Rome Sweet Rome

I Have A New Blog

2010-03-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

I have a new blog now! Here is the link :)

http://sheananigan.blogspot.com/

I start my journey home tomorrow..

2009-12-16T11:53:00.000-08:00

I am heading to Switzerland tomorrow afternoon to visit my friend Sue and her family. I will be there for 2 days. I am very excited to see them, it will be nice to see a familiar face. It also will be snowing when I get their!!

It was really strange having my last day here. I was packing up all my stuff and almost started crying. Its weird to think that this time last year I had decided to come here. Its even weirder that its over. I am very excited to come home, but nervous at the same time. I feel like I have done a lot of growing and changing, it will be interesting to see how that growth and change will fit into my life at home.

I will post pictures of my trip when I get a chance. See you all on Sunday... Ciao

This is for you Mom...

2009-12-15T07:45:00.000-08:00

Things that I would like to be greeted with when arriving back in the states :)

Along with your beautiful face mother I would really like...

A EXTRA LARGE Diet coke with a lime, a bag of chocolate covered gummy bears, and my Iphone :)

Thanks Mom your the greatest :)

hahaha

Tomorrow is my last day in Roma... see you guys in 5 days.

its all coming to an end.. but first...

2009-12-12T03:28:00.000-08:00

I moved out of my apartment yesterday. It was not the ending I was hoping for, but life is filled with ups and downs. I moved into kim's house and will be here for the next 5 days. Her and her husband went to london so I am watching her kids. Its going to be a very relaxing next couple of days. I am excited to hang out with the kids, they are super fun!

I leave for Switzerland on Thursday morning to hang out with Sue and her family.

only bad part.. its going to take me 7 hours to get their.. I have to go all the way to london, where I have a 4 hour lay over and then back down to Switzerland.

Then I'll be home at 1:30 next Sunday! See you all then !

packing problem

2009-12-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

If you a consitent reader of my blog you would know that when I packed to come to Roma I used the vacuum seal method and that my bags weighed 51 pounds. This time I have choosen the folding method since I dont have a vacuum to seal the bags this time around.

well I sent one bag back a couple of months ago with all my summer stuff. I did not pack the bag full like i did the first time because i wanted to keep some stuff.

SO now I am left with this problem.. I have enough stuff to fit into 2 bags... but I only have one bag.. BIG PROBLEMS...

any ideas????

Christmas Time in Roma

2009-12-10T05:04:00.000-08:00

It is officially Christmas time here in Roma. These pictures do no justice to how cute it looks! but they have put up all the lights around the city and I love it. I cant wait for Christmas and to be with my family and friends. 10 more days.

Things i am looking forward too...

2009-12-09T05:25:00.000-08:00

This list has no order of importance and is kind of lame. haha

No more skype dates
manicures and pedicures
Getting my hair done
driving my car
going to Pavilions
Starbucks ( I am so use to italian coffee, I am afraid starbucks is going to be to sweet for me)
a nice big comfy bed
Toco Loco
Santanas
In n Out
My family (ressie)
friends
long hot shower
clean clothes
warm whether
dell toco
San Diego
English
nice respectable guys
salads with real dressing on it
For some reason I have been daydreaming about driving my car past the RSM lake...? random!
going to Laguna Beach
A mall/ shopping center
Things to be open at a normal time
Disneyland

MIA

2009-12-06T00:19:00.001-08:00

Sorry I have not blogged in a while but its finals week.. so not much to blog about..

I had my marketing final yesterday. Monday is accounting and history. Wednesday is business Communications.

A few prayers would be great. Please and thank you.

Ill be home in 14 days!

Kaleigh's visit to Roma!

2009-12-01T06:34:00.000-08:00

Kaleigh came to visit me for a week during Thanksgiving. It was so great to have my friend here. I showed her all around Roma and we also took a trip to Florence. The trip was filled with so many great memories that we will laugh about forever. Here are some pictures of our time together.

Trevi Fountain
The Pantheon
Roman Forum
Look how cute this kid is!
Outside the Colosseum
Inside the colosseum
Tigers...
We played lazier tag with these random Italians...
Kaleigh with some italian men <3

Spanish Steps
Random ladies house... She made good coffee
Thanksgiving Breakfast
Inside the Duomo
Outside the Duomo
The David. Kind of. We did see the real one but you cant take pictures. Lame.
JUMP!
Florence
Florence
I slipped....

we Heart Trains

2009-11-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

My trip to the Doctors

2009-11-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

I have been sick for the past couple of days with a nasty sinus infection. Being sick in a foreign country totally sucks.

It makes me really appreciate the comforts of home. Going to the doctors is so easy. You get in your car, look at what room and floor the Dr. is on and take the elevator to the room. This was not my experience with trying to find the Doctors office.

I got on a tram that took me to a bus that i was suppose to go 9 stops and get off, but i lost track after 3. (Remind you i was sick) So i took a taxi. He dropped me off on the other side of town. I continued on my journey and walked 4 blocks in the wrong direction. after realizing i was going the wrong way i finally found the building. I walked down a sketchy alleyway and picked a random door. I rang the first door i saw and they buzzed me in.. It was a leather shop.. they told me (well pointed because i don't know italian) to walk through the door in the back of the shop. I laughed at first because i thought it was a closet, when i realized they were serious i just started walking up the stairs. I randomly decided to stop on the third floor, probably because i could not breathe any long and buzzed the first door i saw. Lucky me I got the right door.

