The Final Days: Saturday and Sunday

Saturday I went out with one of my roommates to film her for one of her finals. We walked past Castel Sant'Angelo, along the Tevere there, then over to Piazza del Popolo and up to Villa Borghese. Here, we went to the Chocolate festival and watched the old man rollerblading (he's good!). There are always little cones set up where people rollerblade. This old man (probably late 60s?) drops into the splits to go under a rope probably a foot and a half off the ground. That's impressive.

We saw old people PDA behind some trees (typical) and ate popcorn. Then we went to the Billa to buy dinner for a couple friends we had over.

And studying in between.

Sunday morning I woke up and went to mass in St. Peter's Basilica. When we first entered the square, Pope Benedict was speaking so we watched him for a bit. I've seen the Pope in real life with my own two eyes three times in the past month. How crazy is that?

Then we went inside for mass in THE APSE in St. Peter's. It was a "drive-through mass" as my roommate Taylor put it; there was no homily or gospel reading. Just the basics, communion, and the end. This was fine with me because it was in Italian. Any extra words added in would only have been more I didn't understand.

Regardless, this was one of the most beautiful church services I've ever attended. It's hard to NOT feel God's presence when you're at mass in one of the most beautiful churches in the world. The singing during the offering and communion was so beautiful. I loved it.

And now I'm locked inside, once again, to study.

Thanks to school, my last memories of Rome will largely consist of me sitting in my room surrounded by books and papers. Not fair!

The very next Sunday when I wake up it will be in Cincinnati. And it will be the weirdest feeling ever. Here's something about me: I dread change but I adapt quickly. I'd rather stay here and be happy than go home. But once I get home I'll be glad to be back. Once I'm eating Chipotle I'll never want to leave again. Until the very next opportunity to go overseas arises, in which case I'll be back!