Retrospective

During my stay here in Rome I decided to really become familiar with three aspects of the Eternal City.

My first theme was Piazzas. I chose this because there are so many in Rome, and also many other places in Italy. The piazzas are a place for people to come together and social, eat, and find entertainment. In most Piazzas there are people who are performing musical instruments, painting, or selling merchandise. Hanging out in the Piazzas is something that I am definitely going to miss when I go back to the United States in a couple of days.

I also wanted to try all of the different kinds of pasta that are offered in the place where the food originated. I found out how Italians eat their meals including pasta in the first course following a meat dish. There are many products sold here that are also used everyday in the United States like the Barilla product. I have tried red, cream, and seafood sauces. In the apartment some of the girls and I have attempted to make dishes like Cannelloni. I have surely eaten my fair share of pasta since I have been in Italy. A lot of people have said that they are so sick of eating pasta that they don’t want to have it again for a while. I think that I may be the only person who is dying to have my mom’s homemade pasta sauce on Sunday for dinner with my entire family.

Last but not least I chose to learn about the different types of things people were selling on the side of the street and in tiny shops along hidden alleyways. I have come across a variety of different vendors. There are handcrafted paintings, jewelry, and shoes. I have seen people selling counterfeited purses to tourists and gathering them quickly from the ground when police come into sight. Depending on what town you are in the vendors will change according to their particular trademark, such as the Venetian festival masks in water-filled northern city. The vendors served as a great place to buy cheap t-shirts as souvenirs for friends back home.