10/31 - Wednesday (Halloween)
I spent a solid couple days freaking out about my family and their safety. It rained in Rome all week, which kept me (unfortunately) from walking around the places that I wanted to see. But I'm not in a rush because I still have a ton of time left in Italy. I was really worried that my house wouldn't be able to withstand Hurricane Sandy. Thankfully, after days of freaking out and not hearing from many people back home, my family was able to contact me somehow.
They told me they were safe. The entire house is still standing, there was no flooding and there was no outside damage done to the house (no fallen trees crashing into the house, no branches breaking windows etc.). My car was tied down so well, thanks to my dad, that it didn't move an INCH during the hurricane. My family was without power for days, but able to contact me from outside sources of electricity. Everything was okay and that's all that mattered.
I asked a ton of people what Italians did on Halloween. I heard different answers - they don't trick or treat, they don't really celebrate it, some go out, etc. After spending enough of the day on the computer trying to contact family & friends back home to make sure everyone was safe, I went home for dinner. My host mom made me dinner and I ate while watching tv with her. On tv was a cooking show. A young Italian woman was talking to this guy Giovanni over the phone on the show. He called in to tell her what Americans did for Halloween and he mentioned that the fall season, especially Halloween with all its pumpkins, is a great time for pumpkin pie! So this woman made pumpkin pie.
1. I know people - more than one - who have never had pumpkin pie ever.
2. My host mom sounded hilarious when she tried to pronounce "pumpkin pie".
3. I miss it - a lot. So much, it isn't even funny.
Some Italians DO trick or treat for Halloween. Mainly little kids. They get dressed up in their costumes and go from door to door with their parents & friends to get candy. Some Italians do this. Others don't celebrate, but maybe they'll go out with friends, just to do something simple. Drinks, or what not. The apartment bell rang about 3 times that night and my host mom freaked out. She didn't know what to do. So she asked what I do when the doorbell rings on Halloween. I explained to her that these kids expect you to give them candy. She opened the door and told the poor kids that she didn't have anything to give them - apparently Italians don't really prep for this like Americans do. We go all out back home with decorations, costumes, and candy. They don't do that here, but kids will get dressed up and go to doors.
Anyway, I felt bad that my host mom didn't pickup a little bag of candy, knowing it was Halloween. So she just kept answering the door to tell the kids that she didn't have anything to give them, even though I told her some Americans just don't answer the door.
11/1 - Thursday (All Saints Day)
Americans don't really celebrate All Saints Day, though I think the most you can do is go to mass. But today was another on and off rainy day.
11/2 - Friday (All Souls Day)
Today was more eventful! The weather was nice & I deserved a really nice day out with friends. On Halloween, I wanted to go to the Cappucchin Crypt. But I did it today instead with Ashley, Jeremy, and another friend from St. John's. It was absolutely amazing! If you aren't squeamish and go to Rome, make sure you checkout the Cappucchin Crypt! It's 6E per person to see the Cappucchin Museum before going to the Crypt. I also thought about buying some tasteful bones-and-other-skeletal-parts-of-the-human-body postcards, but thought that might be of poor taste. We all had a great time there! It was definitely worth it, even if you just go to say you did it!
That night I went out with Ashley to dinner at a place called Porchettoni in the back of Termini station. The restaurant is an amazing place, based off the huge feast of a dinner we had in Ariccia. But the walk from Termini to the restaurant is really sketchy...it's totally worth it though and the people there are extremely welcoming.
After dinner, we walked outside to head to Termini but saw these huge flashing lights and heard club music. We figured there were police around or something because it looked like the police maybe pulled someone over, but it wasn't. A DJ was playing music in the outside stairway of an apartment building near Sapienza University. He was facing the street with his DJ equipment. The college kids were all in the street smoking and/or drinking. They were all hanging out, but the music was so good I wanted to dance....except no one was dancing. It was freezing out and everyone had jackets...except me. But I love the cold.
I turned to Ashley and said, "These Italian kids have no idea how to have a good time." So we just started dancing in the street. Why not! I'd rather start a dance party at a random DJ rave than something stupid. But it was fun that we were the only Americans among the Italian college population in the street that night, and we stayed for maybe over an hour or so. It was a great time!
11/4 - Sunday
Ashley and I decided to head to the Porta Portese in Trastevere today. However, we got really lost - but it worked out better that way. We found tons upon TONS of chocolate vendors, restaurants, churches, and people outside on a Sunday just enjoying themselves. It rained too, on and off. It made the day better and worse, but in the end, I still enjoyed myself so it doesn't matter.
11/5 - Monday
We went back to classes today. Break is officially over. But I was able to catchup on Vampire Diaries & How I Met Your Mother. And randomly travel a bit during the week. I also got a brief job babysitting my professor's year and a half year old son, who is adorable.
11/8 - Thursday
Today I went to St. Peter's again. Why? There's something called a "Scavi" that you can pay to do at St. Peter's. It's a guided group that are able to go under St. Peter's and look at the tombs and history underneath the Basilica. So, I have literally been all over St. Peter's Basilics - from top to bottom.
To checkout the Excavations/Scavi of St. Peter's, click this link:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/uffscavi/documents/rc_ic_uffscavi_doc_gen-information_20090216_en.html
It was absolutely amazing, something that I don't even think most of the native Romans have done! Granted, I had to get up earlier than usual, but it was worth every Euro and every second of my morning.
Philosophy class met at Castel Sant'Angelo today! This is definitely my favorite place in Rome. It's beautiful. The restaurant in the Castle is gorgeous and so romantic. The view is just breath taking! I suggest going there in the afternoon when the sun highlights everywhere outside. Pictures are on my Facebook, but if/when you ever come to Italy, make time to enjoy this place in particular! I fell in love with it when I first came to Rome because it was practically down the street from where I was staying!
