My homesickness is gone-all I wanted was to hear my loved ones voices and words of encouragement. I am also used to the time schedule here, over my motion/sea sickness, and am really glad to be in a place that finally feels like a home. The group dynamic amongst us girls is great as well, and we all get along. I have become great friends with my tandem partner and I consider all of the adults at the school to be my family.

View of Macerata from the bell tower

Macerata is very hilly

My tandem partner, Francesco, studied in Spain for a few terms and while there met a girl from England, a girl from Poland, and a guy from Germany. During this week they all came to visit him so we all ended up hanging out, which was loads of fun.

From left to right: Francesco, Me, and Kris

School is in full swing now and is the main focus that we have. Sometimes being in the studio from 10 am-roughly 6 pm everyday can prove to be challenging but I just take a lot of breaks and venture off to the cafe for a cappuccino or a gelato.

Gelato!!!

Cappuccino

This week we went to Urbs Salvia and saw the roman town there. This was really amazing and almost eerie to see these ancient roman ruins. We also were able to walk amongst an archaeological dig and saw the home of some Romans. Another part of the archaeological dig, was part of the roman road. And I learned that the road leads all the way to Rome. At this news I was excited, but Filiberto enlightened me by saying “It takes a lot of money just for one archaeological dig. And history has to be overridden to a certain degree for the present and future to take place.” It was just really interesting to me that underneath the earth I was standing on, were homes and roads where a civilization once existed. We also saw an Abby where we observed several monks pray or chant. It was really interesting seeing that Abby after the ruins because the people that built it re-used marble from the roman structures. I Really wish I had time to see Rome while here but perhaps that will be a good incentive to come back.

Roman Amphiteater

We also learned how to make traditional Italian pasta this week, went wine tasting, AAAAAAAND saw the Opera: Il Travatore!!!

At the Opera!

-Jolene Johnson