Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Flashback: Rome Update 12

Flashback: Rome Update 12

November 15, 2004

Good Morning Everyone -


Wow - I am not sure where to start.  This week didn't have a big trip or anything but there are lots of things I want to remember to tell you all in this update, so here I go...

 
It got colder this week, cold and rainy.  Last Saturday evening it was still really warm where people were out in t-shirts and then BAM, Sunday morning it was winter coat, scarf and mittens weather.  It's taken a little bit of adjusting, but I guess it's about time - Michigan had it's first snow in mid-October, and I'm here in short sleeves until mid-November, I can't really complain.


I had a number of visitors this week which was really good because they seemed to come at the perfect time to remind me of all the great things around me.  I've been here about two and a half months now, and I was just about on the verge of not looking twice when I passed the Pantheon or Colosseum.  Spending this week with friends who haven't seen Rome before was a great chance to remember the tourist attractions and history all around me.


I have not written much about my roommates and they are wonderful, so I think it's time everyone heard about them.  I live in the larger of the two rooms with Liza (we got there first) :) and we call it the "non-smoking, Bush-supporting, red-headed room" while Monika and Christina live in the "non-red-headed, non-Bush-supporting, smoking (outside the apartment) room".


Liza is a Junior at Marquette University in Wisconsin and travels a lot so she isn't always around, but when she is, we get along very well.  Monika is a Senior at DePaul University in Chicago and she and Liza seem to pair off while Christina and I pair off.  We are all very independent and don't have to always be with another person -- and we enjoy hanging out as a four-some -- but in terms of hanging out or going out, or whenever we do things with other people, it's almost always Monika and Liza together, and then Christina and me together.


Christina is a sophomore at Wright State University in Ohio, but I think she's going to transfer somewhere in Minnesota because her parents are in the process of moving and I believe she is going with them.  Christina and I have NOTHING in common but we get along SO well.  She is my best friend here.  It kind of baffles me that we can carry on even a small-talk conversation let alone become such good friends with how different we are.


She is into heavy metal music, smokes, is liberal-minded, and has an evolved wild side.  She is very intelligent and I guess our commonalities arise from our personalities and not our tastes because we differ in everything from taste in food, entertainment, music, clothing, hairstyle, guys, politics, religion - you name it, and yet we do everything together.  It has probably been very good for me to have such a good friend who is so opposite from me coming from a mainly homogeneous environment of W&L.

 
Rehearsals for the musical are well underway and it is actually coming together nicely.  Several of the guests we had this week sat in on dress rehearsals and it is going to be really good.  We open a week from Tuesday and then have performances Tuesday and Wednesday night.  It has been a lot of fun with about nine cast members, one director and about four back stage people - it is a nice size group and we are all getting along and getting to know each other.


Saturday night, Christina and I went to a party at one of the theater girl's home (as her parents are diplomats and just moved here to Rome) and it was a lot of fun.  There were about 15 kids there - some theater kids and then other John Cabot kids also and no one knew each other very well so everyone was in the same boat and just relaxed and made new friends.  We all agreed it was very nice to be in an actual home and it kind of felt like we weren't in Rome anymore.  It was a lot of fun.


Kate and Clint (two of my friends who visited this week) bought me beautiful flowers as a thank you for having them, and in the spirit of both a college kid and a kid in Rome, the flowers are all around the apartment in various empty wine bottles which are serving as vases.  :)


I was SOOOOO excited to see that Michigan State knocked off Wisconsin in their game last Saturday!  I could hardly believe it when I read the score on the ESPN website on Sunday.  I am hoping to be able to catch at least some of the Michigan v. Ohio State game this Saturday where Michigan controls it's own destiny and if they win, they win the Big Ten Championship AND they go to the Rose Bowl!  Good Luck to the Wolverines.


I hope all if going well for you.  I love you!


- B


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