I had to wake up at 4 a.m. to finish any last minute packing, and finish cleaning the apartment. At 6 a.m., the shuttle bus will hopefully be coming to pick us up and take us to the airport. I am really excited to be going home! Liv and I rushed around the room doing some last minute packing. I was really getting worried about Janelle, because her and Mike were still gone. They finally ran into the apartment at 5:30 a.m. to finish packing. They still had food in the refrigerator and stuff lying around. At 5:45 a.m., I was ready to go so I took my stuff downstairs and went outside to wait for the shuttle bus. The shuttle bus didn't arrive until about 6:10 a.m. When I saw it I went and buzzed the apartment so the rest of the girls and Mike would come down. It took us about 10 minutes to get everything downstairs and loaded into the shuttle. It was a really hectic morning. Then the shuttle bus went and picked up another guy from API, and it took us to the airport.
I was leaving from Terminal 3, so I was the first one to leave the van. Of course, since I was the first one ready at the apartment, all my stuff was at the bottom of the pile of suitcases. The driver had to dig it out, and then I was ready to go. I said my goodbyes to my roommates and went into the Terminal. I wondered around trying to find my airline for a while before I noticed that they were numbered. Once I matched up Lufthansa with a number, it was really easy to find. Then I got in the line. I spent an hour waiting in that line so I could check my suitcase. It wasn't even long, they just didn't have enough staff working it. While I was waiting in line, I got a text from Liv telling me that Laura, Mike, and Janelle were actually in Terminal 3, not Terminal 5. They left her at Terminal 5, and I have no idea how they got to Terminal 3 since the terminals are not connected. Good thing we got to the airport super early! There was another line right besides mine, but I didn't know if I could go in that line or if it was reserved. I didn't want to try it for fear of being sent to the end of my original line, which had grown a lot and now stretched beyond the control of the ropes. Finally, 3 more people showed up and started checking suitcases. My backpack was my carryon, but the flight attendant said I could check it for free. That would give me a lot less to carry, so I agreed and she checked my bag. In Rome, they don't assign the gate you are leaving out of until about 30 minutes before you board your flight. Since I was still 2 hours early, I didn't know what to do. Where could I sit so that I could make sure I didn't miss my flight. I tried to position myself in the middle of the gates, so I could go any direction. I made sure I was close to one of the electronic signs that tells you your gate number. Then I played on my laptop, read my book, etc., while occasionally getting up to check if they had posted my gate number. Once they posted the gate, I ran to the sitting area for that gate. Then I noticed that the sign that tells the airline was wrong. I was not flying out on a budget airline, but on Lufthansa. So I went back to the gate sign, and saw that there were two flights leaving at about the same time, both going to Munich. They still hadn't posted my gate number, so I returned to my seat while they did. When they finally posted it, I ran over to my actual gate and sat down to wait. Some people were already lining up, but I didn't see the point since I had checked my carryon and the seating was assigned. Only when the line died down did I get up and get in line to get on the plane. The plane ride was pretty short, about an hour. Then I had to go through Customs in Munich. The lines were long but they moved pretty fast. They were very strict about making sure you were supposed to be there. I had to show my passport to at least 3 different people, before I was allowed through. The first person looked at it and asked if I had a resident card from Italy. I told him I remembered paying for one, but I never got a card. He looked at me for a while, then back at my passport, then at me. I was worried that I was going to be stuck in Germany without a way to get home, but he finally sighed and stamped my passport and waved me through. After that I just followed the crowds through the other passport checks until I finally got to the terminal for my plane. There were these really cool seats in the airport that were like beds, because they leaned all the way back. So I laid there for a while, until it was time to board my plane. Then I boarded and got prepared for the long flight home. I was not happy with the plane. I was on a United flight again, and there were only 9 options available to watch for a 10 hour flight. I couldn't choose from a big list what I wanted, I only had 9 options. I am not flying United again! So I ended up watching Dolphin Tale 2, The November Man, and Die Hard, because those were the only options that looked interesting. The flight was long and I forced myself to stay awake so I could sleep when I got home. The flight hit some turbulence, but otherwise was fine. I