What Is School?

Ciao Stranger,

I'm not sure if you know this, but I came to Rome for one purpose: to study in a foreign school where I can enrich/broaden my perspective as a student and acquire knowledge from a different academia.
Ha, let's be realistic now. Who goes on exchange for the education? Ciao Parties!

But since I've been in Rome for 3 weeks now, I suppose I should dedicate at least one post to my new school. LUISS is a private university in the heart of Rome with around 7000 students. It's got 3 campuses (I haven't been inside the other two since all my classes are in the main campus) and it's about a 30-45 min commute for me, so not too bad at all. Even though this is the second week of class, I'm still not sure what classes I'm taking..heh heh. It's not my fault, the class times are all jumbled and it's all very confusing! I signed up for classes at 5 AM last week with no sleep the previous night and it was done through my cellphone so really, I was asking for trouble...oops. I will figure it out, another day. Wow, look at me, learning to live life the Italian way already ;) Enough about my incompetences, back to the school. Here's a picture of the campus.

Pretty ain't it? It's completely gated with guards (who carry guns) and is across the street from the main police building so you definitely feel safe. Once you step inside the campus you can tell a world of difference: there's no litter or graffiti anywhere and everyone is dressed up. Girls carry name brand bags and guys wear dress shirts: I approve. An automatic +5 points for all the guys. Now why can't the rest of the world be like this as well? This campus only has one building, the one you see in the picture above, and it's about the size of Sauder (so decently sized but about 1/100 the size of UBC). A picture of what one of the lecture rooms looks like. It used to be a church, pretty bad ass isn't it? Yeah, I know you be jelly. Except according to Paolo, the room echoes too much so you can't ever whisper to that hot chick/dude sitting beside you. Bummer.

I don't mind the size of the school because it kind of feels like I'm back in high school. Everyone goes to their class, then at lunch we all head down to the cafeteria like a herd of cows and eat together. Food at the cafeteria is molto cheap.You get a bread/fruit/pasta/veggie/meat/drink for 3.20 euros (regularly 8 euros for locals). But so far, I've only been getting the salads because I feel as though I've been slightly deprived of my greens since I've been in Rome. It's my small attempt at trying to be healthy. Plus it's 2 Euros for a huge bowl of delicious giraffe food, so how could I say no? 

                         

Overall, I'm enjoying the school so far (even though I try to spend as few hours there as possible) and will see how things play out. I should probably figure out my timetable soon, especially since I might be missing all of next week's classes...did I mention I'm an exchange student? 

Alright, so the following is from last Thursday afternoon when I decided to go to the National Museum of Rome. It doesn't deserve its own post so I will attach it here. I missed my morning class and felt guilty so to make up for it, I decided not to waste another minute in this magical city and ran out the door. Thank you Rick Steves for touring me around Rome in my purse (best present Steven). I got to see tons of sculptures up close. The heads somehow all got their noses broken so they looked like Voldemort to me, bleh. 

                                     

Even the sphinx's nose is broken? Did someone go around ancient Rome breaking noses off sculptures as a joke? Maybe the "I got your nose" prank started in the Roman times...

                  

I think I would've loved and appreciated this place a lot more if I was an artist. This is the best preserved Roman copy of the Greek Discus Thrower. What? You don't care? How dare you, because neither do I. 

                 

Alright, you have to admit though, this is pretty mesmerizing. Look at that intricate 3-D artwork. You can see the expressions on each figure and they look like they're about to jump out of the wall and attack me. I applaud you unknown sculpture, a job well done. This is much more impressive in person.

The museum also contains the biggest coin collection in Europe. It was in the basement inside one of those intense bank doors so you know you're looking at valuable stuff. There were cabinets and cabinets filled with ancient coins dating back to when we used rocks as money and no one else was down there so I flapped my arms around and pretended I owned the place. After the museum I did what I do best in this city: wandering around aimlessly. As I was strolling along on the side walk doing some window shopping on a busy street, I turned to my right and saw this, a worn-out building that stuck out like it was misplaced there by a time machine. Of course I couldn't miss the opportunity and went inside to find out what it was. It was a church of course, what else could it have been. But all jokes aside, this is one of the reasons why I love this city so much. You will never run out of things to see and there's hidden surprises at every corner, you just have to find it yourself. 