Now why would i ever think to look in a leather shop for a doctors office... OH italy you continue to surprise me!

On the way home the taxi drive tried to double the price, but i caught him... he yelled bad things to me all the way home... it was really awkward. :/

Sorry no pictures this time... to sick to take them.

Cinque Terre, Parma (Hell), Bologna, Venice

2009-11-15T04:33:00.000-08:00

We went on an adventure to see Italy this week. It started with visiting Cinque Terre and stayed in a town called Venezia. It was so beautiful. It was right on the Mediterranean sea. On the way home, I speratically asked shawn if he wanted to go to Venice. He said sure. So we were off to Venice, little did we know it would take us two days to get there.

We missed our first train, so we waited 2 hours for the next one. An hour and a half up some sweet snow caped mountain our train breaks down. They make us walk a mile in 10 degree weather to a bus. The bus took us to a train statin that was not opened. We sat there for an hour, then got back on a bus. Then the bus took us to another train station, where they sent us to Bologna. When we arrived in Bologna we missed the last train to venice. They wanted to send us to Astria and then on to venice. It was also 12 pm. we decided to stay in Bologna for the night. We finally made it to Venice in the morning.
Venice was so much fun! We got lost, laughed, and ate yummy food. Here are some pictures of our trip :)

Mr. Boss Man and The Captan

2009-11-15T04:02:00.000-08:00

For our last day together we stayed in Roma. We went to the colosseum and out to lunch. On the way to the Colosseum we got stuck in a protest, which was awesome. They are soccer fans, who were protesting because the government put a tax on the season tickets. There must have been at least 20,000 people. It was insane and entraining to watch. We then wen out to lunch to my favorite lunch cafe. We were going to head over to the vatican, but I got really sick. We both have been sick all week, but it caught up to me. So we just went back home.

Shawn and Shea In Roma

2009-11-10T02:19:00.000-08:00

Shawn came into town yesterday! he will be here till sunday. I showed him around the city yesterday. We went to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and to the train station. Its been so fun having him here. here are some pictures from yesterday.

Becky in ROMA

2009-11-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

Becky is here in Roma and it has been so great! Today I found becky at the vatican and I took her to chinese food! she was really excited, they dont have chinese in Florence. Then we went back to my apartment and laid in my bed for like 4 hours and talk about life. It has been so great having her here. I missed my best friend. Then we went on a really long walk and ran into the Trevi Fountain.

Florence and Siena

2009-11-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went to Florence and Siena. We went to Siena with Kim and her family. It was so much fun and so beautiful! They then went home and we headed by bus to Florence. There we got to see becky and the beautiful city. Here are some great pictures from the trip.

Kim's kids. (Tommy, Colby, and Conrick)

The view from the top

So we climbed to the top of the tower. 416 steps!

Becky and I
The family.

Orveito

2009-11-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday we went to this really cute little town called Orveito. I think it might be my favorite town in Italy. Here are some beautiful pictures of the town!

My parents are here!

2009-10-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

Its been so fun having my parents here! I have been taking them all over Rome, showing the the colosseum, taking them to my favorite restaurants, and showing them my school.

Right now we are in Florence and this morning we were in Siena. Both towns are beautiful. Becky just took us out to dinner to this place that has another location in San Diego on 5th Av.! Crazy huh ??

There are so many cool pictures! Ill up load them when I get home from Florence.

Another great week.

2009-10-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry its a little out of order.

Tuesday night we had a family dinner for the apartment. Heather cooked us Shepherds Pie. ( Shout out to Cousin Heather: Yes, I did think of you when I ate it, Its also funny because a Heather made it for me)

Heather and I dancing

Walking around Rome
We went to The Peanut Bar on Friday. I love this place. The peanuts are free! Its a fun and relaxing place to hang out.

Thursday one of my good friends Mattia taught me how to drive stick. Haha it was really funy. Just try and picture it... Me trying to drive stick on a busy street in Rome. Sticks hard enough... but in Rome and when its pouring rain outside.. haha but it was such a great memory.

Friday we went dancing, which was so much fun. we danced till 4 in the morning. I really wish you all could sit in this club with me because there are some CRAZY people. I seriously just sit and laugh at everyone.

This is the man who thought it would be a great idea to dance with us... he also punched me in the face. He was doing some crazy move with his hand and the next thing I know BAM! right in the eye. But don't worry no black eye or anything. He also bit heather on the arm and would not let go.

Roommates!

Split Between Two Places

2009-10-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back we went to our schools soccer game! it was the first night it was cold and we were not prepared. we left at half time.. out team was losing.. GO JCU!

a little snack after the game ! :D

so here are some pictures from my weekend... we met some really fun Roman guys a couple weeks back. (They are not creepers at all if you can believe it.) We all went dancing on friday night, got lost in the streets of Rome, went to a hookah Bar ( one of the kids dad owns the place so he had the keys), and sang old 90's songs till 6 in the morning. It was such a great night one that will go down in the books.

