Sigh. I do fear that this is my last blog entry from Rome. I leave for Termini/Ciampino tomorrow morning at 7 am.

The last week has been mostly sleepless! Our final critique was on Tuesday and my personal critique went much better than I was expecting. I have a really hard time verbalizing what I do and why I do it (…that’s why I make pictures…) but I must have done something right. One of our guest critiquers expressed interest into me getting a masters degree because he liked my sociological point of view, and told me I was very brave for what I put in my book. I didn’t think I was but that was a nice confidence booster! I feel like I probably rely on critiques too much but I’m just one of those people who needs a little reassurance from anyone whose opinion I value. But, yeah. I’m gonna miss Brenda and school!

The last few days have been spent sleeping, eating, shopping, sightseeing and packing. It is SO hot that doing anything is nearly unbearable. I took a shower a few hours ago and I already smell weird. I am looking forward to my cool and rainy stop in Dublin and my comfortable days in Chicago, though I would like some outdoor swimming!

I’ll start in with my pictures now!

So we went to a church to see a sculpture of Moses, but I liked the skeletons more! Too bad it was fenced off so I couldn’t get a better picture.

This is a door that was outside and next to the church and I liked it.

I really, really like the colors left behind here.

Finally made it to the Colosseum. Did not go inside. Too expensive and too many people. And it was so hot.

Just bein’  a tourist! I made sure to get in as many peoples ways as possible while taking this picture. Jk!

More ruins.

Heeheehee.

I won’t miss falling asleep to this every night!

I walk past this park a lot, and I have dubbed it “Unappealing Park” because it looks so dirty, and there is no grass, and there are usually homeless folks with their caravan of plastic bags and garbage sleeping in the shade. It looks like it probably smells, too.

I guess that’s it! I’m gonna miss Rome, but I was so lucky to have two awesome months of living here with mostly awesome girls making mostly awesome memories! I will be back. I may keep this blog and I may not. I may use it to document my other travels… my more boring travels within the US! So, thank you to everyone who read this and left kind words. I can’t wait to see you IRL!

This is the first of my two big projects for mixed media. It’s an altered book that I think I posted about earlier in the blog. I’ve made a bit of headway on it… even though I’m quickly running out of steam. I’m going to use this entry to prepare myself for our critique on Tuesday… so bear with me. I’m open to any thoughts or ideas or (constructive!) criticism you may have!

To preface - the intent of the book (for everyone) is to create a semi-personal kinda journal of your trip. It isn’t a scrapbook, and should tie into the art and historical stuff we see, but reflect our thoughts and feelings without being too Hobby Lobby. If it doesn’t make sense, it’s because nothing really does make sense here. I guess it’s better that we are told to make something with loose guidelines so that we are allowed to be as creative as possible.

This is my cover… not much to say about it. It’s unfinished? Maybe?

That’s a nasty pigeon feather I painted gold and glued to the front. That could be a statement in itself.

The first two pages mark my arrival in Rome. I made decals of my photocopied passport, the map of my neighborhood, postage from home, and my flight itinerary. Then I glued a picture of a fly on the page because I FLEW! Ha ha ha get it? I really just did that because everyone has an airplane pasted on their front page and I juuust wanted to be different! “Fly on the wall” came to my mind too - thats kinda how I felt the whole time I was traveling! It could also be a comment on what a nuisance Ryanair is. I’ll be using lyrics throughout my book to give a better idea about what the images are supposed to represent. I stay connected to my friends and my sanity through music, and the bands I listen to are so powerful and intelligent (that is supposed to be a compliment to them, not to me, haha) so it really only seemed fitting. Whenever I hear the music I’m listening to on this trip years from now I’m going to think about my summer in Rome.

