Second Day of School!

okay--should be first day of school but i forgot to update. classes are---amazing, to say the least. my italian class is SO much fun! my teacher (cristiano! "sono christiano! ti chiami?" "mi chiamo sade!") is very hands on so i find my self learning a lot. i just have to practice what i learn. so far the most specific thing we've gotten into was the alphabet. he insists that we pronounce perfectly! but everything else has been more general things that we'd need to know when interacting with shop owners, getting directions, and properly greeting people. all very informative! good thing i have it everyday!

unfortunately they're moving the infamous 6 block Andrea Doria outdoor market IN DOOR (weeps!) so i won't be able to ask for "un chilo di patato" until at least the end of the week. and there was something so amazing about the andrea doria---it was lively and it's own little city of merchants by day and by night it was a ghost town---almost like the place didn't exist! it was SO thoroughly clean! if it wasn't for the slight smell of fish as you pass through the "carne district" (what i call the meat section of the market) you wouldn't even believe it existed!

i also had my my advance drawing class. my teacher is pretty cool---very laid back and insists that we get away from drawing on blank paper. he even told us to tear down the posters (and there are TONS that cover rome) and draw on the back of them. there is a lot of freedom, which scares me and he insists that we draw everyday (which i haven't been doing) but i think i will really learn from this class even tho i'm sure that it will be my most difficult.

today i had my inside italian design class! THAT i was so looking forward to and it turned out to be so much more than i expected as we're covering all forms of design from architecture, to engineering, to fashion---the list goes on and on. for a country that was was behind the world by 15 years, italy has grown while retaining amazing traditional trades that has been lost to the rest of the world. every thursday we go on excursions and get to meet various designers as well as the head of major design companies in italy! we also have a three day excursion to MILAN coming up where we will be attending major design shows so i'm VERY excited.

so far rome classes are AMAZING!!!!!

Into the Mountains

so today i went to Tido (tee-dough) to attend the "welcome to rome" banquet organized by my school! i was smart and packed ahead but i was also a smart ASS and forgot to load my camera with batteries so unfortunately i was unable to take pictures BUT tido is an old medieval town located high up in the hills. so high up that once there looking down is like looking down from an air plane. it was FREEZING! and yeah the air is fresher but, my god! anyway, many movies have been filmed there and i can totally see why, it's the perfect replica of a medieval town, very well preserved, and very picturesque. but after walking around for about 30 minutes i quickly became aware of the fact that tido looks EXACTLY the same no matter where you turn. there's that brief "ah, how beautiful!" "wow, like a fairy tale" feeling and then i just got bored. i was SO ready to go at the end. tido is not a day trip, it's an hour trip---nothing more.

after tido we went to a nobleman's manor called Titignano (tee-tee-anno) and enjoyed a three hour meal. yes, that's right--THREE HOURS of delectable italian food. everything was made fresh because everything was grown/ made/ produced by the manor. that made the wine (cheap as hell---only 4 euro!) stronger than normal, more pure, and even at three years old the white wine was BEYOND amazing! it was SO good! i downed two glasses before i remembered it was a bit more potent then other wine so the potential of getting tipsy was triple! we had pizza (and italian pizza is WAY different than american and also way healthier) then we had ham, rice, chicken, lamb, spiced potatoes, vegetable, salad, fresh fruit, biscotti, tiramisu, expresso, and sweet wine. all of this was served over three hours, slowly, and in proper portions so i was able to eat ALL of it without feeling overstuffed! SO GOOD! i was glad to leave todi was sorry to see titignano go. it was cold but the castle like setting was amazingly beautiful and the food was SO delicious and the wine SO good and SO cheap! too bad i was low on euro--woulda bought a 20 pack of that white wine in two seconds. 

i remember my manager (who's been to italy many times) asking me if i drink, and i'm like, "no." he goes, "by the time you live italy you WILL drink." and he's right! O_O i'm no alcoholic in the making but i've developed a huge appreciation for good wine and---liquor in general as the italians drink with a lot of finesse and very often. 

classes start tomorrow! italian and then advanced drawing! everyone keeps scaring me, saying advanced drawing is difficult for sophomores but i really want to improve my drawing skills! we'll see how that goes...

The Vatican!

day 2 of orientation! can't believe it's already wednesday! the days go by so slow, i really lose track of time. it's so EARLY right now but i keep thinking it's supposed to be 6pm or something. really weird. and i get tired really fast too. maybe because i WALK like 3hrs a day now, lol. i met the legendary gianni today! TOO FUNNY! ahhh---he's a natural comedian even tho he thinks he isn't. teaching us ways to cheat the italian customs. "and don't be american, ya kno...cause that's, not cool." in a thick italian accent.

since me and anna got had orientation earlier than michi and cheryl, we left and went to the market today! it was so nerve racking! there were tons of stalls selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and all sorts of random things. we finally settled for this one random vendor who had lots of fruit and was very nice. we bought pineapple, apples, blood oranges (good for your health!) and bananas. she spoke a fair amount of english and the transaction went fairly well until she said it would cost 80 euro! at least that's what it sounded like that's what she meant but it was really 8 euro. and we got a lot of stuff too. we also bought cookies and orange fanta! i would like to kindly point out that italian orange fanta kicks american orange fanta's ASS! the stuff is SO GOOD!!!!! so i bought two bottles today, lol, even tho we need water SO MUCH more.

