Tulane School of Architecture Rome Fall 2010

Here is a very nice video that some students from the Tulane School of Architecture prepared about their experience in Rome! They were students at the Pantheon Institute during the Fall2010 semester.

My Holiday in Rome

My holiday in Roma has been blissful and a dream come true. Daily life includes a cafe of some sort (of course), trips to the market, guided walks of the city, class by the Pantheon, and cooking an Italian meal to the best of my ability.

Speaking of..last week, a staff member came to our apartment to teach us how to cook a true Italian meal! The Menu: Parmesan Pear Salad, Rigatoni alla Carbonara, and Tiramisu that was to die for! When I go home to the States they will be blown away by my new talent.

This past weekend Chad and I took a weekend trip to the Amalfi Coat and Capri. BREATHTAKING. I can't imagine how stunning it must be in the spring when everything is in bloom! Chad and I may have gotten off path a few times, but what a better way to see the coast then to hike it? Sunday we took a ferry from Sorrento to Capri. The water was brilliantly blue and surrounded the entire island. Chad and I enjoyed a cafe and gelato on top of the city centro. It was truly paradise on earth.

I try to pinch myself daily to be reminded of where I am. Every day holds a new adventure in Roma and I plan on embracing every moment of it!

My First Impressions of Rome - Part II

Despite the appearance, the Carabinieri, or military police, are not guarding our architecture studio (behind the rolling metal door) - President Silvio Berlusconi's condo is next door.The tiny and ubiquitous Fiat 500 - these cars are seen everywhere you go in Rome, and manage to make the Mini look spacious. Fiats are perfect cars for Romans - they're cheap, can be parked anywhere, and easily navigate narrow, ancient streets.The rotunda of the Pantheon, the world's larges non-reinforced concrete dome, unmatched since 126 AD. The oculus (circular opening) alone is over 25 feet in diameter.Shopping for produce at Campo de' Fiori (the field of flowers), one of the largest public markets in Rome. Chain supermarkets are competing with the traditional markets, but it seems that most Romans still prefer farm-fresh fruit and vegetables from their familiar greengrocer.I felt obligated to post the stereotypical Rome tourist photo of the Colosseum, but it didn't seem so colossal when compared to Beaver Stadium...

Until later, Ciao!

My First Impressions of Rome - Part I

I arrived in Rome a little over 5 weeks ago, and have been working through some technical roadblocks with the internet connection. I'm living in an 11th Century former monastery inTrastevere, across the Tiber from center-city Rome (hence the bad wifi). Trastevere is a middle-class neighborhood, with a good mix of permanent residents and international exchange students living here. It is much quieter and less "touristy" than many other parts of Rome, as it pretty far from most of the well-known sites in Rome. Trastevere is full of narrow cobblestone streets lined with centuries-old apartment buildings and too many old churches, family grocers, and fantastic restaurants to count. Anything you could need while living here for a semester is within walking distance. I'm feeling very much at home already!

Kendall's ramblings...

I'm coming up on week 4 here, and this city still affects me on a daily basis. I could honestly see myself living here. I feel something here that I fear leaving behind. I want to hold it close to me forever, it's indescribable, but all consuming. It will own a piece of me forever, that is all I know. The magic is still everywhere, waiting around every corner to slam into me and leave me aghast. The people who smile as you sip coffee, tipping their hats and crinkling their cheeks is so rare in America. These people have such a warmth inside them, and they are so willing to share it with you if you just keep an open mind. There are the obvious negatives too, with the aggressive Italian men blowing kisses, saying comments, and sometimes trying to grab, but all of that is taken in easy stride. Not too much different in America. :)

