the final countdown....

only 6 days and 14 hours left in roma. wow.
i am very ready to go home, but i'm beginning to realize how many wonderful things i am going to miss. the final week includes finishing projects, purchasing final gifts, enjoying my favorite things.
there are a few things that i promised myself i would do before i left this week. a few weeks ago i vowed that i would have a caffe' macchiato every single day until i leave. a caffe' macchiato " simply means "marked" or "stained," and in the case of caffè macchiato, this means literally "espresso stained/marked with milk." my particular favorite place to sip one of these is at a cafe right outside my apartment called "noname." the cafe is owned by a husband and wife that are always very friendly and welcoming to us.  lucky for me, one macchiato is just 80 cents so i don't have to feel bad about giving myself this treat.
i will be visiting campo di fiori multiple time before i leave, and while i'm there i will grab my favorite piazza from forno di fiori which is a bakery that is always filled with romans because its terribly delicious.
i will be eating lots of gelato, pastrami sandwiches from bar del cappuccino, going to aperitivo a few more times, and of course eating lots of nutella.

so heres what i have been up to the last 2 weeks or so... schoolwork, homework, studio work, shopping, and doing final exploring. one exciting element of italy in december is the giant carnival that takes place in piazza navona. santa claus is a hard guy to find (which doesn't bother me a bit), but rather, its befana who is the protagonist of the christmas story. befana  is a housekeeper/witch in search of the Christ child. the full story can be read here:
http://mymerrychristmas.com/2005/befana.shtml

last night a few of my roommates and i went to piazza navona to experience the carnival at night. we had a joyful time- we got treats and rode the carousel.

kind of out of order....but my roommates and i also took family photos yesterday in our courtyard. we were a slightly dysfunctional group to photograph...but here are a few of the best. we love each other and its been a great semester!


top picture: (left to right) joelle, betsy, laura, eek, ashley, allison, tina, katie, megan, me.