finally landed in Chicago, and I had to go through Customs again. I made the mistake of going to the bathroom, so I was at the end of the line. But that didn't really matter. I waited in line for a long time. I was worried that I wouldn't get to the baggage claim before my bags came out. The Customs in Chicago has gone electronic. You just scan your passport, enter in your information, and take the printout to the stamping people. They barely looked at my passport before they stamped it and waived me through. Then I was in baggage claim. It took forever for my flights bags to come in, and as luck would have it my bags were the very last ones to come out. I didn't want to be weighed down by everything, so I grabbed a trolley and loaded everything on it. Since my bags were the last to come out, I was at the end of a very long line to get out of baggage claim. I finally got to the front of the line, where the guy asked if I was bringing back any food and then he waived me through. Then I had to stand in line again to check my baggage. I was also at the end of that line, which was also long. I was afraid that I was going to miss my flight. Luckily, the airlines realized that they were moving slow so they started pulling people out of line that had flights leaving soon and taking their bags. My bags already had the stickers telling it where to go, so I put my bags with everyone else's and started to travel to my gate. The Chicago airport is so huge that they have a train that goes in between the terminals, so I took the train to my terminal. Then I had to go through Security, which had a huge line. While I was waiting in line, Mom was texting me, asking if I had made it through yet. She was worried that I wasn't going to make it to my flight. I was looking at my ticket and telling her that I still had an hour to make it. She was looking at the confirmation email from the airlines. We finally figured out that I was on a different flight, a flight that left an hour later than it was supposed to. United had changed my flight without telling me. I was so upset! We had made dinner plans at Papa Nachos, and I was really looking forward to them. I barely ate lunch because I didn't like the airplane food and I didn't have enough time to grab something to eat at the airports. I also was running on no sleep. I almost started crying in the airport I was so upset. I finally made it through Security and to my gate, where I waited for my flight to come in. It took me about 3 hours to get through Customs and Security. I was sitting at my gate, texting Dad and talking to Mom when there was an announcement saying that my flight had switched gates. So I had 10 minutes to run to the other side of the terminal to get to my new gate. Luckily I made it and boarded my flight. I was originally supposed to land at 9 p.m., but the plane landed at 9:30 p.m., which was 30 minutes sooner than scheduled. I was finally back in San Antonio! I met Mom and Joe at the baggage claim (luckily they had arrived at the airport at 9 p.m.) and got my bags. We couldn't go to Papa Nachos because they closed at 10 p.m., so we went to Wendy's instead. We ate there for a while (it is so good to finally have some American food!) and then we went home. I finally got to go to bed!. By that time it was midnight. And then I woke up at 3 a.m., because my internal alarm clock was saying it was 10 a.m. Italy time. I hate jet lag! At least I wasn't the only one suffering it, because Liv was also up because of it, so we started texting.
0 Comments
This is my last day in Rome, so I was determined to enjoy it. There are two main basilicas that I haven't seen yet, so I decided to see them both today. I hope they are worth it. I had a lazy morning, since I didn't have to be anywhere soon. But I got up and left the apartment around 11 a.m. My original plan was to take public transportation there (I saved my last pass) and then walk back. But just my luck, public transportation was striking again, on my last day in Rome. Usually if there is going to be a big strike, I stay in my apartment (you never know if a crowd will turn ugly), but this was my last day and I was determined to see more of Rome. On my way to the San Giovanni church I was walking with my headphones in, listening to music. A random guy stopped me and asked for directions in Italian. I didn't know Italian, which I told him. He got directions from the person next to me. We were heading in the same direction, so he started talking to me. He was from Argentina and worked in Italy at a grocery store. He spoke Italian, but very little English. So he used his broken English and I used my broken Spanish and we communicated. When we were about to part ways he asked me out for drinks, but I told him I already had plans. That and I wanted to go to bed early because I have an early flight tomorrow.
I finally got past all of the protestors, and walked by the Colosseum. They had their Christmas tree up, so of course I had to stop and take a picture of it. I walked past it and kept on walking until I finally got to the San Giovanni in Laterno basilica.
