Gettin' the Mojo Back

I found myself on a bad spring break hangover. I was on a life high for over a week filled with massive adventure and all week I just felt rundown and lazy. I didnt do anything all week, I was completely unproductive, and I didnt feel motivated to do anything whatsoever. A rockin' weekend in Rome got rid of that, and some adventuring in Ostia got the adventuring mojo back and kicking.

I remember blogging in the past about this blues club I found called Big Mama. I'd been wanting to go to it for a while now and finally got the chance to on Thursday night when a Beatles cover band was playing. I thought it was free, but turns out we needed to buy a yearly membership when we got there, but it was only 14 Euro. Now though, we have access to all the shows for the rest of the season included in that original price. Theres no extra cover charge and they dont compel you to buy a drink, so its a cheap night out and some awesome live music! The cover band was awesome - didnt play the classic motown hits like I expected, but instead broke it down with some lengthy jam sessions and really worked the crowd with some unexpected songs. We went to another show on Saturday night, a local blues band - drums, lead guitar, bass, three saxophones, keys, trumpet, guy and girl vocals. It was great, totally authentic and my absolute perfect idea of a night out. I wish we'd had these passes all semester, I could have seen so many different shows by now. Its like a basement bar/club with low ceilings and great acoustics. I can do with the drinking age when I come home, but not being able to get into places like this or jazz clubs for some nice nights out is gonna be obnoxious. Some more awesome shows coming up in the next few weeks that I'm psyched for, definitely gonna get the moneys worth from that membership.

On Friday, Chris and I got up early in an official quest to get the mojo back. We went to an old Roman port town outside of the city a little ways that was deserted and is a massive excavation of the ruins, kind of like Pompeii, but with a totally different feel. We wandered the ruins for like 5 hours and got the adventuring spirit back when we broke into the sewer system and stumbled across an underground statue that people probably havent seen in years. Literally, we took the grate off, lowered ourselves in, and put it back on to cover us down there. I was freaking out but it was a nice adventure and it was a wild statue. From that point on, the spring break hangover was officially slayed.

Saturday there was a school sponsored trip to Orvieto, a mountain town north of Rome. Theres been a lot of issues with the school this year and it was there way of making reparations by offering us this free excursion. It wasnt much, but it was a free day out of the city and a day trip to a new place. A guide showed us some cool spots in the city and explained stuff to us but the best part was the five course meal: first was a different assortment of salami and proscuitto and olive spreads, second was a ridiculous risotto dish, third was homemade pasta with mushrooms and squid, four was some sausage, beef, and chicken with potatoes, and five was a kind of ice cream cake. With wine and water included it was probably close to the best meal I've had here, so all in all the Orvieto trip was a nice little Saturday, especially when closed with the blues concert.

This morning I went downtown with some friends to check out the massive Sunday morning market that I havent been to yet, but we realized the busses were running new routes for the day because the Rome marathon was going on. So instead of trying to figure out the busses, we watched the marathon. I always wondered how people watched marathons, it sounded so boring to me - it was so awesome. We just stood there and watched and chatted for like an hour and a half, i dont know what about it was so entertaining.

So yeah, its one of my last weekends here in Rome and it was a great time overall with alot of different stuff going on. My friends from home that are studying in France are visiting this week and weekend so I'll be traveling around the city and such with them. It sucks thinking about how close this is to ending, only about a month left at JFRC. I just cant get over how awesome the people are, everyone pretty much is open minded and fairly intellectual. I think the best way to phrase it is that life over here is just so much more stimulating - theres so much more adventure, so many new things, so much to do but also so relaxing. You know what I'm definitely ready for though? Crushing some bike rides.

Nothing overly entertaining about this post but wanted to keep everyone updated! Didnt get many great pictures from any of the events this weekend so I'll have them on my computer but probably not even gonna bother uploading them. Hopin everyone is feeling well back home! I'm still peeling from spring break sunburn and trying to get rid of the random dots and irritations all over my body from crazy African germs.

Zach

PS - Family, I had a great thought this weekend. When I'm home, that week I'm gonna make a dinner for you all as a sampler of what I've been eating all semester. I'm pretty excited for it, gonna be great (this is not gonna be a rice krispie bar christmas eve repeat; I'm actually all about the cooking now).