Rome if you want to, Rome Around the World

Every trip deserves a little theme song, and I could not think of a better one then the B52's Roam for our trip to Rome. That's right, read the title again and soon you will be a singing along.

After years of teaching about the Ancient Greeks, Romans, and artists and sculptors from the Renaissance. How could I in good conscience continue to teach the children without ever going there? And so, with only my students' best interests at heart, I took one for the team and took a little trip.

I met up with some friends in Rome where we navigated ourselves from our delightful apartment to our tourist destinations latching onto anyone who spoke English, dramatically gesturing with our hands, and cheering whenever we made it to our destination. However, we got better and soon were running around Rome like, well, tourists. But I think we did pretty well, and I soon learned to say excuse me in the correct form to close friends and acquaintances. Amazing, I know. You should hear my good morning and thank you.

Our little group outside the Colosseum

The Highlights:

The buildings, ruins, sculptures and paintings
Most of my time spent in Rome was taking pictures saying, "Wait till the kids see this one. Did you see that painting? The kids are going to love this one. Oh my goodness, this will go perfect when we talk about the gladiators." Yeah, pretty much I loved every minute of what we saw and learned about in Rome. If you are fascinated by it as well, let me know. I have 8 different pictures of just mosaic tiles. My class won't know what hit them when I come back with my slide show O'Roma.


Just outside of St. Peter's square you can stand in two countries at once. Vatican City and Italy. However, this isn't the spot. Although, we took this picture because we thought it was at first. However, I like this picture better than the real one, because it has a great shot of St. Peter's square, and I loved St. Peter's.


The Colosseum was amazing and mind boggling. The architecture is amazing, and the thought of 70,000 people watching people and animals fight to the death-mind boggling.

Food:




For some reason, pretty healthy people see no harm in eating gelato once or twice a day while in Rome. It's that good.


Eating yummy pizza outside the Pantheon was fabulous. And although it may appear that I am consuming two huge pizzas, the other is not mine. I had to draw the line somewhere. I mean how am I going to eat two things of gelato a day, if I eat two pizzas?

Fountains:
I was at a football game yesterday and noticed that I was a tad grouchy and unlike myself. Why, you may ask? I didn't have any water. I couldn't bring any into the game, and I was too cheap to buy any water at the game. Which brings me to another reason I loved Rome. FOUNTAINS!!!! Everywhere you turn in Rome there are the most beautiful fountains, and some that are not the most beautiful, but all provide you with fresh, delightful water. I never had to worry about not having water, because everywhere we turned there was another fountain to refill our water bottles. Heaven!



A free refill of heaven



The Trevi fountain-Beautiful! (3,000 euros are thrown into the Trevi fountain a day, and they use that money to help stock a supermarket for the needy. I like that.)



Getting ready to throw my coin-Rome I'm coming back.


Night:
There is something magical about night in a beautiful city, and even with the graffiti, I thought Rome was beautiful. All around us people leisurely strolled along the strikingly lit buildings and fountains. We sat on the Spanish Steps savoring our gelato, visiting, and taking in the city. Our last night I stared out on the beautiful city through our apartment's panoramic windows and just sighed. Magical.

At the Victor Emmanuel Monument-designed for the first king of a united Italy.


Next stop: Sicily (I thought I would wrap everything into one post, but there is just too much. Then I thought I would at least write about all of them at once, but I am just too fidgety tonight, and so the saga will continue.)

Fakers

I've taught plenty of little, sick fakers throughout the years. Usually, having them splash water on their face works well. However, anyone who looks a little too squeamish, I just let them go. My weak stomach always thanks me, just in case.

This morning I met a delightful, little faker. This was my conversation with Little Craig 5 minutes after class had started:

"Miss R my stomach hasn't been feeling very well this weekend and. . . . . . "
"Little Craig, do you feel sick now?"
"Ummmm. . . no, but like if someone punches me in the stomach at recess, then I'll probably be sick and need to call my mom."
"Well Little Craig, I don't think that will happen, so you should be okay."

After lunch recess:

"Miss R I was playing four square at recess, and I don't know how it really happened, but the ball bounced up and hit me in the stomach. So, I think I should probably call my mom and go home."
"Little Craig, I bet if you just go lay your head down on your desk for a few minutes and splash some water on your face you will feel much better."

