From Turkey…..
For most of us here at Temple Rome, this is our first Thanksgiving away from home, with no turkey!! But hey, let’s not get all emotional about it, we’re in Rome people! Let’s also remember that it’s not all about the turkey, but who we surround ourselves with on Thanksgiving; so we can look around and love where we are, what we are doing, and who we are with. I like to think of this Thanksgiving as more of 5 day thing than a one day thing.
Temple started the Thanksgiving festivities out perfectly with their jam session night, which was held last night in the lounge area at the school. The people that we’ve become close with got up on the stage and shared their talents from beat boxing, singing, playing guitar, dancing, and just straight jamming to their own music that they make. It was a great start to Thanksgiving because all of Temple Rome came together, and we cheered each other on, laughed and practically cried thinking of all the great memories that we’ve had here so far. Italian guest singers also came up about 5 times, which was awesome because it felt like we were really welcomed into Rome with open arms. So thank you Temple Rome for a great jam session night!!
I’m also planning to do some things with my friends for the festivities of Thanksgiving. We’ve all been working out butts off on final projects and final exams so the holiday brings a perfect time to relax and just be happy about where we are. I will be climbing to the top of Saint Peters basilica on Friday, seeing aqua ducts on Saturday, and probably sleeping in on Sunday! Haha! Thanksgiving day we have off from school so I still plan on eating a lot…. of Italian food! Some people are trying to get a turkey and throw together some sort of Thanksgiving meal, which is awesome! But I think I’m going to stick with being in Rome and being a Roman while I’m here.
I’ve met some Italian friends and they’ve invited me and some friends to their house for dinner on Friday. So even if it’s not on Thursday, it can still be Thanksgiving dinner for me! I will be surrounded with people that I love, in a place that I also love, eating food that will be more than satisfying. After the dinner we plan on going to a club in Testaccio called Big Bang. Every Friday they have a reggae night and some of us have made it a tradition to do this weekly! What I really love about the reggae night is that everyone goes purely to dance and enjoy the music that they are listening to. It’s more laid back then a club but still has the great up beat vibe with everyone jamming out all night long.
So as we make the transition from turkey to pizza, let’s all make this Thanksgiving a great one with Italian friends, new friends, reggae music, views from monuments, and lots of gelato!!!