Hello, My Name Is: Welcome Week

Ciao Stranger,

Did you miss me? It's okay, I know you did. It's been almost a week since my last post and I'm truly sorry about that. No I did not get abducted by strangers. I was simply too busy with the Erasmus (exchange students) Welcome Week. There's an event planned everyday of the week so you never get a moment of silence. Here's an itinerary to prove that I'm not lying about what I've been up to.

And since school started this Monday, it's been a handful. Where do I even begin...this is why you should never wait too long to do something, I now have too much information to unload and have absolutely no idea where I should begin. Let's just follow the welcome week program and take it day by day. Warning: this may be an extremely long blog post. Grab a coffee, you might need it.

Last Thursday, I was finally able to meet some of the fellow exchange students at orientation and had to quickly throw myself out there and make friends. It's like the first day of uni all over again. Meet a lot of people and remember their names (when you're in Europe, this is no easy task. I've had to ask "sorry, could you say that again" about a gazillion times and a minute later I'll forget again. My mouth just isn't capable of making that sound), make good first impressions, be funny, get people's numbers, and hope you're included in a group by the end of it. All that within the first couple of hours, so no pressure at all...

That night we went to an apertif (common Italian buffet styled eating) at OS Club. The food there was questionable. I would definitely not recommend going there since everything had a similar mushy taste to it. But the main purpose wasn't to eat anywho, it was to socialize! And because the drinks at the restaurant/club was outrageously priced (10 Euros for a bottle of beer), a bunch of us decided to leave for Campo di Fiori for 1 Euro shots. An hour later, we arrived there on foot. Half an hour later, half the group was drunk. All in all, a great first night with my new Erasmus friends. 

Because exchange is 75% party, 24% school and 1% sleeping; Friday meant drinking time again. Some necessary pre-drinking at Matt & Charles' terrace (MC Terrace for short, because there will be many parties held there. Their terrace would be a waste otherwise). Look at us, so jolly taking shots of Limoncello. Lots of karaoke, card games and laughter later, a dozen of drunk foreigners set out with their phones to find Shari Vari Club at 1am. Opinion on the first Italian club I went to? Crowded, small, awful music and overpriced drinks. As much as I love some oldies like Jailhouse Rock, I just wasn't feeling Elvis that night. When we tried to leave, that's when we realized Shari Vari was a maze. Upstairs was another world! There were other rooms with presumably different types of music: damn it. It took us 15 minutes just trying to find the exit. Chaotic. Absolutely chaotic. 

After sleeping through most of Saturday, I got up in the afternoon for the "Discovering Rome" event. Let's get one thing straight. In Italy, there is no "on time" concept. If it says 4pm, you'll be lucky if the people arrive by 5pm. If you're a person that's persistent about being on schedule all the time, then you'll go absolutely mental in Italy, because it simply won't happen. Things will happen when they do, just accept that fact. When things finally started moving along, we got in groups of 6 and went on a scavenger hunt. We went to Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Campo di Firori, the Ghetto (no, it does not have the same significance as what you're thinking, it's actually just the name of the Jewish area) and other smaller alleyways. I've already been to most of the sights with Miso so I didn't really take pictures. 3 hours later, our group walked proudly to the meeting point thinking we came in first or second place. Turns out we were the last group...heh heh...and since it was dinner time, our local Italian group leader showed us what he claimed was the best pizza place in Rome. There is always a line-up outside this place, so come prepared.

 The menu. I went with a pizza made of zucchini flour (not shown here).

 My pizza face and my pizza. Nom nom nom. So fresh, so flavourful, so delightful. We all devoured our food so fast it was anything but classy. Not quite sure if it was the best pizza I've had because I was boarder line famine mode when the pizza came so it tasted like gold to me. Will have to go back and try it again for a more reasonable critique.

