Day 11

Today was moving day!!! After a very good 10 days in Rome I think we were all ready to get settled in our new home in Florence! Just hearing all the good things people had said about our campus made us want to get here and experience it for ourselves. So we got on a bus for a good 4-hour bus ride. Things started out a little rough, because I was not feeling our bus driver. He was not a nice guy and didn’t care about anyone’s stuff. Lets just say I was a little bitter that he just threw my book bag (with my computer in it) in the under part of the bus. But after I got over this I was able to relax and just listened to some music, read, slept, and talked to my friends. We then stopped to have lunch at this truck stop, our sack lunches were not cutting it again so I had to get some coffee and peanut M&M’s. Lets just say Katie and I have loved the peanut M&M’s since we have been here! Once we arrived in Florence we had to lug our entire luggage to our Villa. And since my suitcase is slightly broken and one of my wheels doesn’t like to work this was a little rough. But once we got down here it was so worth it. This place is very beautiful and I was just glad to be “home”! We finally got to head up to our room #30 J. We had a little bit of trouble finding ours because it is kind of up in its own little world! But once we walked in I was so excited, however it was a little sad because we were split into two rooms of two and not all four of us were together! But that’s ok the bathroom will not separate us! Oh yeah did I mention we have an awesome view and we can get on the roof from our window! I think it is going to be a good semester J. Once we were settled in our room it was time to explore the rest of the building! We then had a short meeting about what our semester would be like…..then it was time for din din! Lets just say that was the best brick oven pizza and wine I have ever had!! And they just kept bringing more and more! Needless to say if the rest of the semester is half as good as today its going to be a great semester!!

Day 10

Well today is our last day in Rome. We spent today in St. Peters Square where we had a audience with the Pope. So we had to leave pretty early so that we could get some good seats. Since our teachers had done this before they knew it would be best if we waited until we could get the front row of the second section. So that the Pope would pass right pass us in the Pope mobile. And it was a good deal, because not only did he pass by us once but twice. We were the only section that he passed by twice so that was pretty exciting. Although it was VERY warm it was so worth it. When they called our schools name it was a sudden up roar. It was awesome to hear Pope Benedict XVI speak the different languages, but having him speak to us in English was really awesome. I was also very excited to get all the things that I had bought so far blessed by him! Getting things blessed by a Pope has always been a dream of mine, and it happened today. After we were done we went and got some good American fast food for lunch…..haha yes I came all the way to Italy and ate Burger King! But I really don’t regret it at all. Because it might have been one of the best hamburgers I have had in a long time (mostly because I had been craving one since I got here). But now that I have gotten that fix out of the way I don’t plan on eating anymore American fast food. After that we went and got a few more last minute religious things at a little shop run by nuns. Then it was time to head back and relax after a very good but long 10 days in Rome. That night we had a little going away party with our tour guides that we had. This was a very interesting experience and not really what we all had in mind. It was a good way to end our good week in Rome.

Day 9

Today was a very good day…..it was one of our more relaxing days that we have had. However we got to learn so much of our School’s history. We went to visit both Monte Casino and Subiaco, these are two of the Monastery’s that St. Benedict started. We got on a private tour bus right outside our residency (this was sooo nice) and headed on a 2-hour bus ride to Monte Casino. This was a little scary at the end because it is on top of a very high hill, and when you are in a big bus it just doesn’t seem like a safe idea. Once we got there we had a tour of the place and got some of the history behind it. The original church had been bombed so this was an exact replica and I thought it was a very pretty church……we even found our school’s monastery on the ceiling in the basement of the church. After we were done there we got back on the bus for another little 2 hour bus ride up to Subiaco. This might be one of my favorite places that we have visited. This monastery was built into the side of a mountain, so most of the walls where real rock from the mountain. While we were there I decided that when I grow up I want to live in a cave. This place was so beautiful and peaceful. I am not really sure why but I just felt like it would be a good place to live in the future! While we were here we also got to smell one of the best smelling rose that I have ever smelled. I thought that they were just being silly when they told me to smell it, but they were not. So I even have to get a picture of me smelling it! After we were done we had a nice little bus ride back to Rome, and Katie and I had our own little dance party in our seats. It was a good day for sure!

Day 8

Today we went to visit the other 3 main Basilica’s in Rome. These consisted of St. Paul outside the walls, St. Mary Major, and St. John the Lateran. Each one of these places was very neat in there own way, but I think for me St. Paul outside the walls was my favorite. I loved seeing all of the different Pope’s on the wall and was just very peaceful. I also went to Confession in this Basilica and that was an amazing experience I will never forget. My second favorite of the day was St. Mary Major. Here they had a part of the crib where Jesus was born. These are things that I would have never even dreamed of seeing and then they were right in front of my face. St. John the Lateran might have had a disadvantage since it was the very last stop of the day and I was ready to be done, but it did have a really good gift shop that I was able to get some things at. This was also a neat church because part of the Last Super table was here. The other neat thing that we did today was climb the Holy Steps on our knees…..these are the very steps Jesus walked the day of his trial. While we were climbing them one of our friends said that Stations of the Cross, and this made it so much more realistic.

