I cannot believe my time in Rome has come to an end. It's surreal having to think that, or even putting it down in words... These have been the absolute best five months of my life. It took a lot of adjustment, learning, hard work, and hand gestures, but I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. After a grueling few days in major study hermit mode and hand-cramping finals I was freed from academics and my summer adventuring began. I picked up mama from the airport on Wednesday night and our mother-daughter bonding began with a dinner out in Trastevere where I demanded she try the buffalo mozzarella and give risotto another try. After rushing to move out of my apartment on Thursday I had to go to work and help hang the 50/50 Selected Artworks gallery show at VISIVA which was super awesome since we got to get up close and personal with all of this amazing artwork by artists we had been following around the city finding street art all semester.

After work was the program farewell dinner where we merrily ate and drank and listened to one of our friends serenade on the guitar, reminiscing about all of the funny stories from the course of the semester, and our night concluded with a 6 hour night tour of Rome. It was the perfect way to share this incredible experience and walk through the city that had brought us all together. From climbing the Aventine and looking through the key hole and looking out over the city from the garden of oranges to walking past Circo Massimo and crowding around the Colosseum, making our way through the ancient forum and frolicking across Piazza Venezia to arrive at the Trevi fountain where we spent a few hours just hanging out, saying goodbye to our beloved Italian intern friends in front of the Pantheon which we had all to ourselves and ending at the near-deserted Piazza Navona right next to school, we covered everything by foot and with happy memories but tears in our eyes.

I resumed playing tour guide on Friday as mama and I walked around the Vatican area stopping for photos in Piazza San Pietro and grabbing some gelato at Gelateria del Teatro before busing to ancient Rome and looking over the ruins from Piazza del Campidoglio and making our way to the Colosseum. I was even able to show her the Monti neighborhood which she really liked, and we returned to Trastevere for pizza at my favorite restaurant Dar Poeta. Saturday was another day of retracing my favorite paths in the city starting out with my daily route to Largo di Torre Argentina and then routing around the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo de' Fiori, Via Giulia, and a stop by Bar Amore where I said my goodbyes to Fabio and the gang who make the best cappuccinos in Rome. We made our way to Via del Corso for some shopping to celebrate our trip while popping into famous churches to look at the masterpieces of Raphael and Caravaggio before heading up the Spanish Steps to Villa Borghese for a lookout over the Renaissance landscape. A few hours to kill before appropriate dinnertime called for a detour to the Trevi fountain where we threw our coins in together before heading back across the Tiber to eat suppli and grab a selection of piatti from Franchi, my favorite gastronomia, and then we headed home to enjoy our food on our balcony with the bottle of Orvieto wine I'd saved from my day trip a few weeks back. We just happened to pass by the Vatican on the way back, as Franchi is in the Prati neighborhood, and we realized we had gotten ourselves into the middle of 300,000 people gathered to attend the Pope's special childrens' greeting mass this weekend. The thousands of people filling the small streets like lava was reminiscent of the canonization event a few weeks back. At least we were able to see the area in all of its chaotic glory?

Sunday morning we headed out to go market-hopping, starting out with Campagna Amica for some yummy food samples and a panino con porchetta that we shared later before heading to Porta Portese for the massive flea market. An exhausting morning on our feet behind us, we took a quick lunch break in our room before heading back out so as not to waste our last day in Rome (still weird to think that). We started out by going to San Giovanni in Laterano to see the golden gilded ceilings and Papal Throne before walking through Basilica di San Clemente on our way to see Michelangelo's Moses in San Pietro in Vincoli. I then realized there was one more famous church that I had never seen before despite its importance and my four months here, so we trekked up to Santa Maria Maggiore where we were again overwhelmed by the beauty of the artwork filling these buildings. I wanted to enjoy my last dinner in Trastevere, the neighborhood I lived in this semester, so we made our way across Ponte Garibaldi with a spectacular view of Michelangelo's duomo before meandering through the small streets of Trastevere in search for a spot for dinner. We sat outside at a quaint little restaurant with the nicest waiters and got the most Roman dinner I could think of -- carbonara and amatriciana (delicioso!). Dinner was topped off with another trip to Gelateria del Teatro for a cup of my favorite flavor salvia e lamponi before we made our way back up the Janiculum hill to head home. I can't believe this is it... I'm heading out tomorrow morning for Siena to embark on my crazy six week adventure around Europe, leaving behind this city that I have grown to love so dearly. I have a weird feeling that I'll be back in no time, though, and considering I threw my coins into the Trevi it has to come true, right? It's all just a bit surreal to think I won't be back in this place that has become home to me over the past few months but the memories I have made here are priceless and I'm glad I got to check all of the wonderful things off of my list again over the past few days, sharing my stories from all of the places I've been and sat and experienced.

