Ciao a tuti,

It's been a while; let me catch you up ...

I turned 21 two weekends ago (April, 29), which is so surreal you have no idea. I feel myself growing up, and it scares me. The years are going by faster and faster, speeding me ahead in to an unknown future ... but (as my dad says) it is better than the alternative. The legal drinking age here is very "flexible," So turning 21 lost a bit of its novelty, but I still had one of the best birthdays of my life. I turned 21 in Rome, who does that?

First Bri and I had a site visit (class trip)for our Ancient Roman Civ Class with Prof. Darius Arya, to Ostia, the ancient port city of ancient Rome. The city is about 45 minutes outside of Rome, by metro and then train. The ruins of the city are still amazingly preserved. It was a smaller version of what Rome might have looked like in its imperial hay-day. It was otherworldly and really interesting. Wandering around I kept trying to picture the city as it once was, full of people living their lives. We saw ancient burial grounds, temples, an outdoor theater, preserved houses, apartment buildings, shops; we also saw mosaics, beautiful frescos, and an ancient bath complex. Parts of it are still being excavated, so it's covered in haphazard vines. Headless statues seemed to pop out of no where. The ancient buildings were still magnificant, even in their disrepair. It was soo cool, I felt like Lara Croft or a female Indiana Jones. We finished at 3pm and got home around 4-ish.

Bri was acting kind of strange; she kept text messaging on her phone. She opened the gate to our building and charged ahead. I followed, and when I turned the corner to walk down to our patio I saw my roomies and all my friends here in the program; my roomies had thrown me a surprise patio birthday party! They even decorated with a banner and Italian balloons! Em cooked a really good dinner and we all drank wine (I had champagne). It was so sweet of them; I had never had a surprise party before. I really had absolutely no idea that they had planed it. The even had a gelato cake (the Italian version of an ice-cream cake). I was so happy.

Coincidentally, that same night, our program had arranged for us to all go to the opera! We all got really dressed up, and our guy friends brought us roses, it was a bit like prom. Everyone looked really nice. The opera we saw was Turndot; a story of an evil princess who everyone falls in love with, but she puts through life or death challenges to see if they are worthy, our hero (a mysterious prince from far away) eventually wins her over. We had box seats! It was amazing, the opera house was beautiful: gilded and dripping in red velvet, plus the voices and music were indescribably amazing. We were all a bit overwhelmed I think.

Afterwards, Sam, Em, Bri and I took a cab home. It was 11pm on a Friday night, so Rome was lit and full of people. We drove from the city center to the Vatican (our apartment), so the ride went through some of the most beautiful streets in Rome. Sam told the driver it was my birthday and asked him to take the route which took up right up to St Peters', so beautiful at night. Once we got home we changed from our opera dresses to going out clothes, then a group of us wet out to a club. We danced (on the bar), and drank, I lived up being 21 a bit. In the end I had an absolutely fabulous birthday. Exceedingly memorable. Who else can say that on their 21st birthday they explored ancient ruins, had a surprise patio party, went to an Italian Opera, and then out clubin' ... IN ROME!!! I love my life.