The Land of Enchantment

Most probably don't know that New Mexico is called the land of enchantment, but here I am telling you that it is. So I went to New Mexico for a couple days and had such a great time. It is such a different place than over here on the east coast..the food, the architecture, the people, the cost of living and just the style of living. Its crazy how it changes so much from each state in this country; makes for some excitement I guess. The main reason for going was a wedding but we did so much more. My mom and I went to Sante Fe for the day and just walked around and hung out. The historic downtown is set up where there is a park in the middle surrounded by tons of shops and people selling their handmade jewelry, so cool. I've never been when its snowing, so I definitely want to go back sometime in the winter. We stayed in Albuquerque in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains and hiked around there one morning. I attempted at climbing this massive boulder for a sweet picture but realized my life would be in jeopardy on the way down, so I only went half way, smart thinking.kinda. And there would be pictures but my dumb camera got rained on by the stupid rain. What is it with me and water and electronics. Couldn't it have rained on my shoes or a book or I don't know something less expensive. Then the wedding was in Bernallio....soo gorgeous out there. You can see for miles. Okay, one of the best parts about going out there was that I got to see WIMBY!! She was so excited to see us, I think she remembered, of course she did, ill just tell myself that.

Only two more weeks left in d.c.....ahhhh I still have to go to every monument. shoot.

This is the part of my life I call 'running'

I felt like Will Smith on The Pursuit of Happiness on more than 2 occasions this weekend. I chased down public transportation like no other, I was sprinting- bags in hand every freakin time, a rush I tell ya. But unlike him, I made it, lucky me.

This past weekend I went to new york city. It was my first time there and I got to see my good friend, so that was so exciting. I took the bus leaving from Chinatown in d.c. Doesn't sound too promising does it? Well let me tell you, its wasn't. But hey you can't beat 35 bucks round trip, so keeping that in mind it was easy to be flexible. New York was great! We went to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, rode the Metro lots, ran along the Hudson river, walked through Central Park, ate lunch in Greenwich Village, tried to get dessert at Serendipity [booo lines], and swam in the ocean at Long Beach. WoW, all that in just two days, and I'm sure there is much more to see and do. I mean its only the biggest city in our country. Come to think of it, I just realized I didn't see any famous people, not that I was looking..well I guess that means one thing, famous people are just overrated. Well not really, it would be better to say famous people stakeouts are overrated. Until I venture off to more new places, I'm happy to be back in d.c.

Nationals Game

So you can't pass up free tickets to a mlb game. And I know most people think baseball is boring, but I love it. No joke, I find myself watching it on t.v. believe it or not. So our firm was giving away some tickets that were given to them, and being an intern I thought we wouldn't have a chance to get them, but hooray we did. What an American outing...baseball, beer, peanuts, the National anthem sung by some blonde chick, you can't beat that. Nor the 90 degrees weather, man it was hot. It made me miss Arkansas baseball games, since we skipped out on a whole season since we were in Rome. Well the fans here are sooo calm compared to Rome's sport, futbol and we actually clap when some dude on the other team hits a homer. In a soccer stadium in Italy they would want to steal their first born child, okay little harsh. But its pretty intense over there. Hope there are more Nationals games!

ahhh, public transportation

Yesterday I took a new route to the city, I went via metro. Not sure it has a cool name here, I think they just call it the metro. Well first I had to drive to the station that reaches out furthest to where I'm living. That was like a 45 minute drive b/c of sweet traffic, then the metro ride took like another 45 minutes. Got to work a little late that day, but they are so cool here it was no big deal. It was great to be able to ask a question or converse with the person sitting next to you and have a clear view out of the window. In Rome you had no idea there was even windows b/c of all the layers of graffiti. This city is graffiti free, at least the places I have been. Though I would have to say they did some pretty sweet graffiti work on the streets of Rome, especially on the way to the airport. Then of course I had to take the metro home, I fell asleep, kid you not, I slept the whole way and was relieved my bag was still in my lap when I woke up. Thinking about it, I missed the commuter bus that I usually take, I think I will go back to that route for getting into the city. Free parking, no traffic, naps on the way there and back and on occasion a Code Orange Day!

let the rain fall

So yesterday was the first time it had rained since I've been in d.c. It rained for only about 30 minutes, but it poured. And right in that time was when I had to walk to catch my bus. I was amazed at what I saw. Let me remind you though, that day on msn.com under the weather portion there was a rain cloud with a lightning, and I mean who doesn't have msn at their internet default page...really. So everyone should not have been caught off guard. There were people frantically running, falling and waiting under overhangs. I started to think about the most annoying people in Rome. It was the little guys who are in your face right when you get off the bus, who shove umbrella's in your hands [expecting money of course]. And how if one of these guys would migrate west they would make a fortune. I mean Americans are all about convenience, right? What isn't more convenient that someone handing you an umbrella when its raining out. I luckily had my umbrella, well my friends, one I borrowed.ha. This walk home may have been the best yet, beating the concert and sniper dude...maybe a close second.

