I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter (Pasqua) yesterday! Today is Pasquetta in Italy (literally, "Little Easter") which is basically a day of eating leftovers and enjoying another little holiday. All of the stores were closed, even our grocery store, which meant we were forced to eat leftovers here!
That's okay, though, because we made an amazing meal for Easter which only got better after sitting in our fridge overnight. We roasted chicken and potatoes with olive oil, garlic, rosemary and lemon and then we made breaded artichoke hearts. We also had our now famous gelato sundaes with almonds, bananas and our homemade chocolate sauce.
Before we sat down for our Easter dinner, though, we had to of course check out the Easter service at the Vatican. Let me tell you, it was crazy!! There were so many people from so many different countries. It was pretty much standing room only in St. Peter's Square, except in the parts where they did set up a few chairs (unfortunately, not having tickets left us in the standing crowd). It was cool to see how many people were there, all dressed up for Easter.
Again, the earthquake was a major topic of prayer as was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here is a link to Pope Benedict's "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and to the World) Message, which shows more of the things he talked about. He gave this address after the mass; it's a tradition every Easter.
With all of the happenings this week it's a wonder he had the energy for Easter Sunday--we're talking about a man who turns 82 this Thursday!!
I added in the few pictures I took in the Vatican album!
Showing posts with label Vatican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vatican. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Happy Birthday Raphael!
Today marks another important date in Italian/Roman history as both the birth and death date of the painter Raphael. When I researched Raphael to see what works of his I could find in Rome, I was pleased to see I have already seen most of them.
One of the first things I saw in Rome, the Pantheon, houses the tomb of Raphael, who died in Rome in 1520.
The Villa Borghese houses a few portraits and the Palazzo Barberini houses "La Fornarina" (the bakers daughter), a portrait of Raphael's lover and a model for many of his portraits. Raphael was also the one to suggest the "Latin Cross" design for St. Peter's.
Still on my list of things to do in Rome is see the Vatican Museum, where one can walk through the Raphael Rooms and admire other paintings by Raphael. He also painted the frescoes in the Villa Farnesina.
It's just the beginning of an eventful week in Rome: yesterday was the start of Holy Week with Palm Sunday and the Pope's blessing in St. Peter's Square and today saw the biggest earthquake to hit Italy since 2002 plus the anniversary of Raphael's death and birth. Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday and continues on Thurdsday--and even though Rome is traditionally seen as Roman Catholic, there is an area called the Jewish ghetto and Jews are actually quite numerous in Rome. Holy Week festivities continue Thursday through Sunday, beginning with the Mass of the Chrism Thursday morning then the Mass of the Lord's Supper in the evening and going until the final event, mass on Easter Sunday.
It's all enough to keep me busy! Not to mention now I have to work my way through crowds of tourists just to get to school--and they will only become more and more numerous as the weather gets better and we find ourselves in the midst of high season.
One of the first things I saw in Rome, the Pantheon, houses the tomb of Raphael, who died in Rome in 1520.
The Villa Borghese houses a few portraits and the Palazzo Barberini houses "La Fornarina" (the bakers daughter), a portrait of Raphael's lover and a model for many of his portraits. Raphael was also the one to suggest the "Latin Cross" design for St. Peter's.
Still on my list of things to do in Rome is see the Vatican Museum, where one can walk through the Raphael Rooms and admire other paintings by Raphael. He also painted the frescoes in the Villa Farnesina.
It's just the beginning of an eventful week in Rome: yesterday was the start of Holy Week with Palm Sunday and the Pope's blessing in St. Peter's Square and today saw the biggest earthquake to hit Italy since 2002 plus the anniversary of Raphael's death and birth. Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday and continues on Thurdsday--and even though Rome is traditionally seen as Roman Catholic, there is an area called the Jewish ghetto and Jews are actually quite numerous in Rome. Holy Week festivities continue Thursday through Sunday, beginning with the Mass of the Chrism Thursday morning then the Mass of the Lord's Supper in the evening and going until the final event, mass on Easter Sunday.
It's all enough to keep me busy! Not to mention now I have to work my way through crowds of tourists just to get to school--and they will only become more and more numerous as the weather gets better and we find ourselves in the midst of high season.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Happy Birthday Michelangelo!
Today is Michelangelo's birthday; he was born in 1475 in the Tuscany region. His works are found all over the world, but at the age of 21 he came to Rome and that is where some of his most famous pieces/architecture resides. So what did I do to celebrate this occasion? After a breakfast of banana pancakes, I headed into the city to check out some of the pieces Michelangelo is known for in Rome.
I've seen St. Peter's Basilica already, (and La Pieta inside) but that is perhaps the most famous of Michelangelo's architecture, especially the cupola. I've also been to Palazzo Farnese, home of the French embassy, and the Capitoline Hill (though that one I visited again--it was on my way during my wanderings this morning).
