Day 31 (7/5/11):

Liz left this morning :o( Despite our very late arrival time back into Rome last night, she was somehow able to pull herself from bed and get to the airport on time! Eventually, I reluctantly pulled myself from bed, too, and went to class.

At class today we learned about "ne" and how to use it when expressing quantity. It seems pretty straightforward. Then at intensive we had a substitute teacher for the day, and we talked about nostalgia. It was interesting to hear what everyone said they missed from their childhood.

After school I needed to get some boring life things done, like: wash laundry, go to the foodstore, etc. It felt a little like I was wasting a day, but it was probably best that I took the time to do everything now. I also had some time to cook myself a nice little dinner of chicken with melted mozzarella and some pesto pasta. Yum!

Day 32 (7/6/11):

Today at class we learned more about "ne" and how to use it with passato prossimo. Sometimes you can't use it, and you have to use a direct object pronoun instead! Then at intensive, AnneMarie split us into groups to read an article about things Italian men and women generally talk about. From there, our groups started chatting about what people in our countries usually discuss when they chit-chat (chicacchierare, in Italian, might be my favorite word!).

After class I went out to lunch with Andrew, Pepijn, Maria, Tim, and I had some lunch together, then went in search of the pasta museum! Pepijn had read about it, and got us all interested to see what it would be all about. Unfortunately, our search didn't go so well and we never found it :o( Instead, we split up a bit, and I went browsing on Via del Corso (one of the big shopping streets in Rome) to find a dress for some upcoming weddings once I'm back in the states! I had my eye on one dress in particular, and was super excited to see that one store not only had it in my size, was it was also discounted! Woo hoo! :o)

Donna and I had plans for later that evening, so I went home after my shopping trip, and met up with Donna at 7:00 p.m. to check out ViviTevere! All along the banks of the river are tents with food, drinks, music, and other fun. It looks like something is happening there every night! We were a bit too early for ViviTevere, so we went for an aperitivo first at Freni & Frizioni. Later, we went to ViviTevere and joined two girls in Donna's apartment at Lime Bar. The music there was a lot of fun, and everyone had a great time dancing the night away!

On my walk home, I took some pictures of the Vatican at night. I still can't believe I live right around the corner from it!

Day 33 (7/7/11):

Today we reviewed passato prossimo and when to use the imperativo form instead. We have an exam tomorrow (yikes!), so Jessica wanted to make sure we were prepared for it. On Monday we start Level 3!!

Later, at intensive, we split into pairs and had casual conversation with each other. I really like the extra 1.5 hours of speaking/listening time. I feel like I am able to understand people better… well, when I can hear what they're saying through all the noise in Rome, anyway!

I was pretty exhausted today, so Donna and I met up and went to the pool by Castel Sant Angelo. I don't know how this pool has been hidden from me for all these weeks, but I'm glad I finally know that one exists! It was nice to just lounge for the afternoon in the hot Roman sun. Plus, I had a gorgeous view of the top of Saint Peter's Basilica from my lounge chair! It can't get any better than this… :o)

Since I had an exam the next day, I spent the evening at home. I went for a nice long run along the Tevere, made myself a delicious salad for dinner, did some homework and studied a bit, and then made a super long list of all the things I want to see/do during my last few weeks in Rome. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by!