Roma ha cambiato la mia vita. È la cosa più bella che è successo a me. Grazie a Roma io posso comunicare in una lingua bellissima che io non ho mai pensato potrei parlare così bene. Per due anni era il mio sogno a imparare italiano perché ho voluto di tornare in Italia e andare al mercato e prendere buone cose per mangiare in italiano, vedere i film o ascoltare la musica e capire che stanno dicendo, o anche fare una piccola conversazione con una barista bevendo un caffè. Io ho fatto tutte queste cose, e più. Roma me ha introdotto le nuove passione, persone tante brave e simpatiche, e un desiderio a tornare qui per camminare nelle queste strade che adesso io so così come le mie mani. Ora Roma non è solo una città nella mappa — è una delle mie case nel mondo. Ora io so che tutto è possibile e non ho paura di provare niente. Roma, grazie per tutto. Ti amo e non voglio mai lasciare!

This weekend is spend holed up and studying after quite the end to the week on Thursday and Friday. I finally paid a visit to the Vatican Museum (after waiting for line for 6 hours in torrential downpour) the day after the Primo Maggio concert at Piazza San Giovanni where we rocked out to communist anthems and other pop songs among hundreds of thousands of drunk Italian college kids (and our professor, bahaha).

My adventure started Thursday morning at our last conversation class of the semester (so sad!!) where we laughed and practiced for our esame orale, and since I was already out I decided to take a venture out to Pigneto in hopes of finding the Madonna Mr.Klevra painted last week (as I saw on Instagram) as part of the Pasolini Pigneto event that was going on. It was super cool to see such a big mural in the middle of the small neighborhood. It turns out that entire block was full of cool artwork by Omino71, UNO, HOPNN, Hogre, Alice, #Cancelletto#, and more. Once I was done looking around, however, I realized that since it was a holiday the buses weren't running and I was forced to trek back to Piazza Venezia and got to spend 30 minutes laying face down on my bed before heading out to concerto di Primo Maggio. My Sociology of Rome class met up because it was a course requirement to attend and we ended up being release to battle the madness on our own. It was a crazy mix of singing and mosh pits and beer bottles thrown everywhere (the city was traaaashed), but it was so interesting to see everyone so rallied up about the anti-State movement centralized around promoting communist principles in Italy. We danced most of the night away and sang Bella Ciao at the top of our lungs as all of the Italian classes have been practicing that song in class since the beginning of the semester.

After the concert a group went to Trastevere to get pizzas at Dar Poeta and sit in Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere in front of my favorite church to chat and eat and have a good time. I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was well worth the 10+ miles I walked that day... However, I had to wake up early at 6:30 to meet my friend in line for the Vatican museum at 8:30 the next morning. Even at 8:30 we were halfway down the second block of the line waiting to get in. Other people ended up coming and meeting up with us later in the morning and we played games and whatnot to pass the time until the torrential downpour began and we tried to crowd 10 under one small umbrella which obviously didn't work. After 6 hours of waiting in line we finally made it into the museum soaking wet and tired from the wait. It was well worth it since we got to see all of the things we learned about from Paolo in Renaissance Art such as the image of Sixtus IV with his nephew, librarian, and others by Melozzo da Forli and all of the Raphael rooms, and of course the Sistine Chapel. We were rushed through the Sistine Chapel as guards were yelling at us to keep moving but we snuck our way through the gate against traffic and found ourselves a corner from which to stare at the amazing Michelangelo ceiling in typlogical association with the Tempus Legum and Tempus Gratiae images lining the walls leading up to the Last Judgment. It was awesome to be able to understand the imagery in all of these famous images instead of passively appreciating their beauty, but the crowds and guards shouting "Silencio!" through the microphone were quite distracting and I see now why Paolo hates tourists so much for ruining the experience of being in the Sistine Chapel.