My first stop was Santa Maria sopra Minerva, located just behind the Pantheon. From the outside it doesn't look like much, but don't let that fool you. Santa Maria is gorgeous inside, with high ceilings painted a deep blue and marble everywhere. Numerous side altars lead up to the high altar and to the left there is a statue of Christ Carrying the Cross. It's also known as Christ the Redeemer or Christo della Minerva and was carved by Michelangelo in 1521. The figure was originally nude, but during the Baroque period a covering was added. The first thing I noticed was how calm and ready Christ looked, even though he is holding the things that will kill him. The statue is supposed to show his willingness to die for us.
After a few extra minutes walking around the church in awe of its greatness, I started for my next stop: Basilica dei Santi Apostoli. None of Michelangelo's works are found here, but this is the church that housed his tomb for a while before it was moved to Santa Croce. Anyways, it was worth going to if only to see the fresco above the sanctuary, the Fall of Lucifer and Rebel Angels. It's an illusionist painting so it looks like the angels are falling out of the painting, out of the ceiling, and into the church.
Next I made my way through the Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo between 1536-1546. Instead of having the square face the Roman Forum, Michelangelo turned it around to face Papal Rome and the stairs leading up to it are meant to show the link between the new and old Rome. Because of the odd shape of the square, Michelangelo had to be creative in order to make it feel as though the buildings were symmetrical and that a person standing in the square felt like they were on top of the world. It's actually egg-shaped and the slope is off, but of course Michelangelo pulled it off.
After a quick walk past the Roman gladiator who always asks for a photo outside the Forum and up Via Cavour, I found myself at my last stop of the day, San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). This church houses the relic of the chains said to have bound St. Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. They keep these chains in a shrine under the altar. When I was at this church, so were a few Italian school tours, so I had to weave through them to get pictures of the reason most of us were there: Michelangelo's statue of Moses. The statue is flanked by slightly smaller statues of Leah and Rachel. The entire work was supposed to be much larger and was for the tomb of Pope Julius II but the pope interrupted Michelangelo's work for unknown reasons and it was gradually scaled down to what we see today. It is still quite impressive, with Moses looking fierce holding the tablets with the commandments, his beard down to his chest and horns on his head. (The horns have something to do with the biblical story--Moses having rays of light coming from his face. I guess the horns were meant to show that, and were easier to carve than a ray of light would be.)
The trees on our street are starting to bud and the weather has been gorgeous (besides the lingering rain)...hopefully spring comes to Wisconsin soon as well!
I've seen St. Peter's Basilica already, (and La Pieta inside) but that is perhaps the most famous of Michelangelo's architecture, especially the cupola. I've also been to Palazzo Farnese, home of the French embassy, and the Capitoline Hill (though that one I visited again--it was on my way during my wanderings this morning).
My first stop was Santa Maria sopra Minerva, located just behind the Pantheon. From the outside it doesn't look like much, but don't let that fool you. Santa Maria is gorgeous inside, with high ceilings painted a deep blue and marble everywhere. Numerous side altars lead up to the high altar and to the left there is a statue of Christ Carrying the Cross. It's also known as Christ the Redeemer or Christo della Minerva and was carved by Michelangelo in 1521. The figure was originally nude, but during the Baroque period a covering was added. The first thing I noticed was how calm and ready Christ looked, even though he is holding the things that will kill him. The statue is supposed to show his willingness to die for us.
After a few extra minutes walking around the church in awe of its greatness, I started for my next stop: Basilica dei Santi Apostoli. None of Michelangelo's works are found here, but this is the church that housed his tomb for a while before it was moved to Santa Croce. Anyways, it was worth going to if only to see the fresco above the sanctuary, the Fall of Lucifer and Rebel Angels. It's an illusionist painting so it looks like the angels are falling out of the painting, out of the ceiling, and into the church.
Next I made my way through the Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo between 1536-1546. Instead of having the square face the Roman Forum, Michelangelo turned it around to face Papal Rome and the stairs leading up to it are meant to show the link between the new and old Rome. Because of the odd shape of the square, Michelangelo had to be creative in order to make it feel as though the buildings were symmetrical and that a person standing in the square felt like they were on top of the world. It's actually egg-shaped and the slope is off, but of course Michelangelo pulled it off.
