Testing, testing, 1 2 3...

As anyone likely to be reading this will already know, I will be studying abroad in Rome via the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome for the upcoming fall semester. I leave on September 2nd, and will be coming back December 20th, leaving me with almost four months of gleefully romping around Rome while still (ostensibly) attempting to get some schoolwork done. I'm taking Advanced Latin (Seneca's Apocolocyntosis and various other snippets, for those who are interested), Elementary Italian, and The Ancient City, which is really more like two classes in one, and is required for all students at the Centro. I took a semester of Italian back at UT this past semester, and promptly forgot most of it during the summer--I'll be able to greet people and order food without embarrassing myself, with any luck, but not much else. Hopefully by taking it again, along with the immersion in Italian culture, I'll remember more of it this time.

I've never actually attempted to keep a blog before, so this will be an interesting experiment. It's likely that this will be one of the only posts until I actually am in Rome, as the preparations aren't very interesting (just stressful). Once I'm there...ideally I'll be posting at least once a week to keep a sort of public journal of everything I'm doing there. I hope, if nothing else, I'll at least remember to put up some of the pictures I take. Given that I took over 800 photos while I was in Italy for a little over a week, I'm fairly certain that there will be an abundance of pretty pictures for you to look at, regardless of whether or not I have a topic on which to ramble incessantly.

On a boat to Capri, over Spring Break in 2009

(If you think you saw me attribute the Apocolocyntosis to some non-Seneca writer, you are of course mistaken. I would never do anything so silly.)