We ended up spending the entire day around the Vatican area since we left close to 6 pm and I got home and passed out from exhaustion since I was on my feet for too long over the past two days. The next two days were spent desperately preparing for finals (since we lacked a dead week like I'm used to on the semester system it was quite the struggle to prepare for three tests over one weekend). Overall, it was a great way to spend one of my last weekends checking things off of my Rome bucket list.

Boy, do I feel like I caught up on some good ole couch potato time or what. I scrambled to finish my essays early (which basically never happens, but it must be something about the Roman air...) and got them out of the way on Thursday which left me with a three day weekend wide open.

Friday was an exciting day in San Lorenzo at la festa della liberazione as I had mentioned before, and the rest of my afternoon was spent sketching and doodling after being inspire by Alice's artwork. Then on Saturday I decided to go look for a wall painted by Sten & Lex in Garbatella, which is a neighborhood our sociology professor suggested we go visit. It's one of the garden neighborhoods, filled with green space and lots of cool artwork as I soon discovered. The houses and courtyards were very different from any of the other neighborhoods I've visited in Rome (I think it's safe to say I may have done the most periphery exploring out of my entire class), and it was a beautiful area to be in. I also stumbled across Eataly which is basically Rome's version of Whole Foods on steroids. It was quite overwhelming, but now if I need any last-minute artisan chocolates to buy as souvenirs I know exactly where to go.

Sunday was a big day seeing as Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II were being canonized at St. Peter's. I wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but I watched the livestream as I ate breakfast (thanks for the recommendation, Official CNN Twitter account) and decided I should go see what all the hoopla was about since I wasn't here for Easter, and apparently this was way more important and more people were in town for this particular ceremony. I took a stroll through Trastevere and as I approached the outskirts of Vatican City I saw hundreds of people sitting, lining the sidewalks to hear the echoes of Pope Francis' voice over the loudspeakers. I stumbled my way through the crowds to test how close I could get (which wasn't very close at all) and could only see seas of people and heads bobbing up and down at the entrance to Via della Conciliazione. There were thousands of people packed on to Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, and I crossed over the bridge to walk along the Tiber for quite a ways until I mad my way back across into Prati where all of the streets were chaos. Police blockades at every intersection, yellow tape dangling from sign posts, and just so, so many people everywhere. I think I spent more of my time dodging tour groups and old ladies than I did actually trying to listen to what was happening, but my morning was accompanied by lots of harmonized singing in the background. I spent the rest of my time wandering the streets near Via del Corso after maneuvering my way past Piazza del Popolo and headed home for lunch break. My friend and fellow intern then invited me to go find the tunnel Gio Pistone painted near Quadraro, so we set off on a hunt for some crazy looking monsters in the rain (which proved very successful!). Termini was a complete mess and completely overflowing, but now I know what my professors meant when all Rome goes to hell when events happen and tourists arrive by the hundreds of thousands. It was quite the experience to just be wrapped up in the aftermath of religious ceremony in the center of Catholicism, but I'm glad to be on a quiet street in a smaller neighborhood away from the madness that is probably the city center even at this hour. I just hope the bus schedules return to normal for the school week!

The 25th of April marks the Day of Liberation in Italy, symbolic of the countrymen's freedom from Fascism and Nazism after the grueling wars in the 1940s. I was called out to San Lorenzo in the morning by my internship director because Alice (who we finally met!!) was planning to perform a street art exhibit in conjunction with a team consisting of her sister and friend Matteo who both work in television to create a documentary about the real lives and stories of the resistenza italiana, the inspiration for her work. Alice painted 5 different scenes on bedsheets to be hung from the windows of the houses and buildings of five individuals she has been interviewing and collecting personal stories from over the past few weeks to complete this project. The scenes include a truck driven by Rino, the local man who rides around with a boombox and a loudspeaker to lead the "parade" of sorts and share the stories of the people commemorated on the plaques around the neighborhood as they hang flowers above them in memory of their lives, a scene of children riding on their bicycles for Lisa who has started a program to block traffic on the main road each week for children to have a safe space to ride their bikes in this quarter of the city, a woman and a girl emerging onto the streets from a small door for the older woman who shared her experience of having her house in San Lorenzo bombed when she was a young child, a portrait of a young girl hiding behind her hands for another woman with a similar story, and a female boxer spray painted on a red sheet (like the red flag of the resistance) and hung above the palestra popolare which provides space for a local boxing gym.

