FIELD TRIPPP

Every Wednesday we have a trip into Rome for a "field trip" for our Art and Architecture class. This past week we went to the Roman Forum, a place where Romans gathered for, well, EVERYTHING! The Roman Forum was used for political, social, religious, and even entertainment matters. It was so cool to be so close to ancient history, we saw ancient temples and arches which had extreme political significance! Here are a few pictures from the Forum.

With our school pass which

got us into the Forum, we also had free admittance to the inside of the Colloseum!! It was incredible! We were able to see below the original stage/battle area, where they used to keep animals and where stations were. I was blown away by the view! It was magnificant!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAYYY

Today was the Annual CARNIVAL PARADE in Marino, the town up the road from our campus! It is similar to the USA's Halloween. This festival is celebrated every year on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. This year it just happened to fall on VALENTINES DAY!!! All the children were dressed in costume: princesses, vampires, pirates etc. A few of us went to Marino to see what this parade as all about. We found a box with costumes in it. Some girls decided to dress as HORSES :) I just put on a yellow tutu! There was confetti everywhere, people had floats and even adults dressed up. The craziest part of this was the dancers. I feel the pictures I took are a bit inappropriate to upload, but there were 4 girls dressed in sequin bras and thongs. They had HUGE feathery headpieces and wings on. They were absolutely ridiculous and dancing crazily... I think Dr. Hatlie, the professor that went with us, was extremely embarrassed by this! All in all, this way a LOVELY DAY!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO EVERYONEEE!!!

SNOOOOOWWW IN ROMEEE!!!!!!

my lit trad teacher and me

Mariana's first snow ->
dr blues daughter and me
We were all slightly jealous of all the snow in the United States. The University of Dallas in Irving had delayed classes and people were getting off work... we were thinking "oh if only it would snow here"... Well, we went to bed and woke up to SNOOOWW outside our window. It is BEAUTIFULLL!!! The vineyard at our school is covered in snow and it is absolutely gorgeous! We had a snowball fight and our teachers and their kids played in the snow too. The weather is crazyyyy.. it was snowing HUGE FLAKES, then it changed to RAIN, then SLEET and back to SNOW. Ten we HEARD snow THUNDER! It was absolutely CRAZY! We had sooo much fun. Now we are drinking cappucinos and watching movies! What a lovely DAY! And it is the first SNOW that the Rome campus has seen in 20 years!!!!!!

ROOMIES

Mussels in Brussels... BELGIUM

We took an early flight out of Rome on Friday morning, putting us in Brussels around noon. We had to take a bus from the airport into the city which took 45 minutes. When finally arriving in Brussels, we found our hostel an gt our first waffle!!! I got whipped topping and sprinkles on mine! We explored the city and came across Grand Place and Manneken Piss. The peeing boy was funny, but he was a much smaller statue than we anticipated!

Then we went to McDonalds which made us feel at home! We had hamburgers and used there free WIFI!!! After using the internet and regaining our strength, we walked round and got some chocolate which tasted DELICIOUS!!! Friday night we went to Delirium, a popular bar that has 2000 plus beers on draft. The beer was AWESOME! Ironically, GOOGLE was sponsoring an event at the bar. We met a google engineer named Dan who helped get us some free drinks!! We also met a group of European guys who were celerating their friend Ricky's birthday!!!

