random update!

The day before yesterday we walked around some ancient catacombs, in the rain, which for some reason reminded me of Camp McDowell.  For those of you who know what I am talking about, super strange, I know, but I think something about having to march in a pack around in the cold rain in these creepy caves with bats just reminded me of that, except Camp McDowell was not even close to being 3,000 years old.  

With that being said, the coolest thing I saw that day was in the S. Sabastiano catacombs under the church, where there was this ancient graffiti that dated back to the New Testament times, and it was graffiti on the wall in Greek to Paul and Peter asking for prayers and for help to get back to Naples.  It was really cool and apparently is the only place where Paul and Peter’s names are written together like that.  

Also, in the church, we saw works of art such as Bernini’s last sculpture.  Actually, one of our professors is the one who discovered that it was, in fact, one of Bernini’s works and that it was actually his last masterpiece.  Before he discovered this it was thought that it was just an unknown artist, but Francesco Petrucci (our professor) discovered that it was a Bernini sculpture.  We were all really proud of that haha.

Yesterday we also got to go visit an elementary school and a high school in Ariccia, and those precious little kids just melted my heart.  

Then, last night we held an apertivo, which is kind of means “drinks and appetizers”, and we held it for the people of Ariccia and friends of people involved in the Palace and the program.  Told to expect about 30-40 people, we all cooked and chipped in and bought about 20 bottles of wine, and our instructor came in and panicked, saying there was not enough food or wine.  We knew there was a problem when that happened.  She said we needed at least 40 bottles and there was not enough food.  The kitchen became a flurry of activity as 22 people threw random kinds of pasta into bowls, minced garlic, cooked tomatoes, and set out everything we had from pretzels to nutella to random cream cheese squares.  The other ones of us ran and bought more wine, which seemed ridiculous at the time, but we were glad we made provisions when the people started pouring in! The party was a hit, and it ended up being about 60ish people, some of which were our newfound high school friends from a school we visited earlier that day as a part of one of our classes.  Some of the people were professors or friends of professors, and some were random people that I have no clue where they came from.  It was an interesting time for sure.  

Today, we went to one of the coolest places I have ever been in my life, and certainly the coolest place we have been so far.  We went to the ancient ruins of Pompei.  For those of you who do not know what Pompeii is, wikipedia it.  Haha, but seriously.  The general run-down is that there was a civilization of people living in Pompei that reached it’s height, and at the peak of the civilization Mt. Vesuvius exploded, essentially killing everyone in the city.  18 billion tons of ash, rock, and other debris filled the air and people suffocated to death, then were buried along with the rest of the city.  This happened in 76 AD.  We went to Pompeii today, and it was shocking how life in the city was just frozen in all the ash and rubble.  Mosaic floors are still intact, human skeletons are left just as they were when they died, such as a pregnant woman shielding her baby, a man and woman skeleton holding each other as they hold their faces, and a child who is crouched down with his hands to his face.  It was a beautiful and shocking experience.  The town was about 20,000 people, and all but about 2,000 evacuated.  

Sorry this was super long! Tomorrow I leave to go to Barcelona with some friends, and I am so excited! I miss all of you! 

When In Rome...

When in Rome is the only phrase I have to describe this post for a couple reasons....

Just wanted to update everyone on some interesting and funny happenings.... so, yesterday at lunch we went to a restaurant in the Jewish section of Rome that made every dish with artichokes.....yummmm I was in HEAVEN.  Well, in the true spirit of being adventurous....I split an order of fried lamb brains with one of my friends and ordered an appetizer of a fried artichoke.  I would like to say that they weren't bad but tasted a lot like a softer version of chicken gizzards, for those of you who have experienced that delicacy.

Also, yesterday my friend and I were walking through a side street and we came upon a lady with 2 parakeets sitting on a stick.  She proceeded to shove one on my finger and one on my head, and I was shocked while my friend started snapping pictures.  She put them on my friends head and finger, and we thought it was so funny and so strange.  I then  asked her if she spoke English, and she then said "yes.  Give me 10 euros for the pictures".  Thats about $16.  No.  Thanks.  An astonished Ann Burgwin could only say "that is NOT how things work!" haha...she was nice and her birds were cute, close but no cigar for her. It was funny and such a strange experience, and this kind of thing seems to happen all the time.  But whats new, I have always attracted strange characters.

