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This week was a long battle with the forces of nature. It feels like a lot of my energy was spent mentally preparing for facing the torrential rainstorm that hasn't let up for days on end. Despite the not-so-ideal weather, this week was filled with some pretty awesome moments and I feel like things are finally starting to pick up.

One of the highlights of this week, and probably my trip so far, was looking at the street art in San Lorenzo. Next week I'll be going to Pigneto, a neighboring artsy area, which is exciting because that's one more new area I can check off my list of places to see. During my walk around Trastevere I also started to really notice the images on the walls, and the street art kind of became landmarks as I realized I was circling around the same few streets en route to my desired destination. Rome is such an interesting place because there are these hints and pieces of modern culture that often become lost in the city's historic features.

This Wednesday marked the midpoint of the Italian practicum... and that could only mean one thing: midterms. The paper test, composition, and oral exam wasn't too bad, but definitely deserved a little coffee splurge so my friends and I decided to check out one of the most famous coffee houses in Rome, Sant' Eustachio, after enduring three hours of testing. Born in 1938, this little establishment has seen a lot of history in its lifetime, and the man at the counter introduced the quiet older man brewing our coffee as a maestro who has been working there for over 30 years. He served me up a monachella, espresso and chocolate with whipped cream, with an extra powdering of cocoa and my friends and I could only just look at each other with knowing eyes communicating that we've found a gem of a coffee bar. We had some chuckles as a group of old men came crowding in and pushed us toward the very edge of the counter and I managed to get whipped cream on my nose. It's the little experiences that connect places to fond memories, right?

Post-coffee and extra lecture at the study center a friend and I also decided to explore the little boutiques and strange thrift stores around Piazza dell'Orologio. There are a lot of little shops that open their shutters and hang fur coats and vintage leather jackets down the street from the study center. Inside they are cramped with overflowing buckets of scarves and racks and racks of old military coats, leather clothes, flapper dresses, and vintage oxford shoes among leather doctor bags and small purses. It's a suffocating experience going through the dingy stores covered with leather and fur, but it was really fun to see what sorts of age-old items were in these stores, not to mention the surprise of finding gaudy fashion funhouses with vintage costume wear and huge jewelry, too. It was a very strange experience but they make the Goodwills and vintage select shops in the U.S. seem boring and unauthentic.

Towards the end of the week the Tiber started looking like it's ready to overflow. Another day of this kind of downpour and the city is in danger of seeing its main streets camouflaged with the historic river -- some of the smaller paths in Trastevere are already unnavigable because there's at least 5 inches of water pooling over the cobblestone. To comply with the unfortunate weather the weekend was spent on short trips out, like my first real market experience in Testaccio, standing in awe of the Big Bambú installation at the MACRO, and briefly familiarizing myself with my neighborhood. It looks like the rest of this week is also rainy, but I guess it's good for studying for practicum finals and more coffee shop exploration!