Samantha's Rome Intercultural Practicum Portfolio : Rome

Not many people can say that they were able to call Rome their home for four weeks. There is so much history in this city and over the course of the four weeks that I was there I was able to truly immerse myself in the Italian culture.

The fact that I can say, I walked by St. Peter's Square every single day is truly remarkable. Seeing the Vatican every single day was breathtaking especially after we took a tour during our first weekend. Seeing all of the beautiful paintings and frescos and learning all about the long history that is found in every corner of Rome was amazing. And during our final week, we had the opportunity to go to one of the viewings that happens every Wednesday in St. Peter's Square. The Pope comes out and rides through the square in his popemobile and because he is such a new and beloved Pope, it was extremely crowded. My favorite part was seeing people pass their children to the Pope and he would kiss them on the head. There has never been a Pope who has been so close to the people. Shortly after walking past the Vatican we had to endure one of my least favorite parts of Rome which was the public transportation. It was not the most reliable way to travel, in fact, some days it would take 20 minutes to get to Marymount and other days it may have taken 50. One of the other aspects of Italian culture which I will not miss will be the smoking.

One of the most important parts of Italian culture is their food and that I will definitely miss once I return to the states. You be surprised how many times you can eat pizza, pasta and salads and still not be sick of them. The food was as amazing as I had always dreamed it would be. I attempted to try as many different types of pasta and pizza as possible and our group dinner and lunches definitely helped to make me a more adventurous eater. It seems like they will put practically anything on a pizza! Unfortunately, at some restaurants free water was not an option and it was not until two and half weeks into the trip did we learn you have to ask to tap water. We had been buying bottled water because that is what they brought when you asked for water, but live and learn I guess.

Considering I spent four days a week with children who mostly spoke Italian I did not pick up on as much of the language as I thought I would have but being in a more tourist-y area the communication was not much of an issue. But when we were at the market, which was a ten-ish minute walk from our apartment, there was no English spoken at all by people working there but we had many successful trips despite that fact. At the market there were a few things that were different from home. They wear gloves when touching any fruit or vegetable and we heard that if you do not wear the gloves the workers can get very upset with you but luckily, we always wore gloves.

During our time in Rome we saw the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain, the Castel Sant'Angelo, the Piazza de Popolo as well as a few basillicas along the way. Considering we were only there a month we had the opportunity to see so much of this historic city. During our tours we learned so much. In particular, I thought that the Colosseum was so fantastic. We learned that they used to flood the Colosseum for Naval battles, we walked through the entrance where some of the gladiators took their final steps, it literally took my breath away. In addition to these amazing sites we also got the chance to find great gelato, our favorite was Old Bridge and just a fifteen minute walk from the residence.

I learned so much during my time in Rome and am so happy to have had the opportunity to spend so much time in such an amazing city. The environment of living in a city gave me a new perspective.