There are also these people dressed up as gladiators and other ancient people that stand in front of touristy spots, such as the Pantheon, and you have to pay to take pictures with them, unless they are creeping on you.  The job criteria for this job seems to be mainly that you are a borderline 

creepy man, and yesterday I was standing in front of the Pantheon with our group and 2 of them came up and were talking to us, asking us where we were from and other questions, and one pointed at me and said "bella, you want to dance?" Who can turn down dancing with gladiator in front of the Pantheon? Not this girl.  He actually was a pretty good dancer and we swing danced in front of the Pantheon.  I wish I could say there are pictures to document this, and I am still looking for them, but in any event, this is the only picture I could find....

Just Like Cam Newton.

Cam Newton.  Just the first and last name (and if anywhere in the SEC, often just the first name), evokes strong emotions, especially in Auburn where he is revered as some type of football savior for our beloved Tigers.  Everyone knows who he is,a household name, and every time there is a "Cam sighting", people are talking and tweeting about it for weeks to come.  I have heard stories of girls (and guys actually) following him and waiting for him to come out of the bathroom in the student center, stalking him to Niffers, and following him to class when he went to Auburn.

As sacreligious as this may seem to any blue-blooded Auburn football fan, the first day of classes we were told that we were just like Cam Newton in this small, sleepy, ancient Italian town.  This simple fact has been proved true to me every day since I have been here, and the stories have ranged from funny to hilarious, and everywhere in between, including just really strange.

The first experience we had upon arriving in Ariccia was when 4 friends and I arrived in the town early and 3 of us went to try and find coffee on our own to beat the jet lag.  Well, we went into a cute little coffee shop and ordered a latte.  I am not sure who was confused more, barista or us at her reaction.  She kept looking at us confused and repeated "latte? hot or cold?" We were even more confused and said "hot", thinking who has ever heard of a cold latte?  For the record, a hot latte in Italy is just steamed milk, which was pretty good but we promptly slept for 2 and 1/2 hours after drinking it.  This hilarious news couldn't have spread around faster than if Cam Newton had showed up at Skybar on the last Wednesday of class.  One of our instructors (and one of the coolest people ever), Chinzia, was explaining to us how people were aware of what we were doing in the town, so to be on our best behavior, and then used us as an example, saying multiple people were wondering why the American girls just wanted hot milk as a midmorning drink.  Anyone who knows Leigh, Mollie, and I could guess that our reaction was none other than turning red and giggling hysterically.

It is so strange being treated like some sort of celebrity, but that really is the way they treat our little band of Auburn students.  I could give a hundred examples and I have only been here about a week.

I love everything about Ariccia, but one thing in particular would have to be how proud the people here are of their rich heritage.  We went into a inn that was used as a stopping point for European travelers staying in Ariccia for the famous ancient route through Europe called the "Grand Tour".  The inn, built in the 1700s, is restored and beautiful.  The more I learn about the town, the more I am showed around, the more I love it.

Great Works of Art....like Free Bird Live.

Free Bird Live.  Although it happened over 5 years ago, I remember the first time I ever heard Lynyrd Skynyrd’s masterpiece, the live version of Free Bird, like it just happened last week.  I was in Breckenridge, CO outside the delicious local crepe stand and it came on in the car and I was legitimately moved to tears because of the sheer beauty of it.  A monumental event, after that it became the paradigm of musical beauty in my mind, unrivaled by any other song.  Well, I have yet to be moved again by man-made beauty to the point of tears, but I certainly was today.  