Rome is feeling like home more and more each day. The homesickness has gone away and I am really starting to think that I am going to miss this place a lot. Some times I think I might stay longer, but I know I could not stay away form my family and friends for that long. I think its going to be hard to adjust back into living in America. Its a different way of living here, which I have trouble explaining. You kind of need to experience it to understand it.

Dont get me wrong I really am excited to come home ( 6 weeks and counting), its just home now feels like its split between to places.

Heals + cobblestone= pain People were nice enough to carry me parts of the way

These men are creepers who sit in the clubs... the man on the lefts belly is hanging out. haha

just being silly

Over taking my life...

2009-10-19T06:45:00.001-07:00

Mid Terms have over taken my life.. i promise i'll blog more.. its just been so crazy here with studying and what not!

Heres a picture from my weekend :) more coming soon !

I am sure this will change but...

2009-10-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Things I have gotten use to...

Seasons: its starting to get cold here ( it was in the 50's today) and the leaves are turning orange :)
Buying fresh groceries every day
Living in a city
Living in a foreign country
Walking everywhere
Taking public transportation
Eating indian food once a week (or twice :p)
Constantly learning new things about myself and the world.
Living on my own ( not in a dorm )
Not drinking Soda
Not eavesdropping ( Its hard to listen on to a conversation when no one speaks english)
saying "ciao"
Not reading magazines ( gotten use to it, but prefer to read them still :) )
Eating dinner really late
Turning on and off the water when showering to save hot water
Eating Nutella everyday
Rude people
Slower pace of life
Seeing ancient ruins every day

Things I'll never be use to....

Drying my clothes outside
Standing next a man on the tram who is pooping his pants
being smashed up against the man pooping his pants because the tram is so full.
Seeing at least 2-3 homeless people on every block
Seeing old men naked on the sidewalks
People peeing where every they want
Having to pay for water
Water with Gas :x
Italian men ( I apologize now to all the males of America, If I get home and ignore you or am rude don't take it personally )
Rock hard beds
Being away from family and friends
Horrible smells... consisting of people, trash, and bodily functions...
Mosquitoes
Rude people
Random open hours for stores... one day a store with be home at 1, the next day they decided to close just because the can.
Not having a Target
The water drying out my skin
Seeing little kids living on the street below my apartment
Seeing hurting people

My Trip to Barcelona, Spain

2009-10-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

Well Barcelona was amazing! It is such a beautiful and colorful city! We did so many cool things! It was also great that becky was with me! It was fun traveling with my best friend!

High lights of the trip:

1) getting kicked out of our cab by the driver... I guess spanish is a little different here. we didnt use the "lisp". He thought we were rude so he tossed our bags out the door and yelled at us.

2) Spending time with my best friend!

3) Gaudi art is amazing!

4) went to the Pablo Picaso museum... I accidentally said really loud, " WOW! Vincent Van Gogh is an amazing artist!" twice! lets just say a lot of people gave me really bad looks! opps! :0

5) staying in my first hostel

6) the act of traveling. It was fun figuring out a new city.

These pictures go from the end the trip to the beginning sorry!

on our way home!
Magic Fountain. Its kind of like Disneyland. It does a water show to music. Video at the end of my blog of it!
The Castle at night
Magic Fountain

Barcelona at night :)
This is where the Olympics were I think in 1992..?
Best friends!

Making our way up... I was getting bored
Castle
So We went thrift shopping... I told becky I was not going to get anything... I walked out with a vintage bag from the olympics and some sunglasses!
The Market. I have video of them chopping of the head if anyone wants to see it! haha

Hanging out with some graffiti
Pablo Picaso
Dinner, It came out on the big piece of bread with all this yummy stuff on top!
trying some Sangria
This church has taken over 200 years to build... it will be done in 2021!
Kind of reminds me of who-villeGaudi Building

Another Gaudi Building
America's next to model anyone?? season finale was shot here

Getting ready for our trip!

Barcelona!

2009-10-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Its beautiful here! I am having a great time! we went and saw so many sweet things today! i cant wait to show you all pictures! I am doing really good just a bit tired. Ill keep you posted on how the rest of the trip goes!

P.S. mom I am safe! haha

If your wondering where ill be for the next 3 days....

2009-10-01T07:16:00.001-07:00

I'll be in Barcelona, Spain this weekend! I will be back on sunday morning... so Saturday night in California! And will be ready to tell you all about my trip! If you could pray for safety that would be amazing! Ciao!

I'll

Finding Hope in a Hopeless Situation

2009-09-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have been learning a ton about myself while being on this crazy journey. One thing in particular is the power of pray and how it reflects my relationship with my friends, family, and God.

I was really feeling helpless when it came to the hurting people that I come in contact with everyday. (As you know from a previous blog) Today it finally hit me. I was walking home from school when I walked passed a man who was laying in the middle of the square completely sprawled out and not moving. I stood there for a second looking down at the man and realized something was really wrong with him. As I went to kneel down next to him to see if he was okay, three women and two men ran up and started to see what was wrong. He had no I.D. on him and would not wake up... The people trying to help this man kept telling me to leave saying that I was no help, in not a very nice way. (at least that’s what I am pretty sure they were saying, it was broken English).

