time is almost up

My hours are numbered here in Rome, only 2 days till I leave to goto dublin. I havent done a whole lot, mostly been lazy and slept. I went to the top of the dome of St.Peters, which offers a beautiful 360 view of rome. I have gone on some walks; the city has really transformed for christmas. St. Peters has the biggest nativity scene i've ever seen in my life; they even have running water in it. Theres a ginormous christmas tree out in the square too. blinking lights are hung over the streets; the shops decorate their fronts. I'll be home soon enough, eight more days.

Relief

Just finished the last bit of homework today. All I have left is my final presentation for studio tomorrow, which I've had the work done for over a week so i'm basically done! It feels great to have classes over, now i'll be able to enjoy the remaining time left before I come back.

Here in rome until the 24th, and then to Dublin until the 30th, when I'll be flying back home.

Apparently theres a christmas dinner at the hostel i'm staying at, that should be fun.

Getting there

Things are coming to a close over here. I'm definitely going to miss this place. I really enjoy Italian culture. i've definitely developed an addiction to coffee here(had 2 espressos today, and thats less than usual.) All their strange habits, traditions - both good and bad - i've come to enjoy them.

although I'd say I've only really gotten to fully experience the roman culture, which from what i've noticed is very different from everywhere else in Italy. Its strange to live in such an old place, but feels like such a big city, yet still has a relatable scale to it.

School's almost over. Rolling through finals this week. I finished the majority of the work, which is for studio, the design project. I've still got some papers to write/presentations to prepare, but i'm actually able to take it fairly easy, which is nice for a change. Mostly just trying to stay stress free and enjoy the little time I have left here.

I'm getting excited about going to Dublin. The hostel emailed about a special christmas dinner they're having, should be fun. Also found a pretty cool place to go rock climbing, which I have been dying to do.

Still have tons of things to do, times running out. I'll be home soon. Enjoy some images that I made for my project presentation.

Cant believe its almost Over

Been super busy! Trips all across Italy, Greece, England. Classes, classes classes. Heres some images from the project I designed. Its super crazy and complex, something I definitely havent tried to do before, but I think it turned out cool. Once I get some better files I'll post those up as well. I also have 2 of my favorite sketches I've done so far. My sketching has drastically improved, and hopefully it only gets better.






I'm pretty exhausted right now, and schools super busy right now, but hopefully I'll get a chance to post again soon!

- Caleb

65 days in

Hard to believe my time here is over halfway done. I've only got a couple weeks until the final project design is due, then we're going to spend 3 weeks working on the presentation for it. So its definitely been go-time, especially with all the other projects for the other classes that I have to work on.

This weekend should be fun however, Meeting up with Mom and Warren to goto Athens! I'm excited to get to see the acropolis and all the cool old greek architecture. I'm definitely going to try to get some good black and white photos(weather permitting.)

I'll post up pictures after I get back.

Long week

These are images from the group project that we did this weekend. Me and a roommate, two canadian students, and 4 italian students collaborated with 4 Italian architects to create this project. They offered the main idea, and we developed it. Its been a very long, frusterating week, but the end result was good, and i'm proud of it.

Slowed down, but speeding up

Had a pretty chill weekend this weekend. I finally got my digital Camera back. I forgot to take it with me on the excursion to Hadrians villa, which was really fun, so I don't have any photos of that.

I did take some of Rome today though while i was out and about, so thought I'd share them here.

also, I had an experience that really illustrated to me just how much my Italian has improved this weekend. I was having lunch at a pizza place in Tivoli, before we went to villa d'este (A very gorgeous place, that I also don't have photos of.) The guy behind the counter started asking me some things about what we were doing, who we were, and was talking about the things to see in the area. It wasn't a very difficult conversation, but what really struck me was that I didn't have to think/translate into english while having the conversation. I couldn't pick up every single word that he said, but I wasn't struggling to try and translate or come up with a response at all, I just took in what I could of Italian and responded back. I'm slowly getting towards fluency, and its pretty awesome.

Bianca e Nera

Heres some of the black and white photos that Ive been taking.
Some are from Rome, most are from Ireland.
I might take some more soon.
Definitely when I goto London and Athens Ill take a lot.
Life is still good here. I have a very relaxed weekend
lined up right now, which I am estatic about.
Maybe Ill make a big post.
Or maybe Ill just lie around and do nothing,
we will see.

All Spaced Out

Its saturday in Florence right now. Just got back from some touring with our art history professor, Emilio, who is probably the most knowledgeable person that I've ever met.

Last night we went out to some dance club called Space; it was pretty fun. Got to be shoved around on the dance floor for a couple of hours listening to american pop music - Apparently its pretty popular here. I'm taking it easy now, i've been worn out over the course of the past week. We've got our midterm review coming up thursday, and I still don't have a solid design down, so i've been busting my butt in studio, plus with all the trips we've been on it doesnt' feel like i've had much time to just sit and relax.

The other day I had an experience which I thought captured the image of Italy that I really enjoy. Me and Addison were walking through the streets in trastevere, and this one shop caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. There was a guy on the steps, gluing on pieces to an unfinished base of a mandolin. We looked in his shop and he had a ton of instruments that he had made himself, and since Addison needed a string for his violin, I asked him if he had it. He said he did but he needed to finish the base first. So we stepped inside and looked around at all the beautifully handcrafted instruments this guy had. It was a very tiny shop filled to the brim with every type of instrument. after being there for 5 minutes in awe, I turned around and realized a cat had been sitting on a pedestal behind us the whole time. It jumped off and brushed past me going out into the street. Apparently the guy feeds the stray cats in the area. It was the unique character of this place and this guy that really seemed to reveal some great character of Italy that I hadn't noticed before. There are still tons of shops where things are still done hand crafted. I really enjoy walking into the meat and cheese speciality shops and getting meat and cheese cut right in front of me, and its so fresh. Sometimes it makes finding things harder, but also makes it that much more rewarding. But if your not really looking for anything in particular, you'll find so much more.

Still Alive

So I'm still here, just being extremely busy. Been trying to juggle studio homework and trips, which is pretty tough. Two weekends ago we went to Naples and Sorrento. This last weekend we went to Orvieto. This weekend we're going to Florence. Meanwhile I've got to design my project.

My Digital Camera is still missing, maybe it'll show up, maybe not, who knows. If I get some time I'll scan some of the black and whites I took, they're pretty cool. I think I'll take that camera to Florence this weekend as well.

Also planning a trip to London during Thanksgiving break with some of my roommates. That should be fun.

Midterm review next week, Maybe I can do a big post after that. Pretty busy though.

Eurostylin

Been spending way too much money on european outfits and clothes, but its really fun. I've been wearing some pretty outlandish outfits, and loving every second of it. Once I get some pictures, i'll post em up. heres one of me in my sweet fedora I picked up at the sunday market for 10 euro(Talked down from 15).