Baptized by a Pigeon

Hello friends,
I got pooed on by pigeon last night. Luckily I was with a friend who was kind enough to use a napkin to get the poo out of my hair.
It's been really hot in Rome for the last few days. Today it's raining, so it cooled down a little bit. The heat during the day is ok because at night it is absolutely the perfectest temperature ever. I had some vino and pizza with one of the other interns on Tuesday night as a birthday celebration. Last night me and the other intern from Vandy went and had a beer and a stroll. It's so pretty outside.
I'm headed to Milan on Friday afternoon. Then, I have Monday through Thursday off because there's a "high level conference" in the building and non-essential personnel have been instructed not to come to work. No problem. So, Monday I'm heading to the Cinque Terre to sit on the cliffs and look at the ocean for a few days.
No complaints from me thus far. I'm feeling more comfortable here this week--both with being in Rome and with the research I've been doing at work. I've been using public transportation a lot, which makes me feel good. I like knowing how to get places on the bus.
Hugs,
Lauren

Ostia Antica/Happy Birthday to me

Hello friends,
I'm writing from my very hot office in Rome. They are apparently "working on" getting the AC going, but the work has been fruitless for the past couple days and the sun is beating in the window. I'm afraid of standing up and having a giant sweat mark on my butt.
Sunday I went with the other Vanderbilt student to Ostia Antica, Rome's old port town. It housed 75,000 people at its height and it was quite a sight to see! I will post pictures at some point. They restored a lot of the old buildings. On one block they were able to restore the first and second stories, so you could really get a sense for what it looked like to walk down the street and you could see what the apartment buildings looked like. They think the apartments in Rome were similar.
It was neat to see the size and scope of the ancient city. In Rome people kept building on top of the old stuff, so you can't really see how big the city used to be. Here, we could walk pretty much the whole city and get a good idea of its size (it was big!). We saw old warehouses, apartment buildings, etc. It was fun.
Yoga is still going well. I got a new pose yesterday: Navasana. Blessing or curse? I'm not sure yet.
Today is my birthday--I am now in my late mid-20s. I was in India for my birthday last year. I'm going to have to be home for my birthday next year--this getting older by myself thing is getting old.
I hope you are all very well.
Hugs,
Lauren

Marichiasana D!

Hi Friends,
one of the teachers at the yoga studio pulled me into Marichiasana D last night!! It didn't hurt at all--my body's been ready for it for a while, I think. I just haven't been able to get myself into the posture. It made me feel like I have been making progress over the last year while I've been practicing alone, even though it felt like I started to spin my wheels. I wish I could have a teacher all the time! I'm hoping that I'll be able to do the pose by myself by the time I leave and that maybe they'll give me a few more poses.
There's my big news for the day.
Hugs,
Lauren

Roga

Hello friends,
I'm writing to report I went to Yoga class in Rome last night (hence the "Roga") and it was awesome. I haven't practiced in about 5 weeks, due to finals, etc. so I expected to have a really hard time yesterday. But it went fine, though I'm really tired today. It was so nice to practice in the same room with other people again! They have a Mysore-style class, so I was able to just go in and do my own practice and there were 2 teachers, one of whom has been certified to teach Ashtanga by Patthabi Jois, walking around and adjusting. My yoga practice has stagnated a bit over the last few months and I think this will give me a push to the next level and an injection of much-needed yoga energy! yay. It also gives me something to do after work.
I'm so tired...I think I'm still sleeping off the finals tiredness. If only I'd had a week off somewhere in here. I fell asleep at 8:30 last night and slept till my alarm went off at 7:30. I had a terrible time getting myself out of bed. I'm looking forward to sleeping more this weekend.
The job is ok--I feel like I'm going really slow on all my research and it's a little unclear what the expectations are, i.e. how much and what I should be getting done within what time frame. But I'm learning lots about international disputes over GMOs, which is pretty interesting.
Rome is still growing on me, though i wouldn't mind if it stopped raining. I've started to navigate the buses, which means I'm learning my way around the city better.
Hope you are all well!
Lauren

FAO

Hi Friends,
I started work on Monday and it's pretty cool so far. I'm working on a project advising a European country on how to comply with international treaties regarding GMOs. People in the office seem pretty laid back. I'm in the "intern" room with one other intern. No one seems to care too much when I come or go. Right now I'm doing a lot of research on this topic. I've been having a hard time coming up with a lot of information. It sounds like the professor who I got this job through talked me up a little bit. This makes me nervous--I want to do a good job and meet their expectations, but what if the professor set the expectations a little too high?
Anyhoo, I got lost on the way to work this morning. I decided to take public transport rather than walk for the first time since it was raining (and has been for days). I ended up spending more time in the rain than I would have if I'd walked. Oh well. I met a new friend on the bus who placed me as an American by my Chacos.
After work tonight I'm going to start yoga classes at the studio nearby. It's a dedicated Ashtanga studio, which is awesome. I haven't practiced in about 5 weeks, so I'm going to be pretty exhausted for a couple weeks while I get back in shape.
I hope all is well wherever you are! As always, emails and comments are appreciated!
Hugs,
Lauren

