Seven Things I Didn’t Expect from Rome

Until the start of this semester I had never been abroad.  I had no idea what to expect from the Eternal City and no idea what the culture shock would entail.  As of yet the culture shock has not been very extreme, but there have been several surprises that I did not anticipate.

The Drivers Here are Crazy

The drivers here are literally insane.  I come from a city where the drivers are considered reckless.  Once in Chicago I took a cab ride with my family and our driver actually hit a pedestrian and kept driving.  Prior to arriving here, I watched Angels and Demons as part of my preparation for the semester. (Very serious preparation, I know)  The entire film I kept wondering why Tom Hanks and his crew were driving on sidewalks, speeding, and abandoning their car in the most inconvenient places.  I soon discovered that this is the social norm here.  Now if only Ewan McGregor was actually the Camerlengo and the distance between us was really just under three miles…

Stray Dogs and Cats

There are stray dogs and cats everywhere!  Particularly at tourist sites…

3.  

   

3. (That last picture might not actually be a picture of a stray...but it was a really great ginger cat!)

3

Slow Eating

I knew that the food here would be amazing.  I didn’t realize that eating slowly and that long and luxurious meals, whether they be in Mensa or out in the city, is the norm.  Maybe it’s because I’m frequently the “on-the-go” mess running around Lakeshore Campus with a coffee and bagel in hand, but this surprised me.

Coffee Culture

I’m a caffeine addict.  It’s my biggest vice.  So adapting to the coffee culture here has been tricky.  It’s only been a month, but many a time I have been in Rinaldo’s trying to order what I think is one espresso based drink, but turns out to be another espresso based drink entirely.  At any rate, my body is still adjusting to the concept of lots of caffeine in small doses.  However, I am happy to say I have now fully embraced the Italian cappuccino. 

Purple is Unlucky

 While doing a worksheet in My Italian 102 class, Italian professor extraordinaire James Schwarten informed everyone that purple is an unlucky color in Italy.  Weird, right? 

Strikes and Public Transit

Maybe this makes me an “uninformed American,” but I had no idea that strikes were so frequent or that the buses were so unreliable.  Don’t get me wrong-when it is running the Public Transit here is great!  I love the Metro!  It’s just like CTA in Chicago!  However, when you wait eighty minutes for the N6 or your bus driver pulls your bus to the side of the road and stops to read the paper before the next run, there is part of you that thinks, “Only in Europe…”

Italians are Wonderful

I came here and thought that every person I met who was not American was going to hate me.  In retrospect that sounds stupid.  However, all my relatives and friends who had been to Europe focused on how much Europeans hate Americans, they had me convinced that not knowing the language at all was going to hinder me in more ways than I could ever imagine.  I thought I was going to have to lie all semester and say I was Canadian.  The reality?  As long as one is a level headed human being, attempts Italian, and is friendly, Italians, or at least the ones I’ve encountered, are willing to help and attempt conversation with you.

Ciao!

P.S. Please forgive the fact that I STILL cannot format my entries properly.

Oscar Nominations

I’m not going to give predictions here.  I did not see as many of the contenders as I would have liked and I’m more interested in commenting on the snubs and surprises. 

SURPRISES

1.      Jonah Hill

I watched Moneyball during my flight to Rome and I could not hear very well, but I found it interesting that the Academy chose to recognize him.  The Academy is starting to recognize young Hollywood and I like it!

2.      Melissa McCarthy

Performance of the year.  So what if it’s comedy?  It is brilliant.  I had never thought much of her during her days on Gilmore Girls but this performance put her on the map.  If she doesn’t win I’ll cry, or invent an award and give it to her myself.

3.      Rooney Mara

I loved the book series and was way too excited for the film.  Subsequently, the film was very anticlimactic.  However, Rooney Mara exceeded my expectations.  I highly doubt she will take home the statue but this can only lead to good things for Ms. Mara and her career.

