In the midst of history.

It's so interesting being here in Italy during the economic and political change that is going on. I believe it was three days ago now that Burlusconi resigned and two days ago that Italy got a new government, which is absolutely monumental. Sometimes you don't even realize all that is going on because you get so wrapped up in school and your daily activities and seeing the city that you forget to envelop yourself in the true culture around you - the establishments of the country in which you are living.

Walking around Rome, you see political buildings with guards outside of them all the time, and we would always walk past Burlusconi's old palazzo when passing to a certain area. When you really stop to think of it, there is so much that goes on that you don't even realize and here in Rome we're fortunate enough to be right in the center of it.

One has to realize, however, that with political and economic change comes unrest and this is also something that I actually feel very fortunate to be witnessing here during my time abroad. As you may or may not know, the Euro currency is facing much difficulty right now - Greece being arguably the most affected and Italy being one of the next most.

This issue, along with all of the political issues taking place right now cause many riots and protests. We witnessed a demonstration on Thursday during our Italian class. We paused class to open the window and watch the protesters that were right on the street outside, along with police and many, many journalists. They were all university students our age, which made it all the more fascinating. Here in Italy there seem to be a lot more public demonstrations regarding social, economic and political issues and I, personally, think it's fascinating to see. Below are two pictures I took outside of our classroom window, overlooking the university-students' demonstration.

I don't know what the future holds for anything regarding politics or the economy, but I know that I truly feel lucky and privileged to be witnessing so much history in the making.