Day 7

Today may have been my favorite days so far. We woke up early this morning caught a but to the bus stop, and then got on a bus for a trip to the Pope’s Summer house in Castelli Romani. We started our day in Castelli off by attending our first Italian mass. It was very neat to understand what was going on even thought it was in a totally different language. However staying awake for the homily was a little difficult since I had no idea what was being said. I really just enjoyed seeing how this work in a different culture. After mass we had lunch over looking the beautiful lake that the town looks over. After lunch we headed to the courtyard of the Pope’s summerhouse where we would be praying the Angelus with him. It took me a while to realize that I was going to be seeing the Pope…….someone I have wanted to see since I was little. He came out of his little window and it was just such an awesome feeling knowing that I was that close to this very important person in my Church. And although it was very hot and crowded in the space that we were in this was very worth every minute and all of the sweat! After we were done seeing the Pope we all met as a group, while we were here we could decide if we wanted to catch the train and head back right away or wait and take the bus back in a few hours. A group of us decided it would be fun to stay and look around. This was a great choice, because we just walked around and saw some very beautiful places and took so very fun pictures. I think the fact that we didn’t have that much of a time schedule made this so much more enjoyable. Later in the afternoon we were able to get some pizza and coffee….can I just say I am loving all the coffee and ice cream in this country. I could for sure get used to this J. We then met up with everyone to catch the bus, however we must have missed the bus we wanted and just had to wait about an hour just sitting a talking to each other. Moments like this are great because you talk about anything and everything!!

Day 6

Today was sea day…so we headed for the train station and got on our train for a 1 ½ hour train ride. The town we were in was Nettuno and it is south of Rome. This was a very good day of just getting to know everyone better and being able to relax. We all hit the water as soon as we got there. Some of us swam about a fourth of a mile out to this area of rocks. It was fun to just sit on them and watch the water. The swim out there wasn’t too bad, but of the way back we hit lots of rocky areas. After that swim it was time for lunch. We walked right off the beach and found a little cantina place that had really good pizza, so we had pizza and some cold drinks. This was a very nice place to just sit and watch the water and be able to talk. While walking around one of my friends found the church where St Maria Goretti is buried, this was special for her because it was her confirmation sponsor, and was also neat for me since I had helped lead a retreat with her as our Patron Saint. So we were able to go and pray in front of her grave, and we were also able to read more about her. Her story was all over the place and there was lots of neat stuff to see. I then went to get some things at the gift shop, and it was closed. I was really sad about this because I had people I wanted to get stuff for. I then went to tell Katie that she needed to come see the stuff upstairs and just as we were getting done this little Nun came in and opened it up. I could have spent hours in there looking around, but I then found the things I wanted and was on my way. After this we headed back to the cantina and had a little dance party. This was a very good way to end the day.

Day 5

Today we headed back to St. Peter’s for the Scavi Tour; this was in the crept of the Basilica. It was very neat to see all of the tombs of the people form 1000’s of years ago. The part that I enjoyed the most was getting a tour of where St. Peter was buried and seeing his bones that they have found. The facts that I was that close to the very man who first led our church kind of blows me away! We were even in front of his alter, were the Pope goes once a year to pray in front of (so pretty much I prayed in the same spot the Pope did….no big deal). Our tour guide was very neat (she married a Swiss guard). At one point I had asked her if she had met the Pope, and she told me that she lived in his town (ok those aren’t the exact words she said, but it works). She also then said, “This Pope isn’t very loved, but he is a very smart man”, I am not sure why she said that but it was interesting. After the tour we went into a different (more public) part of the crept, and this is were the tomb of many of our Pope’s are. Once we were done with all of that we went to eat our sack lunch. My cheese fell on the ground and about 30 pigeons came and attacked the cheese ball. It was funny to watch them fight over it. So I ended up wasting the rest of my lunch on supplying food for them to fight over. Later that afternoon we headed over to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel this was pretty neat, however I am not very good in groups of mass amount of people. It also drives me crazy when I walk into a chapel and can’t have some alone time with Jesus; this seems to take some of the beauty out of the chapel. After the tour we were free to go on our own so we headed to get some pizza for some of the girls, but others of us wanted gelato instead so after we got off the metro we hit up the café where I got nutella gelato for the first time. I am pretty much in love with it.

Day 4

Today we went to the Coliseum. We walked off of the Metro and right in front of us was this huge, amazing, beautiful, and ancient landmark. It was almost unreal to see this. Once we got into the Coliseum it was almost even more unreal. Just looking down over this you feel like you have traveled back in time. The whole time I wanted to watch the movie Gladiator. We then ate lunch on Palatine Hill (did I mention we have sack lunches that sometimes aren’t the best?). After lunch we had a tour of the Forum of Rome, this was a lot of walking, but very neat to see. I would recommend it if you are ever in Rome. We then headed to San Clemente Basilica were they also have parts of the forum and St Clemente is buried do in them. This stop was also nice because we had a little time to pray on our own, and that might have been the most refreshing part of the day. After the Basilica we were able to go out on our own till we had to be back for dinner, so Katie, Laddie, Emily, Becca, and I found a very good pizza place. This was great since we were hungry after not eating most of our lunch. This pizza was that best pizza I have ever had. We then headed to the metro and headed home for the night. After dinner they said that they would be having a Bible study for the girls if we would like to join. This was on of my favorite nights so far, because I love all the girls on this trip. I am sure that will become more and more true as the semester goes on.

