Day 16 (6/20/11):

This morning Jackie and I woke up and went for a run before getting ready to start the day. Afterwards, we went towards school and stopped in the Leonardo da Vinci museum. Once again, we were happy to get some entrance discounts because of our student IDs!

The museum was small, with a lot of long explanations to read about all the inventions Leonardo made. I guess I never knew how many things he invented, and all the things he did! He painted, drew, made special codes to keep his ideas secret, built machines (including the bicycle!), and made several inventions that influenced modern day technology. Overall, it was an interesting place to visit.

Afterwards, we stopped by the market in Campo de Fiori and bought some fresh veggies to make dinner later that night. We were also able to taste a large variety of sauces and pestos, and they were delicious!

After the market we went to the Pantheon and wandered around inside a bit. I didn't know Rafael was buried there!

For lunch, I brought Jackie to the small shop where I ordered a fresh panino last week. We both got a panino and brought them to the wall at the Pantheon to sit an do our homework before class.

At class today we learned all about "cui" and when to use it instead of "che". I am not a fan of cui. Marlena could tell we were all struggling with it, and gave us some helpful hints that would allow us to complete our homework a bit easier. Hopefully I'll catch on to it soon!

Jackie, Sal, and I went to Frigidarium (aka: the best gelato place by school!!) to get some gelato after class. This time, we got it dipped in chocolate! Yum! It was super good, but the hard chocolate coating made it difficult to eat. Totally worth it, though, and a great pre-dinner snack! :o) Later that night, Jackie and I spent the evening cooking dinner in our teeny tiny kitchen and catching up on our journals. These things are hard to keep up with! One of the girls in our apartment, Janice, also hung out with us for a bit, and it was really nice getting to know her better.

Day 17 (6/21/11)

This morning we decided to go dress shopping for some upcoming festivities we both have once we get back to the States! We started off on the main shopping street by the Vatican and worked our way down the street, stopping into almost every shop. Jackie found a really cute dress super quickly, but I was striking out. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find something :o)

After a while, Jackie went to continue shopping on Via del Corso downtown, while I went in search of my next apartment, since I wasn't sure exactly where it was in relation to where we were. Turns out, it is right next to the metro stop! How lucky!

Then I wandered my way towards school and eventually stopped in this cute artsy café for a panino and a place to do my homework. A local Italian man asked me if I was studying the language, and we got to chatting. It's so fun to practice the things I've learned with locals!

Later at class, we started learning the imperfetto form of verbs. It's past tense, but it's generally used when something occurred frequently or regularly in the past. It is also used to describe something in the past, like weather for example. I actually think it's way easier than passato prossimo, and caught on pretty quickly.

We didn't have plans for after school, so Jackie, Andrew, and I went around the corner to a place called Gio that Donna had recommended to us. They have a really great aperitivo! This is also where we discovered the amaretto mojito!! If you haven't tried it, please go find one somewhere… they are delicious!!

We stayed there for a little while and enjoyed plenty of food along with our amaretto mojitos. Then Jackie and I parted ways again, while she went home and I went to pick up the keys to my next apartment.

Later in the evening, Jackie and I were doing our homework in the apartment when we started hearing all sorts of music and singing going on. We decided to go check it out and found a concert going on outside by San Giovanni in Laterano! It was pretty cool. Of course, we really couldn't understand much, and just laughed when everyone else laughed and clapped when everyone else clapped! We wanted to fit in :o) We sat an listened and watched it for a while before eventually heading back to our apartment and going to bed.