July 6th - A Failed Trip to Ostia Antic and a Poem

The morning I slept in and it was glorious. I had a later breakfast. There was a lecture on YA collaboration which made me want to read the book Rufus + Syd. Lecture was followed by workshop where I had to introduce a piece. I had been worried about it for a while but I think I did a halfway decent job even though I just talked instead of having something prepared. Workshop ended a little early adding to my lunchtime. I spent lunch in my room eating the leftover pizza from yesterday and reading the two worksheets for tomorrow, one of which is my own work. I also read through the poems I'll be reading to the group tomorrow as practice. Pretty soon it was time to gear up and head to Ostia Antic.

I get to Ostia Antic and as soon as I leave the bus and step out into the sun I feel ill. Not that I felt 100% on the bus, but better then needing a bathrooom right away. A visit to the restroom and I know there is no way I'll be able to make it through 2 hours of sun exposure. So instead, I sit in the shade, right outside the archeological site, not even able to see it. It's so depressing to not be able to participate but even just sitting here I feel ill so I know I wouldn't be better off trying to walk through the ruins. What really sucks is that I even got my favorite red umbrella tour guide. I was able to listen to the tour guide for a bit but soon I was cut off from even that.

It makes me worried for the two extra days I have to explore. Will I even make it to Pompeii? Or do I get to spend the rest of my time hiding in the hotel? It's the most frustrating feeling because as I sit here in the shade I begin to feel better but as soon as I step out into the sun or the breeze stops blowing and I get just a little bit warm the feelings of sickness return. I just don’t understand why I feel like this. I've been drinking lots of water. No caffeine. Limiting my cheese intake. I haven’t even had the famed gelato yet! I even borrowed a hat to help protect me. Did I just push myself too hard on the day of the Vatican? Or was the damage done before that? Will I get better before the end of the trip?

I feel like I did when I went on my 8th grade trip and got sick at the cathedral, not as bad because I can mostly take care of myself but still having to tell someone that I'm sick and can't do something I'm supposed to be doing is hard. I wasn't able to do it without crying.

Definitely feeling like a vampire right about now. Where's my coffin? 

A Few Lines Composed Outside Ostia Antic

The sun beats down

 It bakes me from the inside out

 I puddle jump from shade to shade

 Unable to escape its rays

 Stomach twisting

 Feeling empty - taking a breath

 Breathe in...and out...in...and out

 Mouth of cotton

 Not enough water to quench my thirst

 Gaging in my throat

 Trying to keep it down

 It steals my life force for itself

 Casting me aside like a forgotten ruin

 I do not sparkle,

 Will I burst into flame?

July 5th - Classes and Great Food

Today was another full classroom day. We had an early morning lecture on Fight Club that made me want to watch Fight Club again. Lecture was followed by two hours of workshop. We’ve finished the Creative Non Fiction and Fiction worksheets so tomorrow we’re starting the YA worksheets. I’m excited yet nervous at the same time. I’m last to get critiqued, but I have to introduce a work tomorrow which is equally as intimidating.

For lunch, we went to the restaurant across the street for pizza after a recommendation. I had been fine with the pizza from Café Washington, but now I know better. This pizza was thin, huge, and delicious. I’m limiting my cheese intake so I’ve been sticking to Marinara pizza which is sauce and oregano, but this one also had garlic. From the first bite I was in heaven. Beautiful! I do find it odd that I cannot eat a whole pizza in one sitting given the lack of ingredients.  

Sitting outside in the sun has not been good for me and I started to not feel good – once again. I hate being ill on trips. It’s no fun at all. What’s worse is I felt great waking up. I sleep amazingly. I had a good breakfast and then started feeling a little off. By the end of lunch, I was done. I had planned on doing some work during lunch, but I ended up taking a nap which was just as good.

The afternoon we had graduating student lectures which were hilarious and beneficial. They were followed by a lecture on Fellini which although interesting focused a lot on a film we didn’t watch. The day’s classes ended with student readings. Each student who signs up gets 5 minutes to read some of their work to the group. I’ll be reading in a few days. It was great to hear everyone’s work. The sheer variety.

Dinner tonight was with my YA peeps. Because our YA group is split up during workshop and we had had such a great chat about books earlier in the week thought it would be a good idea to have dinner and continue that talk so that’s what we did. We went to a restaurant just around the corner from our hotel, something I was thankful for because the moment I step out into that heat I start to feel ill. It was a small quaint little restaurant with great service. I had planned on getting the vegetable soup, even though I had had it the night before at the hotel, but then one of the specials was gnocchi in pesto. I couldn’t resist and I’m glad I didn’t. I totally understand why gnocchi translates as pillow. It was creamy and melted in your mouth. The best meal I’ve had yet. The meal was followed with complimentary shots of limoncello which was a little cough syrup tasting with a kick. It warmed me right up, not that I need help with that in 90 degree weather. Food was good and the conversation was good. I wish I had felt better though to participate more. I basically had to hold my head up to make it through dinner, but by the end I started to feel better.