Here’s my second page (with detail). The image is from the church of St. Ignatius of Loyola. I think I was in a crummy mood anyway that day, but when I looked up and realized what was happening in the statue it made me SO MAD! It’s St. Ignatius stepping on “heresy.” …Heresy being represented by a woman. In both of the statues flanking the entrance. Seeing this marked the first time I was really riled up by something I saw, so clearly it had to go into my book. Ignatius is pointing to the bible, and in the bible I pasted the words (Jesus Christ - this part is “assumed” by me, I guess) “Load the guns of war.” I’m not interpreting it as literal war, but more so as the idea that the violent image portrayed of the woman being stomped on is a pardon for those who follow Christianity to treat women in such a way because the bible says it’s a-okay. The ideas of women being less than men are still perpetrated today by the religion and it’s just one of those things that gets under my skin.

Next page. I don’t have words yet. Naked Venus vs. sexy Venus in Gucci swimsuit with Chanel bag. I’m having a hard time articulating my idea. Consumerism, greed, superficiality, classism, sexism, etc. Basically, I think what I’m trying to get at is the idea that Italian women are held to an impossible standard of beauty and status. Not only are they expected to be thin as a rail, but also clothe themselves in really expensive clothes that reflect their social class, or the social class that they wish to belong to. I guess the role of advertising and the media comes into play here too. The traditional Venus is up against the Venus in the skimpy swimsuit, and in my opinion the barely-there swimsuit sexualizes her in a way that is somewhat degrading, opposed to the modest nudity she presents in the original.

This page features Velazquez’ Pope Innocent X. It’s another comment on wealth and social status and the papacy. Pope Innocent X was elected with the help of the VERY wealthy Pamphilj family (who are still in existence today). Getting a pope elected is a pretty notable feat for anyone, so when a family can lay claim to that it makes them even more powerful politically. And for the pope, without the wealthy family to support him there is little chance he will be given the job of pope. So, I just wanted to make a comment on that. This pope is also wearing designer robes to represent the modern ideas of status and how it is achieved, not through buying popes, but through buying items that will scream at passers-by that said items are unaffordable to most.

I have one more page started but it looks like garbage right now so maybe I’ll post it later! Thanks for reading my really long oh god a spider, brb. blog entry about boring stuff! This is college. I paste pictures in a book!

Yesterday was spent in Assisi with class. The train ride SUCKED. Every train I ride in Italy is different, and this was the worst one yet. It was uncomfortable and dirty and the temperature was inconsistent!! (It’s in italics because I am being flippant.) Oh and I was tired.

So we get there, and it’s really pretty! Our intent was to go to St. Francis’ cathedral. I just learned that he is the patron saint of animals and is ALSO the most beloved Catholic saint. Inside the church, I had to wear a garish scarf to cover my knees (Catholics hate knees). I was a little annoyed because I spotted a man in a tank top and a girl with a skirt just as short as mine - no ugly scarf. Whatever. Soo I sketched some Cimabue, some Giotto, and headed down a lot of stairs to see the rest of the church and his tomb. The rest of the church was neat. The tomb was pretty creepy. I don’t think it was supposed to be but it just was! I grew bored of the church quickly. (I’m a terrible art student.) This happens to me a lot anymore, but I had good reason to be bored. Assisi is beautiful!! I would have much rather spent my time outside gazing at the landscape. See why:

We ate lunch at a cute little restaurant and visited some shops. I lost my bus ticket so I dragged Tonya around to find a tabacchi but I was unsuccessful. To console myself, I ate a really good fruit tart and drank an iced cappuccino.

After all the girls compared their new cute jewelry and bags we boarded the cramped and sweaty bus to make our way back to the train station. I didn’t get fined, thank god!

The train ride back to Rome was the worst yet. Worse than the ride there! Our car was at LEAST one billion degrees. I slept for about an hour and woke up entirely drenched in sweat. We decided to get up and move to a different car, so we walked through first class (which was FREEZING, btw. Just because you drop a couple bucks more doesn’t mean to need to deprive the rest of the riders ANY a/c at all) and found another car that wasn’t that cool but wasn’t a billion degrees.

