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[mollys-adventures]

Vatican Adventures

As I sit here watching my homies play a game of soccer I am thinking the crazy day we had at the Vatican. We took two metros from campus to get there. Professor Charney had it set up so we met a tour group that could get us past the crazy long lines and into the museum. Once we got in, we of course had to stop for a coffee break. I shook it up a bit and got an iced cappuccino instead of a hot one. It was well worth it because we had coffee in a huge courtyard at the middle of the Vatican. It was beautiful but a little toasty. We saw ancient pagan statues of Apollo and it was all stunning. The heads and hands were cut off many of them because the Church did not want them to be worshipped but appreciated for their beauty. Cutting off the hands and faces makes it impossible to identify them as specific deities. After the ancient section, we made our way through the Raphael and DaVinci galleries. They were pretty unbelievable. The last stop in our Vatican extraeov0ganza was the Sistine Chapel. Before we went in Professor Charney gave us the run down on how the ceiling was not the only impressive thing but that the paintings on the sides of the chapel were also beautiful works of art that were often overlooked. The Chapel was of course packed and there were consistently guards telling us to be silent and not to take pics, but I snuck one anyway, that did not take away from how beautiful it all was (check out the pictures section to see it). That concluded our crazy day at the Vatican and so to celebrate we went out to lunch. We went to this cool sandwich place and it was delish! Film and Italian were in the afternoon. In Italian we are still working on the basics. I can officially order a hot or cold cappuccino and a croissant. In film we watched The Conformist. It is a movie about Italy towards the end of the Fascist regime. It is another movie that is so interesting and informative to talk about but a little dull to watch. That night we went on a tour of a secret passageway. The tour was a little dull but the views were incredible as always. It was another adventure filled day in the eternal city. 

[mollys-adventures]

All those Religion Classes Finally Payed Off

Well we had our first day of real adventures today! The morning began with my Renaissance and Baroque Art History. Our professor is Noah Charney who kind of a big deal in the art history world (here is a link to his website http://noahcharney.smugmug.com). We had our first technical class with him yesterday but it was a four hour lecture to learn about the basics so we know what to look for in the art we would be seeing for the next three weeks. It was funny how excited he was when myself and a couple of kids on the trip who go to a Jesuit school knew the story of the annunciation and other stories that I had always assumed everyone knew. The first thing Professor Charney said was that he was as much in love with food as he was with art and that every class would include a stop at a bar (a bar is like a cafe here), a gelato place, or a pizzeria. The cappuccino here does not disappoint and may even be better than my beloved Starbucks. The class began today with a trip to San Clemente, a church about a 15 minute walk from the school. Most churches in the city center of Rome are known as layer cakes because they will have the foundation of the ruins that were originally there. In this case a Mithraeum place of worship was the origial building and foundation. On top of that was a Early Christian Basilca, followed by the Baroque Church at street level. After that we went to a bar for a cappuccino and had a little break to enjoy Rome. It has been quite rainy here but everyone is telling us not to get used to because it is going to  be scorching hot the rest of our time here. After our caffeine break we went to a little known spot, the SS. Quattro Coronari. It is a convent where the nuns choose to be cloistered. They have some of the best kept frescoes left. A frescoe is a painting that was created using egg whites and paint pigments, it then was painted onto plaster that was not yet dry. Saakshi, my roommate took some great pictures of that which I will post when she is done editing them. To see the frescoes at the convent one must speak to a nun through a grate in the wall and get the key to the chapel. It was so beautifully preserved. After that we walked  back to campus for lunch. Although we got caught in a huge rain storm so it was more of a sprint than a walk, but an adventure none the less. Lunch was followed by Italian class, I am as hopeless as ever with languages but the teacher is funny and really takes the time to make sure we understand the concepts. Italian Film is the last class of the day. It focuses on films made after WWII and in a style know as neorealism. We watched "An Open City" yesterday and "The Bicycle Thief" today. I like the movies but I liked to talk about the concepts behind them as opposed to actually watching them but it is a an interesting and informative class. After dinner we went on a walk through a neighborhood that I forget the name of but is known to be where young people hang out. It was a blast! We got gelatto of course and watched some  street performers. I am having an amazing time here and will post pictures from today of friends and different sites when Saakshi finishes editing them.

Until next time,

Molly

[mollys-adventures]

I Have Arrived!

I made to it to Rome safe and sound! My flight was uneventful and I was met at the airport by the on site coordinator for my program. I met some of the other girls, one of them is my roommate! She is from India and we are having a blast so far. After we got to campus, we met up with the rest of students, we had delicious margarita pizza and had a couple of hours to get to know each other. The only problem was there was only about half of the group here. The rest got stuck at the airport due to some lost luggage (not mine phew!). When everyone had arrived, we played the classic awkward ice breakers and had orientation. We then had some time to shower and get ready for our barbecue on the gorgeous terrace on campus. The food was delish but was made better by our first outing into the city. We walked a couple of blocks to the Jewish Ghetto, I was the expert thanks to Rick Steves, we were treated to our first gelatto in Rome! I got a mixture of coffee and chocolate, and it did not disappoint. My classes will start today! Jet lag is getting to me a bit so I am up at 5am writing this. I  will give a full update of all of my classes tomorrow@ 

Until next time, 

Molly