Oh Shenendoah!

This weekend I am not at my ten year college class reunion... and it is killing me.

All I can think about is what I would be doing if I had dragged my little troopers to Washington and Lee University and my beloved Lexington, VA... and I'm sure it would have been crazy -- but there is no where else in the world I would rather be this weekend than in beautiful Lexington.

I love my Little Generals, and will enjoy my weekend in Colorado with them...

... but Golly Gee, I wish I was in Lexington.

Oh, Shenendoah...

Flashback: Rome Update Ultimo

 Flashback: Rome Update Ultimo

December 16, 2004

Dear Ones,
My goodness, this is surreal - my final Rome update.

The past ten days or so, since my last email have been WONDERFUL and full of new adventures, revisiting old favorite places, managing some time to study and mentally preparing to leave Rome.

Last Tuesday, my last JCU class met at the Vatican Museums and I went to Vatican City early to go to the top of St. Peter's Basilica to see the surrounding view of Rome.  I was there nice and early - well, early by Italian standards and had no line at all.  I literally walked up to the ticket counter and then climbed to the top without having to stop.  It was the most beautiful sight.

The Vatican is built on top of a hill anyways, and nothing in Rome is taller than St. Peter's so the view is spectacular.  It was early enough in the day that the fog from the city had burned off but beyond the city and around the far off hills had a nice morning mist.  The sight was just breathtaking - not only because it is was so high and nice, but because I was able to overlook the entire city I had survived in for the past four months.  I knew I had less than two weeks left in this amazing place, and this sight - the ENTIRE city spread before me - was a nice commencement to the mindset of saying goodbye.  I was looking over the city as a city, but also as an experience - a good one.

From the cupola I met my class in the Vatican Museums where I had class on Raphael and Michelangelo - in the Sistine Chapel... that's something I can't say everyday.  :)

Last Wednesday was an Italian national holiday, December 8, the day celebrating the Immaculate Conception.  I went out to dinner to an awesome Chinese restaurant near the Colosseum and, since it is a little ways from where I live in Trastevere, on the way, I was able to see a lot of the city lights up for Christmas.  Lights are EVERYWHERE here in Trastevere - long dangling icicle lights, but with really big bulbs that light in a pattern to look a little like snow.  There is huge tree up in Piazza Venezia in front of the Capital building, and even the street musicians are in the holiday spirit by wearing Santa suits.  Oh, and there is a Nativity scene in the Vatican in Piazza San Pietro, but I do not know if they will unveil it before I leave.

Roommate dinners and activities have been an ultimate priority this past week as we have begun to hint at the fact we will miss each other a great deal.  We know that once we start getting sentimental, we know it will not stop, so we have been avoiding the huge heart-bearing good-byes we have coming.  Last week we had a roommate dinner at an Indian restaurant here in Trastereve which was recommended to us by local friends.  It was really good and we tried new things and felt like very grown-up, cultural people.

Sunday morning I went to a HUGE Roman flee market called Porta Portese.  It is apparently pretty famous and an instrumental Roman experience, but I had not been yet.  I met a friend early in the morning to avoid the HUGE crowds that come later in the day.  We bought some Christmas presents and had fun haggling with the vendors.  Then we split ways and I walked up to a church a W&L friend recommended to me - Protestant and English.  :)

The church was Episcopal in denomination and British.  The service was nice and it just felt so good to be in a church again and take communion and sing hymns.  Plus, the Sunday before exams is always a key time to go to church.  :)  My W&L friend, Jacob, was actually at the church that day also and so we walked back together and talked about how it feels to know we're leaving soon and things we have to do before we leave, and what it will be like to return to W&L.  It was really nice and we plan on going back this coming Sunday.  Plus, they are having a Lessons and Carols candlelight service on Sunday night before we both leave Monday morning, so I think several friends and I will attend that before going our separate ways in the world.

Exams came and went and produced stress, but all the roommates and I have emerged relatively unharmed.  One night, Monika, Liza and I were all up late working and Liza started fading and wanted to sleep.  Monika and I knew that she really had a lot of work to do and she needed to wake up and keep working, so we put a dance song on the computer (quietly because Christina was asleep) and danced in the family room to wake up.  The funny part was, it was not fun, dance-club dancing, but instead, come up with the craziest dance you can in order to make Liza laugh so she will not be sleepy anymore.  It was hilarious and put us all in better, more awake moods.  Gosh, I am going to miss those girls.

After my exams ended, Christina and I took the afternoon to wander around Rome.  We went to the Mouth of Truth (from Roman Holiday).  We took fun pictures of us with our hands in the mouth and then enjoyed the warm and beautiful day.  The temperatures here are still just delightful.  In terms of temperature and leaves changing colors, it feels like mid-October.  That is one reason it is probably harder to leave - it does not feel like four months because it does not feel like December.

This morning Christina and I met a friend, Regina at the Colosseum to accomplish a mission Regina and I have had from the beginning.  Our first weekend and Rome, Regina and I went on some tours of Rome offered through the school.  One of the tours ended at the Colosseum and Regina and I were intrigued by some Italian men who dress up as Gladiators so tourists and have their picture taken with a Gladiator in front of the Colosseum, for a price of 5 Euros.  Regina and I wondered if we could as the man to pick us up for a picture.  We decided that for 5 Euros, they should comply with our request, but we decided that we would probably look foolish in asking and since we were going to return to the Colosseum throughout our time in Rome, it would be something we should do nearer to the end of our visit rather than the beginning.  So we went this morning on the mission of finding a Gladiator to lift us up into his arms for a picture regardless of how foolish we looked.  It is sufficient to say:  Mission Accomplished.

I fly home on Monday leaving Rome around noon and getting in to Chicago by 6pm or so.  Lovely time changes allow that.

I have learned so much while I have been here and cannot even touch on everything because the email will never end but my time here has been amazing!  I learned as much about myself as I have about Italian culture or in any class.  I would come back in January for winter term if I could - a sentence I NEVER expected to write in the beginning.

