Every Wednesday is a free day for us, we can decide to go out wandering, sleep, or catch up on homework. Because all of us had many journals to write, responses to follow up on, and Italian skits to memorize, AND we are flying to Venice this weekend, everyone spent the entire day, inside, doing homework. It was exhausting, and a little frustrating having to spend the day doing homework, as I have become accustom to going out and exploring Rome, or a foreign country, on a daily basis. However, despite the fact that we are over 5,000 miles away from our usual Walsh campus, we are still in school, and work needs to be done. Besides, the professor that came over with us is probably one of my all time favorites- Dr. Ron Scott. He is a huge white water rafter, loves to rock climb, and we raced each other up 124 stairs to the top of a church in Rome the other day! He kind of reminds me of my both my brother TJ, and my godfather, Uncle Mike…which is good because it gives me a little sense of being home. This is the first time I have had him in class, at first I was a little apprehensive about having him as a professor while in Rome because he is an English professor…and English and reading are not, by any means, my strong points. I was nervous about the content of the books we would have to read, the amount of papers we would have to write, and how the classes would be run.
However, my fears have been quickly dismissed. Although there are several books we need to read, which aren’t the most riveting, and the courses do require a lot of writing, the work load is manageable. We have a few “journals” due every week, but they are to be written about personal stories we have experienced here, or in our lives in general, and relate them back to the books we have read. Class is run completely different from any other class I have been in. The majority of the classes consist of the students talking and discussing certain topics of the day, while Ron chimes in occasionally as a figure of wisdom. He encourages discussions, debates, and working as a group to solve problems, because this is the best way to learn. I am actually excited, for once, to take these classes because I have already learned so much from only being in them for a week.
That is all for today, tomorrow we are having a guided tour of the city walls museum, and the rest is free time in Rome! I will update you tomorrow on how this went. Ciao!
PS...becasue I know everyone was worried. We got to carve pumpkins after dinner today, so I was able to continue my annual tradition of carving ridiculously amazing figures into the side of a pumpkin :)The picture is a little blurry, but mine is the creepy looking one of the left!
You are so expressive in your blogs...I feel like I am right there with you.
ReplyDeleteThat is so funny that you were able to carve pumpkins! And you will notice, when you see Frankie and Jessica's pumpkin, how very similar they are. I agree with A. Susan, you make us feel as though we were there experiencing it all with you!
ReplyDeletelove mom