Definite Procrastination

So I am here choosing to put my work off, very consciously, in favor of updating about my life... before there's too much to write about anything well. I've had a great weekend and equally great beginning to the week. I hope that is to be expected for a life in Roma. No more pictures yet, but I'll work on it.

Saturday night was an all night festival: La Notte Bianca. It started at 8pm and continued until 8am. Not being Italian I hardly made it to 8am, but stayed out until about 3 and didn't sleep until 4. The idea of the festival (from what I gather) is to showcase the vast culture of Rome. Different artists, musicians, etc. were out to perform and show their talents. Over the course of the night I heard a Senegalese drum performance and a Miles Davis tribute. The subway was running all night, shops were open, and various other things were going on (supposedly). Most of the night I wandered around the city and took public transit and saw... throngs of people wandering around the city and taking public transit. I was not as informed about what was going on as I could have been (we wanted to take things as they came), but I was surprised by how much of the festival was just people out in the middle of the night. All in all it was worth it just to see the nearly full moon over the Colosseum. Another highlight was cramming onto the Roman subway to ride it like sardines...

Sunday was very lowkey, everyone in the city slept late, and most shops and bars stayed closed. Consequently the hungry Centristi went on the hunt at about 7pm... much earlier than a suitable Italian dinner. We wanted to go to a Sicilian restaurant that had come recommended to us. When we went by the owner informed us his family was eating dinner (oops!) but we could be seated in an hour at 8... This quickly divided our group. Half so hungry they decided to get some quick bar food, but Faith, Dustin, and I were determined to eat at the Sicilian restaurant and walked around the neighborhood, slowly killing time until 8.

And it was so worth it....

We shared a fabulous bottle of house white wine, good bread and the entrees... I had ricotta ravioli in an orange flavored cream sauce, Dustin had pistachio pasta, and Faith had swordfish. To be extremely decadent Faith got pistachio gelato and I had lemon sorbet. It was the best meal ever... we were all squealing in delight and not one of us offered to share a taste (except for the desserts). I just had an amazing Centro dinner of risotto and beef strips but the thought of Sunday's dinner still makes me hungry for that ravioli!

Monday was a looong day with a lot of class. Two hours of lecture for the Ancient City. An hour and a half of Latin. An hour of Italian. It was all spaced throughout the day in an almost endless stream of learning. I also tried handwashing some clothes on Monday. It was effective but time consuming. I'm glad I did it, and may hand wash some items in the future but typically I think I'll cough up the Euros to pay for the machine. Oh how I miss "free" Rice laundry machines!

Today was another loooong day (see a pattern?). I got up at 7:00am, and still managed to miss all of the hot water (boo cold showers!), had breakfast at 7:30am, packed my bag and was on the bus by 8:00am for our trip to Tarquinia and Cerveteri. In Tarquinia we went to the Etruscan Museum and saw several sarcophagi and more interestingly Greek pottery. Some of the most amazing Greek pottery was imported to Etruria because the Etruscans were very wealthy and had the resources to bring in this pottery. Then we went to the necropolis at Tarquinia and viewed numerous tomb paintings still in their original location. This means we got to climb down claustrophobic flights of stairs to dark clammy tombs and view the painting through a window. By the 8th or 9th tomb I was feeling a little light-headed. Luckily after that we had a tasty bagged lunch. (Bag lunches contain a juice box, some cold cuts, a cheese similar to but better than cream cheese, and a large roll). Onward from there (this day feels long to you too right?) we went to Cerveteri, which I actually preferred, where there were more tombs. These were more like a maze or outdoor adventure. You went in and out of the tombs with more climbing but less stairs. Most of the tombs lacked paintings, but they had their own redeeming characteristics. My favorite was a tomb carved with an intricate relief of many household items. And then... we went to the beach! I've swam in the Mediterranean! It's very salty. After drying off I had a Bicardi Breezer (fruitier version of a Smirnoff Ice) on the beach and then finally we headed back to Rome for dinner. Now I'm postponing doing my homework....

But the best way to learn Italian is to do my homework, and I'm actually excited I figured out the Indirect Statement in my sentence of Cicero...

I'm a nerd!

Keep the comments, emails, etc. coming! It makes all of this being away from home, away from everyone so much easier.