three months!

its been three whole months already... 3 months since ive been in my nice warm bed at home... 3 months since ive gone to the mall... 3 months since ive watched television for any extended period of time... its been a pretty crazy 3 months... and now a new list of what ive done:

• been inside the colosseum!! (i finally did this today! wahoo!)
• rode a crazy tandem bike at villa borghese (yesterday haha)
• almost not met chris at the airport (but i found him and now hes here!!!)
• helped to orchestrate a real american thanksgiving dinner... 28 people in our tiny apartment!
• almost destroyed chocolate covered strawberries i made for said thanksgiving dinner dessert
• got a pretty new coat
• got a sweet new boyfriend :-)
  
• completed italian class!
• been elected VP Recruitment of AGD (and im soooo excited!!!)
• backpacked (by that i mean i only had 1 backpack of stuff) through europe
• visited milan and climbed a zillion stairs to the top of the duomo
• found out that you need a reservation 2 weeks in advance to see "The Last Supper"
• visited london and realized how much i missed speaking english
• visited barcelona and saw a place where they filmed top model!
• visited paris and hung out with the gargoyles on top of notre dame!
• been really sad about missing formal with all my sisters :-(
• gone down south and saw some cool stuff
• found out theres an architect from Naples named VACCARO! (and here i thought id be the only architect named Vaccaro)
• went to Capri, the most beautiful place in the world
• missed America, Americans, and American shopping malls at this time of year
• started getting excited for christmas at home
• missed the fam, my sisters, and pretty much everyone at home

So ive got exactly 25 days left in rome (less than a month!) and its exactly 1 month until christmas! anyone who's been following along that has been to rome before, what have i missed? im gonna try to jam it all in these last few weeks (while i also crank out my studio project)... final review dec 12... ill be home dec 20th... i have my history final tomorrow so i should get back to studying... wish me luck! miss you all and i cant wait to see you all!

the halfway point

2 months in Roma, 2 months to go... we've begun our final project and now i guess we're just worky worky worky towards the end... heres a NEW list of things ive done in Roma, now that another month has gone by:

• stopped saying escuse me, please, thank you, hey... these words have now been replaced by i scusi, per favore, grazie, ciao
• sent out 2 full sets of postcards... if you haven't gotten one yet, not to worry, you'll get one soon
  
• been to the vatican during the day, and realized that it is actually Heaven on earth
• seen the Valentino exhibit (mmm gowns)
• stopped letting my hair air dry, its cold now, so i need to dry it before leaving the house or ill freeze!
• still no TV :-(
• begun to miss speaking in english, watching tv in english, reading anything besides architecture in english
• cooked family dinner! (sausage and peppers on ciabatta rolls, yummy)
• gone to the crazy flea market and bought new knives and forks for our severely lacking apartment
• learned to live with the fact that no, i do not have a closet of my own and no, i do not have all of my clothes
• enjoyed the hilltowns and all their wine and lovely landscapes
• been sad about missing the parties at RPI
• started running again, and hopefully i will continue to run until i get back because i've...
• become totally addicted to gelato, every flavor
• become addicted to espresso (so efficient)
• missed studio in the greene building with all my bests, but NOT missed the squirrels haha
• not gone back to all the places i wanted to go back to
• gotten very homesick
• taught my mom to use email! probably my greatest accomplishment! haha
• missed the little things i can do at home and in troy, but not here
• been really proud of all our new members, who are doing a FABULOUS job from what i've heard
  
• missed my family, my sisters, the boys, all my bests... ive missed pretty much everyone

for those of you that have been reading, thanks, you make me happy... the more i talk to all my sisters and friends at home, the more loved i feel and the more excited i am to really make the most out of this semester, just so i can come back and tell you all about it... so here's to 2 more months of pictures, hopefully more sketching, more postcards, more stories, more blogging, etc etc etc

ps. ive added a link to a map that shows where i've been running, instead of posting a new map to every page... so you should check it out from time time and help me stay motivated by being totally jealous of everything i run by!

one month in Roma

after one month in Roma, I have:
-walked past the pantheon about 30 times, and remained in awe of it
-been abused by crazy Jan, my history professor
-bought 1 new pair of Birkenstock sandals from 2 very cute old men
-broken 1 white glass ring from Verona by playing the cup game at joes
-had a wire toe ring made ON MY FOOT for free
-finished my own bottle of wine in one night
-found muji
-taken pictures of the Vatican at night
-not watched any tv
-created BAM
-spent an entire day walking miles and checking a half dozen stores only to find a hairdryer in the store around the corner
-learned to take a VERY FAST shower
-learned to live without privacy
-become part of a family
-lived without internet for an extended period of time
-learned to order sliced lunchmeat in italian
-learned to think in euro
-done laundry once
-not done enough sketching
-written a bunch of post cards, but not sent any out
-missed everyone lots and lots
-gotten really excited about all our new alpha gams at RPI
-fallen in love with this city