A Big Week in Rome

Teatro dell'Opera illuminated in the trecolori

Last week was an important one for Rome. On Tuesday March 15, was the Ides of March, which was special this year, because I got to stand near the spot where Caesar was killed and see his burial tomb in the Roman Forum. It was interesting to see the men dressed up as gladiators all around the ruins where Caesar was assassinated.  But more importantly, Thursday, March 17 marked the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, or as the Italians called it, the festa trecolori, or the festival of the three colors, for the green, white, and red national flag. Needless to say, this was a pretty important milestone, and there were many festivities around Rome to celebrate the occasion. There were lots of parades and concerts and many of the major historical museums throughout the city had free admission and were open until 2 A.M. My favorite display though was the illumination of the major monuments throughout the city with green, white, and red. It was so cool to walk to the end of my street and see the Vittorio Emmanuele monument and forum columns all lit up with the colors of the flag. At midnight on Wednesday I was getting ready for bed, when I suddenly heard fireworks going off. I ran outside to try to get a better look, and all the neighbors were out, standing in our little piazza, watching the beautiful trecolori fireworks show. As I stood there with the neighbors watching the color bursts, I realized that despite the fact that I'm in a different country half-way across the world from my home, I'm in the same situation: whenever we hear fireworks on the Fourth of July, we all run outside and watch them with our friends and neighbors, and here it is no different. It was a really special moment standing there, because it made me realize, yet again, what an incredible experience this is. I'm so lucky to be able to immerse myself in a different culture but also find incredible similarities. I'm so lucky that I got to be here to partake in this important occasion in Italy!

Mom, Dad, Me and Aunt Carol inside the Colusseum

 Another important reason why this was such a big week was because my family came to visit! My mom, dad, and Aunt Carol came to Rome on Sunday morning and stayed until Friday. It was so great to see them, since I hadn't seen my parents since I left for Rome in January and my aunt since Christmas, but it was even better to be able to show them all around my new city. I took them to many of my favorite places in Rome, like the Villa Borghese park, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Croce, and so many more. We also visited St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums, and the Roman Forum and Colusseum thorough Dr. Dawson's organized tours. I had a lot of fun with my family, and what made it so special was that I got to show them my new life here, taking them to my favorite lunch bars, restaurants, hang-out spots, and stores, and showing them my schools and my neighborhood. When I left in January, I was so excited for the experience ahead of me, but also very nervous and afraid of transitioning into a different culture, learning a new language, and going way outside my comfort zone. However, the culture shock was minimal and I picked up Italian pretty easily, so it was so special to show my family what I accomplished here and how much I've grown from all of these new experiences