It took me a while, but I finally found the Scala Santa. The building they are housed in is small, and doesn't look like much. There are also very few tourists there. I finally found a small sign, which was the only reason I found it. The Scala Santa are said to be the stairs that Jesus walked up in Jerusalem. Emperor Constantine's (he changed the religion of Rome to Christianity) mother was Christian and brought them from Jerusalem to Rome. There are wooden boards on them, so the faithful don't touch the holy stairs. The faithful also must climb them on their knees. It is also a popular penance for priests in Rome. I didn't feel like climbing them on my knees, and there was a regular staircase right around the corner, so I took that one to the top. I looked around a little bit (there wasn't much up there) and then I left.
I wanted to find some leather boots that matched my leather jacket, so I walked along Nationale looking for a shop. I found a couple of shops, but there were no boots that I just fell in love with. I figure if I am going to pay over $100 for some boots, I had better love them. I didn't find any that were the same color as my jacket, there were a couple that were close, but they were too plain in design. I even tried walking a little ways up Via del Corso, but I still didn't find any. I gave up and decided to go see one more church before going back to my apartment and packing. It took me a while to find the church, because it was very well hidden. I could see a path to it on my map, but when I tried to go that way there was a wall there. I finally found some stairs that led up and took them. When I finally made it to the church, I discovered it was closed. It would be another hour before it opened again, so I just decided to head back to my apartment. I wanted to go to this church because it had the chains that Saint Paul wore when he was in prison. It also had the statue of David by Michelangelo. They had a poster of the statue outside, so I took a picture of it. When I got back to the apartment I started packing. I hadn't packed at all, so I was throwing everything into my suitcase and hoping it would all fit. I threw away a ton of papers from my classes, so I hope I don't need them later. Olivia was also frantically packing. We had a lot of things to throw away. I don't know how they expected us to sort out everything and put it on the curb on the specified days. That would take a week of planning, and we didn't think to do that. Olivia and I ended up taking our trash outside and wondered down some side streets before abandoning it outside an apartment building.
At about 4 p.m. I called the van service that would be picking us up to confirm we had a ride to the airport, which is what they told us to do. I called what I thought was the correct number (there were 3 on the print out), and the lady told me that she had no record of a reservation for us. First I had to overcome the language barrier and keep repeating my name and how to spell it. She didn't speak English very well. She just kept repeating that she had no reservation for us. I asked to speak to her manager, and her manager had already gone home and wouldn't be back until the next day. I asked if there was anything she could do or anyone she could call and she told me no. So I was freaking out and worried that we wouldn't have a ride to the airport. I called another number on the print out. This guy also didn't speak English very well, and he didn't have a reservation for us. I was on the phone with him for a long time before he transferred me to the customer service department. I was literally on the phone with that guy for about 2 minutes, and he said everything was fine and they had my reservation. He was so laid back about it that I was worried he was just telling me what I wanted to hear. Apparently the company I booked with has different departments, and they don't communicate. In my researching I found an email address for them. I was about to email them when Hartford called me for my phone interview. Olivia took over emailing them (we figured that would be easier since they could Google Translate the email) while I talked to Hartford. I think the interview went well, and Olivia thought my answers sounded good from my end. So hopefully it goes well. After that was all resolved, we went back to packing. I got an email from the van service saying they were confirming that I had a scheduled pick up at our apartment. Then Olivia, Laura, and I went out for a last roommates out dinner. Janelle didn't come because she and Mike had already eaten. We went to a little restaurant where the menu was only in Italian. Olivia and Laura picked it out because they didn't trust what I would select. On the way there, there was an African guy beating on some drums, saying "I have weed, cheap price" to us. We ran the opposite direction. Olivia told me she would kick my ass if she ever found out that I had bought weed from a guy beating on drums at night. The dinner was very nice and we had a great time. Afterwards we went back to the apartment and finished up packing and cleaning. I went to bed around midnight. I am worried about my bags because they are overweight. Today was judgement day, or that is what it felt like. I had 3 finals to take.