I hope you are having a wonderful advent season and that you have enjoyed the Rome Updates.  This closes the section of my college life in Rome and I have loved sharing it with you.  So many people have written that they feel like they are right next to me at all these places, and just know that you were.  Many of the amazing things I have seen and done prompted my wishing a given person was here to see or experience it with me.  If you are close enough to me that you are on this list - at some point of my time here, I thought of you.

That having been said, I am excited to see friends and family again.  A piece of my heart, however will stay in Rome, and returning to this city in future years (just like in Muskegon, Lexington, or Vail) will feel like coming home.  If you ever find yourself in Rome (and I wish that for all of you), give me a call and it will make my day to talk to you about places I loved and things you should do.

I love you all.  Merry Christmas!

This is Brooke, author of the Rome Updates, signing off.

- B

Flashback: Rome Update 16

Flashback: Rome Update 16

December 13 2004

Good Morning All -

This week will be my last Rome Update, and I have so much to say... therefore in order to give it adequate time and devotion, the Rome Update will be sent out Wednesday or Thursday.

My exams end Wednesday and then I will begin packing and my last days of enjoying Rome until I leave a week from today.

Cannot wait to write the final update, but I just have too much to do today to stay focused on writing it.

Love you all and hope your stress level is nice and low.

- B

Flashback: Rome Update 15

Flashback: Rome Update 15

December 6, 2004

Merry Christmas, Lovely People -

This past week was full of fun random stories of continued life here in Rome.  We had nine house guests the majority of last week who slept all over our apartment.  They were friends of Liza's from Marquette University and they had a week off from their school in Ireland to prepare for exams and it was fun.  We have a pretty spacious apartment, but with nine extra people it becomes not so spacious very quickly.  We're college kids and people just slept everywhere - it was fun (well, maybe I'm only saying that because I retained my bed).

I found the Mouth of Truth this past week (famous for it's scene in Roman Holiday) but it was late at night so I could only see it through the gate and I couldn't put my hand in it's mouth.  At least now I know where it is and I can go back before I leave.  The Mouth of Truth is a flat stone face with an open mouth which is said to bite off the hand of
any liars who are brave enough to put their hand in it's mouth.  Apparently during the Middle Ages, priests wanted to keep the myth going and so they would put scorpions back behind the mouth when they suspected a dishonest church member was coming to the mouth.  Hopefully no scorpions will be there when I try it.

My roommates and I have been spending as much time together as possible before we go our separate ways and so we started this week delegating certain roommate bonding nights and we either go to dinner or cook dinner or go out or stay in, but we delegate the night for being together.  It has been a lot of fun - and it was much needed this week once the nine house guests left.

The temperature here has been incredibly mild.  We've gotten a lot of rain, but on the days when we don't get rain (every three days or so), it is incredibly warm.  A simple long sleeve shirt, and you're good to go.  On one of these mild nights I went for a nice long walk around Rome (enjoying the city while I still can).  I walked for over three hours and never had to retrace my steps (something that is just plain impossible back in Lexington).  I walked past the Vatican to the Castle d' San Angelo over to a Christmas Bizarre at Piazza Navona, to the Pantheon, to the Trevi Fountain, up to the Spanish Steps, down to the Victorio Emmanuel Building in Piazza Venezia, and then home past the Turtle Fountain.  It was a beautiful night and I loved being able to walk around Rome on such a warm and wonderful night.  I don't know how many more free nights like that I will have.

My sorority sisters, Lydia Toso and Heather Bane came in for a quick visit yesterday and today and it was great to see them both.  Lydia (as I've mentioned before) is working outside of Florence, and Heather is teaching English in Madrid for a year before starting med school in the fall.  It was wonderful to see the two of them.

This morning I went with Heather to stand in line for the Sistine Chapel (which come to think of it, I TOTALLY forgot to write about in my last update, that I saw it last week).  Last Sunday, the Vatican Museum was free to the public (as it is the last weekend of most months) and I went and saw the amazing chapel.  I actually have art history class
there tomorrow, so I am really excited to go back and hear lectures about Michelangelo while looking up at the ceiling.  Anyways, I stood in line with Heather and the two of us visited together and then I studied some while she went inside the museum.  Then the two of us went into St. Peter's Basilica which was incredible.  We saw the Pieta (by Michelangelo) - another site of my class tomorrow, and the tomb of St. Peter.  We didn't have time to go up to the dome, but I will probably do that before class tomorrow.

I have one class left of school here at John Cabot.  After that it is exams and then I return to America two weeks from today.  It definitely is crunch-time, but the crunch is in spending time in and around Rome with my wonderful friends before I return home.  I will be excited to return to land that gets cold in the wintertime.  It is hard to get myself in the Christmas spirit when I'm wearing a t-shirt but I am incredibly sad at the thought of leaving Rome.  As a result, I don't choose to think about it often... :)
 
I hope all of you are getting into the Christmas spirit and taking time to enjoy this magical time of year.
 
I love you all.
 
- B

Flashback: Rome Update 14

Flashback: Rome Update 14

November 29, 2004

Hey Y'all -

This past week was very eventful.  I have been entertaining a guest and his stay has been LONG.  He arrived last Sunday afternoon and he leaves tomorrow.  During his visit, he has proved to be... an interesting guy. I had a politics professor freshman year who said he hated the word 'interesting'.  He said the word interesting was too vague and the only time it could be used was when describing a person who you have nothing to say about them but insults, you call them interesting.  With this definition having been stated, my guest is interesting.

The musical went off without a hitch and was SO much fun.  I am very sad that it is all over.  The kids were awesome and we all worked so hard. The show was called "Starting Here, Starting Now" but it was essentially a musical review of a fun composer I had never heard of.  We had two performances, one for the public and one just for John Cabot University kids after the Thanksgiving feast the school provided on Wednesday night.  Christina and I were in the show and our roommates, Monika and Liza were SO sweet.  It was like having family there and they brought us flowers and said how proud they were of us.  They even videoed just the numbers we were in - just like parents.  :)

Thursday morning, I went to Florence with my guest (his name is Chris), my roommate Christina, and her brother, Lee (who was also visiting this week).  We all kind of went our own ways in Florence as we wanted to see and do different things for the day and then we went to Casa Cares (the villa where my friend, Lydia works) to stay the night.  We caught the tail end of the Thanksgiving show the staff put on and got to hear Lydia sing some good ole American jazz.

