Autumn

The changing of seasons is one of the reasons I am thankful to be from the Midwest City of Chicago. Winter brings the holiday cheer, spring offers fresh hope, summer warms everyone, and then there is autumn-the season of change.

Since I have lived in Southern California for the past three years for school, I have missed the fall season so much. I took the crisp air, apple picking, colored trees, and falling leaves for granted. Being abroad in Rome, I had no idea what to expect of the weather during this season.

Well for starters, I have experienced the hottest climate of my life. From August through November I have been able to still wear shorts, sandals, or even a sundress. The other day it was pouring rain, and I was ecstatic to be using an umbrella while wearing a raincoat and boots. But, by the end of day, the sun was out, and baking all under its rays. The climate in Rome has been consistently warm for the past three months. But, I realized something marvelous about the weather.

Even though it may be hot here, the leaves may not change, or maybe I can’t find a pumpkin pie at the supermarket, one thing is for sure. Autumn is still in the air, for change is always consistent.

Change is scary, vulnerable, and sometimes life altering. The study abroad experience is a drastic change. One moves for at least a four-month period of time to live in a foreign country. There are many reasons a student chooses to study abroad. The motives can vary drastically. Some see it as a season of European travel, while others desire to stay in one city and long to capture every aspect of it. I chose Rome because I saw a rich cultural opportunity beneath it, one that would be rewarding for the rest of my life. Italy is where my mother’s family is from, and therefore I saw it also as a chance to learn the language and understand more of my cultural heritage. It’s a personal choice.

No matter where one studies, what one’s major is, or whom one comes with. The experience is personally rewarding, challenging, and constantly shifting. Thus far, I have encountered autumn within myself. Despite the weather, I have been living a season of change.

Living with people I have never met in my senior year of college is strange; but I have learned in a deeper way that friendships can be formed among a group who come from different backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives. Living in an ancient city filled with religious relics, rich history, and lasting architecture has taught me to appreciate how the world has changed through time. Living in a place where the Italian language surrounds me, has stretched me and shown me new aspects of communication. Lastly, living in a foreign culture where time is not of the essence has revealed a new way of living in the moment.

For me, studying in Rome has not been a season of discovering who I am. Rather, it has been one of learning to appreciate new perspectives, one of growth in my personal beliefs, and finally, one of choosing to embrace autumn.

Bailamos! by Olivia Dickow

I have no rhythm. Even though I was born Italian, I have never felt this trait was inherited unto me. Well, my thoughts on dancing were about to change when the Pantheon Institute organized a thrilling event. They invited students to come to a Latin dance session. Due to my immediate insecurity, I obviously ignored the sign up sheet. However, my roommate had other plans and made sure my name was written.

A few minutes before heading to the school for this dance sensation, my roommates and I panicked as to what we were to wear. What was the proper attire for Latin dancing? Should we wear leggings, a casual dress, and black heels? Or should we wear sweat pants, white t-shirt, and gym shoes? In the frazzle of the moment, we chose the more fancy option.

When we arrived at the gym, we realized we should have chosen the later more casual apparel. For our Brazilian guy instructor named, Reyna, was in workout clothes and already sweating. His welcoming presence and no comprehension for the English language, got the six of us there so pumped for this incredible experience. We walked into the dance room, and realized from the beginning that Latin dance actually encompassed many diverse unexpected genres.

With dance music already playing, we started laughing when our instructor began to lead us into zumba dancing. Obviously, this has become one of the most popular aerobic dances in the States. But, apparently, it was just as popular in Italy. As I tried to mimic my instructor’s moves, while glancing in the mirrors at my friends, I could not take myself seriously. Honestly, I

did not even care.

After our Shakira number, we did the vampira dance. It included basic zumba moves, but with vampire poses throughout random pauses during the song. I just wished someone had gotten those faces on camera. After complete and utter success as actresses, Reyna set the new mood for our second portion to the class.

He passed out purple, blue, yellow, and orange boa scarves. He put on his sparkling white glittery fedora hat, and then turned out the lights. The burlesque atmosphere got us jumpy, excited, and all together hyper. He put on the Christina Aguilera hit from her latest movie, Burlesque, and we let loose under the spinning cosmic lights. This evening just got better by the minute.

Sweaty, barefoot, and utterly energized, I did not want the class to end. As we all shook off embarrassment, worries of the day, and those extra calories from the pizza overload, we just had such a grand time together. Dancing in Italy, laughing with new made friends from the program, and posing for pictures with Reyna, was an evening well spent. I no longer care that I don’t have rhythm. I just want to go back and experience it all over again.

Quieres bailar?

On Friday 11th November our students and I had a Latin-American dance class with a Brazilian instructor.

We took the bus and went to a gym on the Aventine Hill. Since we arrived early we had a walk around the beautiful Aventine Hill, a very peaceful place compared to the rest of the city centre, and reached the Giardino degli Aranci (Orange Garden) which offers an amazing view over Trastevere and the dome of St. Peter’s.

Then we came back to the gym and met Reyna, the Brazilian instructor, who explained us how the class was structured: we were going to practice different kinds of dance: zumba, merengue, burlesque and group dance that are well-known in Italy. Then he told us that we had not to think about our movements, it didn’t matter if we made mistakes: we just had to enjoy ourselves!

We started with some warm-up exercises to loosen up our muscles and then we began to dance. We danced with many different songs, among them: the well-known “Waka-Waka” by Shakira; “Danza Kuduro”, the summer hit in Italy; “El Pam Pam”, a group dance; “The Vampire Dance”, a typical dance of Brazilian Carnival. We ended with a burlesque dance, Reyna gave us some colorful feather boas and told us to free ourselves and not to feel inhibited, so he turned off the light and we danced feeling less embarrassed.

