All done with class!

This morning I took my final exam for my European Comparative Law and Society class. Overall, I think that the class was really interesting. First, we started by learning about what legal culture is, and how it affects people's interactions with the law in Italy vs the US. Then we compared the constitutions of Italy and America. Next we learned about the freedom of religion. In Italy it is acceptable to have crosses in public places. However, that is not the case in the U.S. Next we learned about the right to die. There were two cases (one in Italy one in the U.S.) that were very similar. Both ended with the court granting permission to remove the feeding tube of a lady in a constant vegetative state. It's interesting how the first case in America set the stage for the case in Italy. Then we learned about immigration and push back efforts be Italy and the United States. Italy got penalized for sending people back to their home countries in violation with European Law. The U.S. on the other hand gets away with pushing people back on boats and preventing them from entering the country. At that point the class changed to intermediary liability. We learned that because of section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was upheld by the Supreme Court, internet platforms are not liable for anything anyone posts on their website. This is supposed to permit free speech by not holding large companies liable. Then we learned about Italian and European data privacy law.

Overall, the class was very very interesting! I wish that I could have taken the class for a whole quarter! Although I'm sad it's over, I am very excited to come home and start fall classes in a week!

I only have 1 more day in Rome, and then I fly home! This trip has been a life changing experience and I have valued every day of it! I am so lucky that I got the chance to come here. Although Rome is wonderful, I am very excited to come home and see my family and friends!

Ciao!

Professor Spitzer!

Today we got a lecture from UW School of Law Professor Spitzer! He talked about ancient Rome and liberties of people back then. It was really interesting to hear about the family dynamics back then. He also said that about 35-40% of people back then were servants and built a lot of the architecture in Rome.

UW Law Professors are so interesting! Both the lectures given by law professors have been the most interesting of the whole trip! Makes me want to go to UW School of Law even more!

Florence!!

Sorry I couldn't blog about Florence while I was there, our hostel did not have internet! Florence was amazing though! A group of four of us got there Friday at noon, and we met up with a German friend while we were there. The city is awesome! I have never seen so much leather in my life! While we were there we got to go to the David Statue by Michelangelo and see that museum, we went inside the Duomo, climbed to the top of a hill over looking the city, and did lots and lots of shopping and eating! The city was a lot smaller than Rome, and cleaner. Also, Florence did not have the little cobblestones like Rome does (so my feet didn't hurt from walking!). There were also tons of street markets lined with leather shops. Florence was truly beautiful, and I'm very lucky that I got the opportunity to go!

 Cappuccino :)

 This was inside the Duomo. It was made by Vasari and Zucchari and it is called "the Last Judgement". One side is painted with heaven, and the other is hell. It was incredible!

 Basilica Santa Croce! Unfortunately I didn't have time to go inside, but it looked amazing from the street!

 This is the front of the Duomo

 The view from the top of the hill over looking Florence. My burning legs from the hike were a small price to pay for the view!

 Panna Cotta. SO GOOD!!

 View from the Ponte Vecchio! 

 Statue at the top of the hill we climbed to find the view!

Thai Food Adventure!

My roommate Amy and I really miss Thai food, so we made it our mission to find a Thai food place in Rome. We found one online, and went to go find it! Online, it said it was only a 25 minute walk away... ended up being about 40. But thats okay! We eventually found thai food in Rome! Mission accomplished!

It turned out that we were the only 2 people in the restaurant and one of the waiters decided to talk to us for quite a long time. He told us about the economic situation in Italy and how it's his dream to go to school and get a degree once we raises enough money for tuition. On the way home, Amy and I stumbled across a beautiful fountain!

Overall it was a good night! Now I'm off to Florence for the weekend!

Italian Supreme Court! aka Corte di Cassazione

Today my class went the the Italian Supreme Court! It was massive! It's similar to the US Supreme Court in that cases come here after appeals have happened. They also both have 9 justices. One thing that's interesting though, is that Italy has a separate Constitutional Court that parties can appeal to. 