The next morning (Friday) all of us, Lydia, Christina, Lee, Chris and myself went to Venice where a friend of Christina met us and the six of us spent two days enjoying Venice.  Friday afternoon we went to a nearby island known for it's blown glass (Murano) and we searched for the Toso glass making company.  Lydia's last name is Toso and she has heard that it is a pretty well-known name in Venice (as common as Smith) and that they have a Venetian glass business.  Indeed, we found the Toso glass making company, it's factory and it's store and we talked to an long-lost, far-removed Toso cousin.

Then Saturday Lydia and I split from the rest of the group and went to Burano, which is an island famous for it's Venetian lace.  We just wandered from shop to shop and then had a nice long, over two hour Italian lunch before we found our way back to the train station so we could return to our separate cities that night.  It was very nice to catch up and just relax with an old friend.

Rome is getting ready for Christmas.  Some of the larger piazzas have already hung lights and decorated trees, but now the Christmas spirit is working it's way to the smaller streets.  I am excited to see how beautiful and festive the entire city gets.  I only have two weeks of classes left and so it should be becoming crunch time for studying, but all of my roommates and I agree that with our departure from this fabulous city in three weeks, it is going to be near impossible to prioritize studying.
 
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that as December nears, you can take time to enjoy the Christmas season and not become smothered by it.

I love you all.

- B

Flashback: Rome Update 13

Flashback: Rome Update 13

November 22, 2014

Hey Everyone -

I really cannot write long, but just wanted to touch base for this week. I am just loving every minute that I have here in Rome and I do not even want to think about the fact that I will be home one month from now. I never want this to end.

I went to Florence this past weekend with my art history class (it was a required trip) and it was AMAZING! Florence was a very influential location for Renaissance art and so it was surreal to have the opportunity to walk into a church or museum with my class and with my brilliant professor and walk over to the paintings or sculptors we have
been viewing as slides since the beginning of the year. It was wonderful.

Plus my friend Lydia met me in Florence and attended the classes with me and I stayed with her at the Villa she works at on Friday night. Her room is very small but the surrounding area is beautiful and it was nice to see where she is living. It was wonderful to see her again and then we both went back into Florence on Saturday for more art history classes.

Saturday night I returned to Rome as I had major rehearsals for the musical on Sunday - that is one reason this email is so short, I have a lot going on right now. We open for the school tomorrow night with dress rehearsal tonight, and it's getting to be crunch time. Also, an old friend whom I haven't really seen since Freshman year of college arrived
yesterday and is visiting for a week, so that adds a little stress to the platter.

But all in all things are going very well and I am just LOVING every day I am here. I love the kids I am in the musical with (I will be sad when it ends) and I am having a ball.

I love you all! :)

- B

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

Flashback: Rome Update 11

Flashback: Rome Update 11

November 8, 2004

Good Morning -
This week was spent getting back into the swing of Roman living.  I am sticking around the city for at least a little while and so I am adjusting back into Rome-mode.
 
One interesting story occurred this week... I tried to use the Art History library in Rome because I am working on an art history paper that is due tomorrow.  I found the building and used their enormous (Italian) card catalog to find books on my topic and proceeded to search for the books.  It was a little like the library from Disney's Beauty and the Beast in that there were three stories of books, and you could climb ladders to reach balconies to get to the books up high.  I have never seen anything like it.  The stacks and stacks of books and ladders were really cool -- but the part where I FINALLY found the books I wanted and tried to ascertain from several librarians what I needed to do to check these books out... and was told repeatedly in Italian that I was not allowed to check the books out -- that part wasn't so cool.  It was a very cultural outing that ended with my silently crying in one on one of the book balconies out of frustration before returning home empty-handed.

I had several LONG rehearsals for the musical this weekend and the whole thing is really starting to come together which is encouraging.  My roommate, Christina and I are eating, sleeping and dreaming the songs in an effort to memorize everything.  I am glad we are in it together and can share our excitements and frustrations when rehearsals are over each night.

This past week marked the beginning the visitors at our apartment, and we basically will have guests of some sort from now until December. Monika had a friend come in Wednesday and stayed through til Sunday, and Sunday evening my friend, Christine Gray (a friend from W&L who is studying in Scotland this term) arrived with one of her friends and they are staying until Wednesday, then more people are coming in later in the week.  It has us comfortably cluttered, but it is fun and we're young and can handle sleeping on awkward pieces of furniture.  :)

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods, I love you and I am remembering you in my prayers.

Flashback: Rome Update 10

Flashback: Rome Update 10

November 2, 2004
 
 Good Morning and Happy Election Day Everyone -


This past week was absolutely wonderful!  We had an extended weekend because yesterday was All-Saints Day and so I haven't had class since last Wednesday.   So for this long weekend, I went to Great Britain and had an awesome time with W&L friends, and cities that spoke English.  Wednesday night I flew to London and didn't realize until I got to the London airport, found my way to the train and then found my way around the Undergrounds (subways), that I have really missed having signs in English.  It did my heart so much good to be able to stop people and ask them for help without worrying about language issues.


I stayed with my W&L friend, Ian, in London and it was great to catch up with him and hear how things are going with his studies at Queen Mary University.  Thursday morning I got up and, armed with his detailed tour book of London and his recommendations for the day, I hit the royal city.  I took the Tube to the center of the city and walked down a long busy street past Trafalgar Square and then turned toward the Mall walking down toward Buckingham Palace.  I arrived just in time to see the parade for the changing of the guard and then walked through St. John Park toward Big Ben, the houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.


The Abbey was closed early in the day for some reason and so I took the subway up to the British National Library and saw some original manuscripts of English literature (Beowulf and Chaucer) AND the scores for Handel's Messiah, and various scores of music by Beethoven, Mozart, Britten, Vaughn-Williams and others.  It was AMAZING!  From the library, I continued my music history quest by going to the Handel House Museum
which was a small museum inside the house Handel lived in when he worked and lived in London.  It was a very small museum and no one else was there, but I'm glad I went.