11/8 - Friday
Italian class today, since we're in the process of learning about fascism (and the causes/effects), we went to the Museum of Liberation - il museo della liberazione. It isn't really a "museum" persay, it's more of a building with things hung up inside it. However, that didn't mean it wasn't interesting.
The Museo della Liberazione was a prison building for prisoners of different backgrounds, used during the era of fascism in Italy. I know the Holocaust Museum in DC is scary to some people, but this was a prison that people were held in. With bricked windows and no air. For days, months. It was so recent too and was the actual BUILDING and ROOMS that these men were stuffed in!
It scared the living crap out of me.
There were messages, lyrics, poems, and anthems written on the walls, which are now encased in glass so no one can ruin the wall. The brickwork in front of the windows is still mostly there, though to create the museum, they knocked half of it out for circulation.
After the scariest Italian class of my life, Sarah wanted to go rock climbing because that's her passion. Since no one really wanted to go with her, I figured why not! Try something new. Plus I was really intrigued to see her in her climbing atmosphere, even if it's in another country. So we ended up transferring metro trains, finally got off at the right stop, walked less than a mile, and saw this HUGE facility.
I don't remember the name of this place, but it's this ginormous recreation center for all ages and all different sports. We knew it was the right place because the 80ft rock walls were outside and you seriously couldn't miss those. They had so many sports at this place - swimming lessons, competitive swimming, water aerobics, basketball, tennis, karate, work out classes, a skate park for skateboarding, rock climbing, etc.
Sarah was giving me the rock climbing 101 run down, which was extremely helpful since (1) I hate heights, (2) I know next to nulla about rock climbing, (3) THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF CLIMBING! WTH! Who knows these things!?
Sarah is super awesome and I loved seeing her climb. I have to say, I'm super glad I went because I had a great time too. But before I continue this story, here are some things you should know: (1) I rarely rock climb, (2) I hate the feeling of falling, and (3) going up isn't the problem but coming down IS. Because there was a class at the rock wall, Sarah was teaching me how to boulder, which I'm decent at. Bouldering and wall climbing are different.
Bouldering is a kind of climbing that looks like this:
Rock wall climbing is exactly how you remember it - literally going up a wall with ropes and stuff tied to you. So bouldering was interesting, mainly because you don't have ropes tied to you - it's just padded mat underneath. You either climb back down, or fall on the mat. While I enjoyed these, I don't have the muscle to climb regularly so I have to give climbers a ton of credit.
11/10 - Saturday
I got up early and left for Assisi. It was a day trip and I suggest going to Assisi if you're a fan of landscapes. Assisi was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. Go in the fall when the leaves are changing colors in early November. There's a Piazza in front of a church that I think might be la chiesa di Santa Chiara (Saint Clare). Her body was in there and while the main level of the church is small and narrow, it's quite grand downstairs with a mini museum of her things. In the afternoon, the sun hits the piazza perfectly, as well as the other parts of Assisi on the hill. As I've found with other places at certain times of the day, it was breathtaking.
I got back to Rome around 8.30 or 9pm. I was nervous/excited because my parents and my sister flew in for Family Week so they could spend the week with me and travel a bit. I was planning to meet them at their rented apartment after I came back from Assisi. Here's a weird story: the address said 3, but on the street there were two building with 3 - 3A and 3B. So I was standing outside on the street like....what is this nonsense? So I start banging on one of the doors to see if someone would hear me. I turn around and there's this guy staring at me on the street and I'm thinking, Oh perfect! Another old Italian creep. Yeahhh - that guy was my dad.
I don't think I've ever been so happy to see my dad before that night, ever. I'm a family person...and I've been a daddy's girl since I was born. So after not seeing my dad for months while I live in another country is...weird. But I miss my sister even more - my sometimes moody, dramatic, can-basically-pass-for-my-twin, partner in crime. My sister is 15 going on 30 and a sophomore at my alma mater high school, which is top of the top. I adore my sister like she's never believe and if I didn't have a limit as to how big my suitcase has to be to get home, I'd buy her everything here. Ya know, spoil the crap out of her. Anyway...
I was happy to see them, and my mom. Their apartment was REALLY nice. I was excited to see a bathtub! Too excited. They got lucky with such a great place in Rome! And internet. The first instructions I gave them was to stay in the apartment after they got there, don't go out anywhere, and just SLEEP. That worked out because we went out to dinner at a restaurant nearby and was able to show them around Rome at night, which isn't too busy on a Saturday night, but still - it's ROMA.
We had a great dinner at the restaurant. They were all giddy listening to me talk to the waiter, they loved the Italian food they ordered, and we headed back to their apartment. I hugged them goodbye and walked home to MY apartment after giving them the rundown about Sundays in Rome.
11/11 - Sunday
I took my family to a church in Prati near St. John's for noon mass. It was entirely in Italian and it's different than simply going to mass in the US. So I think they were surprised, if anything. I understand everything, so I had to translate for them afterward. Then I thought, Wow - it's going to be so different going to mass in the US again... which I probably shouldn't have thought because I don't want to go home. After mass, we walked around the area and went to lunch at Piccolo Diavolo, one of my favorite local places. It's inexpensive, the people are diverse, and the workers are adorably hilarious. I've noticed that whenever I go there to eat, they turn on American music - Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, or whoever - because they know that I'm American. But it's cute that they care. They also know me pretty well since I go there every week, haha.
We walked around the Vatican and got gelato outside the Vatican at this amazing place that I can't remember the name of right now, but trust me - it's top notch in Rome. We stood outside and it started pouring...POURING rain. So we walked home when the rain seemed to slow and hid in the bars when it got harder, which was really funny. We went back to their apartment and relaxed, talked about all things Italian, and caught up on life.
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