University of Dallas Women's Basketball: Rome!

This summer, Emily Madden, a junior from Torrington, WY, studied at our University of Dallas campus in Rome. The study abroad program in Rome is very popular at UD. Students can go for a semester or six weeks during the summer. Emily decided the summer was the best time for her and here is her experience first hand.

Rome:

One of the many reasons I went to UD was for its notorious Rome program. I had been looking forward to studying abroad for two years and this summer it finally became a reality. I spent two weeks traveling Europe with my family and six weeks studying in Rome and, within those two months, I experienced the most eventful and enjoyable two months of my entire life.

It started the day after finals (which one can only fathom how difficult it was to focus on those) when my family and I flew to Dublin, Ireland. While there, we took a two-hour train ride across the entire country to Galway, Ireland, only to rent a car to drive to the infamous Cliffs of Moher. I’m not sure if my country biasedness comes into play or not but I personally preferred the countryside to the city of Dublin. The Ireland countryside is overwhelmingly beautiful. The driving is not. Driving on the left-hand side of the road was comical yet nerve-wracking but, nonetheless, still something one should try if given the chance.

After two days freezing in the Ireland rain, we flew to Paris where it was still chilly but much more to my liking. I loved Paris. There’s just something about seeing the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa in real life that is almost indescribable. As a family we spent four days in Paris but I was fortunate enough to go back a second time on my five-day trip with some of my classmates. I was amazed at how quiet and clean Paris was compared to Rome. Also, the stereotype of Frenchmen being rude and hating tourists is completely false; I would say that would be more correct for an Italian.

After Paris, my family and I went to Rome, Florence, and Pisa. Pisa was tiny and quaint but the only thing of notable existence is in fact the leaning tower of Pisa. I spent an entire thirty minutes in that town, all of which were spent trying to perfect the famous “holding up the leaning tower” picture from just the right angle.

I was more than excited to have been there two weeks before thinking that I would have a head start on the “jet-lagged” feeling. Little did I know that in the first week of classes I was going to be bombarded with readings and events out the wazoo. In the first five days, we (as a class) celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi with Pope Francis outside the Basillica of St. John Lateran, we walked the 6 mile Appia Antica (the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic) all the way to the catacombs where we read the Martydom of Polycarp and finished with mass INSIDE of a Catacomb, and we traveled a short way to the antiquated towns of Nemi and Castel Gandolfo where we witnessed a fragolini festival (tiny strawberries) and the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolofo which serves as the summer residence and vacation retreat for the pope. That was just the first five days.

In a matter of six short weeks, I was blessed enough to see the Sistine Chapel (twice), the Colosseum, the Spanish steps, climb St. Peter’s Dome, celebrate mass inside of St. Peter’s, the chains that held St. Peter, the Pantheon, and Michelangelo’s Pietà. At one point, I realized that I was so accustomed to all of these historical and astounding sites that I would go into Rome without my camera. I was no longer a tourist.

As a class, we took a weekend trip to Assisi and Florence. I was able to see the church that St. Francis built and also climb two miles uphill to see the hermitage of St. Francis. In Florence, we toured the Uffizi and saw the illustrious statue of David. Personally, I think this statue is severely underrated. It was breathtaking.

On the one free weekends that we were given, two of my classmates and myself travelled to Cinque Terre, which is located in Northern Italy. Cinque Terre literally means “The Five Lands” and it is comprised of five small villages. This is arguably one of my favorite places in the entire world. It was so perfect that it almost looked artificial.

During my five-day independent travel, I went to Paris and Barcelona. After seeing so many baroque churches in Italy and France, it was shocking to see la Sagrada Familia. It was designed by Antoni Guadi and, although it is incomplete to this day, his combination of Gothic and curvilinear art noveau forms make this church the most intense basilica that I’ve ever seen.

After Barcelona, we returned to Rome with twenty-four hours left before taking our final and only a short forty-eight hours before we were to depart Due Santi Campus. It all happened so fast.

As I look back on this trip, it all seems so surreal. For six weeks, it was normal for me to walk past something historic and probably not realize it. It was normal for me to sit outside of the Mensa, over-look UD’s vineyard and ancient Rome whilst sipping a caramel macchiato and eating the delicious pasta made fresh by our precious Italian chefs while simultaneously having theological discussions. It was all such a blessing.

To those who have been apart of the Rome program, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you have yet to go to Rome, you have something to look forward to. If you are still deciding, I beg of you, GO! It will change your life.