 Translation: The law is equal for all

 Amy and I! 

MOM! I got a lot of complements on the dress you bought me for the Supreme Court :) Thank you so much!

 Outside the Supreme Court

 "Court" Yard :)

 The First President of the Supreme Court's office!

 Ceilings. The main chamber was very impressive!

Quick Update!

Today I'm going to the Supreme Court of Italy and tomorrow I'm going to Florence!! I'm so excited! So stay tuned for pictures and updates!

On a funny note, it took my roommate up until this week to figure out what was wrong with these pictures in our bedroom. Can you spot what's wrong??

Avvocato Panetta!

Today we went to a law firm in Rome! The firm belonged to an Italian named Panetta and works in privacy law. He represents major companies like Google, Verizon, AT&T, Amazon and many other big name companies. It was really interesting to meet him. He talked a lot about how companies store your information forever and sell them to other companies. He also talked about apps on smartphones. I never thought of this, but app makers who don't have ads on their software get their money from selling your information. Scary stuff.

More interesting though was how famous he is as a lawyer. He works out of this ancient building in Rome that was built in about 1067 by a very prominent Italian architect. After the architect passed away, the building was purchased by a very wealthy Italian family who still owns the building today! His office was crazy!

This was the ceiling of his office.

 This was his personal desk. Take notice of the real curtains coupled with fake painted ones in the background. Also, his big red quill on his desk.

 His car... it's a Maserati....

Toooooo much money. 

Lecture on the Future of Robotics

Yesterday, our LSJ class got to hear a lecture by our law professor on the future of robotics. It was so interesting! He started by talking about the Roomba, a personal robot whose sole purpose is to vacuum your floor. He says that the Roomba is a "closed" robot because it has one purpose and that can't be changed. My professor says that closed robots might become popular for different needs around the house, but innovation resting solely with the particular robot companies might be slow. However, wouldn't it be cool and more innovative to have an "open" robot that can have multiple purposes? Open robots are ones that act as a platform, that can be changed, have 3rd party software added to it, and wouldn't have one set purpose. Think of it like an iPhone or a Droid. You buy the device, but you can download different apps to help you with different aspects of your life. Maybe you want your personal robot to make you coffee in the morning, trim your bushes, and vacuum. With different apps and extensions, one robot could do all of those things!

This really blew my mind! Is this really where our technology is taking us?

But what happens when a robot hurts something or somebody? My teacher argues that you cannot have the people who make the robot responsible and liable for 3rd party contributions to robots. If it was one company who made the entire robot, you would know who to go after if something went wrong. However, by encouraging innovative ideas and allowing different groups to "make apps"and extensions for robots, the original manufacturer isn't to blame. My teacher's idea about liability is that if someone gets hurt with a robot with 3rd party software, the manufacturer of the original robot is not to blame. The 3rd party who made the app or extension to the robot would be to blame. My teacher also says that a robot owner would have to purchase some kind of insurance for their robot.

I have never been super into robots or anything but all of this sounded really cool and innovative to me.
We are so lucky at UW to have really interesting professors!

Only bad thing about Italy

I am absolutely loving Italy! However, there is one thing I do not love:  the bugs. Throughout the whole trip, I have been getting bug bites. I have been able to manage the bugs in Rome, but the coast is a whole other story. Today I got back from the Mediterranean and have 28 large bug bites on my legs. I am going to  have to find some bug spray ASAP!

I am quite jealous of my roommate because she got only 4 bug bites. She tells me I have sweet blood. Hopefully being back in Rome will help.

Mediterranean Beach!!!

Hello friends!
Today my study group hit the beach in Gaeta! It was by far the nicest beach I have ever gone to! We got a discounted rate when entering (only 5 euros!) and got beach chairs and umbrellas. The sand was so nice and soft on your feet, and the water was incredible! The water was warmer than the hotel's swimming pool! Plus, you could wade out 160 yards until you got shoulder deep! It was really fun bobbing up and down in the waves and meeting new people. My roommate and I and two other girls met two men named Chilo and Andrea. They were from Naples and didn't speak a lot of english, so I got to practice talking!

