Soccer...under the rain

It is a well-known fact that November is quite an unpredictable month as far as the weather is concerned. Beautiful warm days alternate with rainy and cold ones.

A heavy thunderstorm came down on Rome on Monday night, the day we had chosen for the second soccer match of the semester between the Pantheon Institute students and the ones from the Roma Tre university.

Despite the rain had started falling during the late afternoon already, the students who had to play the game did not lose heart and, once their classes were over, they took the subway and reached the Battistini soccer field, in the north area of Rome. There, they met the students from the Roma Tre university and the university sport activities coordinator.

The American students and the Italian ones mixed up, formed two teams and gave life to a very exciting match characterized by a high number of goals. As a matter of fact, the game ended 11-8!

Sometimes, it looked like we were watching an ice-skating show rather than a soccer match: the quantity of water that came down during the game was just incredible but both the Italian and the American students enjoyed playing so much that we are already scheduling another game in the next few days!

Photo of the month winner!

Congratulations to Alexandra Bojarski-Stauffer for her winning photo of some delicious cannoli sold in a pastry shop of Assisi. Alexandra and one of her friends will enjoy a free meal at Bibli Restaurant in Trastevere!

The new photo competition theme is "Italy at Night" and the best picture will get a beautiful bag with the Vespa logo!

The Surfadelics in concert at Fonclea!

The Surfadelics were born in 2004 when four young Romans, Marco, Enrico, Alessandro and Francesco, decided to form a surf music band. After a couple of years spent playing cover versions of famous songs, the Surfadelics decided to work on their own songs until they managed to come out with the brand new album SUGOI!! KAWAI!! ATARASHI!!

Some of the Pantheon Institute students had the chance to watch a live performance by the Surfadelics on Monday night at Fonclea, one of the most famous music clubs of Rome. This was an opportunity for them to listen to some real good live music but also to explore the nightlife of an area they don’t usually go to like Prati.

The Surfadelics played about 30 tracks, both covers of songs taken from famous movies such as Pulp Fiction and Dirty Dancing and songs from their new album and our students really enjoyed this amazing show!

Landscape Architecture Urban Field Trip

The Penn State Landscape Architecture students have returned from their weeklong expedition to Berlin, Paris, and Barcelona. This trip gave us a chance to step out of the classroom to explore the urban settings of these cities, and to widen our urban design “mental filing cabinets.” The class was split into 3 groups, one for each city, to create an itinerary and become the tour guides for their city. Each day of the trip was filled with lots of walking and sightseeing. We explored many parks and streetscapes, as well as museums and famous monuments. Luckily there was good weather in each city, and the transportation strike in Paris didn’t hinder our travels. We had a great time, but are glad to be back in Rome!

Some of the places we visited in Berlin included:
· Norman Foster’s Dome and Reichstag Building
· Brandenburg Gate
· Unter den Linden
· Berliner Dom and Museum Island
· Holocaust Memorial
· Potsdamer Platz
· Leipzieger Platz
· Topography of Terror
· Holocaust/Jewish Museum and Garden

Places in Paris included:
· Parc de la Villette
· Parc des Buttes Chaumont
· Montmartre
· Moulin Rouge
· Champs Élysées
· Place de l'Étoile and Arc de Triomphe
· Parc Andre Citroen
· Eiffel Tower
· Louvre
· Versailles
· La Defense
· Promenade Plantée
· Place de Vosges
· Centre George Pompidou
· Jardin de Forum des Halles
· Notre Dame
· Jardin de Luxenbourg

Places in Barcelona included:
· Passieg de Gracia
· Rambla del Mar
· Casa Batlo
· Plaza de Catalunya
· Villa de Madrid
· Mercat Santa Caterina
· La Boqueria
· Columbus Monument
· Royal Palace/Magic Fountain
· Castel Montjuic
· Jardi Botanic
· Barcelonetta
· Port Vell
· Parc Dela Cintadella
· Hotel Arts Barcelona-Olympic Fish Sculpture (Frank O. Gehry)
· Diagonal Del Mar
· Southeast Coastal Park
· Esplanade
· Torre Agbar
· Parc del Clot
· Sagrada Familia, Gaudi

Check out our activities photopage to see more pictures from the Urban Field Trip!

Thrilling soccer match with Pantheon Institute students...

