. It was a surreal feeling…that structures, even lifestyles, of things from thousands of years ago were standing right in front of us. Here was the place where violent and bloody battles were held, to the entertainment of thousands of people. This is the place where Julius Caesar was murdered on the Senate steps. This is the place where Augustus Caesar stood and declared his defeat of Antony and Cleopatra and his victory over the entire Roman empire. And this is the place where I live. Unreal!

Then, school started. It was a difficult transition at first- I think most people had the initial impression that we were on a 15-week vacation- but I’m starting to fall back into my good study habits. I love all my classes, which are pretty Rome centric and involve a lot of field trips. I especially love the class “Art of Rome,” which takes us around to all the different major sites in the city and has us study them in depth, learn all about the history, the context and the architecture. I’m learning so much already, and I feel like the city is coming alive in a whole new way. We’re studying Machiavelli first in my political theory class, which is interesting, considering that on Max and I’s trip to Florence we’re having lunch at the place where Machiavelli wrote The Prince. Dante’s house is also actually really close by to my apartment. All the history in this place…it’s amazing! (Despite the fact that, when my teacher pointed out Dante’s house to all of us on the bus, there was a resounding chorus from my class of…”Who’s Dante?” and I had to hit my head against the side of the bus)

On Friday, we made our way to the beautiful hill-town and beaches of Sperlonga. It was about an hour trip by train, but an absolutely gorgeous one. From the windows in the train we could see the ancient aqueducts, historical ruins, and the Castelli Romani, or the hilltop castles that appear along the beautiful mountains on the route from Rome to Naples. When we arrived at the Fondi-Sperlonga train-station it seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere, so we were a little nervous. However, the Sperlonga bus took us straight to the beach- and look how beautiful it is! While it was too cold to swim, we had fun walking along the beach, looking at the beautiful scenery, and eating gelato while we played in a small amusement park. All in all it was a fantastic time and a great day- trip. Right now I’m a little sick (I’ve had a bad cough for a while) so I’m staying inside and taking it easy. Ciao tutti, e buona giornata!