Then I went back down to Westminster Abbey and went through there and saw all the tombs and statues and crypts and King Henry's Chapel and Queen Elizabeth's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Poet's Corner and Musician's Aisle.  The Abbey was definitely not what I was expecting and I had no idea that it is kind of a Royal graveyard.  It was beautiful though.  After the Abbey, I poked my head in the National Gallery, took a REALLY brief look at the Italian Renaissance display and saw original paintings that were on my Art History assignment for that week (which is a REALLY cool sentence to be able to type).   Then I went to the Tower of London and saw the Tower Bridge and London Bridge but it was too late to tour the Tower.  The weather all day was beautiful and I wore a turtleneck but needed no jacket at all, and there was a light shower in the evening but all in all, it was a beautiful day.


That night Ian and I got a quick dinner in China Town and then went to see STOMP as Ian had gotten us half-price, day-of tickets for the show. It was awesome!  STOMP is a show based on the idea that anything can create music and the people on stage made music with everything from brooms, trash cans, lighters, tools and even included kitchen sinks.
After the show, Ian took me to some little plaza near Covent Gardens where a bunch of little fountains shoot out of the ground and we were there for the evening light and music show.  It is a square where people can just walk amongst the fountains as they flow straight up in the air, and not get too wet due to the distance between the streams.  It was beautiful!


Then Friday I flew from London to Edinburgh, Scotland and took a two hour bus ride to St. Andrews and the ride was GORGEOUS!  All the leaves were changing up there and there was plenty of wide open highlands and rolling hills, and we were driving right along the banks of the North Sea.  It was just want my heart needed to refresh me for another few months in the city and the same was true for the temperature.  Rome is still allowing short sleeve weather and those kinds of temperatures for Halloween just aren't in my blood.  It was so nice to be able to see my breath and wear long sleeves.


I saw Kate (my good friend and sorority sister) and hung out with two other sisters who are studying there (Rachel Coritone and Laura Peckman), and saw a number of other W&L kids over the weekend and it just did me a lot of good to have some familiar kids around.  Kate and I went to a Halloween party on Friday and I was a cat, and we went to
church on Sunday with our sorority sisters and then went out to a pancake breakfast, and then did some shopping in the little town of St. Andrews... it was just a really wonderful and refreshing weekend!


Oh, and Saturday night, I got to watch the end of the MICHIGAN V. MICHIGAN STATE GAME!!!!  The one that Michigan was behind 27-10 with 6:00 left in the game... they came back to TIE it and then WON IT in TRIPLE overtime!!!  It was SOOOO wonderful because Kate and I watched on-line starting at the 4th quarter on her computer and she knows how crazy I am about football ALREADY, so there was no explanation needed regarding my behavior or yelling or jumping up and down... it was all a given.  It may be the only game I get to watch this season and it was just icing on the cake for an already perfect and relaxing weekend.


Well, I guess that wraps it up for this week.  Don't forget to vote today!  It's all ANYONE wanted to talk to me about in Great Britain when they found out I was an American and it is all they televised on the British news circuit.


Mom and Daddy got home safely, just to let you all know.  I hope all is well in your neck of the woods and that the election goes off without a hitch.  I love you all!


- B

Flashback: Rome Update 9

Flashback: Rome Update 9

Monday, October 25, 2004

Good Morning All -
This week has been wonderful!  I met my parents last Monday at a random train station near the Vatican City and it was one of those situations where both of us thought we were in the wrong place and then all of a sudden, Mom came out from behind a corner and I looked up and there she was.  It was really cool and it was SO wonderful to see them both.

Monday they were pretty tired so they got settled in the hotel and then saw some of Vatican City while I was in class.  Then they came back to my area of the city (Trestevere) and saw some of my school and we walked to my apartment and then I fixed them dinner.  When we walked down the streets between my school and my apartment, they were very amused at the really old feel of the streets.  Daddy said that all we needed was cattle and some pigs to complete the scene.  Then we had a nice dinner of pasta, grapes and toast (which I cooked).

Tuesday, they saw the Vatican Museum and the Sistene Chapel and St. Peter's Basillica while I was taking a midterm and we met for lunch at my school and began the whirlwind Roman tour.  We began at my school and walked through the whole city of Rome hitting almost all of the sights (except the Vatican) in about three hours.  We hit:  Via Julia, Campo di Fiore, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Via Del Corso, the Victorio Emmanuel Building, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.  It was a lot of fun and I tried to remember as much about the places as I was told on the first tour of Rome I did back in August.  Tuesday night we split for dinner as I had a long day of classes and another midterm the next day.

Wednesday Mom and Daddy heard the Pope talk in the morning (as he speaks every Wednesday morning that he is in Rome) and walked past the Castle of St. Angelo along with the Ponte St. Angelo (a bridge) and then walked back to the Roman Forum past Campidoglio for a professional tour of the forum and then came back to meet me at my school in time to meet an interesting lit professor that I have told them a lot about and then have a nice four-course Roman dinner out in Trestevere.
 
Thursday we went to Paris.  :)  We traveled most of the day, so not a lot can be said here.
 
Friday was our busy Paris day as we saw the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, The Louve Museum, The Orsay Museum, the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Chauteau Versailles (the Palace).  It was a busy day but we had no lines anywhere we went and the weather was nice and crisp, perfect for walking.  It was a wonderful day!
Saturday was more relaxed in that we went to Napoleon's tomb and the Eiffel Tower and then we did a boat tour up and down the Seine River where we saw all the sights from the water.  Then we took some time to browse the Champs Elysees in terms of shopping and Mom and I had a chocolate French Crepe (SO GOOD).  That evening, on our way back to our hotel, we passed a French Pastry shop (well, we passed several) but we decided to buy a dinner to take back to our hotel and we got some bread, a salad, some chicken (roasted on the street) and a few pastries and everything was SO good!  One of the pastries we got was a little light tart filled with fresh raspberries with a few strawberry and apple slices included, one was a flat almond cookie half covered in chocolate with a cherry and one was two small marange puffs covered in chocolate moose and then rolled in sprinkles.  They were AMAZING!
 