On Sunday, we were planned to go to Viterbo. I was expecting a mini day trip with the public transportation and would probably be home by 4pm. Was I ever wrong. They got us two coach buses and off we went to Viterbo for a 12 hour, full day trip. We first went to Bomarzo Park, known as the Monster Park with beautifully weird sculptures everywhere. A picture of with the Erasmus students, this is only half of the group. Look at the sculpture in the back of the naked dude holding someone's leg? Errr...yeah, okay.

 Who needs the leaning tower of Pisa when you have this? Trippy feeling when you're inside the tower.

 The most famous sculpture of the garden. RAWR.

 After a late lunch, we finally got to Viterbo. It's a small town with a lot of character to it. Buildings with clothes hanging dry outside the window, rust and moss growing from cracks, children playing football on the streets and lots of locals taking a late afternoon stroll around the piazza. Here's what a typical street there looked like. You may find this odd but I love the look of old alleyways, the more rugged the better. Taking typical touristy pictures is great but sometimes its the things normal tourists take for granted that makes the city so unique. And for me, it's the forgotten alleyways. Let's all take a moment and appreciate this picture I took, except imagine it to be 3 shades darker because my camera made everything brighter. Where's the filter when I need it?!

 Went to a local pastry shop there and ordered the croissant on the counter. Italian Croissants aren't like the French ones; they're soft and bread like with powdered sugar on top. Majority of the time you'll find them filled with cream or nutella and are eaten for breakfast. Yes I had it for dinner, whatever, close enough. I think I dragged my exhausted body home around 10pm that day and spent the night looking at courses and timetables for the next few hours because unknowingly, school was about to start the next day...

Monday, the day of classes. I will dedicate another post to school so on we go to our next event; dinner at Ariccia, a town on a hill with a beautiful view (it was night time when we got there so all I saw were faraway city lights of some unknown city). We ate some authentic pasta, meat and cheese. The city is well known for their porchetta so in my tummy you go! 

But most importantly, it was the wine. With around 100 students, the wine to person ration was 1:1. I know I'm not the best at math but you read that right. A bottle of wine each. How could the night not have been anything but amazing?

On Wednesday we had a movie night at school. I was sleep deprived from the previous days' activities and having a full day of class really took its toll on me so I skipped the movie. It's okay, I plan on downloading the movie and watching it with my room mates so all is gooooooood. 

As for today, the last day of the welcome week, there is a party (yes, more drinking. This should come as no surprise to you by now) at Level Club. I slept for 12 hours last night so I should be prepared for what's to come...although that's highly doubtful. 

Killing Time: Catacombs Of Priscilla

Ciao Stranger,

I think I've finally settled into my new lifestyle here in Italy. It's been well over a week since my arrival and the initial rush of endorphins have died down. I no longer feel surprised when I wake up and realize I'm not in Vancouver anymore; I've come to accept that this is my new home. Travelling around by yourself has its perks. You don't have to attend to anyone else's complaints or requests, and since I'm possibly the slowest walker in the world, I know I'm not wasting someone else's time. I see what interests me, eat when I feel like it, sit when I'm tired, shop when my hands get fidgety and dance when no one's looking. "Michelle you sound like a loner." Fair statement. And perhaps I am but when I get home, I hangout with Romancouver and spend the night watching football, listening to them argue and laughing with the boys. 

I woke up and wanted to make some 年糕 for my boys to try. Aiyaaaa, it got slightly tanned again. Food is food, I scrapped off the burnt part and it's as good as new. 

Went to see the Catacombs of Priscilla and forgot about Italy's ridiculous lunch break from 12-2:30pm so I had to kill 3 hours. I went to a nearby park and took a stroll (how romantic of me), read my travel guidebook, and practised my Italian.