 

4.      Joseph Gordon-Levitt

50/50 was a terrific and underappreciated film.   Joseph Gordon-Levitt has consistently done well in all of his work included and not limited to his performances in 500 Days of Summer and Inception.  I would like to ask the Academy to (please) recognize his talent.

SNUBS

1.      Shailene Woodley

I liked The Help.   However, I did not love it.  I did love The Descendants and thought that Ms. Woodley gave a phenomenal performance, especially for someone of her age and experience.  Given the surprises in this year’s nominations I was sure that she could snag a spot in the Best Supporting Actress category.

2.       

Leonardo Di Caprio

I did not see J. Edgar. I just assumed Mr. DiCaprio would be nominated for it.  He is typically thrown into the mix every year, though he has often been overlooked for wonderful work in films like Romeo+Juliet, Revolutionary Road and Inception.  In the meantime his equally as talented friend, Kate Winslet, can console him and lament the fact that he has the curse she used to have where one is continually nominated yet never rewarded.  

3.      Ryan Gosling

This talented actor has only been recognized for Half Nelson (which is a great film).  He has been passed up for Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine, Ides of March, and Drive.  And he gave even BETTER performances in ALL of these films (save for Drive which I can’t comment on because I have not seen it). 

4.      Evan Rachel Wood

She was fantastic in Ides of March, which I believe to be the best film of the year.  She was recognized for her work in Mildred Pierce by the Globes and Emmys, and her body of work only becomes more varied and interesting as time goes on.  The Academy is starting to recognize “Young Hollywood” and she should be at the top of their list.

5.      Paul Giamatti/Philip Seymour Hoffman

Both are older gentlemen who are typically recognized and both gave fantastic performances.  I doubt they care at this point but all the same, at least one of them should have been nominated.  

6.      Anna Kendrick/Seth Rogan

I’m not surprised that the two are not nominated.  They are young and this film was not appreciated the way it should have been.  Nevertheless, they were snubbed.

7.Felcity Jones/Anton Yelchin

Like Crazy was not the greatest film.  However, the performance were raw and moving.  Let's recognize young Hollywood and newcomers all the time.

8. Ides of March

This was the best film I saw all year.  It was snubbed in terms of acting and directing.  Tsk Tsk.

On a Side Note…

I really enjoyed that Jennifer Lawrence read the nominations.  The Academy wants to be “cool” and cater to a younger audience. After last year’s failure of Anne Hathaway and James Franco as hosts they decided this was the way to do it.  This is preferable.  

 

Also, they probably know that Jennifer Lawrence is the epitome of cool and that The Hunger Games is going to be fantastic.  But that’s just me…

I also apologize to Andrea for our entries being so similar, we just held very similar opinions this season.

Exposing the Truth...FROM ROME

Saluti da Roma!

For the two people who read my blog: I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while.  But I’m back and ready to report all the details of my exciting life…from another country!  I have traveled quite a bit already and have seen a great deal so there is a lot I could say about Rome.  However, I wanted to focus on something interesting, and this past weekend I thought of something goofy that would make for a great entry. 

During our orientation trip for school they took us to a Buffalo farm in Paestum for a Mozzarella tasting.  Very fun, very random, and CLEARLY ideal for my first entry from abroad. 

The day began with a long bus ride to the farm.  Once we arrived we went to a window where two young men were making and braiding mozzarella.  One of the young workers was even churning the mixture (something I had only ever read about in Laura Ingalls Wilder novels but never actually seen).  

They then took us to the pens where they housed the buffalo.  The woman described their system as “very democratic.”  The buffalo are never forced to give milk, rather when they feel full they can head over to the high tech machine that takes their milk.  In the meantime, or afterwards, the buffalo can enjoy themselves in the spacious pens, stop for a massage (there was a massage station with a queue), or socialize with one another.  The males can also have their pick of the litter in terms of females because there are only eight of them  and there are at least one hundred females.  

The whole farm seems too good to be true.  They treat the animals well and make delicious mozzarella! What could be more perfect?   Sadly the somewhat misleading (I honestly should have known better) tour took a turn for the worse.  

