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The first day back at class. In the morning I went out to finish an assignment for cartography. I went out walking for awhile and ended up at Ponte Sisto, a pedestrian bridge across the Tiber. While there I quickly did my assignment, which was to mark a view on this bridge that a painter took some 150 years ago. On the way back I ran into Alan Ceen on his bicycle, which I found to be an odd coincidence since I was just working on an assignment for him.

I did a much-needed load of laundry and went to the grocery store to get some much needed food. All I had in the fridge at the time were potatoes and pesto. I attempted to get out money beforehand, but was rejected by two banks. This put me in quite the bad mood, and I proceeded to rant about it all the way home. Susie paid for my groceries for the time being. I thought I was out of money for sure, though I was also sure that this couldn’t be possible. I thought I had budgeted so well. A quick check online confirmed I had money in my account and that the Bank of Sicily was a piece of crap.

After a brutal Italian class (my Italian is so rusty) where we learned two new tenses in two hours, I was ready for a break. I had just sat down to write in this here blog when Susie comes running in. She has been making a list of things she wants to do before we leave Rome. ‘Let’s go to the top of St. Peter’s dome!’ she exclaims. I look outside and see a beautiful sun setting across the clouds. This convinces me right quick that going to the dome right then would be perfect. We run out and head to the dome before dark. In fact, we ran out so quickly we forgot our phones, keys, and I forgot to change into pants.

For much of our walk I was certain they wouldn’t let me into St. Peter’s in shorts. Luckily they did, but the dome was closed! It closed at five, but I didn’t particularly care because I got to see a few parts of the church that I didn’t last time. The last time we went they were having a mass in the front, so under the dome was closed off. This time that wasn’t the case, and it was truly awe-inspiring. The shear size made me feel like an insignificant speck.

Susie wanted to look at boots in Borgo, the ‘cheap shopping district’ in Rome. We walked over there and I successful got money out of the Bancomat. As I was leaving a guy from Houston and I had a quick chat, sort of an American Abroad bonding experience. Susie couldn’t find any cheap boots, so we walked home and had a nice intellectual conversation the entire way.

In the evening I again was going to make an attempt to do work. Instead I took a nice nap on the couch. A few people went out for our friend matt’s birthday, including Susie. When I woke up from my nap I decided to try and find what bar they were at. My first guess ended up being right, Sloppy Sam’s in Campo dei Fiori. By the time I got there it was past midnight and St. Patrick’s Day. I partook in a green beer and spent about an hour there. We all got up to leave at the same time and had an eventful walk home. Our friend Anthony decided it would be a good idea to get inside a refrigerator box and run around the streets in it. The box-capade ended when matt tackled him outside Navona.

I went to bed feeling satisfied after what was a good first day back.