In less than 24 hours we will have a new president. It is an amazing thought. Those countdowns untill Bush’s last day are entering the home stretch.
The ceremony will take place on what is called the National Mall. It is a beautiful green between the capitol and the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument in between. Tomorrow it will be wall to wall with people. There are millions expected.
As we walked down the Mall closer to the capitol it set in that I was actually there to witness this historic moment. I had to stop and take it all in. People from all over the world were coming in to see this ceremony. Sunday’s concert played on the jumbotrons, as some people watched it for the first time.
I am fortunate enough to have attended an Inauguration before and to have been to DC numerous times and today there were so many people.For many this was their first trip to the Nations Capitol and that people did whatever possible to get there. Standing about 100 yards from the west side of the Capitol people stopped and took their photos in front of it to prove there were there. I certainly did. It was beautifully wrapped in red, white, and blue and a choir rehearsed and the words “I can’t believe I am here” came from peoples mouths. This was a Kodak moment. We took pictures of families, and families took photos of us. Everyone was chatting with each other, stopping to let people have a clear view. Everyone was there too celebrate. It was probably the nicest most polite group of thousands there ever was.
People are incredible. People traveled from all over the world. They drove, flew, took trains, and rode bikes. People from Virginia walked over bridges, and granted its not that far, it didn’t matter to them. They were going to make the trip. They wanted to be there.
While in Starbucks thawing out, I met Tariq Zehawi who is a photographer for a paper in New Jersey. His photos were amazing and much better than my photos of the jumbotron so check them out…. http://www.northjersey.com/politics/
Well if the concert wasn’t enough celebrity for the day, we saw the presidential motorcade. The question was Bush or Obama. We will never know. But either way it was not a subtle way to get around the city with out being noticed, they had all the bells and whistles going.
Then we were in Georgetown at Paparazzi eating dinner, and the secret service walked in. My cousin immediately thought the Obama’s were going to walk in, but we didn’t see anyone. Just the secret service, I guess they have to eat too. But then Nancy Pelosi walked in, not a hair out of place and dressed to perfection. People are paying hundreds of dollars to be at events with her this weekend and there she was sitting a couple tables away with her entire family enjoying the evening.
It was an all star cast today on the Lincoln Memorial. We bundled up and headed out early to spend the day with over quarter of a million of our closest friends to witness probably the best combination of politics and music combined.
I may have thought I was early for the concert but 20 people away from the security check point we were told they were at capacity and no one was being allowed in. One would think that after standing in line for half an hour the line that zigzagged for blogs would get unruly but people just found other solutions, and did nothing but thank the volunteers who kept order on the streets. We stood on the perimeter but the ticketed guests entrance. I could hear it, see the memorial, and see most of the jumbotron as long as the wind kept the tree blowing to the west. We have had the best location unless you were among the ticketed guests. My cousin who arrived at 8am to be front row was disappointed to find that a section was blocked off for ticket holders, so she too watched it on the screen and stood in the cold for eight hours.
Adrenaline
One would think at 32* for 4 hours, it would be freezing, but adrenaline kept everyone warm and in great spirits. There was a wonderful sense of awe in the air that this was a new beginning. People young and old, were listening, watching, and anticipating Tuesday. People couldn’t believe they were there. Read the rest of this entry »
People love political buttons! They flaunt them all over various articles of clothing. People often don’t enjoying showing their age, but their political buttons often give away the answer. For example, my political buttons begin with Clinton. I will admit, I am a political button collector, so I had to go on a hunt for my Barack Obama buttons! Everywhere you walk, you can buy buttons, street corners, sidewalks, stores, CVS, I chose to get mine at Union Station. The “I was there one” was worth all $2.99. There are also “official” buttons but those can only be bought through the DNC. I’ll make a stop there before I go home, but you can buy them online too and pretend as if you were there too! Theme Party! Obama greeted me in the hall way! Well it wasn’t the real Obama, it was a cardboard cut out of the Obama pointing toward the party. For a moment, I didn’t know if I was at a Hawaiian or 4th of July Party. Red, white, and blue leis were being passed out as people walked around in those plastic flag hats. I later found out that the leis were because Obama has roots in Hawaii, so obviously there had to be leis, and patriotic ones, what could be more perfect. Inside, the crowd of mostly journalist from NPR chatted about the President Elect, and their plans for this 4 day party in DC all well munching on Obama cookies. Yes, Obama’s face was even on the cookies!
Only 4 days 1 hour 27 minutes and 422.16 miles separate me from the inauguration of our 44th president. 