Despite the cold weather and the chilling wind, the soccer match we organized on Monday with the Pantheon Institute students was a great success, as usual.

Finally free after a long day spent among architectural projects and Italian grammar, some students met me on Monday night at 8.30pm just outside the Battistini Metro stop. From there, we headed to the soccer fields that are just few meters away.

Only 9 people were ready to play because of a last-minute defection, but the public, formed by other architecture students, was ready to “enjoy the show”. The match started and, for about 10 minutes, we played a 4 vs. 5 game. In spite of this, my team immediately scored a couple of goals thanks to fast and clever movements. Obviously, after a while, we started suffering from playing against 5 people, so we started begging Christian, one of the students who were watching us, to join our team. After refusing at first, Christian slipped on a pair of goalie gloves and started playing with us proving to be an exceptional goalkeeper! Christian guarded our net from the numerous attacks of the opposing team as a real champion!

The game was very tight: among the several game clashes (unwilled, of course), I can’t not mention the terrific bang me and Noah gave to each other’s heads! This head butt literally knocked the both of us flat! Luckily, after few seconds, we got up and started playing again as if nothing had happened.

The final part of the game was very exciting, to say the least…after the opposing team equalized the score, they ended up winning the game!

Even though now I have a very hard time to move because of all the bangs and because I have run way too much for my liking - since I’m pretty old compared to the students - , I have to admit that I had a really good time playing soccer with them, as usual, anyway…

Dolcetto o scherzetto? Trick or treating?

Halloween seems to be a holiday that was invented in America, but has far deeper roots. America discovered it by European immigrants and created a magical fairy-tale reality out of it. In the 19th century, immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought their customs with them from their homelands, and kept them alive up to now.

However, Halloween was originally born in Europe, where it was common in Europe to have a day in celebration to honor the dead: the Romans celebrated the "Feralia" in February at the end of Roman year.

"All Souls' Day" (on November 2nd), was invented by Pope Boniface IV to replace the pagan holiday with one of Catholic roots, all in respect for the deceased. Catholics attend a special Requiem mass, where they remember those who may be close to them that have died. Prayers for the dead are said and votive candles are lit to honor their memory. People may also visit their family's graves to beautify them with wreaths and small lanterns.

Contrary to what it seems, this is a festive time in Italy; more so in the southern regions. It is actually a celebration of life and the importance of family. Many businesses, banks, etc. etc. may be closed during this day, although November 1st is the official legal holiday in Italy (All Saint's Day "Ognissanti", honoring all the saints and martyrs that have died for the Catholic Church).

Trick or treatening, which is the customary celebration for children on Halloween, is not followed in Italy. However, recently more and more Halloween costume parties are being organized; though Halloween is yet to get as much prominence in Italy as it enjoys in United States, there is no denial that the festival has started getting more and more audience.

That's good news for Italian farmers who've increased production to supply pumpkins for Halloween. Italian pumpkins (zucche) are typically smaller and meatier to be used for food, often in ravioli type pastas or soups, but farmers are now growing bigger pumpkins to be used for jack-o-lanterns.

So, if you want to celebrate Halloween, don't give up! You will certainly find a party where to go, but if you are too busy with your academic stuff, do not miss at least the chance of trying some Italian food made with pumpkin! This is the right time!! Happy Halloween!!

New possibilities of meeting Italian students

After last Spring semester’s great success, the Pantheon Institute has decided to give its students the chance to meet some Italian kids from the Roma Tre university again.

This initiative will not only allow them to practice Italian and to help local kids practicing English, but it will also be a unique occasion to meet Roman people and to explore the city with them!

The meeting will be held at the Via del Pantheon office on November 10th at 4.30pm. Our Italian Professors Barbara and Maurizio will be there to help breaking the ice, but we are sure that, even though everybody could be a little shy in the beginning, it will be the first step to new multicultural friendships!

The Pantheon Institute has established a partnership with the Roma Tre university also about sports activities: as a matter of fact, our students have now the opportunity to play soccer against young Italian undergraduates on a regular basis either on weekdays or on Saturdays. If we manage to form a team, we will also be able to participate into some tournaments against Italian university squads!

The Pantheon Institute students can take advantage of many different ways to spend their free time here in Rome either with us or by themselves! These activities are definitely the best ways to know this beautiful city and the people who live in it!