We followed Rino and his loudspeakers blasting Bella Ciao among throngs of parents singing along and children on their bicycles decorated with flowers. Our day was chaotic in the sense that we weren't exactly sure what was going on at first but also, briefed only with a map and some instructions on asking for people's information, sent out to track down parents and collect release forms for the filming that was going on. As people shared their personal stories and the crowd gazed up at Alice's artwork swaying overhead, clapping to show their support and celebrate the liberation, the filming team of two (Matteo with his camera and his trusty soundman) followed Alice who provoked conversation about what 25 aprile means to the locals as Gabby and I chased after interviewees with pens and papers and broken Italian. Despite the chaos and confusion it was a very "Roman event" as both Alice and Jessica put it, and I am very glad I got to see and hear some of the history behind the movement in an area that was more (at least physically) affected by the war than the ancient city center. The weaving of Alice's artwork with the stories of the locals really brought new meaning to street art connecting a shared experience among people, and we really seemed to come full circle as on this day we passed by the San Lorenzo wall filled with Alice's murals that we saw during our very first internship meeting.

---

La street artist Alice Pasquini parteciperà sin dalla mattina alle iniziative dedicate alla memoria della Resistenza a San Lorenzo, girando delle riprese che andranno a far parte di un documentario. In parallelo esporrà in luoghi e con modalità insolite alcune sue opere in giro per il quartiere, per segnalare iniziative di resistenza urbana quotidiana che testimoniano lo spirito attivo e non convenzionale dei cittadini. Si partirà alle ore 10 da via dei Volsci 34, per seguire poi un percorso della memoria della Resistenza “del passato e del presente”. Il furgoncino che tutti gli anni, per iniziativa di Rino, un abitante del quartiere, si ferma a rendere omaggio alle epigrafi che ricordano l’eroismo degli abitanti di San Lorenzo, questa volta farà tappa anche presso le case dalle quali pendono le lenzuola dipinte da Alice, che celebrano la resistenza quotidiana della gente del posto (speculazione edilizia, inquinamento, sanità, diritto allo sport e all’abitazione).

"Io avevo una idea, essendo italiana e essendo donna e lavorando in strada - e pensando a quanto sia tipico il panorama dei panni stesi in certi quartieri, come rappresentanza di un ceto sociale. E quanto rappresenti l'immaginario collettivo femminile, con il suo simbolico esporre in pubblico qualcosa di cosi' intimo e permettere una comunicazione tra dirimpettai… Ho deciso che mi sarebbe piaciuto raccontare una storia dipingendo sulle lenzuola stese, come idea estetica e artistica, dopodiche': che storia raccontare?". Inizialmente quella delle donne partigiane, in occasione della Festa della Liberazione, "una parte di storia di cui non si parla molto"; ma oggi il progetto si e' ampliato, a coinvolgere attivamente il quartiere. "Qual e' d'altronde l'eredita' della Resistenza? Che vuol dire 25 aprile? Perche' in questo quartiere c'e' ancora tutto questo, perche' resiste? Perche' ha questa nomea al di la' di quanto accaduto durante la guerra? - ci domanda, offrendoci una risposta: - mi son resa conto che c'e' una eredita' della Resistenza, ma e' nelle azioni di quella gente, che in quel quartiere e' abituata a resistere". Sette disegni su sette lenzuoli appesi alle finestre di "sette donne del presente, che continuano a resistere e a lottare", ma senza dimenticare la Resistenza che fu. Se siete a Roma, venite, quest'anno San Lorenzo potrebbe essere una buona idea per una Festa della Liberazione davvero diversa, e vera.

From FESTEGGIA IL 25 APRILE CON LE OPERE ITINERANTI DI ALICE PASQUINI.