Can you say random

So many random things go on in the city of Washington dc, and I'm not gonna lie, it scares me a little. Yesterday, I was eating my lunch in Dupont circle, like most days and some man was circling the fountain wearing a huge sign that read "Its gonna be BIG"..I'm thinking all the possibilities that could mean, but no one else was bothered so I just stared. And then, I nearly got a ticket for a whopping 25 bucks for crossing the street when no cars were coming. confused? yes, well the hand on the crossing sign was up, so no crossing is allowed, even if there are no cars in sight, and people get paid to sit there and monitor this...wow. Last week I saw some huge dude hanging out of a black suburban with a sniper scope gun..I only hoped the President was in the back seat, but that is some scary shit if you ask me. And the best of all, there was a concert going on today right off of a main street, they were playing some great oldies. And a couple of folks were showing off their dance moves right there in the middle. It was hilarious, incredibly random, but so great. Tune in later for more sightings.

and then we drove some more.

I made it. It was a 24 hour drive from San Antonio to Northern Virgina (Ashburn), but I'm here, and couldn't be happier. Well, maybe a little bit, but anyone can always be happier. My first stop was in Dallas and I stayed with Brother. I really am glad that we are such good friends now, it only took us 19 years to stop hating each other, but now things are great between us. Day two on the road I was headed to Memphis and stayed with my favorite family outside of my own...The Powell's, even though the guys weren't there, it was still so nice to get to visit. And then it was east to Knoxville and day 4 was up to Virginia. Yes I'm sure you think I'm a huge loser who cant drive more than 7 hours in a day...but it just really worked out great staying with people, and plus I never got tired once while I was behind the wheel...thanks to rockstar and bookoo. Yeah that's right....

Washington d.c. is an amazing city, I only wish I was living there and not just working, but what can you do. I'm not paying rent so I can't really complain and its peaceful outside the city. Just a little bit of a commute. Anyways, back to d.c...everyday I take different streets and just check out something new. The streets are labeled either by letter or number, and diagonal streets are the long names like 'constitution' and 'Philadelphia' [damn you why do you give him all the easy ones] what movie? its all so confusing, okay not really, its actually so simple unlike the crazy streets of Rome that led you to the opposite place you wanted to be. D.C. is unbelievably cleaner than Rome and I love it and they speak English there too...score!

sette/seven

I'm finally back in America and I seriously can't stop smiling about that. I love America, what a wonderful country we live in. Though I'm still so happy about getting the opportunity to travel to Europe. I can't wait to go back, well I can wait a little while. I can definitely tell how much I have changed from living in Rome. The most simple things make me happy.

Well before coming home to Texas, me and three other guys went to Barcelona, Bilbao, San Sebastian and then left from Paris. Barcelona was wayy fun b/c we stayed like 10 steps from Le Ramblas, a really cool pedestrian street with the most amazing street performers I've ever seen and then people would be selling animals everywhere, really random. We went to the aquarium and hung out with the 6 years olds, that was cool. After 4 days we took a night train [unforgettable] up to north spain. Stopped in Bilbao to see Frank Gehry's Guggenheim, an architectural masterpiece, and just hung out in the city for the day. Then we went east to San Sebastian, which was by far my most favorite city! The beaches there were gorgeous and I recommend that everyone go once in their lifetime. A simply amazing place. Our last stop was Paris, which I don't think I grasped since we were only there for 3 full days. But we did as much as we could and had soo much fun. We stayed in the gay district, played some frisbee under the Eiffel tower, and we to Corb's Villa Savoye...a great way to end our 10 day adventure. And next up is...washington d.c. for the summer, im sure there will much to explore.

Sei

Walking home with backpacks on while everyone else around is out having a good time and running around the crazy streets of Rome is not my idea of fun.. But oh well. Its architecture and what can you do. I really don't even have time to be writing these words, but don't we all just love procrastinating. I'm not gonna lie, I've gotten pretty good. Tried to quit facebook, that lasted three days. ha. loser.

So about a month ago my ipod decided to jump out of my sweatshirt and slide 4 feet on the ground and right into the freakin Tiber river. kid you not. I could have and maybe should have jumped in but it was a 5 foot (1.7 m) drop. It disappeared in seconds and out of my life forever. I just layed there for a minute on my stomach staring at the water and then thought I might as well throw my head phones in along with it, just take it ALL, it wasn't monogrammed from my parents on my 20th birthday or anything special. Thanks to Adam and his ipod shuffle I have a new love for rap as leisure music, though without much of a choice. and bonus..its packed with Pat Green. rock on.

