Waking from a dream,
People passing by unaware.
Traces reminding me I lived it.
Few friends kept, saying it was real.
Photographs recovered,
Revealing a time of amazement and wonder
in a world unknown to me.
I was there reveling in my own existence.
I found myself there;
A part of me I thought long lost.
I loved life in a way I never thought possible.
My heart aches,
Yearning for where I now call home.
I refuse to let go of who I found.
Each day I breathe again,
Reminding myself "this is me".
I smile brighter than before,
and I sing.
I sing the song of life
I thought I'd forgotten.
I'm loving myself
and all the beauty around me.
One day I will return to that dream,
I'll smile, standing where it began.
The start of my discovery,
The place I found my perspective.
I will live my life for me.
People passing by unaware.
Traces reminding me I lived it.
Few friends kept, saying it was real.
Photographs recovered,
Revealing a time of amazement and wonder
in a world unknown to me.
I was there reveling in my own existence.
I found myself there;
A part of me I thought long lost.
I loved life in a way I never thought possible.
My heart aches,
Yearning for where I now call home.
I refuse to let go of who I found.
Each day I breathe again,
Reminding myself "this is me".
I smile brighter than before,
and I sing.
I sing the song of life
I thought I'd forgotten.
I'm loving myself
and all the beauty around me.
One day I will return to that dream,
I'll smile, standing where it began.
The start of my discovery,
The place I found my perspective.
I will live my life for me.
First of all, thank you to Prof John and all the students for making the Rome 2014 program a huge success. I am so happy that it all went off without a hitch and everyone really enjoyed their trip to one and places beyond. Also big thanks to Francesco and the ACCENT crew for their great support. What a great team!
Below are many of my sketches from the trip. I hope you see in them some of your favorite places!
Below are many of my sketches from the trip. I hope you see in them some of your favorite places!
I never thought that I would be able to shop in the streets of Paris until I was much older. I still cannot get over the fact that I was there! The atmosphere and actually everything that I imagined was even better than my expectations. The Eiffel Tower shimmering in the night sky left me speechless. If I could, I would fly over there right now just to sit in the grass and look up at the beautiful thing. I've had macarons from Laudree in New York, but those could not even come close to the ones in Paris. I can remember the way they would slowly dissolve in my mouth. The shops were impeccable. I felt like I died and went to heaven when I walked into the Chanel store. I still cannot believe that I purchased a Chanel bag in Paris. I wish I could go back and spend more time there because I don't think there was one thing that could have put me in a negative mood. Au revoir Paris, I will see you in the near future.
From the moment I stepped down from the bus and onto the streets of Rome, it hit me that I would be away from everything I was ever accustomed to and it made me ecstatic for the journey I was in for. My first weekend began everything with a bang. Oh Firenze, you will be remembered forever with your comfortable homey vibes. Walking down the street and seeing such an intimate city was very comforting. I was in complete awe of the architecture and felt breathless at every turn.
Duomo di Firenze was like love at first sight. I wish I could have captured what I saw, but unfortunately I didn't translate it too well through my iPhone camera.
After this photo, Allyson and I got lost trying to find the Hop On Hop Off tour bus, which led to us walking almost all of the city. It was frustrating at first, but when the bus took us to Piazzale Michelangelo, we were jumping for joy because the view was so beautiful.
Unfortunately, we only stayed in Florence for one day, but I couldn't have asked for a better trip in Tuscany. We visited Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa, which were all amazing.
I'm truly grateful for my parents for allowing me to have the experience of a lifetime.
Visiting the island of Capri was without a doubt the highlight of my Italy trip. Although living in Rome was an amazing experience, I could have definitely lived without the constant hustle and bustle of tourists and residents, the smelly public transportation, and the seemingly non-stop lifestyle that everyone there led. The weekend trips were a wonderful way to get a better taste of other equally exciting places in Italy. Immediately upon arriving in Sorrento, I felt more relaxed and at home in the beach town, & Capri simply took my breath away. With a little less than eight hours to explore the island, the girls and I were determined to see as much as we could. We browsed the fancy designer shops, bought bus tickets through windy and terrifying streets to find the top of the island, then rode chairlifts to the immediate top. The chairlifts were frightening, but the sights were too amazing for any of us to be worried. We found our way to the much awaited Blue Grotto, and had an indescribable time swimming through it. To get back to the main island, we had the sweetest taxi driver escort us back in his convertible Mercedes that actually fit all seven of us. With our time nearing an end in Capri, we had a yummy seafood dinner & boarded the ferry with plenty of memories and the feeling of accomplishment at seeing so much in such a short period of time! Although I wouldn't choose Rome as a must-see place if I ever brought friends and family to visit Europe with me, I definitely would have Capri at the top of my list.