My first final was from 9 am to 11:30. I spent the morning studying for it and looking over my notes. The teacher really didn't tell us what would be on it. All I know is that it is going to be a case study. When I finally got it, it was pretty easy. It was a case study about Google in China and another country. It mostly talked about privacy laws in those countries, since they have laws restraining freedom of speech. It also talked about how Google handled it. The questions took me awhile, so I only had about 30 minutes to spare to study for my next final. My next final was Marketing from noon to 2:30 p.m. Professor Signorini had told us exactly what would be on the final, so we could study. I used the full 30 minutes, and then wished I had studied more. The final only had 2 questions. The first was a definition that we should know from a list of 3 definitions. We pretty much had to tell everything we knew about this definition (all of which were processes). I saw the sheet and realized that I didn't know 2 of the 3 well enough to talk about them. So that left me the last definition, but I kept mixing the term up with another process to the point that I didn't know which was which. I finally gave up and went with my first thought, which I had the most confidence in. (I checked after class, and I made the right choice). The second question on the final was a scenario. He gave us two scenarios to choose from, and we had to create a marketing strategy for that product. We had to discuss things like who was our target market, where would we sell the product, etc. I think I did okay on that. My last final was in Microeconomics from 3 to 5:30 p.m. By that time I was tired of studying. My current grade in the class is a 100, but the final is worth 50% of my grade. I studied a little bit before the final. I blew through that final and finished in 30 minutes. I think I did something wrong, because I finished way too quickly. I was the first done and then I left. On the way back to my apartment I stopped for some gelato, because I really needed it by that point. My roommates and I were going to split a cab to the airport in the morning, because it was cheaper that way. Laura was going to pay on her card (she was out of euros and didn't want to take out more) and we would pay her back. I made the reservations, and for some reason the company wouldn't take her card, so I paid for it. It came out to 10 euros a person. Olivia paid me back in American dollars, while Janelle, Mike, and Laura paid me in euros.
I wanted to see the Pope, so I waited through his address and blessing. It was a little bit chilly, but not too bad. The Pope would say something in Italian (or it might have been Latin), and then the different Cardinals would translate his words into several different languages, like Spanish, French, German, and English. So the speeches took a long time.
St. Michael is considered to be the patron of Rome, because he is credited with stopping a plague there. A statue of him was was placed on top of the Castel, but 3 statues were destroyed. This is the last statue that was on top of the Castel, but it was removed and placed in another location in the Castel to protect it.
The Treasury Room is right next to the library. St. Michael and Hadrian are on opposite sides of the vault, showing that the Pope is sealing together the worlds of the classical tradition with the Christian faith.
I wanted to go to the Purgatory Museum, because it was free and is said to have items touched by the hands of souls trapped in purgatory. I have no idea what they collect, but it sounded interesting. Sadly, it was closed when I walked by and I didn't want to wait for it to open. Next I walked to the Basilica of Sant'Agostino, but it was also closed. By this time it was about 2 p.m., and it didn't open again until 4 p.m. I would have just continued to the next church, but all of the churches were closed.
I spent all morning studying for my final today. My final was for my Art History class. It was supposed to be hard, because we had to be able to look at a manuscript and identify the name, the date it was produced, and the artist/writer. We also had to be able to look at different writing styles and identify the script and the time periods it was used it. Finally, we had to write an essay about a topic. We got our topics before hand so we could prepare for them, but we couldn't use our notes on the final. When I got to class, I did some last minute studying before the final started. I think I did okay with the manuscript pictures and scripts. I know I missed two of them for sure, but it was my fault. Professor Yawn warned the class that she would pull some images from the student presentations that we had to give, but I didn't believe that she would actually do it because it would be unfair to the class. Those students would have an advantage because they knew everything. Well, she pulled two presentation pictures, and I knew nothing about them because I didn't study the presentations. That sucks. For the essay, she gave us two topics to study for. She said that she would choose one of them for the final. One of the topics covered everything that we had studied throughout the year, so I thought for sure she would choose that one, so that is the one I focused on. The other topic address how to use science in manuscript studies, which we kind of talked about when we went to the Conservation place. I, along with the rest of the class, didn't focus on that topic because I was so sure that the other topic was going to be chosen. Then, when she announced it was time to start the essay, she had us pick a piece of folded up paper. That way half the class got one topic, and the other half got the other topic. I got really lucky, because I chose the topic I had studied and knew a lot about. I feel bad for the half of the class that got the other topic, because we had discussed it before the final started, and no one knew what to talk about for that topic. After the final was finally over, I walked back to the apartment to put my laptop up. Then I left to go to Vatican City. It wasn't that far of a walk, only about 25 minutes from my apartment, and I had no trouble finding it. Then again, all I had to do was follow the Tiber River. When I got to Vatican City, I had to stand in a long line to get into St. Peter's Basilica. The line stretched across the square. I though the line was so long because there was a lot of people in the basilica, but it was really Security holding everyone up. There were only 2 stations open, so that caused a huge delay. But I finally got inside.
