Day 17 Back to classes

Today we were back to classes as usual.  Ashley did not have her Italian culture class but I had both my classes.  For my Italian II class I had an Oral Exam.  I had to recite somewhat from memory a passage I wrote about myself in Italian.  Apparently my teacher and the class really liked the way I presented it. Ashley and I went to eat Chinese food again tonight.  We got there an hour before it opened so we ate some gelato from a local bakery nearby.  She got a raspberry type gelato and I got my traditional chocolate. It was pretty good. We then finally got into the Chinese restaurant and had the place to ourselves.  We have been studying and doing homework in the library since.

Studying of course!

My Oral Exam speech:

Ciao! Mi chiamo Christopher. Sono Americano di Washington D.C. Ho venti anni. Il mio compleanno è il quatordici Luglio millenovecentonovanta alle quattro del pomeriggio. Abbiamo vissuto anche coni miei nonni e mia madre a Burke in Virginia.  Mia madre lavora alla Casa Bianca de venti anni dal Presidente George H.W. Bush. Mio nonno è Ceco. Mia nonna è Portughese. Hanno ottanta anni.

Abito a Chicago in Illinois. Io vivo in una camera singola in un appartmento. Il mio indirizzo è dieci-dodici West Loyola Avenue. Nelle mia camera c’è il letto, il cuscino, il tavolo, il termosifone, la sedia, la televisone, e molti libri. Nel tempo libero leggo. Mi piace leggere! Nel mio tempo libero mi piace cucinare con la mia ragazza.  Il suo nome è Ashley. Ci piace guadare Lost, Arrested Development, e Flavor of Love alla televisione. Mi piacciono la musica in paticolare quella degli anni 50. Mi piacciono le musicisti Elvis, Fats Domino, Little Richard, e Chuck Berry. Al miei amici non.

Studio storia, inglese, e giornalismo a Loyola University Chicago. Questo è il mio ultimo anno. Vorrei essere un archivista. Lavoro presso gli archivi della Loyola University.  Mi piace molto. Il mio nubero di telefono è sette-zero-tre-sei-sette-quattro-sei-due-otto-zero. Ho Verizon. Mi telefoni per un divertirci!

Day 16 Return from Paris to Rome

We woke up at 5:00am in order to catch our plane back to Rome from Beauvais airport. We checked out of the hotel at 5:30 after eating some bananas for a quick breakfast. We took the Metro to our transfer station and found out that the transfer Metro we needed to take to get to the shuttle didn't open until 10am. We walked out onto the street and hailed a Taxi.  The driver was very nice and took us exactly where we needed to get to promptly.  The cab fare was cheap.  We missed the 6:15 bus but caught the 6:25 bus with plenty of time to spare. We both fell asleep during the 90 minute drive.  When we got to the airport we got a quick bite to eat at Paul. Our meal consisted of a Parisian ham and butter sandwich, hot chocolate, and two chocolate croissants.  We then boarded our plane for Rome and fell asleep again for the two hour flight.We woke about 30 minutes before landing.  Boy, the Ryan Air pilots sure make rough landings!

After arriving safely at Ciampino, we grabbed some lunch in the airport.  We had two ham and cheese sandwiches, a Coke, and a Kinder egg.  Instead of taking a taxi back to the Rome Center we paid a total of 8 Euros for a comfy bus ride to the Rome train Terminal.  From there we took the Metro and then the 913 bus back to campus.  Upon reaching our rooms, we immediately missed the air conditioning we had in the hotel in Paris.

We ate at Pizza Maggio for dinner.  Afterwards, we studied in the library for the rest of the night.  After a lack of Internet for three days I found out that they have started demolition on Alumni Gym back at Loyola.  I was extremely sad and have put the word out for some of my friends to grab me some bricks from it.  If you watch the video you can see my old apartment, The Morgan, to the right of Alumni.

 I had a long Italian composition to write reflecting on the Velletri trip and I also had to prepare for an Oral Exam.  We both slept like rocks that night.

Studying after a long day!

Day 15 Second Day in Paris!

The Louvre

More on this later...

Day 14: PARIS

We were up at 3AM to catch our 6:45 flight from the Ciampino airport.  We took a taxi from the Rome Center straight to the airport.  There were very few cars on the road which allowed us to get to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

MORE ON THIS LATER IN THE UPCOMING DAYS...

Day 13: Velletri

Velletri train stop

Today, I went to Velletri with my Italian II class. Seven of my classmates met up in the lobby of the Rome Center before 8am, which was when we were supposed to leave.  However a couple were late in coming downstairs and we ended up running extremely late to catch the train at the Rome Terminal.  Our teacher had cautioned us that we had to be on time because he had our whole trip set up according to certain times. Nevertheless, we still managed to be late.  We caught the 913 bus around 8:15 and took it to the Cipro Metro station.  When we got to the station the same students who were late did not have Metro tickets so we had to wait for them to get Euros from an ATM and buy tickets.  We had twenty five minutes before our train left the Terminal for Velletri and we still had to take a twenty minute Metro ride to get there.  Our metro arrived that the Terminal at 8:56.  We ran allllll the way up at least four different flights of stairs and through the terminal and boarded the train just as the doors were closing.  We were pretty lucky to make it!  We were all out of shape and I slept for the hour long train ride.

The train we took after arriving into Velletri

We arrived around 10:15 in Velletri.  Our Italian teacher met us there because Velletri is where he lives.  I can't believe he makes the train commute to the Rome Center everyday.  After buying our return trip tickets we walked with our teacher around the town.  We stopped in front of the Porta Napoletana, which was built in 1511 as the gate into the city.  It was one of the few buildings to survive virtually unscathed during World War II.  Velletri was bombed NINE times by the Allies during the war.