As soon as we got off the bus and were assigned to our rooms, I was instantly stoked. The apartments were so much nicer than what I had anticipated, & they had wifi.. one of my biggest necessities. I think the first night after we unpacked, we immediately set out to explore. Nothing compares to the feeling of seeing something brand new for the first time. The cobblestone streets, the mini Fiats lined up everywhere, the beautiful buildings and ancient ruins casually lining the streets all seemed so unreal. Our first meal was at an expensive Americanized Italian restaurant but I was too excited about the lack of a drinking age in Italy to care that I spent almost $30 on a pizza/beer. I believe there was a soccer game happening this night as well, & I remember finishing dinner around the same time the game had ended, & being able to freely walk in the middle of the streets prior to clean up. Not familiar with the traffic in Rome yet, I later found out how rare of an event this was. To finish off the night I remember unknowingly walking around and discovering that we were right near the Colosseum. It had finally hit me that this beautiful ancient city (that I had dreamed and fantasized about while watching the Lizzie McQuire Movie circa 7th grade) was where I would be spending the next 5 weeks of my summer!
Drawing is difficult for me. There were plenty of days where I got very frustrated. There were days where I would compare my work to others and get depressed. The level of talent in this class was awesome.
Throughout the month, I learned some techniques I didn't know before. Sitting next to fellow students who really know their stuff helped.
Like with most things, practice makes perfect. While I don't expect to be perfect in any way, I know practice can't hurt. I'm off to buy a new sketchbook!
The last few weeks in Europe were probably my favorite. I
loved visiting Capri and Cinque Terra. Everything about the beach towns in
Italy is wonderful. I saw places that I have always dreamed of seeing. It is
funny coincidence I actually have a picture in my room of a coastal town
over-looking the sea that I just bought because I thought it was a pretty
picture, then when I come home and look at it again I realize that it was the
Cinque Terra town of Vernazza. I’ll always treasure the memories of the Blue Grotto
and nights filled roaming the streets of Sorrento drinking lemonchello and
eating amazing seafood. The last few days in Roma were definitely bittersweet.
As a sort of last outing I went for one last late night gelato with my friends
and had the best gelato I had yet to try in Rome, it was so sad discovering
this place the last night I was there but I was happy I got to try it at least!
I spent my last week in Europe in Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini. These places
were so beautiful and picturesque, and I won’t lie it was amazing not to be
eating Italian food for a week! Each place was so unique and gorgeous, I loved
getting to know these towns for the few days I spent in each of them my only
regret is that we didn’t stay longer. But, I know someday I will come back to
some of the places I traveled to in Europe and that truly makes me happy.
Overall I had the most amazing summer with new friends and old, it is an
experience I will never forget.
Camera Obscura
So the last weekend in Italy, I spent in Rome. There was a chip in my blinds that made a camera obscura in my room. I remember learning about them in my History of Photography class. I took a long exposure of it, but this was probably one of the coolest things on my trip besides all the art.
I took a long exposure of the camera obscura and this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Seeing the same process of how the first ever photo was made ment a lot to me.
Rome Home
Whenever I travel somewhere, I always imagine what my life would be like if I were to stay. Maybe that's because I haven't found the place where I want to live permanently yet... but who says you need to live in one area permanently. But instead of looking at the art, food, and culture of a place that I visit, I look at the people. Are they happy? Is their life a one worth living? I think that's why I like older people so much. They've lived for a long time in usually the same area, and from what I can tell from the older people of Rome, their life is a one worth living, and they are truly happy.
Maybe they're happy because they are surrounded by family. Or maybe they achieved the goals they had set out for themselves when they were young. Or maybe they chased their wildest dreams and actually made them happen. I guess I will never know exactly what made them happy, but I do know they are happy.
One thing is always true though, you create your own happiness. If you want to be sad, that's your own decision. But everyone has that choice and I believe that the older people have learned this lesson.
This was my first time out of the country and looking back, I never realize what a big world this place is. Living in Southern California and frequently visiting the same cities, sticking to the same routine, and engaging with the same people, the world has become a very small place. Visiting Rome has truly opened my eyes to truly understand that this world does not revolve around Southern California. I've always know that there were other countries and lifestyles but I never understood it. It was a real taste of "culture shock."
For the first time, I feel like I've been neglected of life. The sense of being surrounded by beautiful and amazing architecture with lots of history is foreign here in Southern California. Don't we just go the museum for that? Each view in Rome was surreal, like a painting, whether it be the river or the park or the coffee shop. The first building we first visit was dubbed the "Wedding Cake" by our class because it literally looks like a wedding cake. And who could forget that each city was magnificent and unique in their own ways? Even amateur photographers can capture the beauty of the island Capri or the Tivoli Italy man made waterfall because at any given angle, focus, or position, it was just speechless. Life should be this awesome everywhere! Oh, I miss Rome!