With dinner over with it was back to the hotel to finish the my cross-genre screenplay which is due tomorrow at 12:45. Luckily, I had most of it done, and the main outline done, so I just had to finalize everything. We had to write a 2-page screenplay set in Rome or featuring its architecture/art work with a maximum of 3 characters, and with a beginning, middle, and end. I wrote a futuristic shootout at the Roman Forum. I think I’m happy with it. J I’ll do one last pass in the morning before sending it off. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to morning classes and an afternoon tour to Ostia Antica. Here’s hoping I don’t melt along the way!

July 4th - Vatican City, Baroque and Catholic Architechture

We had an early start today, 7:30, as we made our way to Citta Del Vaticano, Vatican City. A city which not a city at all but a country surrounding by walls in the middle of another city. The crowds were amazing, but more amazing still was the fastness of those lines. It felt like it took longer with the sun starting to bear down on us but really didn’t take long at all, however, if you don’t like crowds The Vatican is not going to be your thing.

We were given a presentation on the Sistine Chapel and its famous ceiling before heading into the main one-way museum. I liked hearing the stories and history, but I could have done without the sun. In the main museum we stopped at the major sites, but we couldn’t linger at the lesser known ones. I missed out on my chance to see Van Gogh’s painting housed in The Vatican, but we were in a rush to get to the Sistine Chapel. Why look at not the most impressive work of contemporary artist when you have Michelangelo’s work waiting?

As you enter the Sistine Chapel the are guards telling you: no pictures, no video, no talking. A mass of people huddle together in the middle of the room and look up and at the walls. The Sistine Chapel is impressive. The work that went into everything. It’s beautiful. Unfortunately, that beauty is lessen with the guards having to speak over the intercom “Silenzio Shhhhhh. No pictures. No Video” over and over again because tourists can’t follow directions. You also have to crane your head back to really appreciate the artwork – God creating Adam. I can enjoy the artwork for art’s sake but some of the iconography and meaning behind things is lost on me.

Exiting the Sistine Chapel we headed over to St. Peter’s Basilica. A basilica is just another work for a church. St. Peter’s is massive. They have markings on the floor which tell you where other cathedrals around the world would end showing the vastness of it. Everywhere you look there is intricate detail. Lettering towards the ceiling is 7 feet

Our tour ended at a gift shop and we headed back to the hotel for lunch before the next tour which because our first tour went a little long was pushed back a bit. I went and had lunch at a new place down the street, opposite from my usual café, and sat out enjoying the streets of Roma.

I felt ready for the second tour that afternoon, a walking tour of baroque and catholic architecture, but I must have had too much sun in the first half of the day. (I’ve had enough sun to last me 10 years) I fell ill after the first church! I soldiered through and made it to the Pantheon. I would have been more impressed had I not felt so sick, although I did get to go inside for a few minutes. Its dome is beautiful and I’ve seen a lot of domes recently. From the Pantheon we visited another church, but instead of following the group I sat down and just listened to the ear piece. I followed along for the rest of the tour but hung in the back worrying the other people on the tour who kept trying to get me to get a taxi, but I was determined to finish. I paid for the tour after all and even if I didn’t get as much out of it as I had wanted, it was good to walk and hear the stories. I was aware of the cat sanctuary in Rome which is housed in a series of temple ruins aptly named A, B, C, and D. I even saw some cats in it!

Returning to the hotel I took a cold shower to cool down and just laid down for a bit to feel better. Eventually, I made it down to hotel restaurant for a bowl of vegetable soup and was able to complete my work for the next day.

It was such a long day, and I think I might have skipped the afternoon tour had I known but on the plus side I slept hard. The first decent sleep I’ve gotten while here.

July 3 - Full Day Classes

Yesterday was another all day class day. I had my usual breakfast downstairs, but left a little early so I could catch up on some work I needed to do. Morning classes included two graduating student lectures (one on finding a writing routine and one on the relationship between comedy and drama) followed by a lecture on dreams in writing. We had our first workshop of the day, our extra added one, which took place in a different room. I’m not sure if it was the room or the different seat I had, but there was a different atmosphere that I really liked. It could be that I’m just getting used to workshop.