Just after rotations:

"Miss R I don't know how, but as we were walking out of rotations someone bumped into me and their tote tray hit me in the stomach. Can I go call my mom now?"
"Little Craig, I'm sure if you just. . . . umm.. . . .Little Craig you are leaning a little too close. Little Craig, school is almost done, so if you'll just go put. . . . Little Craig, why are you making that face and leaning so close? Umm. . . . Little Craig why don't you go call your mom."

And so, Little Craig got out of the last 45 minutes of class, and luckily my stomach got out of what could have been a huge disaster.

Pictures

My cute niece tells me she keeps checking my blog for the pictures from the 4th, and there are none. It's true, I just haven't been a big blogger lately. However, I am posting not only 4th of July pictures, but Arizona treasures, and one from the 24th. I think that these gems definitely make up for the long span in between.





The Provo Hot Air Balloon Festival




The one and only Stadium of Fire



That's right, it is one of the Jonas Brothers. I went in not knowing their songs, but thanks to the star struck girls behind us, we were all soon singing right along.



An Arizona marvel, "The World's Longest Map of Route 66"



That's right, you are reading correctly. It is located at Blanket Man, right by Meteor City.



"The World's Largest Dream Catcher" Watch out Texas, Arizona has quite a few world's largest.





"The World's Largest Piece of Petrified Wood" I swear that is what the sign says, so it must be true.



Nick happily eating a Pioneer Surprise snow cone on the 24th. How could we not order a snow cone named Pioneer Surprise.

Georgia on my Mind

A couple of years ago, a friend asked me if I was from the south. "Ummm. . . no, I've never even been to the south." I said. "Well you sound like you're from the south. Every time you tell a story, you get a southern accent." He replied. I didn't believe him, well not until about the 20th person repeated his question. I didn't know what to make of it, until I went to Georgia. I came back realizing I've always been a southern girl at heart, I just didn't know it.
Why I love Georgia:
-It is beautiful!!!! Northern Georgia is filled with gorgeous trees, lakes, waterfalls and rivers. Amazing!

Beautiful Enota waterfalls



Brasstown Bald the highest point in Georgia. A gorgeous view of four different states.

I'm not sure this falls into the beautiful scenery category, but milking a cow at Enota was pretty cool.

-The people. There was something delightfully friendly about the people we met down there. I think it was their drawl, their slow pace living, their "God loves you" signs wherever we went. I loved it.

-The porches and rocking chairs. I am a huge porch fan, and I was overjoyed by all of the rocking chairs, swings and benches everywhere we went. We found them at our hotels, outside of restaurants, in the woods, and by the beach.

The guys resting after a southern meal.

-The food!!! We went to southern restaurants that served you family style. Family style means a taste of everything you could ever imagine. They would bring out fried chicken, okra, fish, pork chops, bbq beef, squash, yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, beans, cobbler, and I could go on. You might refer back to the last picture and understand now why they have so many rocking chairs to sit in after dinner.


One of my favorite meals cooked outside on the fire.

-Gold!!! We went gold panning in Dahlonega, the first site of gold mining in Georgia. After a lot of swishing and a sloshing, I found a small nugget of delight. One of the locals told me he figured it was worth about $20. Pretty good huh?



-Downtown Atlanta!!! Atlanta is quite different from the slow pace of the small towns of the north, but it was amazing. We visited the famed Aquarium, Olympic park, Coca Cola headquarters and had the opportunity to go to church there.



-Stone Mountain!!! We were impressed by the stone carving of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis. It is about 3 football fields long, and they say two school buses can fit on the back of General Lee's horse. We enjoyed a tram ride to the top, a visit to an old plantation, and an evening laser show with such spirited music as "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."

I must admit this morning I got off the phone with a lady from the south, and then I went to speak with our secretary. She started to laugh at me and asked why I had a southern drawl. I just smiled and told her, "Georgia's on my mind."

