L'Ultimi Giorni / I Love Grass

Tomorrow I leave for London, and it still hasn't sunk in that I'm leaving Rome. This last week has been a whirlwind....our projects were due last Friday, but our presentations were on Monday, so we ended up doing leftover stuff over the weekend, but also finally sleeping some. Our english friends also hosted a Christmas party....everyone in funny santa hats. Presentations on Moday went very well...I was encouraged to pursue this project as my thesis....my response was, "it already is my thesis." This semester has been a great step forward in figuring out how I might possibly twist this major into something I actually want to do. The rest of the week has been recovery and tying up loose ends. Wednesday night was our final aperitivo with our melting pot group. Thursday we had our show, which means we hung up all of our work to show all of our friends while eating cheese and drinking wine. Thursday morning was also my final market indulgence experience....I went to Testaccio and stopped by my favorite cheese shop for the last time...for awhile at least. After our show, Tom took us out to a fancy dinner and got us all drunk! (just kidding) ;) Today was an amazing day and a great way to go out...Brad and I got up early and went to the Le Terme di Caracalla....ancient roman baths. The ruins are surrounded by park space, and despite the weather forecast we had the most gorgeous day Rome has seen in months. We were the first people there to enjoy the clear sky, crisp air, and deliciously calm quiet. There was REAL grass there....none of that monoculture lawn business, but the stuff with leafy weedy green things and scattered white blossoms, critters, and pine needles; and patches of real mountain dirt showing through....that sweet fresh perfume tempered by an earthy mushroom smell. It was gorgeous. After that I went on a run in Doria Pamphili park, where there was grass evvvverywhere!! I felt suddenly transported to a time when Rome was still wilderness....it was so expansive and pretty I ended up running for more than an hour. Tonight we are going to our friend Daniele's concert, and then I leave bright and early tomorrow morning....can't wait to see everyone at home so soon!

I'll Sleep When I Die :)

Less than 3 weeks left, and so much left to do!  This past weekend we had three extra people staying in our apartment- that equals 6 people staying in a 2 room apartment with one bathroom equals nobody can find their stuff and I don't take a shower for approximately 4 days.  It was fun anyway though- Miriam came from Spain (where she is studying for the year), Elizabeth, who we met at Spannocchia (who happens to have all the same food and yoga interests/obsessions as I do) was visiting until this morning, and Jeff, a friend from Cal Poly studying in Florence for the year had to sleep in the other room on my yoga mat.  On Thursady night (Thanksgiving!) the Penn State students who live on the floor above our studio hosted a huge Thanksgiving dinner- we ate chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, spiced apple sauce, brown-sugar carrots, and tons of wine.  I ate until I was too full to move very much, but it was amazing.  Then the next day, after I spent the whole day working on a giant cardboard model, we went to our TA's (teaching assistant) house for an even bigger dinner: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted veggies, cornbread and sausage stuffing, pork roast...and then lots of desserts....at that point I was already beyond full but I managed to eat a plate of vanilla, chocolate, and coffee gelato with apple crisp.  

This weekend I also went to the Vatican museums with Miriam and Elizabeth, which was a little disappointing and way too crowded...I felt a bit like a gullible sheep-tourist, but the famous staircase (see picture) was very neat....I like this picture because I feel a bit like I'm sliding down a spiral like this questi ultimi giorni (these last days in Rome).  On Saturday we also had an aperitivo with our melting pot group, most of whom we hadn't seen in awhile.  I bought a 6 euro glass of wine and then ate as much salad and bruschetta, small pizzas, panini, etc as I wanted!

This week I've been hard at work trying to finish the many studio assignments we've accumulated.  Today I met Alex (our French friend who works at the embassy) for panini (sandwiches), canoli, and coffee in Campo dei Fiori, and he showed me this small hidden housing courtyard nearby, where you suddenly feel as though you've been teleported to a small italian village.  The entrance is small and inconspicuous and right along the busy street, but as soon as we walked in, we were blanketed with calm quiet, and greeted by brightly colored housing facades covered in foliage and two cats lounging under parked bicycles.  I'm going to work on figuring out how I will live there one day ;)  For now it is back to work and trying to experience as much of Rome as possible before I leave....too bad sleeping isn't part of this equation.  This weekend we are going ice-skating with our italian friends....I can't wait!