Finals and Finale

My finals consist of two major essays, an oral Italian exam, a written Italian exam, and a compendium of art history. My brain has become overloaded and is now beginning to leak. I am not traveling anymore. Greece was my last adventure. I will remain in Rome until next week, through finals, and then I go home.

This is a bittersweet time. Each place I go to eat, each place I sit to contemplate, I ask myself, is this the last time I am here? I will miss this place; it has been home for the past three months. I will miss the wonderful staff at the Accent Center; they always greeted me with a “Ciao Ana!” I felt very welcome there. I will miss my housemates. They were all 19 years old and they were kind and considerate. We enjoyed class together-I wish them all the wonder the world has to offer. I hope they enjoy their youth and all its fascination.

I’m taking two days to vegg out so that I can prepare for the crunch of academics next week. The plan is to sleep well, hydrate, eat healthy, and rest up. My birthday is on Sunday, and I will take myself to the opera. Monday is liberation day in Italy (like our independence day) and our art teacher will take us to St. Peter’s Basilica. I have been there many times during my stay. It will be interesting to hear what he has to add as far as history is concerned. I have one more tourist thing I want to do and that is make a pizza at a Jazz restaurant and eat it all by myself! Of course, I will invite others to join me to make their own pizza and they can eat theirs all up.

Ciao for now, as I go back out into the city, to contemplate and memorize my favorite things in Rome.