I asked one of the guards where to get tickets to see the Pope tomorrow, and he said to leave the basilica, take a right, and you get the tickets from the guard there. So I tried to follow his instructions, but that meant leaving the secure area, which the tickets were supposed to be inside, according to the Internet. So I went back inside the basilica and asked a different guard. He said to exit the basilica and take a left, and there would be guards by a door, and that is where you get the tickets. I followed his instructions, and the guard at the door asked if I had a reservation. I said no, and I almost panicked because I didn't know I need a reservation. The guard left and returned with my two tickets, so I got very lucky.
Usually the villas at Tivoli are closed on Monday, along with the rest of the tourist attractions in Italy, but since today was a holiday it was open. Today was the Feast of Immaculate Conception. So Olivia and I got up early and took the bus to the train station. Then we bought a ticket to Tivoli. We had a little bit of time before the train arrived, so we swung by McDonalds and got some breakfast. The train finally arrived and we got on. The train wasn't crowded and we each got our own row facing each other. Then the train took off. It took about an hour to get to Tivoli, and then we got off at the train station. So we were at the train station, and we didn't know where to go from there. There was supposed to be a bus that would take us to Villa d'Este, but we didn't see a bus stop. Luckily, Olivia has a data plan on her phone and she was able to look up directions. So we walked to Villa d'Este.
After we had explored Villa d'Este for a couple of hours, Olivia and I were ready to go to Villa Adrianna (Hadrian's Villa). It is the other villa that is famous in Tivoli. If you go to Tivoli, you go to Villa d'Este and Villa Adrianna. The only problem was that we didn't know how to get there. The villa is a 2-3 hour walk from Villa d'Este, but a 10-20 minute drive. Online it says that there is a bus stop in front of Villa d'Este that will take you to Villa Adrianna. We looked around and couldn't find a bus stop. So we wondered to a nearby courtyard, looking for this bus stop. We couldn't find it. We even looked on our phones for directions, and nothing. Once when we were trying to walk to where my phone said the bus stop was, Olivia tripped and went down hard because she wasn't paying attention to her feet, but she was okay. We finally found a tourist information point, and we were excited because they could help us. That lady was the most unhelpful guide I have met in Europe. I asked how to get to Hadrian's Villa, and she gave us a sheet with the bus times which she casually pointed to, and then said the bus stop was a couple of street that way (she pointed). She recommended that we buy a bus ticket at a tabacchi stand. So we start walking that way while I looked at the bus times, and I noticed that the bus didn't come for another 4 hours. So we went back to the Tourist Information point to confirm that I was reading the sheet right (it was all in Italian). I was, and she said there was no other way to get there, apart from calling a cab, which she didn't have the number to. She recommended we go to the taxi stand. We walked there, and there were no cabs. I guess the cab drivers were taking the day off since it was a national holiday. Since we couldn't figure out how to get there, we just gave up and went to Villa Gregoriana instead. Villa Gregoriana is not as well known as the other two, but Oliva found pictures of it online, and she really wanted to go. It was on the way back to the train station, so it wasn't that far.