We spent a very pleasant time and had a lot of fun, the instructor was very nice and we

hope to have another Latin-American dance class again very soon!!!

20 October 2011 - Rome like Venice?

On October 20th, Rome was thrown into disarray due to the heavy rain since the early hours of the day, resulting in widespread flooding across the city.

At the height of rush hour many pedestrians found the capital's streets virtually impassable, with large amounts of people opting to take shelter in doorways. People walk past a paddle next to Rome's ancient Colosseum and near the most famous monuments.

Most of Pantheon Institute staff could not reach the center of the city and had to come back home; the school was strangely empty and classes were cancelled.

Trees were felled, subways were flooded and some roads crumbled. Private schools in Rome urged parents to keep their children home for the day, saying classrooms were flooded and roads near schools impassable.

Rome's agency for mobility reports that the many Metro A stations were closed due to flooding and some bus routes were diverted, in particular the northern periphery services.

Hours after the rain stopped, cars remained trapped in massive traffic jams on the outskirts of the city.

The mayor of Rome called for a state of emergency Thursday after a heavy storm caused flooding, traffic delays and the death of an elderly man."The intensity of the storm was unexpected," said Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, who also activated a toll-free emergency hotline for people to report emergencies and request information.

Looking at the impressive pictures taken during that uncommon day, we hope not to repeat that experience again!!

Discover Italy... and taste it!!

Nothing says Italy like its food, and nothing says Italian food like pasta!

Pasta's origins are very ancient. It's said that they go back to the Etruscans, they used to prepare the first lasagna made of spelt (a kind of cereal like wheat, but far more resistant against bad weather and diseases). Later on, the Romans used to make a very simple dough with water and flour from which they made a kind of lasagna.

In Italy one can find pasta in a great variety of shapes and with many different types of sauces, furthermore you should consider also that each shape of pasta is typically matched with a particular sauce based on constincency and its ability to hold sauce.

There are several kinds of pasta, it seems to be 350 different shapes, even more counting regional differences. Shapes range from simple tubes to bow ties (farfalle, which actually means "butterfly"), to unique shapes like tennis rackets (racchette). Moreover pasta can be found in dried (pasta secca) and fresh (pasta fresca) varieties.

For Italian people it is very important that pasta is al dente, means literally “to the tooth” that is cooked so as to be firm but not hard.
It is estimated that Italians eat over sixty pounds of pasta per person, per year easily beating Americans, who eat about twenty pounds per person.

Considering the importance that Italians give to pasta, we decided that the prize for the winner of the September photo competition “Ancient and Modern in Rome” should have been a basket with a great variety of pasta: truffle pasta, paccheri, black sepia pasta, lemon pasta and chitarrine all’uovo. Congratulations to Daniel who was the winner!!! Have a look at his beautiful picture and at all the other photos on our website photopage.

Survival Italian

This semester we tried something new: four classes of survival Italian, a nice occasion to learn a bit of this rich and beautiful language and to practice it while going out all together. At the beginning we started with grammatics, and some of the basic vocabulary concerning how to get food, how to ask for information, while at the post office and while doing shopping. Besides, we spent some time on the outside, going to the supermarket, to the tabacconist, eating in Roman pizzerias and ice-cream shops. The guys practiced their Italian in different contexts and were very proud of their results!

All in all, it was a very nice experience and a beautiful occasion not only to explore the Italian language, but also to get to know the Italian culture through direct experience.

Summer starts at the Pantheon Institute

The first session of the Summer program at the Pantheon Institute has started only one week ago but all the students are already very busy with the different academic activities scheduled for them.
The students arrived on Monday, May 9th and they were welcomed at the Santa Maria in Cappella residence in Trastevere by the housing staff. The dorm offers a very unique space, especially in this season, as its garden is in bloom and full of beautiful roses and fruit trees.
On the following day, Tuesday May 10th, the students gathered at the studio of Via della Gatta for the orientation meetings. After Romolo Martemucci, the Pantheon Institute Director, presented the program and the staff to the students, each of them received a cell phone and then headed off to see the students services office in Via del Pantheon as well.
Classes started on Wednesday. Each group of students, the Architectural Engineering, the International Program in Nutrition and the Human Development and Family Studies ones, met their professors and had class in one of the facilities provided by the Pantheon Institute.
Wednesday was also the day we chose to organize the first of the extra-curricular activities we will be offering during the first Summer session. As a matter of fact, together with Professor Cheryl Cheek, we arranged a tour of the Testaccio market and a cooking class for the HDFS program students.
The tour of the market was very interesting. The students were divided into small groups and each of them had to buy some of the ingredients we then used to prepare our lunch.
This visit was also a great occasion to know and get to talk with some of the dealers who proved to be very kind and even let some of the students go inside their stand so that they could really immerse themselves in the true atmosphere of the market!
The cooking class took place at the Santa Maria in Cappella residence and all of the 18 students actively helped out to prepare the classical menu we propose for this activity: rigatoni alla carbonara, valerian salad with pears, Parmesan cheese and walnuts and tiramisu. Our lunch was delicious, as always, and the students really enjoyed this experience.
This was only the first of the activities that the Pantheon Institute staff will organize for its students throughout the Summer session I: among the others, we will arrange a movie night, a soccer match and some Survival Italian classes with Alessia, our intern from Roma Tre.
We really hope the students will participate with interest and enthusiasm in our extracurricular activities!