March 2-8

This week was another pretty relaxing week, besides our Italian quiz.  It's finally starting to start like school and not just seem like a very long vacation.  Our teachers are starting to assign us readings and homework assignment... which me, as well as the kids in my program are not too pleased about.  

For one of my classes this week, we had a field study to a museum to see art that is called "Futurismo".  It was a period where youth, technology and speed were portrayed in the artwork.  We had to choose a painting and describe how the painting ties into Facism for my sociology class.  I chose to describe a painting called "Women Swimmers".

On Friday, my friends Alli and Kristin (who are studying in Florence) came to Rome for the weekend to end their spring break.  We had tons of fun going out and seeing the Trevi Fountain (and throwing coins into it.)  On Saturday, we also went to Villa Borghese, which is a beautiful park in Rome and we walked around for hours.  It was the perfect day for it because the sun was shining and it was just the right temperature.

They left early Sunday morning, so Natalie and I didn't get to see them, but we got to sleep in.... which was great because I can honestly say that that was the longest I have slept in, in like atleast a year.  We just relaxed and went to another park close to us and listened to music and played soccer with our friends!  Great and relaxing weekend!

February 23- March 1

This week was very relaxing.  Just consisted of taking classes and exploring.  On Wednesday the 25th I went on a tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum with my neighbor Meghan.  It was really awesome.  I tried to get ashes for lent, but when I looked around no one had ashes on their forehead and we later learned that is due to the fact that they sprinkle the ashes in their hair instead.  Also this week, I went to see the Vatican with my friends Meghan, Tom and Kelly.  We didn't go in but we looked outside.  Kelly is an art history major so she was telling us all about the architecture so we had our own tour guide.

On Saturday, since in State College it's State Patty's day, we had our own State Patty's day in Rome.  It was by far the prettiest day we have had yet in Rome.  So we decided to have a day drinking party at my friend's balcony/apartment.  Later that night we went to the Penn State bar in Rome.  The man who owns the bar loves Pennsylvania, Penn State and Pittsburgh in particular.  He was awesome and the bar will definitely become a common place we go to!

On Sunday, Meghan and I went to the market in Trasteverie.  Very nice market with lots of stuff for very cheap.  

February 16-22

This is the week our classes started.  Basically everyone starts class at 9:30 am and doesn't get done til around 5 that night.  Granted you have some half hour and hour breaks in between classes.

On Thursday, the 19th, a bunch of us left for Interlaken, Switzerland.  We left Rome around 6 and got to Interlaken around 4 am.  The bus ride wasn't bad and we all slept a lot of the way.  Natalie and I met up with our friends from Penn State, Alli and Kristin!  Interlaken is a cute little city that is what I would picture an old Swiss town would look like.

On Friday morning we got up and signed up for paragliding.  Paragliding in the alps was one of the prettiest views I've ever seen.  After paragliding we walked around Interlaken and had lunch.  That night we went night sledding in the alps.  One of the craziest things I have ever done.  The moon is basically your light source on the sloops.  You catch so much speed going down the hill and there are tons of turns so you have to be very careful.  I have a couple of bruises that are still healing from that night.  But Natalie and I caught on fast and managed to beat everyone down each time.  

On Saturday, we decided to travel to Bern, Switzerland for the day.  It was about 5o minutes away by train from Interlaken.  Bern was a more modern city with a lot of good shopping and chocolate.  We had rosti for lunch which is a typical Swiss meal that consists of potatoes and any kind of meat or vegetable you would like to add.

We relaxed on Sunday and watch THON online in our hostel.  It was snowing like crazy so the main road to get out of Interlaken was shut down.  So we had to take a detour that added 2 hours onto our trip so we didn't get home until 4 am Monday morning.

Intensive Italian/ Academic Advising Week

February 9-15

This week consisted of us taking italian class for 2 hours a day and also getting all of our classes situated.  It was a very useful week and I learned a lot.  We decided to stay in Rome for the weekend of the 14th and 15th so we could explore and get to know the city better.

Assisi and Perugia

February 6 and 7

IES took the whole program to Assisi and Perugia for 2 days.  Both places were very beautiful.  We went to Assisi first.  Assisi is an old village with tons of churches.  So Friday consisted of a walking tour throughout the small city.  That night we went out to dinner at a meat house.  The meat and pasta were delicious.

On Saturday we went to Perugia.  Again we had a walking tour of the city.  Perugia is a bigger and more modern city than Assisi so it was neat to see how contrasting Italian cities can be.  Perugia looked like more of a gothic city.  Perugia is known for their chocolate, especially Baci.  Baci means kisses in italian and people buy that chocolate for their friends and family for Valentine's day.

Orientation Week

February 3-5

This was our orientation week.  We had to be at the IES center from 9:30 am - 6:30 pm everyday.  Basically, the week consisted of getting accustomed to how things were going to be run.  We had meetings to learn about the culture and about our classes, etc.  We also had lunch and little parties so we could get to know all the kids participating in IES.