The traffic in Rome is crazy, the drivers don’t stop for anyone, and there are so many vespas and smart cars.  The funny thing is that the people riding the vespas are men dressed in fancy suits with ties and women wearing fancy dresses with high heals.

This morning we took two trains and a bus to get to Rome from Contigliano.  We got here with just enough time to get settled into our amazing apartment, go out to eat dinner, and walk around.  After we had some pizza across the Tiber river, we walked around and window shopped.  We got some gelato (strawberry and lemon for me, yum) and then walked to the Parthenon and the Trevi Fountain.  At the Parthenon there was a funny mime, and on the way to the fountain we saw a woman who was painting pictures with spray paint.  She was so fast she could paint a picture in less than five minutes.

Walking by all these huge old buildings you wonder … how did they do it?  How did they build these amazing huge things?  How did they get that heavy stone up so high?

It’s incredible.

This being our last day in Contigliano we went with some of our friends to the Marmore waterfall.  Apparently, it is the tallest one in Europe, and we climbed all the way down it and then all the way back up.  It was so beautiful.  I know I keep repeating myself when I say that it is so beautiful here, but it is.  It’s hard to believe that this is the end of our stay here, I am going to miss the friends we have made.

We had a party tonight and when Alessandro and Valeria said goodbye and left, it was hard to realize that we won’t see each other for a verrry long time.  The same goes for the other Alessandro, Luca, and all their friends.  Tomorrow Chiara, Marcella, Marisa, and I head to Rome for two more days.

(I think once we get to Rome, we will have more access to the internet … )

Today we went to Rome.  It would take a lifetime to see all of it.  We walked a lot, and saw a lot.  Here is a picture at the end of our day in the great city.

Today was the day that everything came together.  The Installation was really awesome.  We had created four postcards, one for each part of the city (Contingliano Alta, Centro, Mountains, and Hostel), and when you placed one, or more, of the postcard on the table the RFID would read it and pull photos and audio from the specific folder.  There were lots of people interacting with the exhibition, and it was fun to see everything complete.

It’s kind of sad that it’s all over now.  I am going to miss everyone and everything when we have to leave, but tomorrow … we conquer Rome!

We each wrote an artist statement and they were displayed around the room …
My artist statement (Italian and English versions – just in case you only read Italian):

PROSPETTIVE
Vedere qualcosa dal punto di vista di un’altra persona aggiunge una comprensione più profonda all’esperienza di ciascuno. Guardando Contigliano con gli occhi, le orecchie, e i pensieri di altre persone, uno può vedere la città in modo nuovo. Ogni persona ha un’esperienza unica della città, sia che uno abbia vissuto qui per tutta la vita o sia in visita per la prima volta. Collegare tutti questi pezzi rivela relazioni tra i luoghi, le persone, e i loro ricordi, e permette di vedere il vero cuore della città.

PERSPECTIVES
To see something from another person’s point of view adds a deeper understanding to one’s experience of it.  By looking at Contigliano through the eyes, ears, and thoughts of other people, you can see the city in a new way.  Each person has a unique experience with the city, whether they have lived there their whole life, or are visiting it for the first time.  Connecting all these pieces reveals relationships between places, people, and their memories making it possible to see the real heart of the city.

Chiara, Marisa, Marcella, Me, Ciro, Matteo, and Alessandro putting it all together.

Today we worked all day on the project … and then we had fun!

We went to see “I Ratti Della Sabina” (the rats of Sabina) with Luca, Alessandro, and Chiara.  It was so much fun!  Luca was so funny, and the music was great.  Luca told me that he knows one of the singers and the drummer because they went to school together.  The band is popular in central Italy, and apparently if you go to their website, you can download their music for free.  Luca made us all a mix of their music (plus some other extra music that he likes) which was cool, because now we all have Italian music.