Finally made it home, even though every cab driver here has no idea how to get to Trastevere (is driving people places in Rome not your JOB?!). I was tired, I had a headache, I was dirty, my contacts were all gross and sticking to my eyeballs, but I still had work to finish. So I finished my work and went to bed.

It has been HOT here in Rome. All of last week was just miserable. I go to bed sweating, I wake up sweating. I want to sleep and eat all the time for some reason? That doesn’t really make sense but I guess it’s how it works. The air is usually around 95 but once you hit the black cobblestone the temperature goes up to a BILLION! My handy dashboard tells me that it’s only supposed to get up to 77 today, but it’s 2:40 am and it’s still feeling really hot and really muggy. 

Today I didn’t do a whole dang lot. Brenda took us to Santa Maria in Trastevere. It was pretty! Here are some pictures so I don’t have to be so wordy…

This is detail of the gate outside of the church.

A bird that I think is from an ancient ruin or something. I dunno, I just liked it.

The nave of the church. LOTS of gold.

Stairs leading to that podium thing that a guy probably reads from?

Ceiling of the church. You can tell in the photo how gross and hot and hazy it is here!

After churchin’ it up, we all parted ways for the most part. Sarah, Darby and I scoped out a few shops on the way back to the apartment and stopped for a €3 pizza! It was so good. I ate the entire thing, and it was huge. While we were dining a little girl came up to us and said something in Italian, so we all awkwardly stared at her, but then our waiter came over and asked her what she was doing and what she wanted, and then he told her to go away. Haha. Oh you gypsies, always creating awkward situations. 

After my feast (I also 2 scoops of gelato after the entire pizza) we walked home and I napped, sweatily, for a couple of hours. Woke up, trudged to studio where I basked in the air conditioning, did a little work, ate dinner with Tonya, Stephanie and Darby, ate more gelato, came back to the studio and worked some more.

Cute wiener doggie, but his bro in the back was a growly jerk. Pretty sure these dogs belong to a bum who hangs out on the Tiber bridge when we walk to class in the AM.

A picture of the synagogue near our studio, hence my neighborhood being called the Jewish Ghetto! It looks really pretty, I need to take a tour soon. I think that it’s important to note that Carabinieri stands flank each corner (and the officers carry HUGE guns!) AND upon entering everyone is wanded for weapons.

Just some cute chairs by our studio. 

I just like this picture is all!!

Welp. I have big plans for tomorrow, hopefully I don’t sleep through them all. I should probably head to bed!

Well, I don’t have a whole lot to report. Sadly, I don’t get much of a chance to explore with all this school work bogging me down. It’ll be worth it in the end though… maybe I’ll land a job because I spent a lot of money on a glorified vacation. Haha.

Tuesday was my birthday. It started out on a stressful note. Deadlines, projects, blah blah. Everyone was feeling pretty crappy. After a downer of a class Jess and I trekked to the grocery store to buy supplies for my party, or shall I say fiesta! We bought ingredients to make tacos, guacamole, black bean salsa, and Tasty Taco’s style krispos and sangria! It was an arduous walk home, to say the least. Taco seasoning, or the spices that comprise taco seasoning do not exist in Rome, Italy. THANKFULLY (huge emphasis on thanfully!) Tonya brought two packets from back home. Thank you Tonya! You are so sweet and you made the authentic-tasting fiesta possible! The girls all came together to help cook, clean and decorate (…while I showered…) and everything turned out beautifully. I miss affordable tacos, I really do. All in all, it was a fun gathering and I’m so SO happy to have such awesome, nice, funny, sweet girls (and Ryan too, even though you don’t “technically” live with us) to live with, and to share my time and my birthday with. I will miss them!

Creepy masks, thanks to Sarah and Darby!

Awesome facial “hair”….

Cute apartment + cute roommates!

Welp, back to work. Here’s the second postcard in my series for photography…

The end! I’m off to bed!