By this time it was about 2pm, and we hadn't eaten since breakfast. So we stopped at a little restaurant to eat lunch. The hostess that seated us spoke a little bit of English, but our waiter did not. This was a problem when we tried to order pizza. I wanted a dessert pizza, while Olivia wanted a regular pizza. After I pointed out what I wanted on the menu, the waiter shook his head and said something in Italian that we couldn't understand. He realized this and left to get the hostess. She explained that they don't turn on their pizza ovens until dinner time, around 7 pm. She showed us what food we could order and left. There wasn't that many options, especially since the whole menu was in Italian, and we couldn't understand most of it. By this time, both of our phones were about to die, because had used up a lot of battery by taking photos all day, so we couldn't even use Google Translate.
I ended up getting Ravioli, since I knew what that was and Olivia got some fish. She paid with a card, and I took that off what she owed me from Villa d'Este and Villa Gregoriana. Then we went to the train station and discovered that our train didn't leave until after 5 pm. So we sat at the train station for over 2 hours waiting for our train. They had a snack machine and a hot chocolate maker, so I had something to occupy my time. When the train was about to arrive, the Tivoli station got really crowded. The platform was also crowded outside, and it was really cold. We almost froze while waiting for the train to get there (it was 15 minutes late). But we finally hopped on the train. There were very few open seats, so we didn't get to sit together. But we arrived safely back in Rome and took the bus back to the apartment. Liv and I had set our alarms for 8 a.m., so we woke up. I was ready to get up to go to Tivoli, but Liv said if I let her sleep another hour she would not complain about how early it was for the whole day, so I agreed. I set my alarm for 9 a.m., and let her and Laura sleep in. Then we got ready and left to go to Tivoli. We got to the bus stop and waited for the bus. And waited some more. Finally we gave us and decided to take the tram to the Victor Emaneule Monument, and a bus from there to Termini. We were standing on the tram at a red light, and here comes the H bus we were waiting for. We didn't think we would have enough time to get off the tram and jump on the bus, so we stayed on the tram. When we got to the Victor Emanule Monument we got on another bus to to Termini. When we got to Termini we went to buy our tickets for Tivoli. However, the next train didn't leave until 2 p.m. It was about 10:40 a.m., at this point. (I later found out that the last train to Tivoli left at 10:20 a.m. We missed it by 20 minutes). We didn't want to wait for 4 hours at the train station, only to get to Tivoli and have to turn around. So we went to McDonalds to discuss our options. I was really upset because I was looking forward to going to Tivoli. Liv decided that we would go to the zoo, because that is something she has been wanting to do. She also thought it would make me feel better. So we got on a bus to the zoo.
We left the zoo exhausted. Laura's knee really hurt her. We tried to text for a taxi, but it wasn't working. It didn't help that we didn't know the address for the zoo. While we were standing around trying to decide what to do a taxi came by to drop a passenger off at the zoo. So we jumped in and he took us to our apartment. Then we went in and rested. I was still really upset that I wasn't able to go to Tivoli. I would have gone tomorrow, but they are closed on Mondays. Pretty much all of the tourist attractions are closed on Monday in Europe. I was planning my route for tomorrow in Rome, when Liv got really excited. She had found out that Tivoli was going to be open tomorrow because it is a national holiday. So tomorrow we get to go to Tivoli! While we were talking, Liv asked how I pronounced lawyer. Some people pronounce it law-yer, and others pronounce it lore-yer. We got into a discussion about accents. She told me to take a test on nytimes.com called How Y'all, Youse, and You Guys Talk. It asks questions about how you pronounce words, and they tells you were you live. This was my result: It shows the top 3 cities for my accent. The cities are San Antonio, Irving, and Plano. My accent is dominantly from San Antonio. Irving and Plano was chosen based on answers to questions about college. Irving and Plano are about 30 minutes from my college in Denton. This was a very freaky test! Who know that people could pinpoint exactly where you lived based on expressions you say and the way you say things?
