how to boil water....

...for a home-made shampoo bowl. 

yup. we still don't have hot water in our lovely montecatini abode. all ten of us are stinky, sweaty, and hairy. although a cold shower can be refreshing, a cold shower is not supposed to take your breath away due to extreme coldness. thus, i boiled three pots of water to create my very own "shampoo bowl," at least my hair would be clean then. it had already been about two and a half days since i had showered or washed my mane so it was time. we are still waiting on our maintenance man to stop by to fix the following items:

- tina's v-shaped bed (it collapsed into a V while she was sleeping)

- the broken sink in one of the bathrooms

- the broken toilet seat in one of the bathrooms

- the collapsed walls of the shower in the other bathroom

- a broken stove burner

- and of course our hot water heater (which has already been "fixed" once)

- in the "mystery maintenance man's" defense, he did bring us a new washing machine, for which i am very grateful.

roma studio

i finally took some photos of studio since its now my second residence in rome. i dedicated most my weekend so far to studio and i'm sure its just the first of many weekends. oh well. its a nice place and we are fortunate to have a great space to work. iowa state university owns a portion of the building and its convieniently only a short walk away from my apartment. here it is...i'll post some more interesting photos later. ciao!

foodies...

 

buona sera. i decided that it was time to finally share a little bit of the splendor of foodies that i have been enjoying lately. campo di fiori translates to field of flowers and the produce is just as delicious as it is beautiful. i've already found a few places where i already feel like a "regular." the stand shown above with all the spices is one of my personal favorites. they have a plethora of spices, nuts, and dried fruits to chose from and they usually let you try a bite before you buy. fresh fruits and vegetables are the primary focus of campo di fiori, thus i buy all my produce at the market. when its time for sweets its gelato that i'm after. there are no flavors of gelato that i do not enjoy, but my favorites are the tart fruity kinds. yum-oh!

the colosseum

finally, my days of just being a tourist are coming to a close. i've been enjoying my time in rome, but i am ready to feel more like a resident than just a traveler. my first studio starts tomorrow and it seems like it will be quite interesting and we are going to be studying italian interior retail and lighting design. before i delve into school with full force i decided, with my fellow roommates, to venture to the spanish steps, and the colosseum today. pictured above are a few photographs from our visit to the historic site.

oh, and i also included a picture of my bruschetta- i know its not a complicated italian meal, but it was oh so delicious and made with the freshest ingredients from campo di fiori. i wish i could take everyone there, the market is so beautiful- i was in heaven at the fresh produce market.

second hand clothes, plumbing fixtures, bicycles, and kittens...

greetings to all. over the last few days i have been adventuring around rome, and trying to adjust to classes starting. its like i am on some amazing vacation and then when i was looking for some tourist attraction i accidentally stumbled into studio where i was forced to be a student. i am excited for classes to start because i am ready for a schedule and a routine, but its hard to focus on school when there is so much to do in rome.

although my rome abode is not the "ritz" i am starting to learn that what it lacks in class, it makes up for because of its location. we are close to many of romes most famous landmarks such as the trevi founatain, the pantheon, the spanish steps, and the colosseum. in addition, we are close to some of romes hidden gems too, like campo di fiori, della palma roma (the best gelato store YET!), and the porta portese flea market.

yesterday, i joined my roommates on an adventure to the ostia beach. i had found directions online and we hopped three different metro lines to get to the coast. the tyrannian sea is bright blue, big, salty, and has enormous waves. we spent most of the day crashing into the waves, and letting the waves crash into us. they were pretty furociuos but i was in heaven. it reminded me of the waves on the outer banks in north carolina. abby and i spent hours body surfing and crashing through the waves. most of us ended up with saggy suits because we had so much sand in the bottom of our swimsuits. suprisingly, we were not the only ones wearing swimsuits. although many italians went topless, a majortiy wore swimsuits (thank goodness). anyway. today we plan to visit a flea market that our rome guidebooks describe like this: "rome's biggest flea market-they sell everything: second hand clothes, plumbing fixtures, bicycles, and kittens..."

roma abode

buongiorno! currently, i am writing in my dining room where an accordion player is joyfully playing tunes in the ally below my apartment, its quite picturesque. unfortunately isn't not always that glamorous because the last two days i woke to the sound of an obnoxious jackhammer because there is construction down the road. overall i'm happy with my roommates and the apartment. we have lots of space, but its a little dirty and shabby (but not shabby chic).the kitchen is relatively well equipped but i might change my opinion after i cook in it tonight. i finally found a marvelous market in campo di fiori with a plethora of vegetable and fruits. i'm planning to cook bruschetta with some of my roommates.enjoy the photos of my apartment-the photos are a bit hard to explain in terms of layout, but they give you an idea of my abode.

skype

recently i have been greatly disappointed with gmail. once upon a time, i believed that google would eventually rule the world but i know now that they are still working on taking over italy. google and gmail have been the only world wide web sites that have been shifty in rome. silly things like facebook and twitter work, but now i'm waiting on gmail to work. furthermore, gmail chat isn't  working either. i downloaded skype for free and it can be used for voice/video chat. once you download the program (for free) add me as a contact-my username is bluhrs, or you can just look up my name. most people have had success with using skype and now that gmail is failing i will pretty much constantly be signed into skype. if anyone has questions let me know. we shall see how this works- i put a link to the website to download the program below.love you all.

http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/