Sicily

We spent a weekend on the eastern coast of Italy, where we climbed Mount Etna!

Marzi

For the month of May I'll be living in an incredible small town called Marzi in southern Italy. I live with a host family that has a five year old daughter. They are more than I could ever ask for! It's difficult, because they don't speak a word of English, but they are so patient and so kind! It's definitely a different world here. I'll try to post more pictures soon!


Small world though, because the cinematographer for Avatar, who won an Oscar for his work, is from Marzi! They're having a huge party for him June 1st and I'll get to meet him then.

Next weekend we are heading to Sicily for four days!

Ci Vediamo

Paestum

This morning we left Rome to head south towards Rogliano, where we will be spending the next five weeks. We stopped in a small, seaside town called Paestum which is beautiful! Today I went to the beach and swam in the Mediterranean ocean. It was incredible. The pillars in the photos are Greek, and were made in 500 BC! That first photo was the view from my hotel room.

Assisi, Italy

This weekend we traveled to Assisi for a night, which was so much more than I expected!! The views were unbelievable. The entire city has been declared as a monument because of its history with Saint Francis. We visited the huge basilica dedicated to him, and also explored an ancient castle there which was amazing!

The Trevy Fountain, Spanish Steps, Vatican, and more!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, I was sick for a majority of this past week, but here are a few highlight photos from the week's adventures.

The ancient Roman Forum and the Colosseum

Every Friday for class we tour a different significant site in Rome with one of our teachers as a tour guide. This past friday we toured the ancient Roman forum and the colosseum.

In the ancient forum, we walked the same streets as thousands of Romans before us. We saw arches that were built for returning soliders to march through, and we visited the site where Julius Casesar's body was burned.

The last photo is in front of the ancient forum, while the picture if the archway is the one I was describing for soldiers to pass though when returning from a victorious battle.


This coming week is our first true week of classes and having a full schedule here in Rome. Today (Monday) there is no school because it's still a holiday from Easter. Tomorrow however, we start our internships before class. Our students were split into two groups, and my group will start interning at a
marketplace tomorrow morning. We'll be interning with other Italian students our age which I'm really looking forward to! It should really help in our speaking ability. From now on, Monday through Wednesday, we'll be interning and in classes from 9 am to 5 pm!

Thursdays are cultural days, where one of our professors lectures about a specific historic event or place in Rome, and then Friday we go tour the place we just learned about.


Right now I'm just working on some homework and having a semi low key day since tomorrow is our first full scheduled day.

Ciao a tutti!

te amo,

Julie