Ciao amici!
Come state How are you?
I've been a bit MIA, I'm sorry, I've just been exploring the beautiful city of Rome. I'm actually not sorry at all for that. It's been AMAZING. Okay, let me fill you guys in, there's a lot. Prepare yourselves.
Ho andato a vedere il papa e stavo mangiato il pranzo, mi dispiace I went to see the pope and ate lunch, I'm sorry
2:24 PM
First of all, it's still a little weird to transition between languages throughout the day, it's very tiring actually. At the end of the day my brain è stanchissimo is extremely tired. Just a few seconds ago I was having a two hour conversation with my mamma in Italian, now I'm writing in English, and in a few hours I will be talking on the phone with my parents in Spanish. It's a lot, but I'll definitely get used to it.
I have to prepare everything for domani tomorrow. Everyone in Italy starts school tomorrow, including myself. I already bought all my materials - in Italy, much like Mexico, there are businesses for everything. You don't go to a single place like Walmart and find everything you need, you have to walk down an entire street or more to find everything you need. "Mom and Pop"s if you will. Point is, I had to go (along with Caroline and Francine) to the cartoleria (this doesn't translate exactly because we don't have them in America, but it's kind of like an office depot) to get my materials for school. Let me tell you, the stationary in Italy is fucking adorable. So cute. I will be bringing some home! Oh! I also bought a cat calendar, because I love cats, they love me, we love each other. It's called "I gatti di Roma" Cats of Rome. They are adorable and remind me of my baby (Olive). She's going to be huge when I get back! So a heads up to whoever is going to dorm with me next term: there will be a cat calendar in our room.
We had orientation about three days ago (I have lost track of time in a city where time seems to stand still). I have three professors, Professore Mullins (from Dartmouth), Professore Stefano, and Professore Paulo. I'm guessing professors in Italy (or at least university professors) are on a first name base with their students. I am in Rome with a professor named Paolo. I am Lizzie McGuire. I love all my professors and I am excited to start school but tbh I can't wait for professore Paolo's lecture! He is my art history professor and are lectures consist of walking around Rome for three hours. He is such an Italian, so romantic, so in love with Italy. He says, "la città è il tuo libro" Rome is your book. Mi piace la sua mentalità I like his mentality. First thing on my list of things to blog about, check!
The day before yesterday Professore Mullins sent us on a wild goose chase. Not really. He sent us on a scavenger hunt. My group was the best, obviously. We're great. Honestly, we had Peyton who protected and guided us (no one fucks with Peyton, he's like 7 feet tall, lol not really, forse maybe), we had Alyssa who knows when to take pictures and knows when to move on, and me of course, I'm just an amazing photographer, just. We didn't win, but that was because we walked EVERYWHERE. We took the metro once and that was because it started raining and we were SOAKED. I MEAN SOAKED. I can't even explain how beautiful every place we went to was. We went to about 5 piazzas, if you follow me on snapchat you saw them all (@cecyhearts). My favorite, hands down, definitely had to be Piazza di San Pietro. We walked into the piazza and my heart stopped. It was heaven, or at least the closest thing I have come to seeing, feeling, and experiencing heaven here on earth. The sun was coming down and was hitting La Basilica di San Pietro from the back, it was magnificent, if you follow me on instagram you saw (@sassyleahh). Everything was glowing with the suns last rays. The fountain was overflowing in a way that my soul overflows when the Holy Spirit enters me. It was overflowing but there seemed to never be too much water. Mi capisci Do you understand me? I can't explain the emotions that I felt at that moment. I was in heaven, that's it. For those few minutes I was in paradise. Everything glowed with a white light. I went back today for the Papal Blessing, which I will write about in a bit, but it wasn't the same. The piazza was still magnificent and beautiful, but it wasn't that paradise that I experienced that day. Remember how I said it was raining at the beginning of our scavenger hunt? Remember that. When we got to the Vatican a song entered my heart and I had to sing it. It goes, "Ven Espiritu ven y llename señor con tu preciosa uncion. Purificame y lavame, renuevame, y restaurame, señor con tu poder." This is a spanish song that we sing at my church. The part that gets me is that he did wash me. He purified me with his rain just before entering his paradise. This was my rainbow. Sono qui, Dio I'm here, God.