Lunch was on my own. I just went and got a pizza from the café down the street. I needed something fast because I was so behind in work. As I left my hotel room I took my water bottle and stuck it in my purse, however, it wasn’t closed.  Luckily I caught it early but my purse was sinking fast like the Titanic. My papers were salvageable, but my phone had lost its screen. (I let the phone dry in pieces overnight and at the moment it seems to be working.)

I ate my pizza, got caught up, and went to afternoon classes. Two more hours of workshop. By this time in the day I wasn’t feeling very well, and in fact hadn’t been feeling well all day. I was still really tired. I had made plans with two other students to go to the Pantheon and have dinner, even though my plan from the beginning was to stay home and do work, but as the time neared and I did my best to work on the worksheets for our next workshop I was falling asleep. I knew I needed sleep, so I canceled my dinner plans in favor of eating my leftover pizza and sleeping.

We seem to still be having trouble with the lights in our hotel room. It's a guessing game each night which switch turns off which light. My roommate runs around the room trying each switch before remembering the switch my her bed. It's almost like a comic routine. We probably won't get it down until the last day.

I got a few extra hours which was nice and even got some of my screenplay thought out. I’m hoping to be feeling better after the extra sleep to be able to go out and actually see more of Rome.

It’s the Vatican and Baroque architecture for the 4^th of July!

July 2 - Colosseum and the Roman Forum

The Colosseum!

Today was the day I saw the Colosseum and Roman Forum. It was an early morning, but that meant it was cool at the beginning of the day. Our bus took us around the north side of the Colosseum (the beautiful side) and then around the back to drop us off. We split into two groups. We were told some history while we waited for our headsets to arrive. The headsets were great once we got them because we were able to hear everything the guide was saying without being directly in front of him, something which has been a problem in the past when I’ve been on tours. We were told though that we had to hide out headsets as we entered the Colosseum because we didn’t have the right tickets. Luckily I didn’t end up in Rome prison.

Gladiators used to fight behind me

To say that the Colosseum is huge is an understatement. The architecture is superb. It’s hard to imagine it being built so long ago when we have nothing like that in the states.  Two outer walls collapsed on the south side from people taking the iron/metal away from the supports. The north side still exists because the Pope could see it from his window and wanted to keep it.

On the lower level

Inside the colosseum we were able to the inside on several different levels. There is so much history there you can feel it radiating from the walls. We were also able to get close to the lower level to see where the stage would have been where the gladiators would have fought. It’s hard to even explain how amazing it was.

The Roman Forum in the background

After the Colosseum, we went to the Roman forum which was also amazing although more in ruins than the Colosseum. We saw where the vestal virgins lived and where Julius Caesar’s body was burned after he was stabbed to death by the senators. It’s hard to imagine people milling about there listening to political speeches.

Inside the Forum

We also had the chance to go to a church which opened only two months ago. It was beautiful and had some frescos on the wall.

We ended out tour by walking up a flight of stairs to see the capital hill with a giant statue in the center of Marcus Aurelius. It’s a replica of the original bronze statue, but the bronze statue is the only bronze statue that wasn’t melted down but is now housed safely in a museum.

What made my trip to the Colosseum and Form so memorable was the red umbrella tour guide. He was hilarious and very to the point. Always standing in the shade while still allowing us our picture time, but he wasn’t afraid of leaving you behind. He really made the visit worthwhile.

The afternoon I had my first workshop, since the other one had been more of an introduction, and I was a little nervous. I wanted to make sure I was contributing. I felt better as the two hours went on and thought I had some good comments. I guess I was nervous because in the previous workshop I had said I would have liked to have known that the piece I was reading was Creative Non-Fiction and I felt like I was kind of jumped on- like why did it matter what genre is fell under- so going into today I was a little apprehensive, but that apprehension soon melted away. There was a lot of stimulating conversation. Conversation which I’ve missed since Warwick, so it’s nice to have it again. I feel complete.

Our final lecture of the day was on the Italian sonnet which I found quite interesting. There were some really cool things to think about with the progression of the sonnet and seeing how it has been transformed through the ages.

My evening closed with a sit down meal with more Spalding students at a nice restaurant right across the street from the previous night’s dinner. They had very friendly waiters. I ordered ravioli with ricotta and spinach in tomato sauce. It was super good – not too cheesy.

Dinner

As dinner wrapped up I was feeling very well. I think I had too much heat in the morning so I returned to my room to cool down, relax and catch up on work. As I finish this I’m watching Italy take on Germany for Euro 2016, a game not only our tour guide mentioned but also our waiter.

Italy just scored a goal and we could hear the horns and shouts of joy from the room.