Rome and stuff

Uh, oh, I've already run out of snappy titles. I spent today wandering the city with no particular agenda. I started at the Pantheon and made my way over to the Piazza Navona, which were both pretty and cool. Also absolutely overrun with people. I've never been anywhere so full of tourists, except for Disney World. Which brings me to my next point. It's kinda weird to be in this city that so many other places have tried to imitate. It's so beautiful everywhere and it just goes on and on and on. It seems surreal and larger than life everywhere. The little cobblestoned streets are so wind-y and picturesque.
In my wanderings today I somehow ended up at the Vatican. I went into St. Peter's and it was massive. The art inside was really cool, including the Michaelangelo original: La Pieta. Most of the people carved in the walls were twice as big as a normal sized person. There were also lots of really beautiful mosaics.
Yesterday I wandered around after I submitted my paper for the law journal and decided to go to the Colosseum. My first reaction: I thought it would be bigger. Ha. I did. It was pretty cool. I didn't go in. I'll have to save the Forum, Colosseum and Palatine for another day.
I also found my way to work. To my delight it's within walking distance of my house. I also found the place where I'll (hopefully) be going to to do Yoga after work on the map. It's not far from where I'm working.
Everything of note seems to be in walking distance from my house (as long as you don't mind taking a long walk, which I don't). It's nice to be able to walk myself around. I think it's the best way to get my bearings. The river is a nice landmark running through the middle of the city that helps me figure out where I am.
I'm still a little jetlagged and had a hard time sleeping last night (and then a hard time getting up this morning). Hopefully it will get better when I start work.
I'll post some photos soon. I'm still trying to find out where I can get free wireless in the city so I don't have to pay so much to use the internet. When I do that I can start uploading photos.
Hugs,
Lauren

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

That much is obvious now that I've arrived in the fair city. I saw a guy jogging around the place they used to have chariot races earlier. Awesome.
I made it here without anything too eventful happening, which is always a plus when it comes to traveling. I left Nashville Thursday morning, spent 5 hours in Philadelphia and then embarked on a very uncomfortable plane ride. It was hot and I swear my seat didn't recline as far as it should've (it certainly didn't recline as far back as I wanted it to). I sat next to a senior in college who asked me to talk to her during takeoff because she was desperately afraid of flying. When the plane would bank, or we went through turbulence, she would try and adjust it by moving her body or grabbing on to the seat in front of her.
The plane trip to Italy was very different from my plane trip to Vietnam. There were far fewer tourists, annoyed looking kids, etc on the plane flight to Vietnam. This flight was like going to Cancun. The streets here are filled with tourists here too--this could be a good or bad thing. On the one hand, people are used to dealing with foreigners and they don't stare at me like I'm an oddity. On the other hand, I feel less cool.
I waited a really long time for my luggage, which always makes me a little nervous.
I'm glad I arranged an airport pickup. My "studio" lies behind an unmarked wooden door to an apartment building. I never would've found it. Rather than having a room with a view, I have a room with no view. The only windows are above the door and in the ceiling in the bathroom. It'll do, but I though it'd be a little bigger.
I was feeling pretty overwhelmed yesterday. I barely got any sleep on the plane, not to mention the general exhaustion from the last 4 to 6 weeks (finals, moving, journal competition, etc). I fell asleep at 9:30 last night and woke up at noon! Maybe the exhaustion will help with the jet lag.
It appears my studio is next to a restaurant. I didn't notice from the outside, but as I was falling asleep last night I heard the general buzz of conversations, along with the sound of people washing dishes. Hopefully it was only so loud because it was Friday night.
To get on to our Law Review at Vanderbilt we had two weeks to submit a packet of items, including a 12 page paper based on materials they gave us. I worked on that yesterday and today and just finished it. Now that that is finally out of the way I can wander the city and explore with more ease. I may take a long walk today and try to figure out how to get to work.
I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to eat here, which always seems to be an issue for me right when I get to a country. Not that there isn't plenty of food around, but sometimes I'm shy about going up to a counter or something because I don't speak the language (and somehow failed to bring an Italian-english dictionary with me).
Anyhoo, friends, I made it here ok. I still have to figure out Rome's wireless hotspots so I can avoid paying $6 an hour for the internet. I set up a skype account, so if any of you want to talk to me over Skype, email me and we can exchange skype names.
TTFN,
Lauren

Romeward Bound

Hello friends,
I'm on the cusp of yet another international journey! I head to Rome on Thursday. It occurs to me that Rome lends itself to many hilarious (read: cliched) blog titles. Imagine my excitement.
I've been a bit stressed. I finished finals last week and I'm now working on a submission for our competition to be on Law Review. I have to write a 12-15 page paper about the law and then submit it. It will be judged by upperclassmen who will either admit me into their organization or not.
I also just spent several nice days with my parents and grandparents. They were in town celebrating my brother's graduation from lawyer school. Yay Aaron.
I'd post pictures of graduation, but I accidentally packed my USB cable for my camera. If I don't go buy one, or search through all my boxes, my gentle readers may have to wait for photo documentation of my trip until my triumphant return.
I should be writing this law review thing right now, but it's hard to motivate now that finals are over.
More posts later this week, and to come in the future. I start work Monday the 19th. I'm very excited. I think my job is going to be super cool.
Hugs,
Lauren