The next day we slept in until 10am, checked out of the hostel by 11am, and had our next waffle by 12 noon. We spent Saturday walking around and shopping. I bought a pair of HIGH TOP sneakers (on sale!!) and a pair of SKINNY JEANS!!! Our flight Sunday was scheduled for 6:30am, and the gates shut at 6am. The first bus that leaves town to go to the airport is at 4am, the last is at 12 midnight. We decided that we would see how our night went and then make our final decision. Went to Delirium Bar again, after a nice dinner of MUSSELS!!-MY FIRST TIME!! At Delerium, we tried some diffferent beers, my favorite was called Cactis, a green beer. We decided to leave Delirium and try and make the last bus for the airport, and when we got there we could pile up and sleep until our flight the next morning.. (we didn't reserve a hostel for Saturday night because our flight was so early, it was just be a waste of money). We took the metro tram to the bus station, which our bus had alredy left. Because it was night, the bus station locks all the bathrooms-which is not good for 3 girls who had been drinking since 8pm. We asked some policemen who told us to find a bar nearby and buy a drink, and use their bathroom. So, we walked up to a nearby bar, which happened to be very UPSCALE with some very very nicely dressed Europeans. We headed straight to the bar. Cortney and I each ordered a "PALM", the cheapest beer on the menu! One by One we descretely used their bathroom. In the meantime, somehow, the bartender must have fallen in love with me. He started pouring me free beer and mixed drinks! We ended our night at the bar with 3 cappuccinos so we could wait up for the bus. We headed back to the station alittle after 2am. The station was LOCKED!!! and it was FREEZING outside! We finally flagged down some police men inside who kindly opened the door for us. This was extremely lucky because there were few people inside the station, we WAYY MORE secure inside than outside the station. We huddled up in a corner and waited until 4am, when our bus arrived. We took our bus to the airport, got through security pretty smoothly and hopped on our plane home.

Overall, the trip was extremely successfu. When we were lost, stranded, or COLD, God blessed us and led us to an alternative. He was right there with us the whole time. It was a perfect first weekend trip. We saw some sights, did what we wanted to do, and relaxed a bit as well.

Overall, the Belgium trip = A+

Orvieto and Assisi

ORVIETO, Italy

We left UD nice and early Friday morning and headed to Orvieto, a little Etruscan town North of Rome. It was neat stopping here because we are studying the Etruscan Civilization in our Western Civilization class. We visited the gorgeous cathedral and were able to see the beautiful town below, just before we were on our way to Assisi.

ASSISI, Italy

The morning which we arrived in Assisi, we visited the Basilica, also known as the Church of St. Francis. This is where the remains of St. Francis reside, which is underneath the church in an adoration chapel. Our theology teacher led our tour throughout the Basilica, which was INCREDIBLE. The town below Assisi was breathtaking, and honestly, no picture could do this city justice. The town was perfect, not in a SIMS or Pleasantville type of way, but in a serene, relaxing, ideal type of way. I learned so much about St. Francis and St. Clare on my trip. In all my years of Catholic schooling (14 years to be exact), I had only learned that Francis was the saint who was one with nature. I had never known that he receives Stigmata, meaning in the later years of his life, he literally RECEIVED the WOUNDS OF CHRIST, from the nail markings in his hands and feet, to the wounds in his side which occasionally bled on his cloak. Not only did he receive stigmata, but he additionally performed miracles and was in one with nature. I had no idea that Francis was such a representation of Christ, how incredible.

I spent part of my Saturday afternoon alone, walking the streets of this peaceful town. I went to the Church of St. Francis to pray, and I sat in front of Francis' tomb. It was incredible. On Sunday we toured the Church of St. Clare and San Damiano. Francis spent a lot of his ministry at these churches and St. Clare's church still holds the crucifix which spoke to Francis, restoring him. When we left Assisi, we went to Santa Maria degli Angeli or the Church of St. Mary of the Angels. This church was gorgeous, with angels guarding the outside and the original chapel founded in 1209, used by Franciscans and Francis himself. Additionally, this is Francis' death place. The chapel in side was amazing, it is incredible that it has been preserved and is still in use.






Saturday night we had a nice dinner at our hotel and a wine tasting led by our campus priest, with Umbrian wines. We tried three different red wines offered by the university, and a last dessert wine offered by the wine bar that sponsored us. I purchased 2 bottles: Saio, a medium priced wine-good with meats and cheese, and the dessert wine, Vino and Visciole-a dark cherry wine. Both are delicious and I hope to save them for when I am back in the states to share with a special someone... :)





Overall, the trip was incredible. All three stops held their own uniquenesses (is that a word?). I loved all three and they each had something special to offer. I enjoyed Assisi the most; having the opportunity to walk where saints have walked and to see the tombs of both Clare and Francis was amazing.