Ciao a Tuti,

Roma continually amazes me. When I first arrived in January, it all seemed so foreign. Six months seemed like a lifetime. But now I feel at home here, and like my time here is slipping by so fast. I am really trying to just take it all in. I want to leave her without regrets.

Most of the pilgrims who were here for the funeral have left; it is possible to get around the city again, which is nice. But there are still tons of tourists, especially around the Vatican. People travel here from all over Europe, the US and Asia. We have to walk through the line of them waiting to get into the Vatican museums everyday one our way to school. It can get frustrating. I try to make sure that I speak Italian to the tourists; I guess I’m trying to differentiate myself from them. I find that if I pretty much keep my mouth shut, except for the few Italian phrases I know well, and try not to walk around smiling at people, then I can pretty much fool people into thinking that I’m Italian too. It’s just embarrassing when Italians stop me and ask for directions, because usually I have no idea what they are talking about, and I totally blow my cover.

I only had one class today, Ancient Roman Civilization; it is really amazing to be able to actually visit all of the ancient ruins as we study the history behind them. To day during our site visit, we went underneath a church where there are the ruins of three temples dating to the early imperial period. Most churches are like that, ruins below their crypts. Amazing. Rome is a city of layers, literally. The buildings from the imperial period were built over the buildings of the Republic, just as buildings and churches from the middle ages were built right over the imperial temples. Ground level today is actually about 20 –25 meters above the ground lever of antiquity. Again – amazing.

There are some many secrets in this city, narrow alley ways, hidden shrines to saints and Mary, pieces of ruins that you would miss if you didn’t know what you were looking for, little doors which lead to I don’t know what. Rome is also a city of contrasts, marble temples next to modern retailers, cobble stone streets with high tech smart cars, catholic churches built on the remains of pagan temples. I love it here. I don’t want to leave. My life here seems normal to me now. There are so many differences from here and home. I am just concentrating on appreciating those right now, drinking a lot of Italian espresso (which is SO much better here than what the sell at home), and exploring as much as I can.

Ciao for now,
Lauren Lester