In that situation I had to leave, I felt completely and utterly helpless on my own. So as I walked home all I did, all I could do was pray for that man. I am hopeless on my own, but with the power of prayer I felt a sense of hopefulness. I don’t know what happened to the man, but if you could keep him in your prayers. J

It made me realize living far away form my friends and family is really hard and not easy. It’s hard to not physically be there for my friends who are hurting and struggling with deep and seriously issues. But God is opening my heart to pray and the power that it has. I am learning that I no long need to rely on myself alone to fix a problem or try and make a friend feel better, but I am depending on my God through the power of prayer. That is all I can do in these situations.

On a lighter note... here are some pictures from yesterday that I took.

Hard Rock Cafe

church
heres a random video.. just though you might like it :)

some pictures from my cooking class

2009-09-29T03:47:00.001-07:00

Italian Cooking Class

2009-09-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

I took a Italian cooking class tonight form a man who owns a restaurant down the street from my house. I ate at his restaurant a couple of weeks ago and I have to say it was the best italian food I have had yet! So when I found out we could get free cooking class through the school I was totally in.

We made casserole with home made meatballs, home made pasta with a wonderful meet sauce, and really yummy cookies. It took 3 hours to prep and cook everything! It was really fun to learn how to make home made pasta! I can't wait to try and make it for you guys when I get home! He took a lot of pictures of us to, but here are some that I took... more will be coming soon.

Roomies
The kitchen
I totally cut my finger trying to cut some cheese. The cook made me put salt on it.. this is the best picture I could get with my one working hand.

Meat Casserole
making home-made pasta
The pasta
After the meal
A picture of my school that i took to day from the top floor

An American Weekend

2009-09-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

This was a restoring weekend for me. Its been crazy living in the heart of Roma, the busy city, all the people, and little space was starting to get to me. So it was great when Kim invited me to her house this weekend. Kim Lives in Roma, but its in the suburbs of Roma.

I felt as if I had entered the twilight zone for the weekend. I went with her and her family to the kids school for a family picnic. It was fun/strange to see American families cooking hotdogs and hamburgers, drink beer, and kids running all over the place. It made me realize that maybe if the opportunity presented its self sometime in my future, I could actually move my family to another country. We went out to dinner every night and hung out at the house a lot. Which is amazing by the way. I got to take a bath (if you know me you know I love taking baths), drink BIG cups of coffee, have pancakes with syrup, watch American TV!, ate American candy, and slept in a big comfy bed for two nights. The one thing that I could have done without was the bug bites..

I am so so so so so so thankful for Kim and her family. Words can not begin to describe the appreciation I have for her. She has been so generous and giving. They are such a blessing. Living in a different country is really hard and can be difficult at times. I would be totally lost and a lot more homesick if it was not for her friendship! So if your reading this Kim... THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

Here are some pictures... sorry i didn't take that many.. but I kind of got my camera fixed so ill be blogging a lot more :)

Here is a picture of me at the Family Picnic with the other women selling shirts. haha

These are my bug bites... just on this part of my arm.. my whole body looks like this
The candy Kim gave me!
The pool :)
The house
My room :)

Today I miss These two girls

2009-09-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

My sister sent be this picture today! I really like when she does this! (even though I look a little crazy)

Brittany and Resse Thank you for this picture, miss you guys so much!

P.S. My camera battery broke this last week.. so I am having trouble getting some recent pictures for you guys. But my goal this weekend is to get it fixed!

Trying to figure out the worlds problems.

2009-09-21T14:20:00.001-07:00

There are so many things about Roma that I love, but there are many things about it that break my heart.

As you all know Roma is a big metropolitan city filled with the rich and the poor. Every day on my walk to and from school I pass by the same homeless people. I am starting to recognize them. They all have there own territory and are in the same spot day in and day out. Some I really like...

There is this one lady in particular that I really don't think I like very much. Her, three other ladies, and this man beg for money. Which I get and is totally normal for homeless people to do. But the thing I don't like about them is that they swap babies with each other. They have different kids everyday. It totally reminds me of Slumdog Millionaire. It totally breaks my heart.

Today it really affected me and made me really upset at these women. I just wanted to take those kids and bring them some where safe. questions like these were running through my head: Who are these kids going to grow up to be? Are they even going to make it to adulthood? Do they ever feel love?

It just really makes me thankful for my life, my parents and the opportunities that they have given me, the blessing of having a roof over my head, and food on the table.

I know this is a random post, but its part my thoughts and life here in Roma. I thought I might share it with you guys.

My roller-coaster weekend

2009-09-21T05:01:00.000-07:00

Friday was actually lame because we had class... they are giving us a day off for Thanksgiving, but made us make it up on friday. LAME! We just hung out and made dinner :)

I don't really know what's going on with my shirt here haha

Saturday we went shopping, which was fun in the begining. But I kind of had a panic attack. Their were so many people and I was getting so annoyed. I cried in the middle of Zaras (a department store) haha. Its not going to always be fun and games. I knew that going into it. I think I just got home sick and the Italians were making me very mad. They are really rude and mean to Americans.

We decided to go to the HardRock Cafe for dinner, because I was really missing Home. IT WAS AMAZING! free water, free refils, english, chicken fingers, fries, burgers. We went all out! It was amazing! It really made up for the not so good day.

