Day 1: Today has been absolutely awesome. I left my hostel at 10:30am, because at 10:05am I woke up to the owner of my hostel standing over me telling me it was time to check out. boy was i startled. I put on my favorite dress and began my short walk to the train station to hail a cab. The taxi driver had no idea where to go, but he seemed convinced to find it. He left me out around the area of my apartment and told me to walk in what i now know was the wrong direction. lol. I finally made it to my apartment and met Helena, the housing coordinator. she was very sweet and showed me to my apartment. We are on the 4th floor, and thank goodness for elevators. When you first walk into the apartment, there is a large common room, with 2 couches and 3 tables. Helena showed me to my room, which I consider the best one in the apartment. We have two windows which overlook a gorgeous garden and also the river. because of the positioning of the windows, we get an amazing cross breeze going... when I say we, I mean my roommate Kelli and I. She was my roommate last year in florence, and this year she will be spending the month of June with me in Rome. Once I was settled into my room, more people started showing up, 14 others in total. There are 7 bedrooms, with 6 of them being double beds, and then the 7th with 3 beds. There are also only 3 bathrooms in the apartment, so it will make showering a little more difficult. So far, everyone I have met has been super sweet. We went around in a circle and told each other where we were from, our area of interest in art, and where we are in the art world. At 6pm, we met Carole in the garden and had an orientation about what the program is all about. We also got to meet our other professor, Jose. After orientation, we all got on the tram and went to Piazza Navona for dinner. It was of course delicious. We got to all talk some more, and enjoy our first night together as a group. Afterwards we road the tram back towards our apartment, and then most of us went out for a drink at a little bar. Upon my arrival back at the apartment, I took a shower and then spent some time on the computer. Tomorrow we meet at 2 pm in the garden again so that we may go on a walk about so carole can show us what is near us. I do really miss matt greatly, and I wish he could be here enjoying himself with me. I need to go to bed now, since its almost 4 am Rome time. My internal clock still hasnt reset yet. Hopefully tomorrow i can go to bed at a reasonable hour. tomorrow is also Saturday night Skype date with Matt :) Ciao for now

Thank you to everyone who came out to my final fundraiser last night! I truly appreciate my wonderful friends and family who came out to show support! My departure is in 9 days, and then once I touch down in Rome, I will be turning this blog into a travel update with photos, artwork and journal entries about my time abroad this summer!! Thanks again to everyone, and keep checking back!

Amber

Fundraising has been going slow, but I am very thankful to those who have generously shown support of my future. My next fundraiser is on Sunday, May 20th at Hoss's. Hope to see you there!

My second fundraiser was great! Saw a few familiar faces, so I will find out over the next few days how I did. I am also in the works on having another fundraiser at Aroogas' in Mechanicsburg... details to follow. As always, thank you for your generosity and support. There is no way I could do this without your help!

Amber

For more information about my internship, please visit the ' About the Internship' tab at the top of your page. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Next Fundraiser Date

The next fundraiser at Hoss's is on Sunday March 25th, 2012 at both the Carlisle and Mechanicsburg locations. Spread the word! Please come out and help raise money for my internship. Get fliers from the 'Printable Fliers' tab above. Thanks!!

I PASSED MY JUNIOR REVIEW!!!

Thank you to everyone who came out to last nights fundraiser, which went really well. I will find out sometime early this week how many people attended. I went to the mechanicsburg location after work with my parents, my boyfriend, my aunt and two cousins. The next one is on Sunday, March 25th at both Carlisle and Mechanicsburg locations again. Hope to see you there!!

I had my junior reviews last Tuesday. I will get the results on Monday, so keep your fingers crossed. Spring break begins next Tuesday (finally some sleep!) To view my junior review portfolio, please look above to the tab for Junior Portfolio, and as always, comments are always appreciated.

Have a great day! Amber

98 days until I'm standing in Rome once again...

Finished setting up my flyers for Hoss's, which the first community event is this Saturday. Please click on the Printable Flyers tab for more information.

Hello, and welcome to my page. I am dedicating this page towards fundraising for my internship with the Rome Art Program this summer for two months based in Rome. Once I arrive in Rome starting June 1st, please look to this page for daily updates, photos, and artwork progression. I appreciate your interest, and thanks for stopping by!

-Amber