The Art of Lucking Out

Last night was a hectic combination of economics and deleted PowerPoints. I slept just enough to make the 35-minute presentation comprehensible. After my nap today and a delicious dinner of pasta, pesto, and salad, I am realizing the program is almost over and that fact is becoming more real every minute. My dad sent me the ticket confirmation for the flight home. May 31^st. My god. I have only been in Europe a little over three months but it feels much closer to a lifetime ago that I was in Decatur saying bye to my family.

I am positive I’ll stay close with a couple classmates, if for no other reason than to rehash the best three and a half months of our lives. I was fortunate to find a group of friends that made the experience better than I could have ever hoped. I was fortunate that everything happened. Even a month ago I thought reentering the United States would be a breeze. I am beginning to think the culture shock will be worse than the one I experienced when initially coming to Italy. I have been pretty superlative when describing places I’ve been, but I can assure you these places truly are without equal. I was left speechless several times each week. I feel stupid trying to explain the places I have been and things I have seen. I usually erase what I have written and just smile to myself.

It is going to be sad going back to America. I want it to happen eventually, but not yet. It will be great to see my family and friends and to eat at Steak ‘n Shake, but Europe is a different world. In my opinion it is a better world. I will not be myself for the first few weeks as I remember how to live in America. It was an eye-opening experience, living in Europe. And living is indeed the correct word to use, because “being in Europe” does not do it justice. Rome feels like home and I hope it always will. After Alex, Max, Tally, and I got back from Spring Break Part II, we were patting ourselves on the back, as we regularly do after a trip, because we had not scheduled another trip and could enjoy the last three weeks at home. I did not visit a single city I would have rather studied in. Rome is perfect, mostly for its imperfections. It is not built for modern life, which means you must walk everywhere and therefore learn the city. It combines La Dolce Vita of Southern Italy with the more realistically modern Northern Italy. Stores close on Monday and sometimes throughout the week, just because. The food is unmatched. The people find a way to be passionate and lazy at the same time. Rome has a ruin around every corner and a Vespa waiting there to run you over. It really is a magically city. Leaving Rome and my friends will be emotional. I plan on returning but coming back will not be the same as living here. Things will look different and I will have formed inexact memories about what the city was like, but it will still be Rome. The Eternal City. Someone from home asked me while I was here if I’d recommend studying abroad. I think you have to. I think everyone who is able has to. I think everyone who is able has to study abroad in Rome. My small group has plans to spend the last night together. We may not sleep; we may just sit at the top of Gianicolo Hill and look out over our city until sunrise. “Our city,” what an American thing to say. But that is the only way to describe how it feels. 

May 6

I'll finish posts later tonight. Here's something to keep you occupied: Tramjazz

May 5

Spring has finally arrived according to the locals and Rome is finally coming alive. The natives are shedding their shells and living outside. I had a great dinner at a place called Paris near a crowded piazza in Trastevere. Tonight I am going to my first professional soccer match. I saw Real Madrid play in D.C. a couple years ago but this is different. AS Roma is facing Catania in a Serie A match tonight at Olimpico Stadio, the stadium built for the 1960 Olympic Games. Tomorrow I will be working on projects and making some posts and hopefully I have time to squeeze in a museum visit. I have Tuscany and part of Spring Break written already. I am trying to spend as much time exploring Rome as I can. The city looks incredibly different from its mid-April counter part. This is the Rome people fall in love with. The program is officially over in 12 days and I'm trying to decide what to do in the few days between the end of finals and when my mom and sisters come. I'll probably spend them in Rome, maybe go to the beach for an afternoon. The ATP tennis tournament runs from the 12th to the 20th. Alternatively, Tally and Paige are going to the French and Italian Rivieras. Nice, France would be awesome, but I think staying in Rome would be more fulfilling.

May 3

We're almost done with class here in Rome. The last stage of the IES CORE meetings to help us "fully understand the significance of what has been accomplished, and how to assimilate back into American culture" was yesterday. I thought it was stupid at first, but they actually brought up good points. Chances are, 90% of the people from home to whom I explain my study abroad experience are just going to say "oh... cool" no matter how much I explain to them what I did. It is really hard to put into words what has happened over the last three months. I have been using superlatives for everything I've seen. But really, the superlatives are needed. Pictures are worth a 1000 words but what I've seen and done is worth well over a 1000 words. The last words of wisdom the director of the program gave us were, "The best thing to do when asked how your experience was when studying abroad is to simply smile and say 'It was great.' If they want to know more, they'll ask." I'll try to keep that in mind.

Home Sweet Rome

Back in Rome, and I definitely feel at home. The next 3 weeks should be awesome. The weather is just getting summer-y. I'll post more when I'm not so stanco.