After a quick walk past the Roman gladiator who always asks for a photo outside the Forum and up Via Cavour, I found myself at my last stop of the day, San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). This church houses the relic of the chains said to have bound St. Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. They keep these chains in a shrine under the altar. When I was at this church, so were a few Italian school tours, so I had to weave through them to get pictures of the reason most of us were there: Michelangelo's statue of Moses. The statue is flanked by slightly smaller statues of Leah and Rachel. The entire work was supposed to be much larger and was for the tomb of Pope Julius II but the pope interrupted Michelangelo's work for unknown reasons and it was gradually scaled down to what we see today. It is still quite impressive, with Moses looking fierce holding the tablets with the commandments, his beard down to his chest and horns on his head. (The horns have something to do with the biblical story--Moses having rays of light coming from his face. I guess the horns were meant to show that, and were easier to carve than a ray of light would be.)
The trees on our street are starting to bud and the weather has been gorgeous (besides the lingering rain)...hopefully spring comes to Wisconsin soon as well!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Murphy's Law Applies Even in Rome and ESPECIALLY at The Vatican
I ALWAYS bring my camera with me. Except for these three times...and of course, these three times it would have been nice to be able to capture the moment. Because in these technological days, do things really happen if we don't record them? (I'll save that discussion for later.)
1) I was walking from campus to campus one day (JCU is split into two separate "campuses" and by "campus" they mean "building") when I realized I wasn't just walking past locals or parked cars. Approximately 100 men in tuxedos were walking town a Trastevere side street. To this day I have absolutely no idea where they were headed or where they were coming from, but they all looked good whatever they were doing. And I think they were speaking English, which is even stranger.
2) Today as I was walking to class, I stumbled upon a film crew rehearsing a scene outside of a Trastevere bar (In Italy a bar is just a cafe). I think it was Italian, but it was still a real film crew with a director and several cameras set up and guys holding big furry mics over the actors.
3) Here is where the "ESPECIALLY in The Vatican" part of the title comes from. I won't beat around the bush: I saw the Pope today. And not only that, he was only about 50 feet from me. It's the strangest story, too, and I wish I brought my camera with me to class today so I could show you. Ah well, my storytelling will have to be enough.
Right before my afternoon class Shannon called me from the Vatican. "I think the Pope is going to be here at 4" she said. I told her I had class until 3:30 but I would call her after and come up to see. I wasn't sure why the Pope would be out today, a Monday, Groundhog's Day in the States, but who knows.
After class I hiked up to The Vatican and found Shannon in a massive line in St. Peter's Square. We were crammed in the line between groups of nuns, priests, random tourists, and school kids and we had no idea what for...but then this lady handed us each a bright green piece of paper which we realized was our free ticket inside. The writing on it was Italian but we made out that this was a mass presided over by a cardinal and that the Pope would make an appearance at the end. We still didn't know what the special occasion was, though.
They filed us all in the basilica, which was all set up and looked different than it did when we came as tourists. The middle area was pretty much full so we were led to each side. (St. Peter's Basilica looks like a giant cross with the high altar in the middle where each section meets.) Our spot was seven rows back on the left side of the altar, which is closer than tourists can get on normal days. We waited as the church filled and I looked around at all of the nuns and priests and monks (there were random tourists/lay people too, but mostly it was religious). I don't know how many people were there, but it had to be a couple hundred.
The service started with the ringing of bells and we stood as the choir began singing. The entire thing was in Italian, but we had booklets to follow along and I found myself understanding most of it thanks to what little Italian I do know plus knowing how the mass goes in general.
After the mass finished, it got really quiet in the basilica. Then, people started clapping from the other side of the altar. Soon, we saw why: Pope Benedict XVI was making his way to the front. As he walked up to the altar he waved in every direction and the congregation all waved back. He looked so happy, all smiles and waving to everyone.
Then, from what Shannon and I could gather, he gave a blessing. Cameramen panned the congregation as the Papal Swiss Guard stood at attention all around the church. After his blessing, we clapped again and he walked out, through crowds of people cheering and snapping pictures.
It was quite possibly the weirdest experience of my life, considering how random it was. Shannon just wanted to check out confession at the Vatican and maybe get some more pictures and we ended up staying at the Vatican for mass in Italian and a blessing from the Pope--and of course neither of us had our cameras with us!
Back at the apartment, I translated the ticket to see what the mass was for: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord--World Day of Consecrated Life, Cardinal Franc Rode presiding. This feast, which always falls on February 2, 40 days after we celebrate Jesus' birth, is commonly called Candlemas because of the candlelight procession. So even though I have no pictures to document the day, I do have my votive candle from the procession as a souvenir, along with the free ticket and the program from the service.
Now I just have to start hanging out at the Vatican with my camera, waiting around for the next big feast day...
1) I was walking from campus to campus one day (JCU is split into two separate "campuses" and by "campus" they mean "building") when I realized I wasn't just walking past locals or parked cars. Approximately 100 men in tuxedos were walking town a Trastevere side street. To this day I have absolutely no idea where they were headed or where they were coming from, but they all looked good whatever they were doing. And I think they were speaking English, which is even stranger.