Our tour guide then took us to the leather shop.  I thought I misheard her, but alas, we then entered the shop there were men were hard at work making leather goods from leather skins sent to the farm from Tuscany.  The skins were taken from male baby buffalo.  Myself and the two other vegetarians in the room sadly accepted that this farm was not the Buffalo paradise we had imagined it was.  ( I took the following picture solely for documentary purposes.)

Then our group tasted delicious mozzarella, which I suppose was all right because the animals were not harmed for that, they were just part of a farm that wanted to kill the buffalo from other farms.  You win some and lose some. Oh the injustice.

At any rate, it was a very random event that I felt warranted an entry on my blog. 

Also, someone on the farm had a giant truck and it was the largest car I've seen in the two weeks I have been here.  They also hate the Earth.  (Now, I'm just getting pretentious and a bit hypocritical.)

Until next time lots of love from Rome!

Sara

Finals Week

Blogger was acting up so this post is about something that already occurred.   I think you should read this entry anyway :  P

Oh hey!

I started this super awesome blog about a month ago and I've been awesome at updating it...

Well, at any rate, today's entry is going to focus on something I love...FINALS WEEK.  

I know what you're thinking -who loves finals week? The answer?  This chick.  Finals week is stressful and awful for any college kid but there ARE fun things to note about finals week with proper consideration....

1.  YOU CAN DRINK AS MUCH CAFFEINE AS YOU WANT AND NO ONE CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT.  I personally consider caffeine responsible for a majority of my academic success.  Last year I had a final in my theology class and the professor was as tough as nails.  He refused to give anyone an "A".  EVER.  (Not really, but you get the point..)  I had to write two in class essays for the final.  I slowly drank the twenty oz. Red Bull that my friend had given me for my birthday throughout the two hour exam.  In my tiny illegible cursive handwriting I wrote eight pages.  I aced that sucker.  I continued this tradition this year with a pretty dense exam that I had only started studying for the day before.  My poison?  A twenty oz. coffee from the school cafeteria.  (It was dollar deal Tuesday for ANY size coffee drip my friends.)  I'm pretty sure I did well on it.  This is in no way meant to brag!  Seriously.  This is advice that probably would have been in Poor Richard's Almanac had someone found a way to make it rhyme or word it more cleverly.  

  

My Secret Santa bought me a case of Red Bull.  That's friendship right there.

  

2. WORK/The Front Desk

At my old job we were only allowed to do homework during Finals Week.  At my current job I can also do homework.  Going to my job forces me to study.  I actually get work done as opposed to the hours spent in my dorm periodically checking facebook, eating Kashi cereal, writing things on Post It Notes, not doing my dishes or laundry, etc... However, a few days ago I decided I deserved a little bit of a break.  I'm allowed to use Pandora to put on some Christmas music and spread the Holiday Cheer.  Unfortunately, I've had Rihanna stuck in my head for the last eight days.  So instead I forced the residents in my hall to listen to "We found love" on repeat.  When Pandora died on me, I then forced them to listen to me sing it at the front desk.  If my boss had been nearby he might have tried to find a legitimate reason to fire me just to end the madness.

 3. THE IC (Information Commons)

I love the IC during finals week.  (That's the Information Commons for you non-Loyola readers of my blog.)

 Everyone is there.  Everyone.  All the time.  And yesterday I was doing some last minute cramming and I saw a girl dressed as a dinosaur.  I'm not lying.  It was incredibly strange and I took a picture of her on my phone in a creep-like manner.  

 

 This is what the costume looked like.  (Not the creepy picture I took)
 

4. The Halfway Point Where One Loses All Motivation to do work

I still have two finals left.  Neither one will be too difficult.  What have I opted to do instead?  Update my blog and watch Slings and Arrows (which, while mildly entertaining is not living up to my expectations).

 I also offer these for finals procrastination:

www.themoviebox.net

 www.writtenkitten.net

Lots of holiday Cheer!