I took a trip to the Vatican for the first time this past week. It was probably one of the most moving experiences of my life. We got a special trip down to the Necropolis. We had a wonderful tour guide show us the tombs of the old pagan families in this area. These tombs were originally above ground, but when Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, he sent out a notice that he would be building his Basilica over the tombs, so they could come collect their dead. The tombs were then covered in dirt, forever buried under the church we now call The Vatican. Walking underground was incredible, seeing these ancient tombs that were decorated with such detail, to respect those that had passed is not something to take lightly. It forces you to realize how seriously they cared about their families, and how devoted they were to assuring them a peaceful end. Walking along the excavated passageways, with dirt and cement at our feet, and quiet in the air, you can't help but swallow the magnitude of what you are seeing before you. As we walked west, we got closer and closer to the tomb of St. Peter. I have never been a very religious person, but I absolutely respect all religions for their belief and devotion. Walking into a a beautiful little temple underground, our tour guide told us more about St. Peter. How he was crucified upside down because he felt it was unjust to be crucified in the same way of his savior. The tiny temple we were sitting in was right up against his tomb, with the room shaped like an inverted cross. It wasn't until our wonderful tour guide told us that we were going to see his bones, that everything seemed to fall apart in my chest. I had no idea what we were actually going to be seeing that day, and as we were read a quote that Jesus had said, followed by a moment of silence, I fell apart, hard. Standing next to the remnants of what was believed to be one of the foundations of Christianity allowed me to be grateful for my humanity, and in the belief of people. We were reminded that no matter what custom, religion, language, or landscape we come from, we will always be connected through who we are people. I'll never forget the feeling I had in that moment, the overwhelming, desperate, shocking emotion that ran through me was once again unique to this place, and I am nothing but grateful to be soaking it in.

This past weekend, we were supposed to go to Perugia, just to take a night to spread our wings a little. Plans fell through when the tickets were a little too expensive. Instead we went to the Borghese gardens and went out to a nice dinner. The gardens were a little disappointing in my opinion, after seeing what I saw at Villa D'Este, it's hard to compare anything with it. The dinner was wonderful, I had a fettuccini dish with mushrooms, peppers, and spices. Three of us sat for hours outside next to a heat lamp within a little outcove, just talking and sharing stories. It was the kind of experience I always dreamed of when coming to Italy, almost cliche' in its nature.

Next weekend a few of us are going to Naples, and maybe Capri. I'll have to update after that trip. I hope all is well with everyone in their lives, and I especially hope you enjoy my ramblings.

Relaxing time…

For American guys, life in Rome is not only studying at the Institute and visiting beautiful monuments: it’s also taking some time for themselves and just… relax.

Today we tried a yoga class. We set the room and layed on the floor with our towels. The yoga teacher put some soft music and whispered instructions about how to relax our body and mind. We moved slowly and gently, flexing and streching our body and keeping concentrated on our mind. We learnt how to breath correctly, as a good breathing can affect positively our body and mind health.

As the class finished, we all could experience the benefits of this discipline. We felt relaxed and fit at the same time and, in some way, our mind was closer to our body. It was amazing! A very nice experience!

Lezioni di cucina...Cooking classes!

The last one of the five cooking classes that we organized for the Spring2011 students was held last night at the dorms of Santa Maria in Cappella.

The Pantheon Institute kids proved to be so interested in this activity that about 80% of them took part into one of the cooking classes that we scheduled between the last week of January and the second week of February! This is amazing!

The menu we cooked was always the same…more or less! As a matter of fact, I decided to let the students prepare pasta all’amatriciana last night instead of carbonara…and I have to say that the outcome was pretty good, as usual! But we did not miss our tasty Valerian salad with Parmesan cheese, walnuts and pears and, of course, the tiramisu, the favorite desert of a large amount of students!

All of the recipes that we proposed are obviously very easy to prepare but, at the same time, extremely tasty and I am sure that many students will try again to cook carbonara or tiramisu during their semester in Rome or maybe also when they go back to the US…

Check out our activities photo page to see all of the pictures that we took last night: http://www.pantheon-institute.com/photopage.php

Photo of the Month

Here is the winning picture of January's photo competition!

Congratulations to Samantha Josaphat!

Check out or Activities Photopage to see all of the other pictures that the Pantheon Institute students sent us!