so me and anna dropped off our stuff and decided to go exploring! we walked into these mini gardens, braved italian traffic, and walked up these steps and around the corner to THE VATICAN! gianni was right, lol, the vatican is so close we can see the pope brushing his teeth! we didn't want to go in without michi and cheryl so we explored the stores around. total tourist traps. we DID go into an italian footlocker and watched this awesome italian rock video. LOVED IT! made me all giddy inside because it was so american rejects. many shoes were on sale but i figured it would be really unwise for me to blow 80 euro, no matter HOW cool the purple chucks with gold olive branches looked. O_O 

we walked back around and stopped by this gellato place! the guy working there was very cute and very nice to us. he spoke good english and asked us where we were from even tho the obvious answer was america. lol, he asked us what we wanted and didn't even charge us for the cone! we gave him 5 euro each (because he didn't ask what size we wanted) and he gave us two scoops on a cone! he didn't even count the money we gave, he just kept smiling. lol, he asked us our names, i think he liked us! will definitely go back there again!

IN ROME!!!!

had to change the time stamp for this and future posts so...

yeah, yesterday i woke up at 2:30am in the morning and didn't arrive at rome until 7:20 the next day (keep in mind rome is 6 hours ahead) so i'm living in the future! lol

the flight was LONG. oh my god. and i wasn't feeling too hot so having a ridiculously RUDE passenger in front of me didn't help at all. with economy class there is barely any room and she had the NERVE to back her seat, quite literally trapping me and practically in my face. and when i kindly asked her for breathing room she snapped, "I'm trying to sleep!" like no one else on the EIGHT HOUR FLIGHT was trying to do the SAME thing but was considerate enough to think of the equally unhappy people behind them.

anyway, when we got to rome we were met by our student activities advisor (gianni!!!!) and took shuttles (18 euro but since he didn't have change i had to pay 20) into the winding city of rome. even that early in the morning traffic was INSANE! there seemed to be no rules whatsoever and mopeds/ motorcycles seemed exempt from ordinary driving laws, lol. lots of beeping horns, lots of stores, lots of stylish people, lots of posters, and crazy cool billboards. knowing a little spanish helps a ton (as far as reading things go). the city has so many hills so all the houses look as though they are piled on top of each other in a precarious but really beautiful way. random tropical looking plants flourished EVERYWHERE and stuck out funny against the cold air and cloudy sky. it seemed like we were going in circles and when i thought i couldn't stand it anymore we FINALLY arrived at our apartment!

the place is nice, the lobby is OUTSIDE for one thing, which was odd to me. the maids on staff were VERY nice and even though they spoke mostly italian to me and michi, we could understand them pretty well and they helped us with the odd elevator where u have to open a door to get into. it was VERY tiny so michi went up first and i came after. cheryl was already there (lucky duck) and took the better of the two rooms (which had a BALCONY!!!!!) and me and michi got stuck in the smaller room. it's VERY cute tho---and is sectioned off nicely so it's almost like we own the bathroom (which is also VERY cute).

 there is SO MUCH storage space! i spread my limited clothes over THREE full closets (in one room, i kno!) while michi took the wardrobe. after we finished unpacking, i took a shower and clocked out. i fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pilow! when i woke up we had a 40 min. to the Temple Rome campus where we mingled and had a pizza party. and lemme just say that italian pizza isn't all that great---definitely not what i'm used to. definitely just sticking to cheese pizza instead of experimenting in the future...

tomorrow is orientation! gotta be out the house and walking by 9am. me and anna are going first and then cheryl and michi will follow. when all is said and done we're going to the market place to buy some much needed food. we're STARVING here with next to nothing to chomp on! need to get more euros....

Shopping

having no money, sucks ass. but having things to buy and having money but not ENOUGH money sucks even worse. still have to buy art supplies (cause i'm SUCH a procrastinator!) and a memory card and junk for my brand new camera (hell yeah, canon baby!) so i can actually properly DOCUMENT this crap. then all my bath stuff and i STIL have to buy dressy clothes. i suck at plannng...hahaha...oh going to the mall this weekend i guess. hope there are still big sales going on...

Here we go!!!!

first post! oh wow...this is...serious business. probably the first time i'm posting/ updating about something seriously meant for me and not for...others..? anywho...exactly 6 days until i board a plane and fly (with michi!!!!) from philly to DC and from DC to ROME, ITALY!!!!!!!! ahhhhh! my heart beats faster every time i say it! SOOOOOOO unreal!!!!!! let's relax a little...

first, hello there, i'm sade! i'm 19 years old (gonna be 20 in february!) and i'm an aspiring graphic designer currently attending school at temple university's noteworthy tyler school of art. recently i decided to attend Temple University Rome with my snazzy roommate Michelle "Michi" Maben. now, me and michi were roommates at the beloved peabody for one whole semester of drama and new freshies before being snagged away from our good friends (fake ones thankfully left behind) for...FOUR MONTHS! oh boy...

michi (for those of u who are smart enough to make the connections) is the hachi to my nana, ya did? we're both 19, both pisces, both the same height (for goodness sake!) and both heading on the same plane dreamy and hopeful for (tokyo?) rome! so we're going to be traveling all over rome and most of europe doing very un-american things as to be american (or fulfill the american stereotype) is very uncool in another country. granted, being black, it's gonna be pretty hard to...uh....blend in? maybe i'll fake a british accent or something so people will think i'm cool...