Then Sunday I came home and Mom and Dad spent the day exploring the French Farmers Markets (that apparently are in business on Sundays) and then today they are on a train to London.  It was so wonderful to see them and not only share all of my Roman experiences with them, but also show them how I experience other cities.  I was the one with the map in Paris routing our way around the city, and I think it set their minds at ease regarding my well-being whilst I am abroad.
 
This week is another Red-Letter week in front of me, but I will save what is coming for next week's update.  Actually, the update will have to come on Tuesday, or else much later on Monday because Monday, November 1 is All Saints Day and we don't have classes, and I don't think the school is open.  So if my update isn't as regular next week, please do not worry, it is just due to the school schedule and the holiday.
 
I hope everything is going well in your part of the world.  My email has been a little messed up lately, so if you have sent me a message and I have not responded recently, it could be because things are really busy and wonderful here, and it could be because I did not get it.
 
Love you all!
- B

Flashback: Rome Update 8

Flashback: Rome Update 8

Sunday October 17,  2004

Hey Y'all -

I cannot believe this is Rome Update 8.  I think I have more updates behind me than I do before me at this point.  That's a weird thought.  Well, I am writing a day early because tomorrow will start a wonderful and crazy week of midterms and Mom and Dad!  I just received from an email from Mom about 15 minutes ago saying that they were off and that she could hardly sleep last night because she was so excited.  :)

This past week was wonderful and included another girl coming to the Christian Fellowship group, theater rehearsals, the Opera FIDELIO, and a European Chocolate Festival in Perugia.

FIDELIO is the opera that is opening the opera season for the National Opera House here in Rome (Teatro dell' Opera).  I planned on going last weekend, but I saw signs at school that the Student Government was organizing a group to go on Friday so I signed up for that instead and went with a group of five other John Cabot Students and had such a great time.

The opera house was BEAUTIFUL!!  There were chandeliers everywhere, and I don't know how the school pulled it off, but we had boxed seats which were beautiful and had a perfect view of the stage.  FIDELIO is the only opera Beethoven composed, and the cast performed it extremely well.  The principles had amazing voices and the sets were top notch.  The opera is in German, but there was a screen above the stage projecting
the words of the songs... in Italian, so it was a very linguistically diverse night.

Then on Saturday, my roommate Christina and I went to the Perugian Chocolate Festival!  It was about a 2 hour train ride from Rome and we just had an AWESOME day!  We got a little lost trying to find the festival from the train station and so we stopped and asked many different people for directions (in Italian) and saw a lot of the town on our walk.

At the festival there were streets full of tents selling chocolate of every type.  There was chocolate pizza, chocolate bars, chocolate crepes, chocolate pasta, chocolate liquor, and the list goes on.  And all of the items were reasonably priced when you consider Perugia is said to make the best chocolate in Italy.  Christina and I ate our way through the festival.  We had hot chocolate - REAL HOT CHOCOLATE... like melted chocolate in a cup and that is what you are served.  They hardly even add milk, they sell chocolate warmed up.

It was an awesome day.  We did lots of shopping (both for ourselves and for Christmas presents) and found ourselves finally getting the hang of conversing with Italians in Italian.  It was a really cool, very cultural day.  We also tasted the best tasting wine either of us have ever had.  It was a sweet red wine that is SOOO good - and selling for the same price as water.  The least expensive drinks they sold were for 1 Euro, a bottle of water, or a glass of wine.  We found that comparison amusing.

Near the end of the day, we were trying to get back to the train station, and the way that the security men were directing people was into a building but the route down to the station was blocked due to a Spanish music performance going on, and through the building was the only way to walk down to the station.  So Christina and I found a security man and were trying to explain as best we could that we were unable to get through the building due to this music and asked if there any alternative route.  It was a very difficult exchange, but finally one of the officers just told us to follow him, and he took us to a local police car and drove us to the train station.  It was really cool and we were extremely grateful.

The chocolate festival has a website, if anyone wants to check it out: www.eurochocolate.com and then you click on the British flag in order to get the English translation.

Today it is back to reality with a paper to finish and two midterms for which to study, but Mom and Daddy are getting here tomorrow so it definitely gives the proper incentive for working hard today.  Please keep Mom and Dad in your prayers today as they travel, and throughout this week as they are trying to see Rome and see me, and I am trying to see them and study.  I am SO excited to see them and show them Rome.  I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!

I miss you all and send my love!  :)

- B

Flashback: Rome Update 7

Flashback: Rome Update 7

Monday, October 11, 2004

Good Morning America (well, mostly America) -
 
With midterms just around the corner (next week) this past week has kind of been a nice reminder that I am studying in Rome and that the whole experience is temporary and I need to keep noticing all that is cultural and exiting around me.
 
My walk to school, for example is amazing.  I walk through the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere which includes a beautiful fountain, a GORGEOUS church with a gold mosaic of saints on the roof.  In the square there is always something happening.  There are really expensive restaurants surrounding the exterior, and vendors selling very inexpensive wares within the piazza at all times of the day.  Kids are often playing soccer against buildings, and tourists are sitting near the fountain eating gelato or studying maps.  I don't have to take any big streets to school, just two side streets and the piazza, and I'm at school.  There are beggars and gypsies mixed in with the crowds but they don't talk to me much and focus more on tourists (which by this point, they realize I am not).  I pass fruit stands, pastry shops, cheese shops, restaurants and caffes.  It is a beautiful walk which reminds me I am in Rome, and puts me in a good mood everyday.   

This past week I became involved in a few groups at school one of which is the music/theatre group and I am really excited about it.  The lack of musical involvement is kind of driving me crazy and the group is small enough that I think it will be a great way to get to know more kids with my similar interests.  It will probably end up being a group of less than 20 and I think we'll have a lot of fun.  My roommate Christina joined as well
and so we have been playing the music around our apartment all weekend.  The show we're doing will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and is a musical review.  I wasn't familiar with any of the songs, but they are all relatively sassy and should be fun to work on.
 
The other group is one I initiated this past week through Student Services and is a Christian Fellowship Group to meet every week at a local cafe. I feel like God is teaching me some wonderful things while I am over here, and I don't have the Christian friends here that I have at W&L to share these things with.  I inquired early on with the school about such a group, and they said that none exists.  Hopefully I am not the only person feeling a need for such a group as I have now started one.  So far the group has gained a small but immediate response so I am excited to see what God does with it.