 Since I've always had lunch at home, this was the first time I was about to order food on my own. I was so excited to order food that I panicked and didn't know what to pick so I ended up getting plain bread...You try ordering food in Italian at a place like this, it's intimidating okay?!

 I also got a cream puff! I haven't had Beard Papa's in years so I really can't compare the two but I ordered mine in Italian so it's automatically more awesome. Nom nom nom...I devoured it while I was walking out of the store. I'm surprised I even had time to take a picture of it.

 Made it back to the Catacombs of Priscilla, an underground tunnel where over 40,000 Christians are buried, including 7 Popes. From the outside it just looks like an ordinary house but through a staircase and you'll find 3 levels of....

 This. Each shelf looking section is a tomb. Crazy right? If you were a poor Christian back in the days then this is where you would be buried. It's damp, dark and eerie down there and our tour guide had a tendency to speed walk through these tunnels so that if you wanted to catch up, you would have to run after him. He reminded me of the energizer bunny; not a good thing when you're in a series of tunnels surrounded by dead bodies.

After the tour I felt as if the day was still early so I rode the bus to find my next destination; Baths of Diocletian. What used to be the pools and baths area of the Romans is now a church. See the people carrying umbrellas? Yeah, random periods of showers showed up out of nowhere, and I was not prepared at all since it was sunny when I left earlier in the day. I ended up playing hide and seek with the weather the rest of the day. Rain? Hide inside a shopping area/church. No rain? Go go go!

 Santa Maria della Vittoria Church. A tiny church that's filled with baroque styled decorations. Sorry for the dark picture, it was cloudy outside and it was getting dark out.

 My night was cut short by the rain so I was forced to go home. Went to the wine section of my local supermarket and was amazed at their selection. There are so many different kinds I didn't even know what to look at. Uh.....eeny, meeny, miny, moe!
Michelle's Tips: want to be romantic yet you're feeling cheap? Hi honey, let's celebrate the night with a bottle of wine.
Price? 1 Euro
Your night to be? ;) ;) ;)

It's Raining Men

Ciao Stranger,

The posts are coming at a slower rate not because I've been so busy I've had no time to write, but quite the opposite. It's been raining every single day lately (sounds like Vancouver) and it's prohibiting me from running about. "Suck it up Michelle, just go anyways." Perhaps I should have but I don't own a pair of rain boots here and I gave the whole soggy shoes business a try but really, it was not enjoyable at all. I want my feeties to be warm and wiggly, not wet and weak (damn, look at that alliteration).

In Italy, Sunday is the day of holiness: football. 95% of the city (minus the center) closes down and everyone is home, watching football. I couldn't miss out on this tradition so I stayed in with the boys and watched my first football match from beginning to end. Verdict? I think I enjoyed watching the boys' reaction more than the game itself. They are that entertaining. I don't know who the players are so to me, it's just a bunch of people running and kicking the ball around. Plus there were 5 different games going on at the same time so I could barely keep up. I have much to learn. Salvo picked up some authentic Italian pastries as a snack for the game. From left to right: cannoli, sfogliatella, profiterole, and cannoncini. All were delightful little treats except some were a little too rich for my taste bud. My favourite is hands down the sfogliatella, the crispy crunchy exterior mixed with the slightly sweetened and flavoured creme. I could down those babies all day.

After the game I went off to have dinner with a fellow UBC exchanger around her neighbourhood. My pizza was the bomb. Hers is pretty fancy with all those ingredients on top but my tomato, basil and buffalo mozzarella beats any other pizza, any day. Take a bite and you'll want to sing opera and do the jive on your table. Really, it was that good. I'm drooling just thinking about it right now.