My mom and her friend are here right now. yay! We strolled the streets of Rome today, and not to my surprise it was way more packed than when we first arrived. Tourist season is officially here! boooo. Walking around with my mom in Rome helps me work on my patience, thanks mom. I mean its the first time her eyes have seen many of the things I pass by everyday. Yay for visitors.

cinque [chin-que]

This past week was spring break..wooohooo! Reagan and Lynsey came to visit and see the wonderful Roma. Too bad we had the worst weather possible, including hail, hug hail, I mean seriously. Well despite the weather conditions we had so much fun. Okay I really think it rained more than it didn't...oh well. We ate at our favorite restaurant, Mapi, three times. I thought we should switch it up for their sake, but I wasn't complaining. My favorite thing to order is a pizza with a sunny side up egg on top..yummm! In the middle of the week Reagan, Lynsey, David and I went south to Sorrento and Capri. Sorrento is right on the coast and Capri is an island 30 minutes on a ferry. It was wonderful! We stayed at a bed and breakfast right by Sorrento right on the water, we couldn't have asked for a better place. We hiked up and down Capri all day on Thursday and was so happy when the sun finally came out. It was great since it wasn't tourist season quite yet and we only saw a hand full of people when we got off the main roads. I really want to go back when it is warmer and swim in the bluest water I've ever seen.

Well now we are back at school and yesterday we got to see Zaha Hadid lecture, well only a select few were actually in the same room as her, most of us were watching on a projected screen. It was still pretty sweet though. Man she has some crazy stuff going on in her head, but I guess that's what makes her work renowned.

Quattro

So I'm slacking a little bit...but time is seriously flying. This past month has been filled with great times. First off my Mom was here and it was so good to see her, and to get to show her around Rome. She had never been to Italy before, and is already coming back next month. When I was in class she would go around Rome sightseeing, and we would meet up for dinner! We took a trip north to Cinque Terra, italian for five villages. We stayed in Vernazza and it was adorable, such a cute little town, only like 600 people I think. One day we hiked from there to Monterossa which was all along the water, up and down through vineyards and a hilly landscape. Seriously probably some of the most gorgeous sights of the ocean I have yet to see in my life.
The next weekend was Florence and Siena, which was with school and such a blast. Florence is a pretty big city, and a lot different than Rome, so it was a nice change. We climbed the Duomo, shopped (bought some shoes), and ate good food at a place called Yellow. Sad to say it rained half the time we were in Siena but we still had a good time. The ride home through Tuscany was incredible and I tried to say awake as to not miss anything. I'm glad to be back in Roma, but can't wait to see more of Italy.
Reagan and Lynsey are coming for Spring Break!! Yippie!

Tre

This past weekend me and 5 other guys went to Bologna, Italy. We had a blast! Didn't really know too much about it before we went, but ended up being so much fun. We took a train on Friday morning and it was only about a 2 and a half hour ride, not too bad at all. I was going to sleep but was afraid if I closed my eyes I would miss something cool out the window, so I stayed awake. Bologna's architecture was a lot different than Rome's, a lot more medieval, which makes sense since it came about of course after Rome. Oh yeah Kappa Sigma is supposedly founded in Bologna, and there were two of them on the trip..so yeah for them. Well we climbed 468 steps up this sweet tower and checked the whole city from above which was way cool. We ate some good Mexican food, chips and hot sauce were a bonus and went to a crazy concert where I inhaled the most amount of second hand smoke a human beings lungs would allow them to. Needless to say we made it out alive and with a yearning for a Pat Green concert, but I don't think I'll be finding one of those anytime soon.

Due

So Fridays here are allotted for traveling, no school, just checking out what there is to see in Italy. This past Friday our class went to Pomeii, it was a 2 hour bus ride there and back but since we took a charter bus is was not bad at all. We stayed the whole day at the ancient ruins, which even dates back to before the city of Rome. Thanks to Mt. Vesuvius the whole city was covered in ash and was preserved and forgotten about for 1600 years. So today is in pretty good condition considering how old it is. The water was nearby but we didn't get to stop, sadly. Yesterday we went to an AS Roma futbol match. They were playing Sienna and won 1-0. It was a pretty good game and hopefully won't be our last one. The fans were crazy if you can imagine. And there were security guards lined everywhere around where Sienna's fans were sitting, I guess things can get pretty out of control.

Una

I can't believe I'm finally here, I mean we've only been talking about it for four years now. Since I decided to go to Arkansas...you mean I HAVE to go to Rome. No complaints from me for sure. Being here has opened my eyes to how big this world really is.
So I've never done the whole "life stories on the Internet" but since talking on the phone costs an arm and both legs this seemed like a great idea. So most all the stuff I post will be about my stay in the ancient city..ahh. Rome, its the land of fast mopeds, endless square pizza and wonderful public transportation. Enjoy!