This past week was a big Catholic outreach festival week throughout Rome and there were masses held in public piazza's throughout the city and various other events.  Christina and I attended some concerts the festival sponsored in Piazza Navona.  The first night we got there just as the music was ending (although we really enjoyed the one song we did hear) and the second night we were there for all of it.  It was an Irish
band called PADDY KELLY.  I had never heard of him, but apparently he is or was really big with European Catholics.  We had fun and then hung out afterwards and practiced speaking Italian with some random people who hung around afterwards.   

This past weekend was quieter than most.  I got a lot of work done and made plans with a few W&L kids to meet at various places throughout Europe before we head home.  (How awesome is that I can write a sentence like that!)  :)  Also I made a lot of plans for when mom and dad are here in ONE WEEK! Actually, while I am thinking about it, my Rome Update may be a little different next week as mom and dad get in right about the time I usually write the weekly update.  Rome Update 8 may be sent Sunday or Tuesday depending on what we're doing.  Please keep them in your prayers as they leave Sunday and arrive here on Monday and we are all SOOO excited about the trip.  The only hitch as of now is that they will be here for midterm week, but I am just trying to use that as incentive to study a LOT this week so that next week I can spend as much time as possible with them.
 
Looks like college football had a really exciting day on Saturday with some huge upsets (including a Michigan win!).  Politics seems to be in full swing, and I have to say, I am not sorry to be missing out on these final high-campaign months. ***Editor's Note: This was the campaign of President Bush's second term -- George W. Bush v. John Kerry*** I love you all and I hope everything is wonderful in your world!  You are in my prayers.
- B

Flashback: Rome Update 6

Flashback: Rome Update 6

October 4, 2004

Hey Y'all -
Well, this week seemed to have a musical theme as I attended three music concerts.  The first was last Wednesday and was required for my Italian class.  Our professor canceled one of our classes and said she would rather we take an 'Itallian outing' and attend this concert.  (I'm not sure what she thinks this whole study abroad experience is, but I
would call the whole thing an 'Itallian outing' but whatever...)  We had seats right behind the orchestra and it was a lot of fun.  The performance was a part of a Mozart festival and the musicians were wonderful.
Then on Friday I went to the church where I originally saw LA TRAVIATA and went to another performance the organization was doing, a collection of operatic arias.  I think the performance was better than LA TRAVIATA and I really enjoyed the selection.  Then, on the way home, I stopped by an Irish Pub that shows American sports, and they were televising a CUBS game.  So it was nice to be able to see some of that (although I wish the CUBS could have won).
On Sunday I wanted to attend church at a place my John Cabot Student handbook said was a Baptist Church, English speaking, and services began at 10:30.  I arrived at 10:00 because I didn't know how long it would take me to get there, and they were in the middle of a service, it was a Catholic service and it was NOT in English.  So, I think I will have to inform student services that their church list needs to be updated.
After church I walked over to the Vatican district to scope out my parent's hotel (as they are coming to visit in two weeks and their hotel is in the Vatican area) and when I got to Piazza San Pietro, I heard a beautiful choir singing.  I went through the little international
boundary line to get a closer look, and it turned out that the Pope was conducting a church service out in the square and the choir I heard was the church choir of the Pope.  Needless to say, I stuck around for a little while.  The whole scene was just beautiful.  There was a large stage area and flowers all over, and a lot of people, but they had big
screen monitors showing the Pope and he was in his regal garments.  I have heard people say how sick he is, but I didn't really know much about it.  I can now honestly say he LOOKS sick -- please keep him in your prayers because during the times he wasn't speaking, he just had this look on his face that I didn't know if he usually looked that way, or if he was having a heart attack.
** Editor's Note: I later found out that the ceremony I accidentally found was the ceremony anointing the beatification of several Priests

Sunday night, I returned to the church where all the music performances have been (St. Pauls within the Walls) and attended another concert, this one not opera-oriented.  They played the Vivaldi GLORIA and Handels work for Organ and Orchestra among other pieces.  It was very enjoyable and I picked up the schedule of future performances.  Then, on the way home, I was walking through Piazza Venezia (kind of the busy center of
Rome) and I saw a man and woman trying to hail a Taxi.  Well, here in Rome, you can't hail a cab like you can in New York.  You have to find a 'Taxi Stand' which is kind of like a bus stop.  They are orange signs various places on the side walk and taxis line up there and won't stop if you're trying to flag them.  So I stopped and explained that to this
couple (who, as it turned out were from Pittsburgh).  They were really nice and very appreciative and it felt so good to be able to help them. It made me feel more like a native and less like a tourist and I walked on air the rest of the way home.  :)

I have my first Italian quiz today so I've been studying for that, and I get my first paper for the lit class assigned today, so I guess school will start to get serious this week.  I suppose that was bound to happen at some point.

Hope all is well where you are.  I'm trying to keep up with some American updates... the important ones, like the fact that Michigan won again (4-1).  Hope W&L's homecoming went well.

I keep you in my prayers and send my love!

- B

Flashback: Rome Update 5

Flashback: Rome Update 5

September 27, 2004

Hey Y'all -

The past week absolutely FLEW by. Some highlights included my first
visitor to Rome, another weekend trip and my first letter from home --
thank you Aunt Ginger and Uncle Bill! :)

My good friend and sorority sister, Lydia Toso, is doing service work
outside of Florence and came down to visit me this past week from
Tuesday to Thursday. She studied in Rome a few summers ago so she knew
her way around, and we just had a wonderful time catching up while
visiting old favorite places of hers and new favorite places of mine.
One of the places we saw was Villa Borghese which is a beautiful park at
the north end of Rome. It is quiet and green and you can actually hear
the birds singing (as opposed to cars and bus motors) and I am really
excited to go back one day with a picnic lunch and a book as it was so
peaceful. Lydia and I had so much fun together and are hoping to plan
some trips to other parts of Italy together, since we are both here - we
both find it kind of surreal. She is a wonderful friend and we had
great talks and great times.