Monday morning it was raining, again. My bum was itching to get out so I took my umbrella and trekked down to Chinatown to get some grocery. Rome's Chinatown is a downright disappointment. I'm embarrassed to have any affiliation to it being Chinese and all. It feels like Termini Station (refer to previous post for my thoughts on this) but with a few more Asians. The shop spaces were poorly executed since they all looked half empty and the clothes they sold were your stereotypical Chinese villager styled stuff. I didn't take pictures because once again, I didn't feel safe taking out my phone in this area but imagine shops with bright highlighter yellow jumpsuits with bunnies and bears on the front of them with questionable English translations. I found a few stores with some frozen 饺子/包子/手抓饼 (prices were a lot more reasonable this time) and stocked up so that I can share it with my roomies one of these days. In the picture I was making some ginger tea for Paolo. I may or may not have gotten him sick...sorry!

 After lunch I met up with Miso and we went to the Cappuccin Crypt, where over 4000 friars skeletons were used to decorate the crypt. At first I was simply intrigued by the designs and how creative they were but soon the reality that everything I saw were real human skeletons sunk in and I felt all jittery being there. I would do a quick scan of each crypt and then stare at the ground while Miso took his time looking over everything. There were just too much of it and some of the skeletons had a Voldemort feel to them; real creepy. We weren't allowed pictures but here's the general idea. A message from the crypt: "We were what you are...you will become what we are now". Glad I went but would I revisit this place again? Never.

The sun came out for a bit in the late afternoon so Miso and I took this rare opportunity and walked around the centre of Rome. I think I may be enjoying life too much because we went to a local bakery and a cheese shop to buy some fresh products and headed back to his place to have dinner. Look at that feast: cheese, wine, bread and some side dishes. Simply perfection. 

                       

Here's an accumulation of the lunches I've had for the last 3 days. Both the lasagna and tortellini were hand made by Ascenzo's grandma. I don't think I need to tell you how satisfying they were anymore because I have not stopped giving compliments to the food I've been eating. I go mMmMmMmMm after every bite. I really have to watch what I eat now. The boys feed me like one of them and I can feel my stomach expanding. Ascenzo, if you're reading this, STOP feeding me so much yummy food! Feed me as if I'm a 5 year old girl, solo un poco per favore!

                       

Yeah, I ate all of that and MORE because pasta is only the first dish at lunch. I hope Italian men like girls whose face resembles a pizza's cause that's what my face is starting to look like!!! BIG AND ROUND.

Text from Carlo this morning as he leaves for Thailand: "Ciao Michelle. Ready to go. A think for you." I think he meant to say I'm thinking of you? Lovely. Just lovely...

Stranger Alert: San Giovanni, Holy Stairs, The Keyhole

Ciao Stranger,

We shall begin today's adventure in the kitchen "insert woman in kitchen joke". But really, I felt guilty for just eating the food my roomies prepared everyday and wanted to reciprocate the kind gesture by poisoning them with my baking skills. What else would I be doing at 5 in the morning anyways? I won't bore you with the process of how they were made. There's tons of chocolate chip cookie recipes online for that already. Finding all the ingredients was way harder than I had expected. I scoured 3 different grocery stores to gather these goodies. I never found baking powder, baking soda or measuring utensils but I worked with what I had and...

 They seemed to have turned out just fine. I baked them in the tiny oven you see in the picture. "But Michelle, did you burn some of those cookies?" What? Don't be absurd. How could I have done such a thing. They're just slightly tanned; got a bit more sun than the others. They were equally as delicious, don't be racist. I wanted some brownie points and I think this may have got a +1 on the scale. Mission accomplished.

 As I left my roomies munching away on my masterpiece, I ventured out to another basilica: San Giovanni Church, the official church of Rome (since St.Peter's is the church of The Vatican).

 Never before have I stared at ceilings so much as I have in Rome. I don't think I'll ever get sick of this place. Why were the doors so massive? Did they have giants back in the days? Maybe elephants attended masses?

 The inside. Just take a moment to breathe and open your eyes as big as possible. Decades worth of work putting this together, I can't even imagine the hardship that went into this.

 Woah, what the heck is this? Where do I begin to look at?! I had to sit down to take it all in. Breathe in, breathe out. Honestly if you had told me this was wallpaper, I still would have been impressed, so knowing this was all done by hand just makes it that much more intense.

