WHITNEY KENRA AND AUDREY!

Wednesday morning I took the train to Rome again and met the girls at the train station.  Whitney, Kenra and Audrey are staying in Trier, Germany and came to Italy to see the sites.  They decided to use my apartment in Orvieto as a sort of home base for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

I played the part of tour guide all day Wednesday, taking them to see all the sites that I saw on my first trip to Rome.  We started at the Coliseum, then the Roman Forum, and then moved to the Victor Emmanuel Monument followed by Capitoline Hill.  From there I took them to the Pantheon and we got Gelato right around the corner.  We meandered through Piazza Navona and onward to the Sant Angelo and the Vatican.  On the way to the train station we stopped at the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.

The next morning, I took the girls to the market to buy some food so we could make dinner that night.  We got an onion, some garlic and a giant red pepper. I also got some apples for myself.  From there I took them to my school and the overlook that is just behind it.  It was cool watching them “oh and ah” over the view.  We walked past all the cool things to see in town, and looked at all the pretty overlooks.  We also went to the clock tower in the center of town.  The view from the top was amazing! Full 360 degree views of the city.  It was great.  For dinner that night we made chicken with the red peppers and onions and we put it all over pasta.  It was delicious.

Friday and Saturday the girls took trips to the Vatican Museums and Florence.  So I stayed home and worked on stuff for school those days.  Sunday morning, Easter, the girls left for Venice in the morning.

After hearing about some of the other study program locales, I am very glad I picked Italy . I feel as if I have seen more and learned more here than I might have elsewhere. I’ve had the chance to become part of a community, and learn, not just about the places, but also the people and the culture of the regions we are visiting. While I may not have left Italy that much, that has given me the opportunity to truly be immersed in the heartbeat of the country. Italian culture takes a slower pace, a pace that we Americans can not quite understand. I feel as if patience has to be developed for the mad chaos that Italian life presents. Even though my visiting friends weren’t sure that they were as entranced with Italy as I am, they were enthusiastic about the experiences. A lot of the experiences they enjoyed were based on Italian culture. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to really steep myself into the culture of the country that played host to me for these four months.