July 1st - Day 1 of classes

My roommate and I did not set alarm the night before both thinking we would wake up early or not sleep well. Drilling woke us up in the morning and we realized it was 8am! We had to be in class at 9am! Hurrying to shower and get ready for the day we headed down to breakfast in the hotel which was decent - cereal, sweet bread, and tea - and we had plenty of time.

We discussed the two Fellini films we watched - 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita and were given our first assignment. We got some travel tips from our Worldstrides coordinator and the faculty read some of their work.

With the morning complete, I went to lunch - the same café I went to on the first day for some take away pizza - with a group of students. I got the marina pizza which is sauce and oregano. It was beautiful and so delicious. We went back and hung out in someone’s room to eat. After lunch I went back to my room to relax for a little bit before the new student orientation which just gave us some good starting information for the program.

The new student orientation led into the first introductory workshop. Although I’m writing in Children and Young Adults, the workshop includes Creative Non-Fiction and Fiction writers because of an unforeseen circumstance and our group is rather large – 11people- which means we are sneaking in another workshop on Sunday. The first workshop was a little intimidating, but it was very stimulating. I really enjoyed myself even if I felt a little unsure of myself.

Our final meeting for the night was supposed to be about the book we all read, but since our original workshop leader isn’t it here it was canceled. Instead, all W4C&YA got to meet up and discuss books that had an impact on us growing up and wanting to become writers. It was such an amazing discussion with a great energy in the room. An energy which was so good that I’m a little bummed that we’re not doing the workshop together.

Our discussion over, I had a bit of time to hang out in my room and print off worksheets before meeting in the lobby for dinner. The group was so large that we ended up breaking up into two groups. My group went to a restaurant just up the street that looks like a castle and has a rooftop garden. I ordered a pasta dish with cheese and pepper and it came in a cute little bowl made of parmesan cheese. It was very good, but it’s so filling. Once again, the conversation was wonderful and I keep meeting more people who have interesting stories to tell.

My dinner for the night

Back at the hotel, I had some work to do before turning in for the night. Unlike the first night, I did not sleep well. I had a headache and just couldn’t sleep. I finally took my nighttime sinus medicine and found a bit of sleep.

Rome Travel June 29 - June 30

PDX airport waiting for my delayed plane

The first two days of my trip were basically traveling. My plane leaving Portland was over an hour late so my three-hour layover in Chicago was cut short to just an hour. Enough time to go to the bathroom, find some lunch, and try to calm myself before the next flight. The flight to Rome was about 8 ½ hours. I watched movies/tv because I really couldn’t sleep even though I tried, however, I do recommend watching Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and How to be Single. J

Arriving in Rome, we caught a shuttle from the plane to the airport. The passport check was smooth. I gave my passport to the guy and he stamped it and I was on my way. No questions. Thankfully, my bag arrived like it was supposed to. A quick walk through customs and I was bombarded with the arrivals gate. It took me a little bit to find the Spalding sign and I did get a little nervous I wasn’t going to find it, but I did! I had a short wait. I met some of the people from my program, but was too tired to make much conversation.

I think it’s always hard to approach a new city from the airport because it never has the best views. I tried my best not to prejudge Rome which was easy since I tried to just close my eyes as we drove towards Rome.

We pulled up to the hotel where we had more waiting to do. My hotel room wasn’t ready yet and neither was another student’s so we went to lunch in a small little café down the street. I had a lovely vegetarian sandwich with eggplant and mozzarella. Back at the hotel our rooms were still not ready so we went on the short neighborhood guided tour where we were yelled at by an Italian woman in English. We’re staying in a pretty central location with some beautiful cities within walking distance plus the train station a few blocks away.

Finally, my hotel room was ready. I started unpacking and exploring the room when all the lights went off and I couldn’t figure out which switch would turn them back on again, so I had to leave the room and reenter to get the lights back on. I thought I found the right switch, but again they went off. I didn’t understand what was happening. Each time I left the room and returned the lights would work for a short amount of time before turning off again no matter what switch I turned on. I finally realized that I had to stick my card in a slot by the front door in order to keep things on.

My roommate arrived a little time later and we had a little bit of time to talk before getting ready for the welcome dinner with the whole group. We took a bus to a restaurant which was in this cool little place with walls covered in ivy leaves. The meal was amazing, but there was so much food and apparently the alternative for meat is cheese and tomatoes so I had a lot of that. There was an appetizer, a pasta course, my cheese and tomato salad, tiramisu and topped off with an espresso. It was all delicious.

We were even treated to a small show when a woman, from another group, opened a high window and starting hanging underwear on the railing while the musicians on the ground called up to her. She closed the window and then was joined by a man with one of the those glasses with the fake nose as a disguise. It was fun.

A quick ride back to the hotel and I went to bed ready to put an end to my traveling all-nighter.