Porta Napoletana

 From there we stopped at a local cafe called Al Bar 2000.  Our teacher bought coffees for whoever wanted them.  We then went to the Saint Clement Cathedral built in the 1660s. It was an old church that was undergoing restoration.  Our teacher told us that before Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI, he was the Bishop of Velletri for about 20 years!  The Pope returned in September 2007 to celebrate Mass in which a Bronze memorial commemorates the visit in front of the Church. Next our teacher abandoned us making us ask directions in Italian from the locals.  We had to find a bakery called the Forno.  When we got there the owner, Senor Lopez showed us how bread was made and we got a whole bunch of tasty sugar cookies at the end.

Delicious Cookies!

We then had to find the market, which we did.  They sold raw rabbit meat.  It was a sad sight. Next we searched for the Trivium Bell Tower.  It was built in 1353! It was the coolest thing by far in Velletri.  It was built 300 years before the neighboring Santa Maria Church was.

Trivium Bell Tower

After searching for various piazzas and touring the courthouse, we finally were able to eat. We all had a delicious meal at a local Mom and Pop restaurant called Medioevo.  We had a three course meal that consisted of spaghetti, veal and beef, and an assortment of mini desserts.  It was quite delicious.

The Restaurant

After eating, we boarded the train for home. We all had a pretty good time! We all slept on the way home.  I woke up just in time to see the remnants of the famous Roman Aqueducts from the train window.  The aqueducts are one of the greatest achievements and most important engineering marvels of the ancient world.  It was quite a site to see! The pictures do not do them justice.

the aqueducts!

We all finally got home around 5:00pm. Ashley had quite a miserable day, especially since I wasn't around all day. We ate pizza at Pizza Maggio and got some milk and snacks from the nearby grocery store.  We both tried to get some sleep that night but we slept very little because we were up at 3:00AM to get to the airport for Paris!!

My Italian II class

Day 12: Welcome Mass

Yes, I know it's been awhile since I've written. We have just been so very busy.  Today we had both of our classes.  In my history of Rome class we are watching a British-Italian TV series for the last hour called ROME. It's a very exciting series and the whole class enjoys it. It's noted for its historical accuracy.

St. Ignatius in downtown Rome

After classes, Ashley and I got ready for the Welcome Mass for us students that was held downtown Rome.  We had to go to the Saint Ignatius Church, which was extremely beautiful and old. We left around 5:45 and took the bus down and had to walk a considerable distance there.  I'm not sure why Loyola just didn't charter a bus for everyone, it would have been easier for all of us.  Like I said, the church was very beautiful.  The chapel that we celebrated mass in was called the "Assumpta Est Maria in Caelum" (translated from Latin as The Assumption of Mary into the Sky). The chapel itself had many beautiful frescoes and was built sometime around 1649.

The Chapel in St. Ignatius Church

Ashley admiring the chapel's beauty!

The mass was celebrated by Father Charles, a teacher we both know from Loyola's Lake Shore Campus back in Chicago and a Rome Center priest.  Ashley and I both brought up the gifts before communion.  The whole event was a great experience.

Post-Church

After Church, we all walked as a group to the restaurant that we had pre-paid for, that I have since forgotten the name of.  It wasn't so great.  All they had to drink was sparkly water and wine.  I tried the wine with the Alfredo spaghetti we had and I officially will never be drinking wine EVER again with a meal.  It did not taste very good.  Grandpa probably would have liked it! A lot of the teachers that were there got drunk and it just wasn't that great of a time. Because of it, Ashley and I and a few others left early to take the bus home and went to bed.

Day 11

Breakfast

For breakfast Ashley and I had a banana and Frosted Flakes again. Today we only had our Italian classes.  After my Italian class we had to go on a field assignment for a a grade.  We had to go on a bus downtown and transfer to a metro station and get to certain piazza and gelateria.  Eight of my classmates and myself and Ashely went on the excursion.

delicious!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
We made it to the Metro which was more similar to the Metro cars in New York City.  There are few seats which leaves more room for standing.  When we go off at the right stop we were in a weird part of Rome.  None of us knew why our teacher had us go so far out of the way from campus.  It was almost like the China town of Rome and it wasn't the best area.  We successfully found the G. Fassi gelateria after asking for directions.  It is the oldest Italian gelateria in the country.  It was soooo good! It was maybe even better than Old Bridge! It was so sweet and tasty.

Carmel and White Chocolate

Chocolate and White Chocolate with their famous whipped cream!

After leaving the gelateria, we went on a hunt for five restaurants in the area.  We had to write down what their specialties were in Italian and we will use them along with our gelato experience in a composition later this week. After that Ashley and I took the Metro and got off near St. Peter's Square to go eat dinner.  We ate at an outdoor restaurant called Macondo.

One of the waiters wanted his picture taken next to the menu

We both got a prosciutto parma (thin ham and cantaloupe) and for the main course Ashley got four cheese gnocchi and I got tortellini with ham and cream.  They were both pretty good. The Cokes we got weren't too good.  In fact when you buy anything to drink here the cheapest drink to get is soda which is roughly €3.50.  That converts to about a gallon of gasoline back home.  And the cup size is half of what we get for sodas back home.  It's pretty annoying.

The appetizer

Four Cheese Gnocchi

Tortellini with ham and cream

After that Ashley and I walked back to the bus stop which requires us passing the Vatican.  It never gets old walking through there to get to the bus.  Tonight we stopped for a little while and just sat on a bench overlooking it. After that we caught the bus and made it home and have since been doing homework.