I woke up feeling a lot better than I did yesterday. Liv and I had set our alarms for 8 a.m., because Liv, Laura, and I were going to go to Tivoli. But when we looked at the weather for Tivoli, it was supposed to rain all day. On a comment someone posted on TripAdvisor, they said that Villa d'Este was closed because of "extreme weather" when it was only cloudy. We didn't want to travel all the way over there to find out that it was closed. So we decided not to go, and stay in Rome. We still wanted to hang out and do something together, but we didn't know what. Liv wanted to go to the Colosseum, and Laura wanted to go the the Vatican Museums. Liv also wanted to go to the Vatican. I had already been to and paid for both places, so I didn't want to pay again. However, when I toured the Vatican Museums, we were rushed so I wanted to go back and enjoy it some more. I also wanted to see Raphael's School of Athens, so I agreed to go to the Vatican with them. Since we had more time, Laura and Liv went back to bed for a while. They woke up around noon, and Liv bought tickets for 2:30 p.m. at the Vatican Museums online. We left around 1:30 p.m. to walk to the museums. Laura new the way to the Vatican and she led the way. However, when we got there, Liv and Laura didn't know where the museums were. Luckily, I still remembered how to get there from when I went with Mom, Aunt Carolyn, and Kendall, so I led the way. No worries, we didn't get lost. I relied on my memory and the signs. Also, there were a ton of people trying to sell us tours for the museums, so we just had to look down the street at all of them and we knew we were on the right path. We finally made it to the museum for our appointment. It was a good thing that we bought the tickets online, because there was a long line to buy tickets. We got to skip it all. We went inside and up to the counter to get our actual tickets for the museum, and then we went in.
I finally found Raphael's School of Athens. I wanted to see this painting because I had learned about it in high school when I took Art. This painting depicts the idea of "Philosophy" and has almost all of the great Greek philosophers, like Socrates and Aristotle.
I was sick all day today. I woke up last night around 11 p.m. to have diarrhea. Then Liv and I talked for a while, about 3 hours. We talked about random things. She went to bed at 2 a.m., and I stayed up until 3 a.m. reading. Then I woke up again at 5 a.m., to have more diarrhea. I didn't go back to sleep because every 1.5 to 2 hours I was running to the toilet. My stomach was spasming. It felt like I was in labor, because I would have a wave of pain that built up until it hit a peak and then it would recede again for a little while. Finally, around 2 p.m. I fell asleep. I slept for 9 hours straight. I only woke up at 11 p.m. because my roommates woke me up so that I would drink water. They thought I had died. They didn't know what to do, and Google was no help. Finally they FaceTimed Laura's mom, and she told them to wake me up to make sure I was hydrated. We talked for a little bit, and then I went back to bed. I was still tired.
I woke up and I felt terrible today. My stomach kept cramping really badly, but it was my last day of classes so I had to go. I went to Art History and sat through the presentations. Then I went back to the apartment to eat. I had lost my ID somewhere, so I couldn't eat at the Tiber Cafe because I wasn't going to pay 25 euros to replace it.
