Forza Roma!

What a stressful week this has been!

Friday, I worked on my final papers all day. Luckily, the whole apartment of boys near us was gone, so they left a key with Noah and I so we could use their apartment for quiet study space! Don’t worry, I definitely utilized it all weekend!

Friday night, Daniela, Tara, Georgie, Sara, Sara’s three friends in town, and I all went to Casaletto for dinner. It’s another great restaurant like Carlo Menta that is super cheap and takes our coupons! Plus, they are really helpful when it comes to big groups of English speakers! Haha! From there we went to G-Bar (Yes, again) and got something called the Spaceship. (Now I know I make myself sound like an alcoholic over here, but I SWEAR I don’t drink as much as I make it sound.) But let me explain how the Spaceship works. It comes in this big plastic flower pot that they set cups in. Basically, the shots fall into the cups and the cups fall into the bottom part which is filled with pop, giving you a delicious mixed drink that tastes like heaven and comes in a convenient grab and go container. All seven of us split it, so it was quite fun! Since it was pouring rain that night, we were eager to come home early.

Saturday, I did nothing. I didn’t see any humans. I didn’t talk at all. I didn’t see the outside world. I sat in the boys’ apartment all day and wrote my stupid papers! But hey, they slowly started to come along. Having no social life is the price I had to pay for procrastinating. Way to go, Rach. Way to go.

Sunday, I let myself have a little fun. Sunday morning I met up with people at school to go on a day trip. Ten of us got on a bus and went to this beautiful castle owned by one of the most important families of Italy. They had two daughters married off to kings of Spain and France. And they had two men of the family become Popes! It was so cool. Then we got back in the bus and stopped at these famous hot baths. It was a giant swimming pool that was super warm! In the deep end it was about room temperature, but as you got closer to the spouts where the natural hot sulfur water was pouring in, it got BURNING hot. I mean, I love burning hot showers, but even that was too hot for me. But it was nice being able to kind of choose the temperature you wanted. And the sulfur is good for your skin! Afterward, I came home, and I bet you can guess what I did all night! (I’ll give you a hint: It involved my computer and three very important Word documents.)

Could you see yourself living here? I could!

This stairwell has been used many times to film movies being made about the Popes because it looks very similar to one in the Papal apartments.

Just a casual fountain in your living room. No big deal.

Monday, I only had Rome Through the Ages, and there were only six of us in class. Our professor, Massimo, just laughed because he knew everyone skipped to write their papers. I came home around 1 and finished working on my two papers for Made In Italy (about Giorgio Armani) and Cinema (about the movie “Life Is Beautiful”)! Because I was a good girl, I let myself go to the Roma soccer game! It was BITTERLY cold to the point where I almost didn’t go, but I sucked it up and went anyway. I’m so happy I did because the fans were absolutely INSANE. They put American fans to shame, even when it comes to football. I’ve never heard such a rowdy crowd, constantly singing and chanting, even when nothing was really happening in the game. It was so much fun, but was over really quickly. And unfortunately, Roma and Cagliari ended 0-0. Even though it was kind of uneventful, all of us had a great time!

Forza Roma!

Alessandro, Jo, and I. We got to the game after it had already started, so we couldn't find the rest of the group. After halftime, we met everyone else in seats right next to the field!

I thought this was funny. These are the fans of the opposing team. The green people standing around them? All security guards. Haha!

Tuesday, I was able to turn in my Made In Italy and Cinema papers! Yay! It felt so wonderful! After class, I came home and in about two hours, polished up my Rome Through the Ages paper. That night, we had the final family dinner of the semester. It was actually really sad knowing they are over, because it was the highlight of weeks here!

Today, I went to school early to print off my Rome Through the Ages paper before our site visit in Piazza Venezia. First, I stopped in my usual morning café, Bar Valle, and bought a cappuccino and muffin! When I walked into school, I mentioned it to the other girls that were there printing, giving them the marvelous idea to get some too! So, after we all printed our papers, Holly, Daniela, Hailey, Reina, MaryKate, and I stopped back into Bar Valle, and I got another cappuccino and muffin. Sonya (the lady who owns it) looked at me like I was insane, but hey, two muffins and cappuccinos never hurt anyone, right? At our site visit today, we were outside for the entire hour and forty minute class! It was SO cold, but we all pretended to listen! Then we handed our papers in, and I could not have been more happy. I threw the paper at him (Not literally) and exclaimed, “I never want to see that thing ever again!” He doesn’t think I’m very funny. :)

And can I say one thing?… I’M DONE! I’M DONE! MY PAPERS ARE DONE! I NEVER HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THEM, WORRY ABOUT THEM, OR LOOK AT THEM EVER AGAIN! Woohoo! This is such a huge weight lifted off my chest. Everyone has been stressing out about these things for WEEKS. It feels great to just be done with them.

So, to celebrate our new freedom, everyone is going out tonight! I’m happy to say that I don’t have to stress anymore!… Well, at least until finals.