Soon after I parted ways with Lydia on Thursday, my roommate, Christina
and I and a friend named Chris took off for a weekend in Naples. We
took the train and arrived in the late evening just in time for a dinner
of the famous Neapolitan pizza. Friday morning we went to Pompeii and
wandered around the old village that was preserved by the lava from
Mount Vesuvius. It was a beautiful day and we all agreed that the
village would make a great place for little kids to make a fort or to
play hide and seek. Friday afternoon, back in Naples, the three of us
split up and I went window shopping. The people in Naples are SO NICE!
Not all of them speak English, but they are so thoughtful and much nicer
than the people I've met so far in Rome. If Christina, Chris and I just
stopped on a street corner to look at our map to determine which street
to take, more often than not, someone stopped and asked us if we needed
help and gave us directions to where we wanted to go. They were very
sweet.

Saturday, the three of us spent the whole day on the Island of Capri,
and it was BEAUTIFUL! I wish there was a study abroad program there.
It was very tropical, which I wasn't really expecting and as we walked
to and from different sites, it seemed that every view we saw was more
breath-taking than the last. We saw Villa Jovis where Jovis used to
through his enemies into the sea, and we took a chairlift to the top of
Mount Solaro, and we saw the outside of the Blue Grotta. My favorite
part was being on top of the mountain because you can see the entire
island, the sea surrounding it, and I loved being so high. It was nice
and windy, and I could have stayed there forever. Another thing I
really liked was the Villa of San Michele which was a home built by a
doctor before the first world war. He described the house as 'having
small rooms but plenty of terraces and patios to watch the sea, the sky
and the clouds. After all, the soul needs more room than the body." I
love that quote and I hope one day I can say the same about my own home.
The whole island was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen
and I really want to go back.

Sunday I spent the majority of the morning at the Cathedral of the
Duomo which was a beautiful church near our hotel. Then I went to the
National Archaeological Museum which was free admission that day, and
there was a jazz band playing among some of the statues which was really
cool. Then I did homework at the train station until our train left.

The temperature has dropped here considerably over the weekend. It's
gone from tank-top to long sleeve shirt weather. Apparently it is
illegal for anyone to turn their heat on before October anywhere in
Rome. I think that's a little weird, but at least October is just
around the corner, so we'll be fine. I'm a little under the weather
today with some congestion and a sore throat, but I'm trying to get more
rest and stay warm and hopefully this won't turn into anything serious.

I hope all is well where you are and I'd love to hear from you and all
that is new and wonderful in your world. You are all in my prayers. As
always, visitors are more than welcomed here in my little villa.

I love you all!

- B

Flashback: Rome Update 4

Flashback: Rome Update 4

September 20, 2004

Hey Everyone -

I have to warn you, this has been a really exciting week, so this may be a long email. :)

I really got into the swing of classes last week and feel like I am finally 'adjusted'.  During my sketchbook art class last week, I was sitting in a corner of Rome's Capitole Hill sketching a Piazza designed by Michael Angelo and a number of tourists were around, and all the sounds of the city of Rome were everywhere, and I finally had the sensation that I am studying abroad, and this is what it is all about.  It was pretty cool.

This past weekend was REALLY exciting as I traveled to Munich, Germany with two of my roommates.  They stayed with other John Cabot kids in the city for Oktoberfest and I spent Friday afternoon with them, but then I was fortunate enough to visit really good friends of our family who live about an hour outside of Munich, Tim and Heike DeYoung and their kids, Laura (13), Joel (11) and Jona (8). I had SUCH A WONDERFUL weekend with them!!!!

Friday, my roomates and I had a morning flight which gave us plenty of time to figure out the metro situation from the airport to Munich and reached the city in time for a late lunch. We ate that afternoon in THE HOFBRAUHAUS which is one of the more famous Beer Gardens in Munich. It was such a hilarious place with long wooden benches pulled up to long tables where one eats, a Bavarian band playing, and waitresses and waiters in the traditional German wardrobe. The food was German (surprise, surprise) and very good and the atmosphere was a stitch! I am so glad I was able to see it, because I don't think I would have believed anyone who described it to me.

After lunch I split from my roomates and wandered around the old part of Munich (Marienplatz) and window-shopped until I met Tim in the early evening to go back to their home. We know each other because our fathers are best friends from many years back, and our parents travel together and the families usually see each other at least once a summer.

I had SO MUCH FUN at Tim and Heike's home and with their family. It was just what I needed this weekend. I saw so much of the German countryside and met so many really nice and sweet German people and was able to get a much more cultural experience than I'm sure I would have seeing only Oktoberfest. The kids made a real effort to speak to me in English and would remind each other to include me in the conversation when one would speak in German. The whole family was just wonderful and were truly a blessing to me this weekend.

Over the weekend there was a once-a-year market in town, just down the road from Tim and Heike's home (it was a little like an art fair) and so the kids and Heike and I spent some time both Saturday and Sunday at the market. I was able to meet a lot of nice people and see the types of things they sell and it was great to observe the whole thing (and shop a little too).

Tim works at LegoLand and on Saturday all of us but Laura went to a big Back-To-School concert day that LegoLand was hosting and I had such a blast being at the amusement park with Joel and Jona. They showed me all of their favorite rides and thought I was pretty cool for going on the rollar-coasters. If any of you get the chance to visit a LegoLand somewhere (there are four in the world), I would definitely recommend it. It's a great place for kids, but all of the things made out of legos is fascinating and interesting for people of any age. I had a great time.

Then on Sunday I went to church with them and in the afternoon, students of Heike's were in a children's musical/opera. (Heike is an extremely talented soprano singer and now teaches voice lessons). I really enjoyed watching the show and then afterwards, some of the students came over and spoke English with me! They were SO sweet and so
nice to bring me into the conversation and talk with me, and spoke English very well.

It meant everything to me to see Germany and learn about the German culture, but also have a bit of home by the familiar faces of close friends and the fact they spoke English.

Sunday night, Tim dropped me off at the Oktoberfest and I was able to take in the whole event. It was really cool -- somewhat like a cross between a big and happy frat party and a big state fair. It was really cool. I hope I didn't committ some type of sacrelige by only drinking a Diet Coke while I was there...