To go out on the beach you had to purchase chairs and an umbrella. The beach was entirely filled with them! 

On the side of the beach were fun caves you can explore. I personally did not explore the caves, however a lot of people did and they said they were really cool. I'm glad I didn't go though, because everyone came back with cuts from the rocks.

Gaeta, Day One!

Early this morning, the whole class got up to travel to Gaeta! Gaeta is a small town on the coast of Italy to the South East of Rome. The whole class traveled together via bus and train.

Our Italian teacher took us down this narrow street, which is where more of the shopping happens in the small town. A car would have a hard time navigating this street! One thing I really liked though is the fact that all the buildings are different colors. 

Sabrina told us we HAD to try Nutella Cornettos. Basically, they were right out of the oven croissants, freshly cut and filled with Nutella. 

This is a little alley way along the street where produce was being sold! My teacher got the whole group figs. I was not a fan, however I was brave and did indeed try it!

My italian teacher is a bit wacky. We like her a lot!

This is the pool at the hotel. My group spent most of the day here because we just wanted a day to relax, and it was also free. Apparently if you want to go to the beach, you have a pay an arm and a leg because the beaches are privately owned.

Row boat we spotted while walking around!

This is the view from the balcony of the hotel I'm staying at. I am definitely not complaining :)

Tomorrow a lot more exploring will happen with Gaeta, so keep checking for more updates!

Class Photo Shoot!

One of my teachers paid one of the design students to take some pictures of the LSJ group! It was really fun, he took us around different parts of the Campo. They turned out really nice!

This is a lot of the undergrads. Our teachers are on the two ends. On the left is Sabrina, our italian teacher. On the right is Anita, who teachers law!

Roomies! Aren't we cute??

Of course we had to do a silly one!

Today, my group took a train and 2 buses, and are now at the small town of Gaeta! Stay posted to see pictures of the trip!

A day in the life of a student in Rome

I haven't gotten to show all of you what it's like studying in Rome so far! 

This is the top of the Campo Dei Fiori. We can see this view from the Rome Center. There are tons of little booths to buy things during the day. Around 3:30 all the vendors leave. At night time, the square is filled with people around the bars and restaurants.

Today, we got a visit from Amanda Knox's lawyers. We have had more than 3 guests come and speak to us and tell us about being lawyers in Italy. Yesterday, we met a man who is a human rights lawyer for the Council of Europe!

This is underneath the tents in the Campo. 

Every morning we have class starting at 9:30 am. First we do an hour and 20 minutes of Italian, and then we do European Law and Society until noon. Often times our guest speakers will come in the afternoon. Yesterday, we had some italian law students come to dinner with us!

This is lunch! It's like a ham and cheese sandwich! Today, we had to run and get lunch quick because one of the law professors gave us talk about law school and getting ready to apply. She said that she could be a reference for us in the future! :D

This is the view directly outside of our classroom in the Rome Center. It's beautiful!

Class Gelato Outing!

Today, my Italian teacher took the whole class out to her favorite gelato place. In class she was telling us about different flavors, and mentioned one about rice and cinnamon. She said that a go to dinner in Italy is rice with cinnamon, and then they made it into a gelato. I thought that was interesting because growing up, I liked eating rice with cinnamon! So I bought that flavor, and it was the best gelato I have had thus far in Italy! It is called Riso e Cannella!

Cioccolata Densa!

As recommended by my lovely friend Cathi, this is authentic Italian thick hot chocolate! My roommate and I made it tonight!

Vatican and Basilica di San Pietro

It was truly amazing going to Basilica di San Pietro today. Every inch of the building had tremendous detail. When Amy and I were there, there was a service going on which was pretty special. Also a lady came up to us and asked if we would take a picture with her...seemed quite strange, but she was very pleased!