Paris

Hi. I'm in Paris. It's beautiful. Today we left for Versailles at 7:45, got there around 9, and marveled at just how huge the line was. The palace is massive, but maybe not as massive as the expanse of tour buses and tourists. Gross. We thought about buying a museum pass yesterday that would allow us to see pretty much everything in the city for €59 over 4 days. We didn't luckily. We've been pretty crafty and clever. We saw the Musèe de l'Orangerie and the Musèe d'Orsay yesterday for a combined €6. I loved the d'Orsay. It's the best museum I've been to - a topic I feel I now have at least some authority on. As much as I loved d'Orsay, Paris might love students more. Especially students who lie about the duration of their stay in the EU and claim to have been studying for a full year in order to qualify for the "EU students under 26 who have been studying for at least 6 months" designation. Not illegal, but probably not ethical. Maybe not nearly as unethical as accidentally cutting a 3 hour line at Versailles. We were told there was a pre-purchased ticket line and since students use their ID as a ticket, we thought we qualified. We probably would've qualified, if such a thing existed. Looking back I think we somehow snuck in the handicap/VIP line. Although as you all know, there's a fairly decent chance I'm eligible for VIP status, so I guess it wasn't unethical after all. Please don't take that last comment seriously. The regular price for the Palace of Versailles is €25. I wouldn't recommend it at all. It was miserable. Beautiful - just as you'd expect - but I felt trapped everywhere I went. There was a flow to the palace. A flow that moved fast in the rooms you'd like to see, and excruciatingly slow in the stairways and corridors. But it was free. Plus the Hall of Mirrors was cool. The gardens on the other hand were unbelievable. We walked around the grounds for maybe 2 hours. Spending a whole day there might be enough to do it justice. Great pictures coming...

After Versailles we boarded the train back to Central Paris. Got back around 1:30, checked into our 3rd hotel (long story.. I'll explain later) and got a great lunch. Can't remember the name but we're going back tomorrow for breakfast so I'll take a pic or do something touristy so I can remember the name. It was along the lines of Panera but much better and I ate with wooden utensils. Weird.

After eating plants with pieces of tree, I went to the Louvre. The Louvre was the Louvre. Famous for it's size, it's ridiculous number of pieces, the Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa, it rivaled Disney World (or Venice, hah) for the most touristy place I've been. It was too much. All great stuff, of course, but it would take at least two full days to completely see and understand everything. I had 3 hours. After what I've seen and done this semester, it's fair to say I'm museumed out. Obviously this is a First World Problem but I need to stop visiting them. I've been "studying in the EU for 6 months" so it too was free. The Louvre, for free. I saw 3 of the best museums in the world, the Palace of Versailles and it's gardens all within 30 hours. I really have nothing to complain about. I know how fortunate I am but after seeing so much in so little time, the importance of ancient Egyptian jewelry got a little lost on me. Add the museumed out aspect with the constant annoyance towards those who pose in front of EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE WHOLE MUSEUM!!! is too much to handle. Every room has "No photos please" signs, but that won't stop the non-Western people of this world from fully documenting everything in every museum right down to the sign explaining why a piece was on loan to another museum. Maybe if it was a famous piece, but I'm certain that dude hadn't the foggiest idea what it was. I know I didn't.

Anyway...

Today was good. This whole trip is good. I'm laying in my hotel bed now. Two nights ago I slept in a bed one floor away, last night I slept on the other side of the city. Tomorrow I'll be a few blocks away. This is a funny (tragic) story that I'll explain when I have more time.

Tonight we're going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and having a nice French dinner. Tomorrow is monument and church day. Tuesday is Labor Day or something so we're going to stroll around and enjoy Paris from the outside since it will be shutdown. My flight leaves Paris around 9:30. I should clarify: the airport isn't in Paris. It might actually be closer to Brussels. I vow that this will be my last Ryanair flight for as long as I live. EasyJet is a pleasure. Ryanair, a nightmare. The journey to the airport is a mere 80-minute train ride and 25-minute bus ride away. But hey, it's Paris. One of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's worth it. It's all worth it. This is the perfect city to end my insane European adventure with. After I get back to Rome late Tuesday, I have a presentation in the Vatican museums, a presentation on the ignorance of austerity when combatting a recession, and most importantly: three glorious weeks in Rome. But I shouldn't be thinking too much about that. My stay in Paris isn't even halfway over. I'll check back in Tuesday night and over the next three weeks I'll post more. I'll finish London, which deserves more recognition for it's awesomeness. I'll talk about the strange and surprising Budapest and Istanbul, the pure beauty of Santorini, Athens and it's amazing history, the canals and perfectness of Amsterdam, the Capitol of Europe: Brussels, Paris and it's elegance, and if you're lucky I may tell more of Rome, the city that can never cease to impress. I'll travel Italy with the Dunn girls, then I'll be in the foreign farmland of Central Illinois. Home.

April 24 (already??)

Completed my projects and what not. Just stopped by my favorite cheese and meat shop. It's probably the best one in the world. Yeah, easily the best. I've been up early enough for a flight to actually see the Pecorino Romano and Ricotta cheese being unloaded fresh off the truck. This place has been around for over a century by the looks of the newspaper clippings. It's amazing. Quintessential Italian, which is becoming pretty rare in Rome. As I type this, I'm eating fresh bread with olive oil and parmigiano reggiano. I could eat this for lunch everyday.

At 4 a.m. tomorrow morning I leave for Spring Break Part Due. Two full days in Amsterdam, one in Brussels and almost four in Paris. After this trip, I'll be in Italy til the end of my semester, May 17th I think. The men's professional tennis circuit comes to Rome that week. I plan on seeing a few matches with Paige and Tally. Hopefully matches that feature Nadal, Federer or Djokovic. Then la mia famiglia comes for a nice jaunt around the southern and central areas of Italy.

What a dream this is...