Giolitti , Jam Session, and Thanksgiving

Monday 21^st

Woke up in Krakow at 6am. Landed in Rome at 11am. Made it to residence by 12noon. Ate lunch, dumped out my backpack, and packed for school. Made it to Italian class at 2. Got out at 3. Next stop- GIOLITTI!!!!! Aunt Karen and Uncle Christopher- this blog is for you! I have been meaning to go here for ages, but never had the time. Well, I finally made the time! I kept saying, “My uncle Christopher will be so upset if I don’t make it here!” And hey, who could pass up gelato for lunch? Forget school, I was still on weekend time. My friends Kelsey, Allison, Pasquele, and I all walked from school to Giolitti and treated ourselves to gelato for lunch. I got crema con Baileys (yum!), bacio, and chocolate fondante (pretty much a brownie).

Well, I think I deserved that break, because I spent the rest of the night in school- not leaving until 1am. Normally school closes at midnight BUT this week was THE TEMPLE ROME JAM SESSION!!!! Gianni has been planning this talent show the ENTIRE semester, and the acts had to sign up a month ago. Well, since I had made that video for Temple Rome earlier in the year, Gianni asked me personally to 1. Make a video of anything I want to be shown as an act AND 2. Record the rehearsal the night before and make a quick video that night to be shown the next. I am telling you this in all honesty- it is impossible to say no to Gianni. He is too nice and too energetic about Temple Rome to say no. And so, I said yes. My jam session video that I was ahead of time was posted 2 blogs ago, from my weekend of pumpkin cooking. Well tonight (Monday) I had about 3 hours time to shoot everything, upload it, and make the video itself. I was a little stressed, but I made it work and of course everyone loved the video, so I had nothing to worry about. It is posted here. 

Tuesday 22^nd

Slept for 5 hours between 2 and 7, then woke up for my 8:30am class for another long day ahead. Photo from 8:30 to 1, lunch, Italian 2 to 3, Art History 3 to 4:30. Worked in the darkroom getting my prints ready for the End of Semester show to be installed next Tuesday and my book which will also be on display. Got changed and before I knew it the Jam Session had arrived! Once again I could not say no to Gianni and I ended up being the video tech for it, standing with his video camera on a tripod, recording the entire show. It was awesome! It went from 9:30 to midnight, and every single act was great. We had everything from singing to Indian dance to standup comedy by two women originally from the U.S. and living here (where does Gianni find these people?) to and Italian band to our very own students singing Italian opera, and Portia dressed up as Rihanna (she supposedly visited Rome last month) to end it. The Jam session was a huge success and very well done, with professional lights, sound, and video, all working to be projected at once. Temple did a great job of bringing the students together and reminding us how fun our time together has been. As Alexis said, “Wow. Study abroad. What a thing.”

 O hey. That is the Dean. Playing the harmonica. That's normal right? O yeah, it's official- Temple Rome has the coolest Dean of all time!

Wednesday 23^rd

After class and working on my final paper for art history…. IT WAS THANKSGIVING IN ROME! A day early, I know, but my friends and I had been planning a big potluck and it all came together in room 49 (mine is the biggest, so it has quickly become the meeting area). Also, it was nicely marked by the sticky gels that my mom sent me at Halloween- thanks Mom! 

I made pumpkin bread with our last remaining pumpkin, as well as pastina with some butter and pepper and rice cooked just the way I like it- the way my Grandma Bellitto makes it- with chicken broth! I miss you and your holiday cooking Grandma! 

Kelsey made her famous risotto and mushroom sauce

ADAM MADE TURKEY! AND GRAVY!

Clarisse baked veggies

Nathanial made HOMEMADE MASHED POTATOS!!!!

Leann made apple cobbler

Paul and Amanda made pumpkin mac and cheese 

And Andrew provided the wine

O, and Leann’s parents actually brought her a football on her visit so she and Amanda tossed that around for about 2 seconds before a collision with the chair ended the fun. “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt, kids!”

Food Coma. Yupp, it was a true Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving Rome style was complete! It was the next best thing to being in New York with my family. I will say, though, this Christmas is going to be the best Christmas ever. I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!

 I am thankful for each and every one of you. <3 Temple Rome