Roma e scuola!

9:27 PM, Padua – Finalmente! I’m sorry I haven’t been writing much lately I just have been really busy and haven’t had much time to play around. School has started and is in full swing right now – which is cool at times but I realized I have a lot to do. Boo!
Alright so I guess I can bring you up to speed from last week. After my crazy Oktoberfest trip we started school the next day, however I had no classes because I didn’t know what I was taking just yet. After working out a couple schedules I figured out that I will be taking the two classes offered by the Californian Study Center (grammar and art history) and two classes at the university (Political System of the European Union and then a political parties class). The two at the University are going to be pretty tough I think, but they have a program here called Erasmus (which I believe was set up by the EU) and those kids take a separate test which should work out to my advantage. But I have also found out that the study center makes it so that we have to write a paper for each class, too. Boo!
Well as the story goes, I was only able to go to one class anyway last week. Only one of my classes ACTUALLY began last week and it only meets 3 times a week, I missed the first and than the third I couldn’t go to because I had to go to the Questura and let them know that I am there or something. I don’t know Italians are weird.
I was busy the rest of the week with silly things at the Study Center though and they close early so it wasn’t easy to get on the Internet. And then came Rome…
I left at on the midnight train to Rome (literally 12:45) but Italians like to be late and we didn’t leave until a little after 1 am. Worst. Ride. Ever. I had a stomach ache the entire ride and there was no chance of any sleep in such cramped spaces, however I arrived in Rome by about 7:00 just in time to see the sun rise over Piazza del Popolo which was way cool. I took a quick nap and walked around for a little and then made my way over to the Vatican where I bought a book (Harry Potter e il calice di fuoco) and read it in St. Peter’s Square for about two hours. I was really surprised at the lack of security in St. Peter’s – almost scared even because I was able to walk right up with my huge backpack of stuff and sit there all day reading. I didn’t get stopped or asked once what was inside of it - heck I didn’t even see any Swiss guards that first day. It was really kinda weird. Though I’m not complaining because I didn’t get stopped. Anyways the rest of the day I bummed and waited until I met up with the SJA crew around 4:00 at the hotel which was really close to the Vatican. We were all pretty exhausted from our travels but Mrs. Spath, Mrs. Hage, the Cornillies and the Ziolkowski’s treated me to a drink before dinner and then we went to a great dinner at one of Msgr. Mike’s favorite restaurants. After a lot of wine, good food, and someone getting locked in the bathroom we made it back to the hotel and I took off with the tour guide from Napoli for his place where I met some cool kids and had a place to crash. I had my own bed and everything it was great.
Then came Saturday and I found out early in the morning that the TIGERS WON and were up on the Yankees 2-1 in the series. Naturally I was pumped and then we had an early mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with Cardinal Shocka (sp?) and some dead popes. It was really cool. Then we got to spend some time in St. Peter’s and I just kinda walked around for a while by myself. I had lunch with the tour guide from Detroit (Bill) and he was really nice – a UofM alum and apparently he has a daughter there now and a son at ND. He has a pretty wicked job, too. I’m jealous.
At three we boarded a tour bus for the Coliseum and proceeded on a tour of ancient Rome. It was all really cool. At the Coliseum I saw a girl with a “St Mary’s College” shirt, so I asked where she was from and it turns out she was from Kalamazoo, went to Hackett and played soccer with Kristy! She also knew Catherine Solomon and some other girls from home. What a piccolo mondo.
Saturday night dinner was on our own but we went out and again Mrs. Spath and Mrs. Hage treated me to dinner, they really took care of me. Msgr. Mike was there and some others and then when I got back to hotel me, Jason Aubrey (the elder) and this girl from GPN (I’m sorry I forget her name, horrible) went out to the Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Navonna for some fun with the other youth of the city. It was awesome… I ended up crashing with some Americans studying at John Cabott University who lived pretty far from the center of town. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it back in time in the morning for the trip to the university where Msgr. Mike stayed for a while and I missed mass, but it’s ok I think because I was at mass in the Vatican the day before. I’m sure the Big Guy will forgive me. Sunday was spent waiting for my train. I got to the station in time for a 2:00 train only to find that all trains were booked until 6ish. Naturally that train was late but I made it out and was back in Padova a little after 10:15. The end of a great weekend.
Monday morning classes started hardcore. I had 6 hours of lessons on Monday and it was tough to understand pretty much all of it. I realized this week that I am going to have my work cut out for me. Now I know school is what I came here for, but I was thinking of it more as an excuse to go to Europe and try and learn a language – now it looks as if I am going to have to learn a language quick and take two exams in it in November! Papers are to be written, too, even if they aren’t assigned say the lovely people at the study center. Grr. If the Italians don’t do it why should I have to??
As it goes life in Padova is absolutely wonderful. My roommates have been taking care of me and making me some food and introducing me to their friends – though it is still hard for me to participate in conversations – by the time I register what they are talking about and formulate how to say what I want they are already on the next topic. Oh well it’s fun listening to them. This culture is really social and I dig that. Every night the students go out into the city and get a “spritz” before dinner and then they eat and then they all congregate in the piazzas afterwards. It’s really neat to see everyone outside and socializing – even if I still don’t know how.
Now to the important stuff – Tuesday night I watched the entire final Tigers - Yankees game. How exciting! They really took care of them and looked a lot stronger. Bonderman pitched one heck of a game (almost a full one) and they just looked like they wanted it a lot more. I was really excited to see the party after but they cut it short :-( I really just wanted to see the local news after. I missed Channel 4 and Channel 7 coverage of the craziness downtown. You think the Detroit News delivers internationally??! I have heard since that the Tigers are now up two games on the Athletics. My friend Angela here in Padova is a big Oakland A’s fan so it’s cool to have another baseball fan. We were going to try and watch a game live but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Hopefully we can finish it off before we get a chance. But the World Series?? Seriously, of all the years that I have been alive, Tigs, why this one?? I’ll figure something out to watch the games if we get that far. So exciting.
Well I guess that’s enough for now, thanks for stopping by.