The next day was the AS Roma game.

Round one of trying to get to the game: We all thought the game started at 1p.m. so we got up at 9a.m., went to breakfast, and then headed out to the game. When we got there we realized we didnt hear or see anyone. I looked at my ticket, the game started at 8:45 p.m. We were 10 hours early! hahahaa stupid stupid americans. We looked so silly! We went back and took a nap.

Round two of trying to get to the game: Second time was a lot better! there were actually people there! It was so crazy! we were right next to the opponents section. people were screaming, lighting things on fire, throwing fireworks, flags were waving, people were singing, it was intense!

So true in every way!

2009-09-20T08:43:00.001-07:00

I'll leave this for you guys to enjoy! this is what life is like here in italy!

www.infonegocio.com/xeron/bruno/italy.html

sorry if you cant click on it but try and watch its awesome!

I Promise...

2009-09-20T07:50:00.001-07:00

Hey guys! I promise ill blog when I get home tonight from the AS Roma game! Its been a great weekend full of funny stories I think you will all enjoy!

Just a Regular Day.

2009-09-16T22:28:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was filled with seeing Roma. Our class got cancelled again for the third time... so we decided to go see the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We also bought jersey's for the AS Roma soccer game on sunday! YEP thats right I am going to a soccer game.. or shall I say a football game. Not to much has been happening around here. Just enjoying Roma, studying, and seeing the sights.

Getting pumped for the game this sunday!
Try and find me :)
Does this look familiar fellow blog lovers??? hint look at my header
Trevi Fountain

Okay... I could not help myself... i was craving fries.. so I gave in and bought some.. and it was totally worth every push and shove to the front on the "line".

When it rains we put our scarfs on our head... hahaa
on the tram!

They call me Baby Bambi.

2009-09-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

It rains now a lot! So today I put on my really cute rain outfit, which consists of a black shirt, gray sweater, jeans, and my really cute knee high boots. I walked out the door (by myself) with my ipod in. I am not going to lie I totally looked like I new what I was doing.

Clearly, people were think, "Wow she must have lived here her whole life" (hahaha).

Until I got to the cobblestone. Cobblestone is dangerous in the rain. Its so slick, uneven, and there are pot holes everywhere. You could all guess what happened next. I feel, not just once, but three times in the piazza.

This is the piazza, when its not raining

Now I think people are saying "wow that girl walks like baby Bambi. Stupid American."

There are so many things you can do when this happens.. first pretend like it did not happen. Which might have worked after the first fall, but not after the second and third fall. Or second I could just laugh at myself ( which seemed like my only option) Glad I had my head phones in so I could not hear all the laugher. so embarrassing.

Then I got coffee and went to the market with lindsay, which made me feel a lot better.

What a great sunday

2009-09-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up early and went to the farmers market. There were so many cool things. Old cameras, comic books, food, furniture, clothes, jewelry, old post cards,and if you needed any old Hitler stamp they had those too! You could pretty much find anything if you looked hard enough. It of course started to rain so we went back to the apartment. It was such a beautiful storm. Filled with of course rain, thunder, and lightning. After the rain stopped we went for... MORE INIDAN FOOD. Now I realize that I went 3 times this weekend, but I could not help myself... ITS SO GOOD! This week were going to try the Mexican food :/ haha

Oh I also forgot to tell you ... Saturday I was doing the dishes when all of a sudden I asked myself "hum... why am I standing in a giant puddle of water???" OH BECAUSE THE PIPE BURST and all the water was draining on to the floor. It was awesome. Tia and I spent most of saturday cleaning it up.. we also successfully fixed the pipe! no more leek.. for now!

Resse is not in Roma, but look how cute she is! she is smiling!
Flooded sink :(
More rain!
farmers market

I look asian.. but its the only picture of me at the farmers market. haha

The first rain of the year!

2009-09-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

I have been having a really fun weekend! Its been really relaxing. Filled with sleeping, eating really good food, and sight seeing.

Today I went to the spanish steps with Sarah! It was so fun to people watch I am sure there were over 5,000 people there. It was crazy. The crazy part was when it started to rain cats and dogs! seeing 5,000+ people try to find shelter from the rain was hilarious! We waited under an overhang for about 20 mins. and finally realized it was not going to stop raining so we walked home in the rain. It was kind of exciting.

Lindsay my roommate brought me some chinese take out form this place bellow our building! it was so yummy! tonight I am staying in and resting for the street fair tomorrow morning :)

Try and find me...
crazy cab rides
Trying to get a cab... it worked by the way

Rain :)

Spanish Steps
Getting stuck in the rain
watching people run from the rain

Its the weekend!

2009-09-11T03:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week full of studying and reading. BUT its finally the weekend :) We have three day weekends! I started of the weekend by going to lunch with Kim on thursday. Then lindsay and I met up with some girls from our school last night and had indian food. It was soo good! we had a great time trying new food. Today were going to the spanish steps to eat lunch and people watch :) Ill let you know how the rest of the weekend goes. It should be filled with site seeing and eating really good food! Here are some pictures from last night.