Yesterday, Francesca and Luca took us around the city to a few of their favorite places: the peep hole where you can perfectly see La Basilica di San Pietro (sul il mio Instagram), and the Orange Gardens. I loved it. We sat down for a while and parliamo we talked. I laid down under a tree and listened to the conversations, the music coming from a man playing the trumpet, the yelps and laughter of two boys playing soccer, the murmur of the people, and the wind brushing upon the leaves. I let the sun kiss my arm and toes. It was pure bliss. If you come to Italy in a hurry, don't come. It's not worth it. You'll only be a tourist. In order to truly find the beauty of Italy you must listen to her voice. You must listen intently because she does not repeat anything. She is fleeting. I imagine this is why the Italian Renaissance was such a beautiful time. I imagine Michelangelo sitting down on the grass, more like, sitting down with the grass, and sketching. No hurry, no stress. Pure bliss. Can you tell I'm in love?
Let me just come out and say it, I suck at directions. Nope. Nope. Nope. Don't expect me to get to a certain location, especially not at night, because I will get lost and I will freak out. This is a huge problem for me in Rome. I am an old lady, and not even because the old ladies of Rome are not helpless, no sir. They are independent and extremely intelligent. Point is, last night was the first night I went out. I was supposed to find my friends at a place where we usually meet, but because it was night time there weren't many buses running and I couldn't see what stop to get down on. I was really close to the place where we were supposed to meet but when I tried to find a new route I got completely lost and ended up on the other side of the river. Don't ask me how, I just did. After that I told Francine I wasn't moving at all, I sent her my location, sat my butt down on some steps, and told her to find me. She did, cause she's amazing.
Yesterday was so much fun! We made some Italian teenage friends! Italians fumano un sacco smoke a lot! We spoke with a teenage couple and a bunch of their guy friends for about an hour and a half in the middle of the street and throughout that time the couple smoked about 4 cigarettes each. I asked her why and she said cigarettes are cheap, so they smoke them. Va bene all right. They were so much fun. They were so lively, forse maybe a little drunk, but with so much spirit. They spoke loudly, fast, english, slang, and laughed so genuinely that I couldn't help but smile. When italians talk to you, they look deep into your eyes. They give you complete eye contact and exchange words with you. That is the way of the Romans. The young man kept kissing his girlfriend. They were adorable. So in love. So young. So full of life. He said he listened to a lot of english rap and some italian rap (because according to him after a good Italian rapper goes viral he sucks). He also showed us some pictures of his graffiti. His name was Davide I think, and her name was.. I honestly don't remember, there was so much that was going on, but they were great. I hope we meet them again (they are in my snapchat!)
This morning I woke up with a bit of a headache but I pulled myself out of bed and went to church, because He has given me so much, the least I can do is visit him one day a week for an hour. Roman churches are gorgeous. The simple fact that these churches are hundreds of years old is enough to get you out of bed. During mass all I could think about was how much I had missed Him during this week. I talk to Him everyday, but it's not the same to talk to someone on the phone than it is to visit them at their home. As I looked around in the church I was struck by a terrible sadness. Everywhere I looked there were old women (which is great, they were there with such faith that I smiled with a beautiful feeling in my heart), but I was also very sad that this holy place was void of young faces. I was the only one.
My mamma invited me to go to La Piazza di San Pietro to be blessed by the pope, of course I agreed. It was beautiful. Il Papa Francesco è magnifico Pope Francis is magnificent. His faith resonates in my heart. He was but a tiny speck but his faith ignited a fire across my body. The piazza was overflowing with people, with Romans, with pilgrims, with faith, with old people, with young people, with babies, and with love. So much love.
Un bacio da me a voi.
Alla prossima!
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