The Past Weeks

A week ago today, my family got here!

Two weeks from Saturday I leave Rome!

I haven't had time to say much the past few weeks because I've been so busy!

I saw the Pope! This is Pope Benedict XVI. Every Sunday at noon, he comes out this little window to bless the crowd that has gathered in St. Peter's Square. There was a call and response portion, then he greeted everyone in the square in multiple languages. I'm not Catholic, but it was still an awesome experience to be able to see him and be blessed by him. My favorite part was a group of really hip priests behind us that were waving a banner and singing some really upbeat songs in Italian. I wish I knew what they were so that I could learn them and introduce them to churches in America. Viva il Papa!

Taylor and I bought a Christmas tree. We named him Leo and took him home via bus and metro. Then we crowned him with a Burger King crown and decorated him with Kinder chocolate and our collection of Kinder toys. Only the classiest of alberi di natale for this apartment!

 I celebrated mio compleanno with my roommates! We went out for Mexican (any ethnic food [American included] is now our top pick for a nice dinner out). It included a delicious burrito, a super strong blue margarita, and some birthday cheesecake!

Then I got to meet up with my family at the airport and take them around Rome!

We saw:

Il colosseo

e

 Forum Romanum, including Nero's old gym, which is especially beautiful:

e Basilica di San Pietro, finally. I finally got to go in again!

 Including Michelangelo's Pietá. Which is just so beautiful.

My dad went to Rome's Comedy Club with me one night. Renee, a friend a work, gave me her friend Marsha's contact information. Marsha helps run this English comedy club and has been inviting me to all her shows. I finally got to go which I was really happy about. They had 9 different comedians doing some standup. Some of them were definitely funny. Some of them were over my head. Marsha definitely had the smartest bit out of all of them.

Oh! And I finally got to see my mom's book in real life!

It's so beautiful! I made all my roommates read it and they loved it even though they're not from Cincinnati. I told them they would love it even more if they were from Cincinnati. My mouth started watering when I saw those paintings of Skyline Chili (cheddar cheese, miss it). And my eyes teared up when I finished it. I'm so proud of their hard work and I'm excited to be surrounded by all these familiar Christmas things when I return home.

We went out to really nice dinners, which is something I don't always get to do. We also had a relaxing Italian-American thanksgiving dinner with turkey breast, grilled vegetables, bread, mashed potatoes, and of course vino and chocolate.

We saw Campo di Fiori, I showed them around my neighborhood and my school. We tracked down car stores and shopped and ate gelato and pizza and pasta. Even though three days is nowhere near enough time in Rome, I'm glad they got to see a little glimpse of the life I've had the pleasure to be living the past three months.

It was a strange feeling having my family come here. It made it seem more concrete now that my old "real" life has merged with my new "fake" life.

Some mornings I still wake up and say, "Wow, I'm in Rome." Some days I can't believe that I'm casually walking through St. Peter's Square or on top of ruins that are thousands of years old.

I love it here and I'm not ready to leave in two and a half weeks!!

Tonight I have to finish my 15 page Art History paper.

Tomorrow I go to Paris.

Then the next two weeks are crunch time before final exams (can't wait for school to be over) PLUS crunch time for absorbing as much of Rome as I can before I get sent home.

Bittersweet.