The world is a small place

2009-09-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I am sitting in a cafe drinking a very good and very expensive cup of OJ. (7 euros!! but it was worth it... I was lacking in my vitamin C) and there walks by Linda and Buddy Owens. for those of you who do not know who they are Buddy is a pastor at Saddleback and I have been going to church with there kids for years now. They were so surprised and so was I to see them! They sat down with us and enjoyed a very good and very expensive cup of OJ. We had to go back to school to do some homework so they Invited us to dinner.

They took us to this amazing place! It was beautiful! If anyone comes and visits me I will take you here! The food was great and the entertainment was even greater! We even helped them out with a show where were had to go to the second story of this building and throw bras and underwear at the people below haha! All and all it was a great day yesterday! It was such a treat to see people from home and have a conversation in english with adults.

i love surprises !!!

2009-09-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well the past two days I have just been doing a lot of school work. I thought this semester would be a little bit easier, but its turning out to be pretty difficult. Just been spending my time in the library and doing a lot of reading. I am starting to get into a routine. Monday and Wed are my work days filled with group projects and what do you know... MORE reading. Tuesday and Thursdays are my more relaxed day.

Today I did all my laundry that had been pialing up since i arrived in Roma. I also took a different way home... thought I would explore a little bit. Found a really cool stationary store filled with really pretty journals. I really want to buy one. I also found so really cool looking buildings. Here are some pictures of my day...

Best Part of my day right here!!!

OH! i took this picture today... this is the view of the tree where I saw the old naked man... see how hard it is to see whats on the other side??

Laundry

sweet buildings

Sorrento, Capri, Positano

2009-09-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

HEY everyone! I am back from my trip it was so much fun here is a little bit of what we did....

Thursday: we left around 10:45 on a bouble decker bus and got in around 3:30 am. We stayed in Sorrento, which is a beautiful little town on the coast. we were all really tired and just went right to bed when we got to our room.

Friday: We took the fairy to Capri. Which was amazing. It was the bluest water I have ever seen. When we got to Capri we went shopping and did some wine tasting (I bought my first bottle of wine). After doing some shopping we took a little boat around the Island. We got to Jump into the Mediterranian Sea, swim in caves, cliff jump, and enjoy the beautiful landscape. We also saw a tornado! Once we Got back to the main town we took the fairy back to Sorrento. We all took a really long nap when we got back and then got ready to go out. We went to dinner at this famous pizza place. It was delicious. After that we went to a few Pubs and went back home.

Saturday: We all took our time getting up and then went to dinner at this english pub ( it had normal breakfast... kind of) Then we did somemore shopping :) I purchaesd a new Purse. I am in love with it. We then got on a bus and went to Positano. Positano is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Its very romantic. If you ever want to take your significant other on a trip you should go to Positano. We shopped, laid out by the water, went swimming, and had some of the best fish I have ever had. (Now here comes the bad part of the trip) So the bus from Sorrento to Positano is suppose to take around 45-50 mins... our bus ride home took us 20 mins. The bus driver was going around these windy roads that were hundreds of feet above the ocean ( there is a picture down below) at 30-40 MPH around . I got so sick.. we were throwing up in bags, yelling at the bus driver, and all crying. I ran off the bus and was so sick. I could not go out when we got back because I was spinning so much (the sea food I ate mins before I got on the bus did not help either). So I went in my room and slept till the morning.

Sunday: Sunday was really relaxing. Lindsay and I went back to the english pub where we ate breakfast, drank ice tea, and I wrote some post cards. We then had lunch at this little restaurant. I also bought a necklace from a gypsye man :) We then got on the bus around 4:00 pm and got stuck in traffic and did not get home till 11:00. On the way home some guy was trying to pick pocket this guy we were with. this girl saw it and yelled at him and the pick-pocketer ran of the bus so fast! it was crazy. But you cant end a trip with out me doing something stupid. We were waiting at the tram station and I was holding my friends giant bottle of Lemoncella, It slipped out of my hand. Glass and lemoncella went every where!

All in all it was a great trip filled with new experiences, great friends, and fun memories.

Swimming in the Mediterranean sea

Spilling
spilling
The Road from Positono to Sorrento
Relaxing before our long ride home
Swimming in caves
Wine tasting
Double Decker bus. We are on top in front
The tornado
Just being silly
Shopping in Capri
My fish :)
Positano

Capri
On the fairy to Capri
Capri
Capri

More coming soon about my trip!

2009-09-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I had a great time on my trip! My computer is running really slow right now and its late! so tomorrow when i get home from school i will tell you all about my trip and up load pictures!

This is the only picture that up loaded!

If your wondering where ill be for the next 3 days....

2009-09-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

I wont be able to blog while I am gone! But I will blog right when I get home on sunday!

Ciao!

Far from home

2009-09-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

I think that I walked 10 miles today... in 100 degree weather and 100 % humidity. It was a really long day today. I went to class this morning and there as a kid in my class from Point Loma! After class molly and I headed out to find the book store. ( My roommate got lost for 3 hours on the bus trying to find in yesterday) We decided that it would be a better idea to walk (Mom, Gail, Lolly I think I might be able to keep up with you guys on your walks now!) It took us about an hour to find this place. After spending 300 eruos on BOOKS! we decided that it would be in our best interest to take a taxi back. There was no way I was going to walk 4 miles with about 50+ pounds on my back. The taxi man was really funny. He gave us his number. He said it was a dream of his to hang out with American girls ( silly Italian). I then headed over to the school for a group project, which I was late for because we got lost. On the way home from school I stopped by the market to get some things for dinner. (A nice boy carried my bags all the way home!) Since then I have been doing homework all night and eating nutella. Getting really excited for our trip tomorrow. Its going to be a lot of fun!