This was bound to happen sooner or later. Selfie time! I sat down to enjoy the artwork, and along the way took some pictures too. Can you blame me? (from my Instgram so yes, this is filtered)

 The Holy Stairs, moved from Jerusalem and said to have been the stairs Jesus climbed on the day he was sentenced to death. You can only SLOWLY climb these stairs on your knees praying as you go. If you're not a dedicated believer, I wouldn't suggest you climbing it. It's not a race, these 28 steps could take you an hour to climb.

 Came home for lunch. Ascenzo cooked his favourite dish, carbonara. You have cheese, eggs and bacon. Boil the pasta, pan fry the bacon, and on the side take your eggs and add cheese to it. When the pasta is done, drain, add in bacon and the egg/cheese mixture. The raw eggs will thicken and become the sauce. Add more cheese and pepper. Ascenzo told me the density of the liquid is crucial in making this dish. Sorry I don't know what it is, I just wanted to eat my food.

 Carbonara. One of my favourite pastas yet. He can make about 20-30 different types of pasta, so I'm in for a ride.

After chatting with my roomies for a few hours about Rome's culture, food and places I should visit, I felt like having a short evening walk so I grabbed my handy dandy map and off I went. By Circus Maximus there's a mountain (or what we call a hill) where you could see the Tiber River a good chunk of Rome. Notice how none of the building are too tall? There's a law enforced that no building can be taller than St.Peter's. Good thing too cause this is a stunning view, and just one skyscraper could ruin it.

 And near the viewpoint, there's a local secret, The Aventine Keyhole. Through this keyhole you are able to see 3 separate states, Rome, the Priory of the Knights of Malta, and the Vatican. Confused? Let me show you what I mean.

 Amazing right? Rome, you surprise me everyday.Whether this keyhole was planned or found by accident no one knows, but regardless, it's a view worthy of seeing.

I felt as though the night was still relatively young so I began wandering around aimlessly. That you see is when my night got interesting. I got to meet Carlo, a 50+ year old Italian gentleman who spoke English and had a lot of time to spare; A LOT. We ran into each other by accident, started chatting and when he asked me where I was headed, I told him the truth: I have no idea. He suggested that we walk together and I thought why not, spontaneous Michelle is up to the challenge. Fast track 3 hours later, we're still walking and he's still talking. I have to say that he is an incredible tour guide who knows his stuff and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with him until his hand started squeezing my shoulder continuously. That's when my creeper alert went off. As he suggested taking me on a scooter ride, I sensed the timing was right for me to run. After telling him I HAD to go home, he waited for the bus with me like a gentleman would. That bus really took it's time. 30 minutes later, we're still standing there, waiting, whilst I'm swearing under my breath at how slow this bus was coming, if it ever would. During that time he got my number (I know what you're thinking but I was scared and giving him a fake didn't work) and asked to see me again for the next two days before he went on his one month vacation to Thailand. Lovely, the only person who have shown interest in me is a man older than my dad. Joy oh joy. I took a picture with Carlo to remember my night's adventure. I do not know what to do when he starts to call me but I'm just thankful that I live with my 4 bodyguards right now. (Update: Carlo have just texted me)

 When I did eventually make it back home after 9pm, I joined in on the guys football & pizza night (I literally ran back and felt safe the instant I got inside; home sweet home). No pepperoni or Hawaiian pizza here, just the real stuff. Look at Paulo intently cutting his potato and sausage pizza. If it weren't for him, I would not be living with them right now, grazie, you are THE best. Look at Ascenzo's disapproving look because his pizza's not crispy enough. If there are any German girls out there who knows how to make crispy pizza, you will win his heart.

 After the game we did what all Italians do on a Saturday night. You go to the local Piazza, grab a beer/shot and slowly drink, smoke and socialize the night away. You talk about the girls that walk by but rarely make a move on them. It's like watching art; you see, you comment, you move on. A picture of Romancouver, the first of many more to come. (Paulo, Me, Salvo, Mauro, Ascenzo)