Our little group toured the inside of the Chigi Palace, which is where we live.  We live in the far corner, almost the basement, isolated from the rest of the palace, which is now a museum.  The palace was once the summer home of the Chigi family, which boasts a pope as a member of the family (Pope Alexander VII to be exact).  We toured several of the rooms and some of the outlying land, including the ruins what would have been a huge bird cage where one could step inside and have tea with the birds flying around, several rooms with painted ceilings, an outer court area that was reminicient of the Hunger Games, an outer corridor lined with impressive European mounts of various antlers from big game, and then we came to this certain room where we were not allowed to take pictures.  I stepped inside onto this floor that was a mosiac of numerous different colors and different size pieces, and on the far end of the room were 3 huge, elaborate windows that looked out onto the outer courtyard area and the grassy area below.  The walls were covered with hand-painted and pressed ancient leather tapestry, kept preserved due to a palace worker’s diligence during WWII when soldiers came and stayed in the palace so the worker took the leather tapestries off the wall and locked them away in a hidden door in a top floor of the palace.  Now they are back on the walls and are, by themselves, breathtaking.  They are deep green, rich red, and gold.  Their design has been pressed and painted and sewn together and covers all the walls.  Finally, as if all this is not enough, the ceiling and walls directly next to the windows are painted as if one were to be sitting down looking out the windows, then the surrounding walls blends in perfectly with the ceiling.  There are little walls with birds and monkeys perched on top, then birds and clouds billowing across the ceiling.  It was as if time had stopped and I was standing there, so overwhelmed I felt as if I could not breathe.  I couldn’t ask our guide (who also works at the Chigi Palace and is one of our instructors) enough questions, but at the same time I could barely even speak.  It was the most beautiful man-made thing I have ever seen.  I felt so small, so humbled just standing there surrounded by it all.  I lost all self-awareness until I realized as I was standing there that I had tears welling up in my eyes and I felt as if my heart would either stop beating or explode in my chest.  

The only other thing in my life that I feel remotely like this about is Dicksonia, the old plantation house on our land.  As many of you know, it is absolutely my favorite place on Earth.  Beautiful, majestic, and having deep family ties, I could and have just sat there for hours.  This was something else entirely.  But, ironically, it did not make me love “the Big House”, as our family calls it, any less or see its beauty diminish in any way.  Instead, as I was trying to process what I just saw as we shuffled out of the room and listened to the man talk about safety tips in Rome (all I could think of was what I just saw and if it was even real), I could only think of the Big House.  It brought out beauty in her that I had never seen before, it made me love her even more.  C.S. Lewis wrote in The Great Divorce, speaking of

“But I have forgotten. And only partly do I remember the unbearable beauty of her face... 
Every young man or boy that met her became her son – even if it was only the boy that brought the meat to her back door. Every girl that met her was her daughter.’ 

‘Isn't that a bit hard on their own parents?’ 

‘No. There are those that steal other people's children. But her motherhood was of a different kind. Those on whom it fell went back to their natural parents loving them more. Few men looked on her without becoming, in a certain fashion, her lovers. But it was the kind of love that made them not less true, but truer, to their own wives.”  

Only partially do I remember it's beauty, but nevertheless it shocked me, woke me up from some slumber I had been living in and peeled scales back from my eyes.  I felt as if I was being baptized into new life by freezing cold water, shocking and awakening all of my senses into new life.  But it didn’t make me love my own beauty, Dicksonia, any less.  It made me love her even more.  

And the funny thing is, as I am writing this, I am almost glad that I could not take a picture of it because a picture would not do it justice.  It was that beautiful.  

Pickup Trucks to Pasta, "Let the Rumpus Begin!"

Well, here it is-the day I leave behind the land of front porches, pickup trucks, and sweet tea and trek off to a strange land of ferrarris, pizza, and pasta.  I am so excited about what is ahead of me but at the same time it sure is hard to leave behind those 10 little newborn lab puppies, not to mention my family and friends!  This is a little of what I am leaving behind, and I don't know where I am headed but I know it will be a lot different haha.

Here I am sitting in the Montgomery airport and I have no excited about stepping into the unknown in but a few short hours.  So, as Max so eloquently put it in Where The Wild Things Are, "Now...LET THE RUMPUS BEGIN!"