The Picture

I should begin by telling you I have a very dramatic class this year. They tend to exaggerate pretty much everything, and for some reason they have taken a fascination to belly dancing. Every day they come in talking about how so and so was belly dancing waiting for the bus. Weird, I know. Monday, my principal and an educational book publisher came in to show them how to publish their own books. We hooked my laptop into the projector, and I navigated through the site so the kids could see where to go on their laptops. The guy stood by the screen pointing out the features. The kids were quite engaged and things were going well. However, the next step was adding pictures. He asked if I had any on my laptop, and I told him I had some great ones of the class that we could show how to upload. Unfortunately, when the picture gallery opened, it opened to the last picture used, which was that beauty in my last post with the head wizard. I momentarily forgot how HUGE pictures look on the projector until I heard, "Oh my gosh, it is a picture of Miss R belly dancing." Which set off a huge explosion of giggling and yelling. The man by the projector not knowing my imaginative students jumped in front of the projector waving his arms trying to block the image. In the confusion and my mortification, I kept yelling, "I am not belly dancing, it's just a picture with . . . . .the head wizard. This proclamation did not help things, the kids could not contain their giggles, and the guy could not contain waving his arms. And so, with a bright red face I shut down the program as fast as I could. That's when I made the executive decision to find a picture of a dog on the Internet instead. Later, I explained to the guy that it was just a picture of me and this thing called the head wizard, but I'm not sure that made things less awkward. And although I gave my kids a good scolding about making up stories about belly dancing pictures, they continue to beg to see the belly dancing photo. (The guy's head and arms were in the way, they told me.) I promised that one day if they are really good, I will show them the head wizard photo. I just hope they don't go home and tell their parents they saw my belly dancing photo.

All for the Low Price of. . .

Alright, it's true I'm a sucker for infomercials and the gadgets they sell. I know most people make fun of them, and the people who buy the stuff on them. I however, think those people are probably very happy, just like the people on the infomercials. Now I have mocked my fair share of infomercials, but if I'm totally honest, my arms do get cold when I'm reading a book and Snuggie owners arms do not.
I must admit that my t.v. watching time at odd hours of the day and night has increased greatly and with that increase so has my infomercial watching. A couple of days ago in the wee morning hours, I was delighted to preview the Xpress, Redi Set Go. I was easily captivated in but a few minutes of watching. I mean you can cook steak, omelets, brownies, pizzas, chicken, sandwiches, and muffins all in less then 10 minutes. What about the mess you say. Not to worry the clean up is easy too. My mouth just waters thinking about the good that could come from that machine. I'm sure you're probably sold as well, don't worry I have the phone number. I also have the phone number for numerous other infomercials. I dreamily write them all down knowing I could have smoothies, clear skin, and Hip Hop Abs. However, I have one slight problem. It is my practicality. It's true while I love all of these new found gadgets, I'm just don't have the spontaneity to buy them. I guess I'm a window infomercial shopper. However, I did receive the pasta pot from some friends who had heard me talk endlessly about how great it would be. And I must say I have had perfect pasta for years with no hassle or mess. (Just like the commercial said) The Head Wizard (which I had to show you with this picture) also given to me by a friend who knew I was smitten with it, has helped me relax for years. You may laugh, but those who have experienced the Head Wizard only say, "Ahhhhh." One year my roommate got a clapper which we hooked up to the Christmas lights in our living room, and when you laughed just loud enough they would go off and on. Amazing, I know. Not practical, I know. But, if I lie awake tossing and turning anymore, the allure of the Redi Set Go infomercial may cause me to throw practicality out the window. And if it does, you're all invited over for dinner.

Running Out of Time

I am officially running out of time. Tuesday I go back to the cut, stitch, and drill at the hospital. Knowing this was coming, I tried to prepare my best. My doctor said it would be 5 weeks before I could drive again, and so I decided I needed to make a list of everything I wanted to do before then. It took a long while to really figure out what I wanted to do before surgery. After considerable effort this was the list I made:

* run, a lot
* walk, a lot
* take the stairs, a lot
* play racquetball, ski, go to the gym, a lot
* enjoy standing up to wash hair, a lot
* plop down on the floor and sit Indian style, a lot
* "pretend" to forget things, so I can run back to get them, umm, yeah, a lot
* work hard at school, a lot, a lot
* stare at feet, wiggle them around, feel grateful, a lot
* drive to places I soon will not be able to drive to, a lot
* stock up on yummy food, mm hmm, a lot

I have worked very hard to accomplish these very technical goals, and now I am so exhausted, I think I will be ready Tuesday to rest, a lot.