We found the book store!
Spending way to much on books
This is a side view of the tree where our little naked old man friend was stand :0
On my walk home from school
Walk home from school
My dinner! I treated myself to a Coke light
My life for the next 4 months
This is gross but my feet are permanently black... this is after washing them!

Falling in love

2009-09-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

I decided that I love Rome the most in the early morning. People are just getting up, stores are getting ready for the day, the delivery men are out, and the bakeries fill the city with sweet smells. I am falling in love with Roma.

Today I had more classes; marketing and business communications. One of teachers looks like the old lady in monsters Inc. Its hard to take her seriously at times.

The classes seem really great and I think I am going to learn a lot this semester. After my classes Molly, Lindsay, and I went to lunch with Kim and her kids ( the ones that are from Orange County). It was a really great lunch. I tryed the mellon and meat. It was soo good, a great combination of salty and sweet. I then went back to my room and decided to do as the Romans do... I took a nap :)! After my nap I skyped with some great friends and was able to see little Reeseie too! After that it was dinner time and my roommates brought me some Curry chicken. It was really good! BUT THE BEST PART OF MY DAY HAPPENED AFTER DINNER... I booked my first trip and I leave thursday night! All 7 of us are going to the Amalfi Coast, Capri, and Sorrento! 3 days 3 nights. Its an all inclusive trip which includes travel, housing (bungalows on the water), cliff jumping, and vespa rides all around.

I didnt take a lot of pictures today but here are a few from today and the last couple of days!

Roma

My really good dinner
I was looking for used books today and look what i came across. Reminded me of home

My first day of class

2009-08-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school! My classes start at 9 am so I headed out around 8:20 ( It takes 30 mins to walk to class and I wanted to be 10 mins early). I walk to school by myself because all the other girls don't start till 10:30. On the walk to school something crazy happened... There is this part in the side walk where the trees have taken over. so you have to run around these trees so you don't get hit by the on coming traffic. The trees are so wide that you cant see what is on the other side. As I ran around this tree to avoid on coming traffic a man is standing on the other side with no pants on or underwear! Yep.... thats right... I did not know what to do. I froze and just stood there like an idiot... then I ran and laughed really hard to myself. It was a great way to start my morning! My classes were really great! I am going to school with people from all over the world... Russia, Jordan, Israel, Italy, America. When it was my turn to tell everyone where I was from the all turned around and looked at me in amaze.. "OH MY GOSH... your form Orange County!!! Thats soo cool" it was really funny. My other class my teacher did not show up, so thats pretty nice. After class I walked back and took my time... I found this really pretty church and sat inside for a while. when I got back to the apartment molly and I went to the store. We also wanted to go to belly dancing class ( I am on an adventure mights as well try it!) but the lady never showed up (silly italians). We went shopping instead. I bought a really cute dress. It was a great first day of class!

Molly and I eating a really yummy pizza

This really cool display in a window. Its a bunch of stamps from all over the world
This is the church I found on the way back from school. I sat in it today for like 20 mins just because I could... it was really cool
Lindsay and I getting our first coffee before class
First day of school! Got my lunch!
Planning Party!

This has nothing to do with Rome

2009-08-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

but i really miss resse! look how cute she is!

Stepping back in time

2009-08-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well today was a late start, I woke up at 1:30 pm haha. We went to the school around 3 for a tour of ancient rome. It was really cool to see where Julius Caesar was killed and the ghetto during World War II. The tour kind of got old really fast and we could not understand our tour guide so we left and headed over to the colosseum. It was amazing! We then headed back because I had dinner with some family friends from back home who now live in Rome. We went to dinner in the this cute little square on the way to my school. It was a great italian dinner and it was so nice to be with familiar faces. Tomorrow is the first day of school so I am going to go to bed early! wish my luck! Here are some pictures from my day.

Family Friends
Walking to the colosseum
Sisterhood of the traveling headband
Molly and I
The center of Roma
The Ghetto
sisterhood of the traveling headband
Our tour guide
Our stairs. 7 flights down
The Roommates: Girls night out

Your different Italy

2009-08-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today was a more relaxed day. Though we did wake up early, which was soo difficult for me. We had to go to school for some orientation stuff. I thought I was going to fall a sleep, but i did learn some interesting things. one interesting fact about my school is that it use to be a convent.

After our lame meetings, we went to the grocery store. This time I felt way more confident about shopping. I also concurred the weighing of the fruit! I bought some eggs ( which are just sitting on the shelf not refrigerated) and found some tortillas. When I got home I made a breakfast burrito. it was great!

So we all have been taking cold... scratch that.. FREEZING cold showers the past 4 days and our washing machine was not work. So today a man came to fix the hot water and the washing machine. I felt like a girl when we found out that we need to just plug in the washing machine and the hot water turns off and on by flipping a switch. We all thought it was a light switch but could not figure out where the light was so we kept it off... it was the hot water. Stupid us! :P

We are all relaxing right now . Later we are going to a BBQ and a night out on the town.

