Sunday in Rome

What an interesting, fun-filled day! I could say that about every day in Rome. But let me start with this: as much as I love this city, love its people and buildings, I am homesick. Two weeks is a long time to be away from home alone, and while I am excited for the things we're going to be doing this week, I am also anxiously awaiting Saturday when I'll be back home. Last night, I'd made a plan with one of my classmates to go to mass with her at Santa Susanna, an English-speaking parish in Rome. She wanted to attend mass in English (why?!?! I wondered), and I wanted to visit the library attached to the parish, so it worked out. We got bus directions from the front desk people (who are so awesomely fabulous at this hotel. We love them all) and picked up the bus to the piazza where the church is, in a part of town we hadn't been to yet. The mass was full of Marty Haugen, Where Charity and Love Prevail, etc....all the American standards. I could've been anywhere in America. It was weird. I would much rather have attended mass with the Pope again, or even had gone to a local Italian parish, but whatever. The library was why I was really at Santa Susanna. The volunteers there run an English-speaking (or should I say English-reading?) library. It has about 6 thousand books, mostly for adults, but a smaller section for children. The library is a subscription library, so you have to pay to belong, and you can only borrow so many books at a time. There is no computer system for the books, so the only way to find what you need is to browse the shelves, or ask one of the volunteers, who are pretty knowledgble about the collection. My mind's wheels are turning, and I am wondering if I can send some of our discarded books from my school to them, for the children. I'll have to email and ask.

  After mass and the library visit, we were supposed to meet Carol at the Musei Cappitolini for the Lux in Arcana exhibit. But we instead got on several wrong buses and saw parts of Rome we'd never seen before. It was comical the first time, but by the time we got on the third bus, thinking it would take us to Fori Imperiali and it didn't, things were a little more frustrating. We ended up finally, after over two hours on buses, getting off at the Colleseum, which we had driven by at least three times. Rome is a lovely city. We saw a lot of it today. When we got off the bus, Jennifer decided she'd had enough and walked back to the hotel, but I was determined to see the exhibit, especially since the priest who was our tour guide at the Vatican Archives was involved in its creation. The exhibit was amazing. It cost 12 euro to get in, and I pretty much went straight to the Lux exhibit instead of walking around the Capitolini collections. Lux was AMAZING!! Father Choppin told us that the exhibit was a little like a "Greatest Hits" collection, but quite frankly, that's OKAY WITH ME! It was very accessible to the average Roman and tourist both. There were items from many continents, cultures, and languages on display, and plenty of time periods represented. It was really impressive. The whole layout was really cool. Because the items are so fragile, they were in cases, and the lighting was low, but there was a lot to read about each doument (signage in both Italian and English), so you got the context of each one. Here's the website of the exhibit. Near the end of the exhibit, there is a large panel with all the names of the people involved, and our priest's name was there, Father Choppin. I was so excited to see it and touch it, I called the guard over to show her his name and explain that I met him this week. I don't think she exactly got what I meant, but I put my hand out and pretended to shake it, and then she understood. Then I made her watch the movie with me so she could see him and know who he was. Yeah, maybe I scared her a little. It's so rare when you have a personal connection like this to an exhibit, especially one from the Vatican Archives!! So this was something I leared this week about the word secret--as in Vatican Secret Archives. Secret does not mean SECRET, like no one should find out. Secret means private, as in the Pope's private documents. I think I read somewhere that it's also where we get the word secretary from. I'll have to check on that origin. So there, Dan Brown!! They made fun of him a little bit at the Archives and at the Vatican Library. Eh. An exciting read, however inaccurate. After I finished the exhibit, I got a bite to eat from one of the vendors on the street. Even street food is good here. Then I came back to the hotel to relax and cool off a bit before meeting the group for dinner. Today was Carol's 50th birthday, so we all went to dinner to celebrate. Before dinner, we met in the lobby. Paul's wife, Amelia, was playing the piano softly, and everyone was catching up after being apart for the weekend. On of the front desk clerks came through and shut the lights off--I didn't get what was going on, but then they brought out a birthday suprise for Carol--a lemon with a rose in it and a firework! And a bottle of Prosecco and glasses for all of us.

It was so touching and wonderful. We really love it here. Of course, we went to our favorite place, Li Rioni, and had a table for 10 waiting for us. They comped Carol's dinner, and we enjoyed being together again after our weekend of freedom. Afterward, we got a gelato near the supermarket and came home. I was back in the hotel way before 10 tonight--that's a first! I do have some schoolwork to do tonight--plenty of writing about the things I did today, but I might turn in early and actually feel rested tomorrow! A full day at the Lay Center tomorrow, including a tour of the grounds, which have a beautiful view of Palatine Hill. Having been there the other day, I can't wait to see it again from the other side.

Saturday--Republic Day!!

I tried my skills at photo-bombing.

Today has been a pretty cool day. It is our first free day in Rome since we arrived, and while the schedule does not appear to be grueling, this day is a welcome respite. I still woke up early because my friend Carol and I wanted to go to the parade for Republic Day, celebrating the unification of Italy. The parade began just three blocks from our hotel at the coliseum, and we lined up along the barricades like so many others. Except we were first!

The Snow Patrol
 

We had a great viewing spot and got to watch the many different branches of police coordinate security for whatever was coming up. Turns out it was the president of Italy, who actually drove by us twice--once getting into parade formation (yes, we were that early!) and then again at the start of the parade. When the parade began, it was lots of police followed by the President, then many military vehicles with dignitaries in them, followed by so many marching units that I lost count. Many of them marched to a drum beat, some played instruments, and some sang/chanted. One group, who had paused before us letting the parade continue, suddenly started playing instruments, singing, and RUNNING! I can't wait to upload the video I got of that!

After the parade, we walked along that main road from the coliseum to the Victor Emmanuel memorial. Carol went to the bank, and I went into a church. It's the funniest thing in these churches--hardly does one light a candle anymore. Today, I put in a small coin and then flipped a switch to turn on the candle. It just kind of loses something when you don't light the actual candle. In one church, the candle lit up automatically when I put a coin in! So, this afternoon, I brought back a panini for lunch--so fresh and delicious. Then I talked with Karen as she was getting ready for FA graduation (YAY!), and then took a little nap. I'm going to try to stream the ceremony at 4 for a little bit before going to the farmacia with a friend. Right now, I'm sitting in the patio bar area, enjoying a prosecco and a little sunshine shaded by vines above me and listening to the kitchen staff as they prepare tonight's dinner. Tomorrow, I am going to try to visit a library that is open from 10am-12:30pm. It's in a church that has mass at 10:30, so I might do that first, depending on what time I get there. The mass is in English, although I don't know why anyone would choose that over a beautiful Italian and Latin mass! But anyway, the library caters to english speakers, and is a subscription based lending library of materials in English. I might write my paper on this, if it works out. Ciao!