This was a wonderful wonderful week, and it has me very excited about upcoming weeks and upcoming trips and all the new experiences coming my way. Thank you for all the prayers coming my way -- things are going too smoothly for anything other than Christ to be at work. It's a really cool thing!

- B

Flashback: Rome Update 3

Flashback: Rome Update 3

September 13, 2004

Hey Everyone -
The past week was the first week of classes here and I believe mine
will be pretty good.  The work load seems very doable, and the material
seems interesting.  So far, I find myself with plenty of free time which
is a nice luxury when one is in Rome.
I had a disappointment this weekend when I could not find ANYWHERE in
this city televising the Michigan v. Notre Dame game.  I spent the
majority of last week exploring the city by way of going from pub-to-pub
speaking broken Italian trying to ask about the game.  In the end, all
efforts were in vain, AND, to add insult to injury, Michigan lost!  :(
I guess that's what happens when I'm not able to cheer for them.
For those of you who are interested, my address here is:
Brooke Sanden
C\O John Cabot University
Box 457
Via della Lungara 233
00165 Rome
Italy
I would not recommend sending anything breakable or valuable or that
can't afford to not make it to me.  I understand the Italian mail system
is not very reliable.  Also, rumor has it that any mail that arrives in
a box requires me to pay a tax on it, while any mail that arrives in
paper, padded or manilla envelopes are fine and are exempt from the
tax.
My phone number, for those of you wishing to burn money is:
335-775-8730... but I think first you have to dial a 011-36 or
something like that.  I don't know.
Everyone will be very happy to know that my apartment has had hot water
for five days now!  YAY!  When the plumber finally arrived, he told us
cold showers were good for our skin.  We assured him that our skin was
just fine and that we had enough cold showers to last our skin a very
long time.
I send my love to you all and hope everything is going well for you.
:)
- Brooke

Flashback: Rome Update 2

Flashback: Rome Update 2

September 9, 2004

Hello again -

Thank you to so many of you who have written me such encouraging and
sweet emails this past week.  Every day gets a little easier and I
haven't gotten lost since last Thursday :)

This past weekend I went on two walking tours offered by the school.
One was of Rome's Fountains and Squares (Piazzas) and the second was of
Ancient Rome.  They were extremely interesting and now I'm chomping at
the bit for someone to visit me so I can share all this interesting
knowledge.  While I was on the first tour, I picked up a flyer for an
  amateuropera group and discovered they were performing LA TRAVIATA by
Verdi that night.  I was ECSTATIC as I really enjoyed studying this
opera last year.  So Saturday afternoon was spent with two new friends
buying tickets, shopping for new dress shoes and getting all gussied up
for the opera.  It was very good and I picked up flyers for the rest of
their season as well.

I went grocery shopping last night, and cooked for my first time on a
gas stove (and I didn't explode anything).  My apartment still does not
have hot water although the school has sent people to work on it twice.
My roomies and I are bonding over the experience.

I hope all of you are doing well, and I plan to respond to many of the
individual emails a number of you have sent me sometime this week (as I
plan it to be less eventful than last).

Ciao!

Jeong Wedding

On Saturday, after a great birthday party for Tracey Ann in St. Louis on Friday night, Hubby, Tracey Ann, Hubby's parents and myself all drove to Nashville for the wedding of a dear friend of mine from college, who was an usher in our wedding.

Jack and Lindsey had a beautiful wedding and we were so honored to be a part of it.  We were also so blessed that Chris' parents were willing to baby-sit Tracey Ann for us during the wedding and reception so that we could enjoy the adult celebration.

Congrats and Best Wishes Jack and Lindsey.

So happy

Friends from W&L read scripture

Now their the Jeongs

Jack's parents and brother

First dance

 
So happy for them... hopefully they'll come see us in Colorado

We had a blast, a night out just the two of us

Photobooth fun

And with friends from college

The Washington and Lee Alumni picture - For W&L I YELL!

Outside ready for their exit

And they're off

Breakfast the next morning with good friends from college who were in from Texas

 What a great time!

Flashback: Rome Update 1

I studied abroad in Rome Fall term of my Jr. year of college.  Once a week, for about 12 weeks, I sent a "Rome Update" email to friends and family in America.  In these I recounted my adventures and wrote about how I was experiencing life in a foreign land.

I would like these Rome Updates archived in my blog, so I will be periodically publishing a Rome Update Flashback.

Rome Update 1:

September 2, 2004

Hey everyone -
I've made it here to Rome and am trying to settle in to some kind of
normalcy.  I have one roommate, and two other apartment-mates.  They all
seem very nice and none of us are from the same school.
I've met the other W&Lers who are here (there are three of us all
together) and even though I don't know them very well, there is definite
comfort in that Washington and Lee connection.  For example:  I just sat
next to a kid who goes to school in Manhattan he just told me that a
friend of his just emailed him a professor's big Italian file.  He
offered the information that his friend had probably just stolen it from
the professor's office back in New York as that kind of thing happens
all the time.  I told him that we have an honor code at my school and so
that kind of thing doesn't really fly.  He said that they have an honor
code too and they have to sign it after every test and paper, but that
people either have an 'in' (as in a way to cheat) or they don't.  I
didn't really try to elaborate on the honor code at W&L and how
INCREDIBLY seriously it is taken.  Heart-to-Heart (my teddy bear), I
don't think I'm in Lexington, VA anymore!
I start classes on Monday and I'm really excited about them.  They will
include:  Intro Italian, Italian Renaissance Art, English Lit, and
Drawing Rome (an onsite art class).
I had planned to send out some type of mass email each Monday to start
the week and let y'all know how I'm doing, but I just know so many of
you have been thinking about me and praying for me, that I didn't want
to wait until Monday to let you know that I am here and I am alright.  I
  definitely feel like I'm a long way from home, but I will be okay and
this will be like nothing I've EVER experienced before.
I'm headed to the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon in about a half an
hour with a kid who has been here for a week with family and wouldn't
mind going again... and supposedly can find the way there.  :)  This
should be exciting.
Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers from all of you...
for the first time in my life I feel truly lifted up and protected by
the knowledge of other people  praying for me, and it has been SO
comforting.  Please keep them coming!
Ciao!