So I know it’s been awhile but I’ve been all over the place these past few weeks. Amsterdam was amazing! The city was so beautiful and it was unlike any place I had ever been before! My best friend, Jenn also came to visit me in Rome for a week and that was so much fun! We did so much of the stuff that I hadn’t yet had a chance to do in Rome, like going to a Papal Audience at the Vatican. Right after Jenn left I headed to Interlaken, Switzerland for a weekend of snowboarding in the Swiss Alps! I think that of all the trips I have taken this semester, Switzerland was my absolute favorite. For starters, the landscape was breath taking! The ski conditions were out of this world, making anywhere in New England seem like a hill. Just to get up the mountain we had to take a train ride and then a chair lift as well. On some mountains, the runs lasted almost an hour which is so different from what I’m used to back home and the best part was that there was no ice… just miles of fresh powder! It was great for my two days of snowboarding and the one night I went nightsledding with all my friends! 
I think one of my favorite things about studying abroad is that the people you meet are all so eager to get to know you and just like when I went to Sorrento and met my group of friends, I met more study-abroad students in Switzerland that immediately felt like people I’d know for a long time. I’ve been lucky to meet so many new people in my travels, all with different backgrounds and interesting stories to tell. One of the hardest things is going to be saying goodbye to all these people and not knowing if and when I will ever see them again.
It’s unbelievable that in just one week I’ll be packing up my bags and heading back to the United States. To be honest, I can’t even think about this without getting upset. Here I am, thousands of miles away, with all these great new friends and a life I love in an incredible city, and I have to go back home. What an incredible experience this has been, one that I couldn’t even begin to explain. It’s just one of those things that you would have to experience on your own to really get it.
I also know that this experience has inspired me to go home, work extremely hard for the next year and half to save up my money so that as soon I graduate, I can embark on my next journey. There is a good chance that I may actually come back to Europe to live in Florence, Italy and work there for a few months and continue traveling throughout Europe.
Studying abroad has certainly opened the door to so many new opportunities and I feel like I’m looking at my future in a completely different light then I was four months ago. I can’t stress enough how incredible my time here has been or how I think this is something everyone needs to do. This once in a lifetime opportunity was exactly what I needed in my life and from here on out I will always love Europe and especially Italy.
Alright, as much as I should be doing my homework right now, I’m just too excited about what’s coming up that trying to focus is not even worth it! In just four days I will be flying out of Rome to Brussels, Belgium. From there, I will be taking a three hour train ride to AMSTERDAM for the weekend! As if that wasn’t enough, my best friend from Salve, Jenn, is arriving in Rome ON SUNDAY! She’s flying here all the way from the United States for an entire week! And you can only imagine how excited I am considering that I haven’t seen a single one of my friends back home in three months!
I’ve been saving up my two excused absences for each class this entire semester and I’m finally ready to use them up! I plan on showing Jenn all around Rome and exploring a lot of the things I haven’t even seen yet. Of course, Jenn will also get a nice taste of the fine Italian cuisine and Rome’s fabulous night life! On Thursday, my roommates are planning a very large Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and of course, apple pie! (As much as I have embraced this culture, sometimes you just have to let the real American in you come out!) As for cranberry sauce, well, I had to ask mom to send that from the U.S. since Italian supermarkets don’t carry it. This doesn’t come as any surprise though, especially since I’ve learned that almost 90% of American food products do not exist in Italy or throughout the parts of Europe I have been to.
Anyways, it get’s even better! The following weekend after Jenn leaves is the weekend I have been waiting for all semester! That’s because I’m going to the one place I have been dying to go to for my entire life, the SWISS ALPS in Interlaken, SWITZERLAND! I’ll be tearing up some of the world’s most incredible slopes on my snowboard for four days over the long-weekend from school. Interlaken is supposed to be one of the most beautiful spots in all of Europe and judging from the pictures, I can already see why!
With so much to look forward to you can only imagine why I’m having a bit of trouble focusing on my schoolwork. Unfortunately, the only downfall is that everyday that goes by is just one day closer to me going home. As of tomorrow I will have exactly one month left in Europe. I can’t even begin to think about that though, despite how nice it will to get home and see all the people that I miss so incredibly much!
Until then, it looks as though this last month in Europe might actually be the best one yet! Considering this semester has been the best time of my entire life, I guess you could even say that I’m looking forward to what might be the best month EVER!
After thirty hours of overnight travel and undesirably sleeping on the floors of both a bus and a ferry, I’ve returned to Rome from my week-long break in Greece! My travels began at the World famous Pink Palace Resort in Corfu, one of Greek’s many beautiful islands. The Pink Palace was by far the best hostel I have stayed at in all of Europe. I’ve had to put up with some pretty disgusting hostels, but this one absolutely blew the rest out of the water. (Think bargain resort for college kids, rather than hostel.) We even had our own private room with a bathroom which was a nice change from some of the 20-person dorms I’ve stayed in.
Having given ourselves a big fat ‘F’ for experiencing the culture in Spain, my roommate Kate and I made it our goal to grasp the Greek way of life as much as possible. We enjoyed traditional Greek dancing, a toga party, cheered “Yamas!” with every drink, and even experienced the ancient tradition of having plates smashed over our heads! This customary act of plate smashing is considered to be a part of ‘kefi,’ the uncontainable expression of emotion and happiness. Kate and I also made sure we ordered a Greek salad with every meal and dug our teeth into the some of the other great traditional foods such as gyros, kebabs, and delicious baklava for dessert. Upon our arrival at the Pink Palace we had been greeted with a shot of Ouzo, Greece’s most infamous liquor, to which we all cheered ‘Yamas!’ to of course! We spent our days in Corfu relaxing on the beautiful beaches and soaking in the warm 80-degree weather. We even rented ATV’S one day and went on quad safari of the entire island, taking sight of the gorgeous mountains and scenic ocean views, not to mention the fun we had off-roading through the mountainous hills. On Monday night, we packed up our stuff, enjoyed one last meal in Corfu, and headed for Athens on an overnight bus. Kate and I spent the entire night sleeping in the alley of the bus; not what I would necessarily call a good night’s sleep!
We arrived in the large city of Athens early Tuesday morning, freshened up from our night’s travels and set out on a walking tour of the entire city. Our first stop was the original Olympic stadium. We also went to a museum that was built entirely over ancient ruins and had glass floors for looking down below. Next, we made our way to the Temple of Zeus, followed by the Acropolis to see the Parthenon, built by Pericles in the fifth century BC. The Acropolis, which can be translated as upper city, can’t be missed considering that it is located directly in the center of Athens. The entire city is built around it, with the mountains and the ocean surround the city. It was one of the most incredible views I have ever seen.
During my two days in Athens I soaked in a lot of history, saw some of the world’s most incredible sights, and even did a little bit of shopping with the girls! On our last night in Greece, Kate, our new friend, Lauren, and I all went out to dinner for one last Greek meal. I had lamb, one of Greece’s most popular meats. The food was excellent and the best part was that we had a beautiful view of the Acropolis all lit up at night! So despite the travels and sleeping in the alleyways of busses, my week in Greece turned out to be a great time! I returned to my apartment in Rome on Friday night and as Kate and I walked in the door, dropped our bags to the floor; we looked at each other and agreed that Rome, in spite of being thousands of miles away from the United States, has certainly come to feel like home!
Check out the Pink Palace at http://www.thepinkpalace.com/
Seeing as one of my number one goals while studying abroad in Rome was to learn how to do as the Romans do (i.e. stress less!) I guess you could say that I’m failing pretty miserably right now. While I’ve certainly learned to enjoy fine food and wine, my hopes of enduring less stress in my life is not quite working out, or at least not right now. It’s the night before my first of four midterm exams and all I can think about is how bad I’m going to do. Well, that and the fact that I’m going to be in Greece for seven nights in LESS THAN ONE WEEK! Oh, and my mom is visiting from the United States right now so, rather than studying like I should be, I’ve been playing tour guide for the past 48 hours And lets be serious, I’m living in ROME! Who really wants to focus on school when there is so much beauty all around you? I’m surrounded by incredible ancient forums, magnificant basilicas, runway fashion and, oh ya, let’s not forget those Italian men! So, what I’m really trying to say is that studying abroad certainly teaches you how to find a balance between work and pleasure. And we all know I’ve had my fair share of pleasure over here in Italy!
Like I’ve said before, there is never so much as one dull moment. This weekend my mom and I went to Venice, which was AMAZING! While nothing quite compares to the beauty of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, Venice was certainly a close second! I couldn’t believe that people actually live on these beautiful islands with no cars and no means of transportation other than boats along the canals. By last night we had seen pretty much all of Venice and returned to Rome where we enjoyed a traditional Italian meal next to the Pantheon. After dinner, when we were both absolutely stuffed, I decided to show my mom the Spanish steps, as well as the famous Trevi fountain.
Today, we woke up bright and early and headed to the Vatican just in time to catch the end of the 10 o’clock mass being broadcasted throughout St. Peter’s Square. We waited in line for almost two hours to get inside St. Peter’s Basilica, or as it’s called in Italian, Basilica de San Peitro. It was certainly worth the wait to be able to see this remarkable cathedral, which I learned is the second largest basilica in the world! (It was HUGE!) After a long day we finally returned to my apartment earlier this evening where I showed off my new cooking skills to my mom! I made her one of my favorite dishes: seafood scampi in a white wine sauce over linguine. I guess you could say living in Italy has also encouraged me to brush up on my cooking skills!
I’m sure you can understand by now why I’m having trouble focusing on school! But let’s just say that, while I may not be living like an Italian in terms of stress, I’m most definitely taking great pleasure in most other aspects of the Italian lifestyle. After all, I wouldn’t want to let go of all my American ways though now, would I?
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