My Apartment: 2nd from the top
Our really small elevators
Mastering the fruit
Our gate to our Apartment
Beautiful flowers

They say its good luck

2009-08-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night... there are many reasons why... first because of the time difference... Second because the train is right out side my window ( I swear it climbs 7 flights of stairs and stops in our bed room, its that loud) ... and third its soooo HOT! But besides the lack of sleep I have had a great day!

We headed out around 11 am. My school has two different campuses in Rome so we went to the first one to get our ID cards and then headed over to the main campus for lunch and to print some things out. One of the many cool things about my school is that you can sign up for activities to do through out the semester. Some are silly like belly dancing ( but who knows I am on an adventure maybe ill try it) but some are sweet like cooking classes and wine tasting. we signed up for cooking classes today and tomorrow i think we are signing up for the trip to a vineyard to go wine tasting.

After signing up for all the fun activities we went on a long walk. we ended up at the Vatican, which was soo beautiful. We didn't go in side, but we will in the next couple of weeks. On the way back we got soo lost! it was awesome haha. its great because we have the time to get lost and find our way around. Along with getting lost a bird decided to pooh on me! (which is the third time this year!)

We finally made it home and hung around the house for an hour or so. Then went to dinner at a sushi restaurant. Which was hilarious! It was soo hard to order. we are pretty sure that there were 4 different languages being said at once... Chines, English, Spanish, and Italian! it was great! i decided to go with the dumplings and fired rice just to be safe. Over all it was a great and busy day. here are some pictures!

One of my class rooms
Walking to our school
Me getting bird pooh on me and my really dirty legs
Right when the bird let it out. (they say its good luck!)
Cooling off. Its sooo HOT!
Gelato

Right outside out Apartment

IM IN ROME!

2009-08-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

HEY everyone! i finally got to Rome! its been soo great so far. My first day here was a really long day! i was so tired so i took a little nap. My roommates and I all decided to go out to dinner it was so fun to get to know the girls! everyone is super nice and we get along great!

Today we slept in till about 10. After getting up, we went to the super market and bought some food for the next couple of days. It was a cool experience, but difficult at times. Simple things like going shopping was hard. like... You have to weigh your food and then get these print outs before you pay. I did not know this so when i got to the front of the line the lady got all mad. we held up the line for about 10 mins. before we figured out what she was saying. haha awesome right?! We also went to out school for a welcome meeting. it was a long walk about 20 mins or so. Ill take some pictures tomorrow and show you. its really pretty.

Another great thing about my trip is that my old neighbors from home now live in Rome. she came and picked up all 7 of us and took us to a place like walmart and Ikea! I purchased a blow dryer! After, we were all so tired from the long day that we just came home and made dinner. Here are some pictures of me Apartment and my roommate!

The Kitchen
Roommate
My room
my view from my room!

Niagara Falls and on my way to Rome!

2009-08-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

We woke up early this morning to go see Niagara falls. It was soo cool! Today is going to be an amazing day... Niagara Falls to london to Rome all in 24 hours.. its crazy! here are some pictures!

I don't no when ill have internet again but when I do I will up date my blog!

2009-08-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day with my parents! we woke up this morning and went to the Casino for Brunch. After brunch

my mom and I had some great mother daughter bonding over a relaxing Facial and massage! ( Thank you Brother Gary!)

The thing I was looking forward to most about this trip was seeing where my dad works. IT WAS AMAZING! Here are some sweet pictures.

later in the afternoon we went on a drive around Redhouse Lake.

Tomorrow is the big day! I am leaving for rome, but before I leave we are going to Niagara Falls!

Welcome to Buffalo, New York

2009-08-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

I made it to Buffalo! Some fun pictures of my trip will be posted tonight!

OH! remember how I was excited that I got both my bags under 50 pounds... well for some reason my scale at home was off by 20 so pounds... 85 pounds for bag one, 64 pounds for bag two. OPPS!

My last night

2009-08-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

For my last night I went out with some of my closest friends! We went to this great Sushi Restaurant in Laguna Beach, then headed over to Yogurtland, and finished the night at the village Cafe. It was a great time with my friends! Here are some pictures of the night :)

Packing

2009-08-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

I started packing about 3 days ago.. but it was becoming very overwhelming. I gave up in the first hour. BUT this morning I woke up and was ready to pack!

Their are many methods to packing... the fold, the role, the throw everything in, and last but not least (my favorite one) the vacuum-seal bags! After much thought my dad and I decided to go with the.... VACUUM-SEAL BAGS! I think they are the coolest things ever!

Now I know what you are all thinking... "Shea, vacuum seal bags will work on the way there, but how are you going to Vacuum seal all your stuff when you get home?" well the answer is.. I have no clue! but I did get it all into 2 bags all under 50 pounds.

Welcome!

2009-08-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Well as most of you know I am going to be studying abroad in Rome, Italy this semester. I will be attending John Cabot University and will be living in an apartment with seven other girls. Its going to be quite an experience . So I thought I would get a blog so you can see all my fun adventures! I am excited to be able to share my trip with you guys! I hope you enjoy :)