Hey y'all -

Thursday evening, we headed back to the apartments after a midterm review session. A bunch of us hung out in the boys' apartment, trying to read for class and listening to music. I got all caught up on the reading, which is good news because I've been able to relax this weekend!

Early Friday morning, we met Albert at the EUR Fermi metro stop to see a museum that Mussolini put together to exhibit the greatness of Roma. It was an interesting museum, but I'm not a huge fan of Fascist architecture, so I was glad when we moved on. After that, Albert took us to another museum where we saw the opus sectie, a room of reconstructed mosaic walls/floors/ceiling. It was really beautiful.

Then, we took the metro and got lunch in a park somewhere closer to the heart of Roma. (We also got our papers from the first week back. It's a relief to know the expectations of the class now. Only two more papers and tests for each class left!) After lunch, Dr. Galinsky took us to meet Darius at a museum that had been previously used as a power plant. Now, statues and other pieces from the Capitoline Museum are exhibited there. It was really cool. Alex, Ishanee, and I went around the museum taking pictures posing like the statues. Some pretty ridiculous pictures should be on Facebook soon. :)

After the museums, we headed back to the AIRC to use the internet before heading back to the apartments. We got ready to go out and then went to go get some DELICIOUS pizza! (And gelato.) After dinner, we headed back to the apartments to hang out for a bit before going out. Last night was really fun - it's always nice to bond with people outside of the class environment.

We headed to bed (really) tired when we got home. I was really ready to sleep by the time we got home.

Today, I woke up around 11. Perfect day to sleep in because it finally got really hot in Roma! I wrote one of my papers that is due on Wednesday in about an hour - it's nice to have one draft out of the way. :) Because Paolo and Adam are coming to visit on Tuesday! I'm really excited to see those boys (from LOA, for those of you who don't know them).

I got showered and started some laundry. Then, I finished Slumdog Millionaire (such a good movie) and relaxed and played games for a while.

Then, we all headed to the AIRC (where I am now) for another review session for Midterms on Monday.

I did some more research for my papers due Wednesday, and now I'm just catching up on the internet before we leave.

Alex and I are going to get some pizza and do some grocery shopping.

Tonight, a few of us might be going out to try a club near our apartments - we'll see! :)

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Ciao,
Ashley

PS - Vatican High Mass tomorrow! :) Yay!