Rome Scavenger Hunt / Wine Tasting

We started Saturday, Jan 26 with a scavenger hunt in Rome. The Romers were divided into groups of seven or eight people, but half of our group bailed out at the last minute, so our group was all of three people, which actually turned out to be a good size. We were given a list to things to find: mostly historical sites on monuments, but also everyday sights such as pigeons, nuns, people kissing, and the Old Bridge Gelateria. My group (Jocelyn, Jeffery, and I) started off very determined, but after about an hour decided it would be more fun to slow down and enjoy Rome, and just keep our eyes open for items on the list.

This worked out very well, and we wandered through many side streets of the Trestevere region of Rome. It's a place I want to visit again at some point. There aren't many monuments in the area, which, consequently, means it is much less of a tourist destination. We were able to see the daily life of Rome, and it was a quiet atmosphere, which was nice after all the bustle of the monuments.

Enjoying a quiet moment atop the Janiculum Hill

The day concluded with a trip to Castel Gandolfo, a large dinner, and wine tasting led by Msgr. Fucinaro. Wonderful food, good wine, and great people - altogether, quite an enjoyable evening. We ended up leaving to come back at 11:15 PM, an hour or so later than they had told us -- but it was time well spent.

Class Orientation

Classes will be difficult. They should also be wondrously fun! All of the professors so far seem reasonable, at least, and many of them are very interesting. Western Theological Traditions should be very good. The prof has a great sense of humor, and knows his stuff. His favorite saying, as any recent Romer knows, is "What does the text say?" Any answer that is not supported directly from the text is not a valid answer, for him. He has already said that is paper will likely be the hardest we have ever written. But, it's on Aquinas, which just sounds like fun to me.

We also had computer orientation today, and I got hired on the spot to assist in installing and updating antivirus software on 80+ computers, and configuring the network printers. It went well, and I got to help out the other students while making some extra cash on the side. I hate paying for things in euros with the high exchange rate, but I love being paid in euros. :-)

At dinner I sat with Alison Lytle (the campus director), J.T. Kennelly, and the Roper family (Dr. Roper teaches Literary Traditions 3). We had a great time that included discussing families, paintball, and cats, and singing "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." :-D It was great fun.

Buonasera!

Sean

Arrival / Intoduction to Rome

Well, I'm here. It's late evening on the second day, and now is the first time that I've had to sit down and write a few lines. I pulled an all-nighter the day before I left due to last minute packing and tax preparation, and left for the airport at 4am. Flight left at 6, and I traveled to Denver, Washington D.C., and then finally, Rome. There were several flights that just barely made it in to D.C. in time to catch the flight, and those of us on the plane breathed a sigh of relief when they boarded, since we had already been told of how difficult it would be to get them to Rome if they did not catch the flight. The flight was long, about 9 hours, and I was able to catch about two hours of sleep, though not very good sleep. We got to campus at 9 am, Jan 23.

They kept us busy on the theory that doing so would help us get over the jet lag more quickly, and we spent all of yesterday in orientation and convocation sections. All most of us wanted to do yesterday was sleep, though, and we were all nodding off. One of the RA's was amused by this, and went around taking pictures of sleeping students. I'm sure there's at least one of me on that camera! Finally, after a 52 hour period with 2 hours of sleep, I crashed hard.

The next day Jocelyn came by to make sure I was up. I stumbled out of my room asking, "Weren't they going to give us a wake up call?" She informed me that they did, twice. :-) Similar thing happened this afternoon, except it was a roommate waking me up after I slept though an alarm. Jet lag is not treating me well.

Today, Jan 24, was much more exciting. We went into Rome for the first time, and were taught how to use the Italian subway and bus systems, and given lots of general advice, including:

• Push hard when getting on the subway and buses, or you will not get on.
• When crossing a street at a crosswalk with no traffic light, just step out into traffic with determination. The drivers are required to stop for you. Don't look them in the eye, or they will know you saw them and just keep on driving.
• Don't ever give money to beggars on the street. Far too often there is someone they are working with just waiting to see where your money is kept.

Rome is beautiful! It's amazing to see the blend of the ancient and the modern. Among the many things we saw today were the Vatican, the pantheon, the forum, many large monuments, and an inscription in Latin explaining how some pope had driven out all the businesses of ill repute -- in a slab of limestone directly above a McDonald's.

We attended Mass at the tomb of Saints Simon and Jude in St. Peter's Basilica. It was a wonderful Mass, but I admit it was hard to pay attention with all of the amazing artwork all around us: statues and sculptures and paintings and much more. The least of the dozens of side altars there is more wonderful than 90% of American cathedrals. It's had to believe that I'm actually here, seeing the actual work of Michaelangelo, Bernini, and many others. I've seen pictures of much of it before, but there is no comparison to the real thing.

Speaking of pictures, I'll get a few posted soon. In my Jet-Lagged stupor this morning, I forgot to get my camera -- but I'll be back later to every place I went today. Classes start tomorrow, with half-periods of orientation in each. They are all back to back -- and that's enough to disorient anyone!

Buonasera!

Sean