Of course, living in Italy is exceptional enough. Going to school by the Pantheon, seeing the dome of St. Peter's from Ponte Sisto every morning and night as I cross the Tiber to and from Trastevere, and being immersed in such a rich city is a blessing and an experience barely describable in my posts. But still, I wanted a relaxing weekend relative to the week. So today, my to-do list involved sleeping in, doing laundry, and applying for internships. I technically should have been reading and working on school projects, but I also technically shouldn't be prioritizing my blog over homework.
It was a beautiful day--mostly spent inside, sadly--so our windows were open and it was for once a pleasure to go to the washing machine on the roof next door. I've usually done laundry at night, with my phone as a flashlight, for the time left after school is after dinner in the darkness. The terrace on which the washer sits is very nice, but if it's cold and there's no light bulb in the tiny room off to the side, doing laundry is not exactly a pleasant experience. We have no dryer, so clothes end up being hung around cabinet doors and railings afterwards in our apartment...for a few days. Today, however, I stayed for a few extra minutes in the sun and checked out the views of neighboring homes in Trastevere. You can see a few foreground buildings (important, architecturally significant ones such as churches and the American Academy atop the Gianicolo, or Janiculum Hill). For the first time I noticed you can also see the tip-top of the lantern of St. Peter's Basilica, right from our roof. It's hidden, mostly, by a few trees and some other buildings to the north. But what a sight! Normally, I have to cross Ponte Sisto to see the dome.
For the past month or so I've been searching for some summer opportunities, which kept me inside where the glare of the sun wouldn't render my computer screen unreadable. There are some incredible portfolios out there, but many firms are outside of Cleveland. As I consider where I might end up on graduation, in the back of my head I want to settle down in Northeast Ohio some day. To some extent, that consideration is encouraging the explorations of cities where I might go until I come back to Cleveland. But financially speaking, it would be nice to avoid extra rent payments and stay in town for this summer. We shall see what happens.
Later, Rodrigo and I visited the Pantheon. There was a 6pm concert ("Silencio") from a German group accompanied by strings and winds singing mostly Gregorian-style music and chants, with a new-age twist ('oh's' as replacements for lyrics). It lasted about 90 minutes, poked only by some odd poetry read in both Italian and German. Since I cannot understand either, my eyes would wander around the rich detailing of the Pantheon especially lit for this concert. And I thought--while seeing the mob of Italians and tourists playing musical chairs the whole time around our seats--how incredible it is that the dome of St. Peter's is equal in size to the Pantheon. The hundreds of people at the concert alone could fit below the tip-top lantern I was drooling over earlier in the day.
Dinner was at a rather upscale restaurant in Trastevere: Rod generously treated me and Tony to one of the best meals we have had in Rome. I ordered the classic Roman dish Bucatini all'Amatriciana after practicing the pronunciation (and butchering it upon our waiter's arrival). Until that point, the waiter had been delighted to converse with Tony and Rodrigo in their fluent Italian. Anyway, it arrived in a the pot it was cooked in. We had a cheese plate and some wine before our food came, and by the end of the meal I was so full I had to lay down.
Life is pretty great right now. I should be paying more attention to studio, but frankly with a 16 day tour of Belgium and Sicily beginning in 5 days, I'm content putting off homework for one day.