While I was at the apartment I worked for 2 hours trying to fix my group paper for International Business. The two Italian girls in my group did not know how to cite their sources, they also had grammar issues. I understand the grammar issues, because they are writing in another language, but the citing issues were killer. I had to keep going in and recite their sources. Also, one of the girls who did the economic stability of Nigeria didn't know what to write about. So she would just write one sentence stating the GDP or another economic statistic. The point of the paper is to analyze if this is a stable country. So I had to go in and look up a comparison statistic and look at the progress of that statistic over the last 10 years. So I was rushing at the last minute trying to get the paper put together. I could see Maggie also working on it in the Google Doc. It was a mess. I worked on it in the computer lab until class was starting, then I printed it and ran to class. I was late, but the teacher didn't notice. I hadn't even had time to upload my part of the PowerPoint. We got lucky that our group was chosen to go last. So I worked on my part of the PowerPoint while the other groups were presenting. Another girl in my group had never opened the PowerPoint and found out that she couldn't, so she couldn't upload her slides. So I let her use my Mac to do her slides while the other groups were presenting. We presented last and ran out of time, so I had to wrap us up quickly. During this whole time my stomach was spasming and it hurt, a lot. Then I went to Marketing, so I could get the review for the final. I decided I couldn't sit through Microeconomics, so I decided to skip that class. I am already making a 100 in it, so as lost as I make a 70 on the final I will still get an A. Before I left I stopped at the Front Office to ask about my ID, and someone had turned it in! Then I went back to the apartment to go to bed. I hope when I wake up my stomach won't hurt anymore. I worked all day on my paper for Art History. It is not due until the Friday of finals week, but that just gives me plenty of time to write it. I got most of my rough draft done for it. When I wasn't writing, I was planning out the rest of my days in Rome:
Thursday: school Friday: Tivoli Saturday: Tarquinia Sunday: Viterbo Monday: Bagnoregio Tuesday: Art History final and St. Peter's Basilica Wednesday: See the Pope and explore Rome Thursday: 3 finals Friday: Shopping on Via del Conto Saturday: Travel home! I arranged to meet with my International Business group to discuss our project and the presentation that are due tomorrow. We first agreed to meet at 6 p.m. but one of the girls forgot that she has a class at the time. How can you forget when you have a class, especially in the last weeks of school? So we moved it to 5 p.m., but another girl had a class that didn't end until 5:45 p.m. We still decided to meet at 5 p.m. at the Tiber cafe. I was going to be early, but I decided to stop for a gelato on the way. I was 5 minutes late and I was still the first one to arrive. A couple of people in the group hadn't uploaded their part to the Google Docs. We agreed that everyone would have their part uploaded by the end of the night, so Maggie and I would have time to go over it. I also gave one of the other girls pointers on how to make her part better. I have 2 presentations today, one in Art History and the other in Marketing. I got up early to work on my first one. It was close, but I had it ready by the time I got to school. When she asked for volunteers to go, I volunteered to go first. I just wanted to get it over with. I rushed through the presentation, because I had a lot to talk about in the short 10 minutes that we had to talk. Then the other 3 girls went. I thought that my presentation was the best. Two of the girls didn't really look like they knew what they were talking about. I got confused just listening to them talk in circles.
After Art History I went back to the apartment. Usually I don't, but today my International Business class was canceled because the professor had a personal problem had home (in England) and had to leave. So I enjoyed the time off, until I had to leave for Marketing. In Marketing I had my other group presentation about the Amazon Fire TV Stick. I think that it went off a lot better than our first presentation. We also knew the answers to the questions the professor asked us. After Marketing I had Microeconomics, and we just reviewed for the final. I got up at 4:30 a.m., so I would have time to make it to the airport for my 7 a.m. flight. I had no problems getting up and out the door. When I got downstairs I could not find the receptionist and all of the lights were out. This was a problem because I needed to turn in my keys and get my 10 euro deposit back. I had asked the night before and they assured me that someone would be there. Finally I asked "Hello?" and I heard someone start like they had just woken up. The receptionist got up from the direction of the couches, where she had been sleeping. I turned in my keys, got my deposit, and she called a cab for me.
When I got to the Fiumicino Airport I found were my bag was supposed to come out and waited. While I was waiting, an airport worker was going around my lane asking if people had come from Lisbon. The Lisbon Airport was also striking, which included the person who was supposed to load the bags onto the plane. So all of the people from Lisbon didn't have bags. It got worse, because TAP (the airline) was striking the next day, which includes the pilot that flies from Lisbon to Rome so they can't get their bags the next day either. So in two days, if they still want their bags, they have to return to the Fiumicino Airport to collect them. The system of striking in Europe is crazy! I am so glad it is not that bad in the U.S.! Thankfully, my bag made it alright.
I took the train to Termini, and then the H bus to the apartment. In total, it was about a 2 hour trip. Usually the trip takes me 3 hours from Ciampino. I got back to the apartment and chilled for the rest of the day. I also had to work on my presentations for tomorrow. I have 2 of them. I also started a rough draft for my Art History paper, which isn't due for 2 weeks. I also had a meeting with my Marketing group about the presentation for tomorrow. |
Categories
All
Archives
June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |