Week 1: Orvieto and Roma

I can hardly believe all the things I have seen and done in only one and a half weeks here! There are two things I would like to talk about a little. One is school and the other is...drum roll please...ROME!!

SCHOOL:

Classes are going well. Each week we have four classes: Studio, Seminar, Italian Culture, and Italian Language. Studio has been fantastic, because our first project is making a detailed map of Orvieto, which means class is spent exploring this beautiful city. There are ancient Eutruscan tombs, wells miles deep, nature walks, cliffside views, ancient churches, cobblestone streets, and so much more to discover just by wandering around.

In seminar, I have been very blessed. My teacher offered the opportunity to spend the semester studying symbolism in religous architecture as well as analyzing what makes a space sacred. I am really interested in this subject, since someday I hope to design temples for my church, and because it will allow me to better understand meaning in architecture and history.

Italian Culture is taught by a historical genious, Marco. He is very passionate and knowledgeable about history, which makes the class a joy to take. He says that architecture should make people go "WOW" (picture that in an Italian accent hehe).

And Italian Language is taught to me by Serena Croce. She is fantastic!! I think she is a great woman and a great teacher, and I am eager to speak better Italian for two reasons. First of all because it sure would be nice to be able to communicate what I want to say to people here, and two because it is a beautiful language which I respect.

ROMA:
Oh, there is so much to say about Rome, so I will say it mostly through pictures. Marco took us on a tour to show us the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Michealangelo's Stairs, the World War Two Jewish Ghetto, the Pantheon, and many, many other sites. He was able to add a lot of extra information to the sites, which was so interesting! Did you know that many of the stones used to build the Colosseum were later taken by the ancient Romans and recycled to build other sites? The Colosseum is all over Rome! That's just one example.

The Colosseum was just as large as imagined. It is made out of three different types of stones.

The Roman Forum, which displays an extensive site filled with ancient Roman ruins currently being excavated.

Part of our class with an ancient Roman statue

Anyway, after the tour, I spend the rest of the day wandering around with two great girls, Berta and Melissa. We were able to see the Spanish Steps, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, and lots of churches and obelisks.

I think I will illustrate the rest with pictures. Anyway, consequently, I can hardly believe this is all happening to me. Seeing these things has been so much more amazing than I imagined, and I am so grateful to experience this; to be amazed!

I made a wish at the Trevi Fountain! Shhh, the wish is a secret!

Some of my pictures take a long time to load, so more to come later. Miss you all in the states

Ciao!