Day 3

Today we went to St. Peter’s square; we toured the basilica with our two tour guides. After walking around for a while with the group we got to walk around on our own. I was very excited because I was able to see Blessed Pope John Paul II tomb, and that was breath taking. I have dreamed about that for so long. After the tour we got the chance to climb to the top of the St Peters dome. This was a 520-stair trek, but once we got to the top it was so worth it. While we were up there we could see all over the top of Rome. After the dome we all met up and headed to the Trevi fountain (yes I threw some coins in J ). There were a lot of neat little places to see however we were all very hot and tired so this made it difficult to appreciate. We then headed to the Spanish Steps (again) so by this time I was so over it. Once we were ready to head back they decided they would but us some gelato (strawberry). That was a great treat after a good long day of information.

Day 2!

Day 2 was amazing! There were only 4 of us here so far so we decided to take the Metro into town and walk around for a few hours. Once we got to our stop we came upon the Spanish Steps, they were very Beautiful but also very slick! We walked all the way up them and once we got to the top could see over the whole City of Rome....this literally took my breath away! It really wasn't until this moment that I had realized that I was in the very heart of my faith, and would be seeing so many awesome places in the next several days!! In the area that we were walking around in there were a ton of different shops, mostly high dollar places like Dior, Louis Vuitton, and tons of others. We ate at a very small cafe that was very good, I think I am going to really love it here!! Once it was time to head back Katie and I had our very first Gelato.....boy oh boy was it yummy! Once returned to our residency everyone was here....it was amazing to see all of these familiar faces. I am very happy with the group that we have and I know it is going to be a great semester! We then ate dinner, I had no idea they have a pasta dish then a main dish, needless to say I was full! We had an overview of our time in Rome and got to know some of our staff. We then walked over to what I am sure is going to be one of our favorite night hang outs while we are in Rome! But now we are off to Mass at St. Peter's and I think I am still in shock, because this is like a dream come true!!

Day 1!

Greetings from Rome!! Wow what a whirlwind the past 24+ hours have been! It all started at KCI airport where Amanda and Kate (thanks you two are great :)) dropped Katie and I off. I was very excited that my bag was only 49 lbs., however we can't say the same for Katie, so she had to do a little rearranging to lose 11 lbs out of her big suitcase (it took three tries but we got it). We then boarded a plane to Toronto, this was a small plane and the trip was a little bumpy so I was a little nervous for our next flight. Once we landed in Toronto we realized we would have to go through costumes to connect to our flight to Rome, this was fine until we heard last call for our flight and had to sprint through the airport to make it on time (stress I could have lived without). Once we got on the plane and situated we talked to two girls who were also studying in Florence this semester so that was fun. I am just going to say that if I only had to fly international that would be ok with me. I loved the flight and Air Canada is a great air line.

But now onto our first day in ROME!! Once Katie and I landed (10:30 am in Italy) we got our bags went through costumes and headed to the train station. We got our train tickets and I got to experience my first train ride! So we took the train to a town called Termini, were we then got on the Metro to catch a bus. We could not find the bus stop so we hauled around our luggage until we finally found it 3 blocks away. We then got on our bus and proceeded to find our stop, but after sitting on the bust for 20 minutes we realized we were heading to the wrong side of Rome. I was so frustrated at this point but didn't have enough energy to cry. So after we took the whole loop around we decided that it would be easiest if we took a Taxi to where we needed to get. Now that I think about it is kind of funny how Katie and I were standing by the busy intersection trying to wave down a taxi. This took a little bit of practice and patience but we finally got one flagged down and he delivered us to our Residency save and sound at 6 pm. As frustrated as I was at the time we got to see a lot of neat stuff (like the corn field that made me miss Goodland) that we wouldn't have if we didn't have this experience. Once we got to our Residency we met up with a friend and headed over to the supermarket across the street. Katie and I had been thirsty since for a good 5 hrs so we just wanted any cold drink we could find, and that was pop. We then walked down the street to find someplace for dinner and found a neat little pizza place. I had some tomato and mozzarella pizza that was very yummy! Then it was finally time to get to shower, but it's all cold water at this place so it woke us up for the evening! But i just got back from a little outside restaurant were Katie, Mike, and myself were enjoying time with our coordinators of the program, and I am excited for a great semester!

Until next time CIAO!

Hello!

So many people have asked me to keep them posted while I am in Italy, and I thought that maybe if I had this blog it would be a great way to keep everyone informed. So I am looking forward to sharing pictures and stories with everyone on here. I am not going to promise that I will be able to do this everyday, however I will try and post as often as I can! Your prayers are very much welcomed, and please know that you will all be in my prayers as well!