Ciao!!

Ready to go see the Pope!!!

Hi everyone!!!

All is going well over here! And a lot has happened in the last few days!

This week, Loyola gave us Wednesday off to take out time to go to a papal audience. Having never been to one before, before going, I pictured it as the Pope coming out for a minute, saying a few things, then blessing people's religious belongings, but it was NOTHING like that haha! We left the JFRC (John Felice Rome Center, where I'm living) at 7am and got to the Vatican (the third country I've been to now!) and had to go through security, which I was surprised about, but then I remembered the crazy lady in the red sweater hahaha! After waiting three hours for him to make his rock-star entrance, Joey finally showed up! He said a long speech in Italian which I understood not a word of and then he started talking to all of the different groups of people there (including us Loyolans!) When every group had their own speech, before he would talk, the group of people would sing a song in their language. I wish we would have known that! I'm sure we could have rehearsed Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" or Loyola's fight song!! But, instead, we just cheered! After speaking to all the groups in a million different languages, a group of Chinese acrobats performed on stage for him! I honestly felt as if I was at a taping of "America's Got Talent"! After that, we were expecting Benny to invite us out for lunch or something, but of course, he was too busy, so we left and headed back to the good 'ole JFRC.

The next day was back to classes, which have been going well. I am working on my Italian, but my professor is more of a German Nazi if you ask me then a small Italian woman born and raised in Rome! Our first quiz is next Thursday, so hopefully I will do well!

Oh! I almost forgot about calcio (soccer)! To be honest, when I retired my cleats back in '97 I thought I'd never play again, but here I am, starting player for Loyola University Chicago's Rome Center Arancione (orange, not my color!) team! I mostly defended on Wednesday night, but I pushed, elbowed, and kicked my way through the field! Maybe next Wednesday I will make an appearance on offense! After calcio, most of the teams went out for beer and pizza, which was a lot of fun!

Thursday night's highlight was going to my first Roman club. We ended up there because Anna's philosophy professor held class in this modern club in Trestevere on Thursday night rather than in his classroom in the JFRC. Maybe I'll do that one day with my class of 3rd graders...hahaha! Before going there, I thought we were headed out to more of a restaurant type place, but once we got there and realized it was a full out club, I felt a little funny in my blue raincoat, but at least I was dry! So my first club experience in Rome was not how I pictured it (or at least my outfit wasn't) but, it was fun!

The next day, I had my on site architecture class, which is turning out to be interesting... I can't draw a straight line, let alone the Pantheon! But, I think my teacher will understand that none of us are architect majors...or at least I hope! On Friday, our teacher even attempted to rip Kory's drawing out of his sketch book because it was too detailed! And he is probably the best artist out of all of us!!! Hopefully I will soon be able to draw to scale and maybe even a straight line. But, at least after this class I will have my own drawings to help me remember what some of the most famous buildings in Rome looked like!

But, as you can see, all is going well! Today we are headed out to downtown Rome to shop and check out some island on the Tiber River and to Piazza Campo di Fouri! I'll bring my blue raincoat to keep me dry in this rainy weather we've been having! Love and miss you all!

My First Week in Rome!

Hey Guys!!! A week ago today I was boarding my first flight and on my way to Italy!!! Since then, classes have begun and I've been having a lot of fun! So far, I've been to my architecture in Rome class, a religion class, and Italian 101, which will hopefully help me while here in Rome haha! The Rome Center is nice, minus the community bathrooms and the freezing cold showers in the morning... The food at the Rome Center is a little bland, but I guess that will make all the authentic Italian food we eat in Rome even better! Living with Anna is fun and having more friends right down the hall is also nice!

So far, I have actually seen a lot! The second night we were here, we headed to downtown Rome and we went to Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps (Sara, I thought of you while there because you have always talked about them!) At the Trevi Fountain I threw a .05 euro in and made a wish, just like in the movie "When in Rome" haha! The next day, Loyola took us to Assisi, Italy for orientation. Assisi is a small town about three hours north of Rome. It was absolutely beautiful! The town was filled with hills and steps, so I at least know I worked off all of the great Italian cuisine I had while I was there! Our first day in Assisi, we were given a guided tour of St. Francis Cathedral and St. Clara's, which both were amazing. In St. Francis I lit two candles for my Papa and my Grandma Brokamp. Assisi is known for being the place of St. Francis cathedral and while there, we saw many animals including dogs, cats, and ducks (I was in heaven)! Then our second day, we went an hour north of Assisi to a town called Gubbio. While there it was siesta, so the town was pretty dead, but it gave us a chance to "roam" around (haha) and soak in our surroundings. The next day, our last day, we climbed up to a castle in Assisi and once up there, was able to see the entire town, it was a great way to end the trip!

Since being back from Assisi, I have started classes, all of which are lead by Italian professors (which I love)! Yesterday we walked around the area by campus and went looking for school supplies, which was a little difficult, but we managed! Now it is Thursday and here in Rome that means the weekend has begun! We plan on spending most of it around Rome and on Saturday Loyola is sponsoring a trip to Hadrian's Villa which should be interesting! I'll keep you all updated! Have fun in Chicago and a Happy 25th Birthday shout out to my mom!!!! Love you!!!!

We made it to Roma!!!

Hey everyone!!! We made it to Roma safe and sound yesterday morning! My flight went very smoothly and I wasn't too scared at all, except for take off, which was a little scary. All is going well and it is absolutely beautiful here! Once we landed and got our luggage together, we took a taxi to Loyola's Rome Center (where we are living) and settled in. After sleeping for a few hours, we went out for our first night in Roma! We went to a pizzeria called "La Dama" and had authentic magherita pizza and my first legal glass of vino de roso haha! Today we have had some meetings for paper work that is allowing us to stay in the country and later today we are all going on a tour of our neighborhood. Tonight we plan on going out downtown and seeing what the nightlife is like here as well! I hope all is going well in Chicago and I do miss home, but I do love it here and am very glad to have some of my closest friends with me! I gotta go, we're having lunch soon (it's almost 1pm here) but I will talk to you all soon! Love you all!
-Dana-