So it's been about a week or so since my last blog & many excursions have taken place! A small group of us went and toured a bit of the ancient city (where the Colosseum & Roman Forum are located) but didn't actually go into these sites until today. We had a guest speaker to teaches Classics and Latin at a local college here in Rome give our class a guided tour of the Roman Forum today and it was pretty spectacular. We were able to see temples that were built to worship Saturn (Cronus), Jupiter (Zues), Minerva (Athena), plus the spot where Julius Caesar's body was cremated after his murder (which actually wasn't the Senate house but was committed in the EXACT same building where the UW Rome Center is!!!). That's some crazy ish huh?!?
Anyways, last weekend we were able to chill a bit and walk around the ancient city where we took pictures at several locations like the Forum, Colosseum, the chariot racing track, & some famous piazza's. I'm thinking that we'll probably have a chance to actually tour the Colosseum and Palatine Hill this weekend before we go to the Italian Opera since we don't have any plans to leave town as of yet... :)
Last week we also had a chance to go to the Van Gogh exhibition which is taking place at a local Roman Museum near the Colosseum. That was pretty cool but this particular exhibition was missing a few keys pieces that makes Van Gogh such a world renowned artist...like his "Starry Night" for example. So that was a little disappointing but it was fun all the same.
This weekend a group of eight of us decided to go to Florence for the weekend! We had an absolutely AMAZING time!! Of course i took this opportunity to compose a crazy jam packed itinerary of all the famous Renaissance tourist sites and museums including Florence's most famous site: the Duomo cathedral, also, Piazza della Signoria (the heart of the historic center & a sculpture exhibit) & Piazza Vecchio near the world famous Ponte Vecchio (medieval bridge, built in 1345), Galleria degli Uffizi (the world's most important collection of Renaissance art), Galleria dell' Academia (Michelangelo's David), & the Boboli Garden's/ Pitti Palace!! We even managed to make an early afternoon day trip to Pisa to take pictures of it's famous leaning tower (though we didn't make in time to tour the inside and climb up to the top which i was NOT happy about). And yes, we managed to cram all that into just two freaking days. The eight of us also shared an 8 person room with just one shower & toilet...that was interesting. Nevertheless, it was an amazing time and i would do it again in a heart beat :)
We made of first trip to our internship location today at the Iqbal Masih school located on the outskirts of Rome. We're doing internships twice a week at a couple different locations depending on what our interests are. A couple of us are working with a gay rights activist group called Archigay. A couple are working with a non-profit organization, a refugee center, a local art gallery, and i am a part of a group that will be working with the Iqbal Masih school which is centered on educational opportunities for immigrants, impoverished, low income or just diverse multicultural families without discrimination or prejudice.
For those of you who are wondering about the name of the school, Iqbal Masih was the name of a young immigrant boy from Pakistan who was sold by his family at 4 years old into child labor. He became an international figure head for the Bonded Labor Liberation Front at the age of 10 when he escaped. However, he was brutally murdered in 1995 at the age of 12 when he was assassinated in his hometown in Pakistan. It is believed that the "carpet mafia" are the ones responsible for his assassination because of his famous fight against the child labor industry.
That being said, the Iqbal Masih school in Rome is named after this young champion for child rights and is incredibly dedicated to the education of under privileged and immigrant youths from all over Rome. Our group was greeted by an incredibly friendly and outgoing faculty and very excited and curious 1st graders today. I will definitely keep you all updated with my internship!
Sorry for the ridiculously long blog. Lot's have been going on and i don't have an opportunity to write personal blogs very often. I have two blog assignments that i will be posting by the end of the week (Sunday). So if you have any interest in reading them, by all means - feel free. Otherwise, you'll be able to identify my personal blogs strictly by the title.
Miss & love you all lots!!!
Ciao <3
p.s. My other half of post cards will be sent of shortly. Thank you for your patience :)
We made of first trip to our internship location today at the Iqbal Masih school located on the outskirts of Rome. We're doing internships twice a week at a couple different locations depending on what our interests are. A couple of us are working with a gay rights activist group called Archigay. A couple are working with a non-profit organization, a refugee center, a local art gallery, and i am a part of a group that will be working with the Iqbal Masih school which is centered on educational opportunities for immigrants, impoverished, low income or just diverse multicultural families without discrimination or prejudice.
For those of you who are wondering about the name of the school, Iqbal Masih was the name of a young immigrant boy from Pakistan who was sold by his family at 4 years old into child labor. He became an international figure head for the Bonded Labor Liberation Front at the age of 10 when he escaped. However, he was brutally murdered in 1995 at the age of 12 when he was assassinated in his hometown in Pakistan. It is believed that the "carpet mafia" are the ones responsible for his assassination because of his famous fight against the child labor industry.
That being said, the Iqbal Masih school in Rome is named after this young champion for child rights and is incredibly dedicated to the education of under privileged and immigrant youths from all over Rome. Our group was greeted by an incredibly friendly and outgoing faculty and very excited and curious 1st graders today. I will definitely keep you all updated with my internship!
Sorry for the ridiculously long blog. Lot's have been going on and i don't have an opportunity to write personal blogs very often. I have two blog assignments that i will be posting by the end of the week (Sunday). So if you have any interest in reading them, by all means - feel free. Otherwise, you'll be able to identify my personal blogs strictly by the title.
Miss & love you all lots!!!
Ciao <3
p.s. My other half of post cards will be sent of shortly. Thank you for your patience :)
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