a very short week

Hey guys. Sorry the last posts were so long! This one is short and sweet to still give you time to catch up on my spring break travels. The week went well, I just had classes and lived it up in Rome! I'm starting to realize how bad I am going to miss it here. It's definitely going to be a bittersweet. I have definitely fallen in love with everything about Rome, but I am SO excited to come home and see all of YOU!! :)

newly scanned in picture from prague

Monday was a good day! I did some yoga, taught some yoga (the theme this week was "Traveler's Yoga" - we did stretches for our tight traveled muscles and worked on the core to work off all that yummy food), and had photography class. Photography was really great this week. We all sat down, and Serafino decided he had an exciting activity for us. After a huge introduction that none of us understood, he said the most amazing thing. "The best photographs are the ones that we don't take." I thought back to my travels this week, and realized he was completely right. Don't get me wrong, I got some amazing pictures, but the most amazing and unforgettable moments pass by too quickly or are too fragile to pause for a photograph. We all went around the room and talked about one photograph that we didn't take in the past week that really touched us. I loved hearing about everyone's week - the way they described the picture that they wished they had taken. Some poetically, some formally, some as a story, and some in a very technical sense. It was an amazing thing to hear everyone open up about the little moments in life that we remember - whether or not we capture it on film.

prague houses - newly scanned in

I tried to develop my film, but encountered a problem. Again. I am just failing with photo stuff recently! But at least this time I can still have my pictures. I bought the film I used in Morocco in Valencia when I was visiting Jada. We checked the film to be sure it fit my camera, then were on our way. Unfortunately, we didn't notice and important detail - I bought COLOR film! Oops. Serafino told me I could get it developed at a store nearby, then scan the negatives into the computer so they'll still be black and white. Works for me! It actually worked out pretty well, because I think the pictures are going to look awesome in color, too. Best of both worlds! I spent the rest of class scanning in my other roll to the computer so I could have them for life. Awesomeee.

Tuesday, my on-site class met at St. Peter's Square! It was so nice leave 15 minutes before class instead of 45- an hour haha (St. Peter's is super close to my apartment). It was so cool to finally go inside! I've been holding off because I knew visitors would pay (SINS) so I could spend my money on other travels. It's getting towards the end, though, and I still haven't seen the Sistine Chapel...I'm disappointed in myself. I want to see it SOOOO BAD but I keep making plans to and then they fall through. I'm definitely going next week with my mom when she visits (YAY) and probably a time or two afterwards as well. Perfecto! My class just went into the basilica and underground to some of the tombs. It was really neat.

altarpiece at St. Peter's

After class I grabbed gelato at Old Bridge with a couple friends from class who hadn't been there yet. SO GOOD. One of my friends bought me a present from her spring break travels, it was so sweet! :) Then I headed home for some lunch. I made a fresh salad from my market purchases - spinach, blue cheese, raisins, apples, oil and vinegar. MMmmmmm. Painting class was next, so I hurried over. The models were sick, so we had a lecture. Yes, it was interesting, but yes, I did fall asleep for a little while. It was a long day for sit in the dark for 3 hours haha.

I dropped one of my classes because after weighing the pros and cons of the rest of my time in Europe, I decided it was best for me to not be in that class. It was taking over my life, and I knew I couldn't enjoy my final month here with that looming over me. So I headed to school this morning, printed out my ticket for TURKEY tomorrow with my mommy (!!!!!), and then came home. I was feeling like absolute death. I think I must have eaten something bad, because I got some sort of stomach bug/food poisoning and haven't gotten out of bed since I got back from printing my ticket this morning. I better feel back to normal tomorrow, it would be awful traveling to Istanbul with a bug!! Eww. Oh well. I've been eating the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) to help ease my poor little tummy.

Plan for the weekend:

I'm meeting my mom in Istanbul, Turkey!! She's flying over today (probably about to get on a plane in a few hours), and meeting me there tomorrow morning! We're staying in Turkey for a few days, then she'll be in Rome with our friends Dave and Becky Healey until April 12. The second weekend, we're going to Sicily to stay with Dave's family!! I'm so excited for the next couple weeks. It's just making the time go by even faster AH!