2) Today as I was walking to class, I stumbled upon a film crew rehearsing a scene outside of a Trastevere bar (In Italy a bar is just a cafe). I think it was Italian, but it was still a real film crew with a director and several cameras set up and guys holding big furry mics over the actors.
3) Here is where the "ESPECIALLY in The Vatican" part of the title comes from. I won't beat around the bush: I saw the Pope today. And not only that, he was only about 50 feet from me. It's the strangest story, too, and I wish I brought my camera with me to class today so I could show you. Ah well, my storytelling will have to be enough.
Right before my afternoon class Shannon called me from the Vatican. "I think the Pope is going to be here at 4" she said. I told her I had class until 3:30 but I would call her after and come up to see. I wasn't sure why the Pope would be out today, a Monday, Groundhog's Day in the States, but who knows.
After class I hiked up to The Vatican and found Shannon in a massive line in St. Peter's Square. We were crammed in the line between groups of nuns, priests, random tourists, and school kids and we had no idea what for...but then this lady handed us each a bright green piece of paper which we realized was our free ticket inside. The writing on it was Italian but we made out that this was a mass presided over by a cardinal and that the Pope would make an appearance at the end. We still didn't know what the special occasion was, though.
They filed us all in the basilica, which was all set up and looked different than it did when we came as tourists. The middle area was pretty much full so we were led to each side. (St. Peter's Basilica looks like a giant cross with the high altar in the middle where each section meets.) Our spot was seven rows back on the left side of the altar, which is closer than tourists can get on normal days. We waited as the church filled and I looked around at all of the nuns and priests and monks (there were random tourists/lay people too, but mostly it was religious). I don't know how many people were there, but it had to be a couple hundred.
The service started with the ringing of bells and we stood as the choir began singing. The entire thing was in Italian, but we had booklets to follow along and I found myself understanding most of it thanks to what little Italian I do know plus knowing how the mass goes in general.
After the mass finished, it got really quiet in the basilica. Then, people started clapping from the other side of the altar. Soon, we saw why: Pope Benedict XVI was making his way to the front. As he walked up to the altar he waved in every direction and the congregation all waved back. He looked so happy, all smiles and waving to everyone.
Then, from what Shannon and I could gather, he gave a blessing. Cameramen panned the congregation as the Papal Swiss Guard stood at attention all around the church. After his blessing, we clapped again and he walked out, through crowds of people cheering and snapping pictures.
It was quite possibly the weirdest experience of my life, considering how random it was. Shannon just wanted to check out confession at the Vatican and maybe get some more pictures and we ended up staying at the Vatican for mass in Italian and a blessing from the Pope--and of course neither of us had our cameras with us!
Back at the apartment, I translated the ticket to see what the mass was for: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord--World Day of Consecrated Life, Cardinal Franc Rode presiding. This feast, which always falls on February 2, 40 days after we celebrate Jesus' birth, is commonly called Candlemas because of the candlelight procession. So even though I have no pictures to document the day, I do have my votive candle from the procession as a souvenir, along with the free ticket and the program from the service.
Now I just have to start hanging out at the Vatican with my camera, waiting around for the next big feast day...
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Finally made it to the Vatican!
After our trek on Friday and then all of the walking we did yesterday, I actually crashed shortly before 11 last night. And when I woke up, it was to sore legs and a sore back. I guess that's to be expected after yesterday.
First, Shannon and I headed out fairly early to get to the Vatican before most of the tourists would get there. St. Peter's Square was as impressive as it was the day before, but yesterday we actually made it past the Papal Swiss Guard inside St. Peter's Basilica.
And wow. It's massive inside, with something on every surface, in every nook, around every corner. Michaelangelo and Bernini were the main architects but inside there is art from Michaelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and lots of other artists. The first thing I noticed was La Pieta by Michaelangelo. The statue shows a young Mary holding the body of the crucified Jesus. There were other pietas (or lamentations as they are commonly called in English) before Michaelangelo's, but his is the only one showing such a youthful Mary. One of the theories (my favorite) is that we are seeing the young Mary holding the baby Jesus, and at the same time seeing the future and what the baby Jesus will become.
We continued around the basilica taking in the many paintings and side altars. Everything about the inside of the basilica is meant to take the visitor's breath away. Each dome has a mural painted or mosaic laid out and there are windows placed strategically so sunlight hits the marble floors at the right places. It was funny to see all the different tour groups walking through and snapping pictures. I wondered how many of the people came for the beauty of the place or just to say they've been there versus people who actually know what St. Peter's Basilica is and the history of it.
When we were there, there was actually a mass going on at one of the side altars. It looked like a pre-Vatican II mass as the priests and the congregation were both facing the same direction, but I couldn't tell if it was in Latin or Italian. Either way, it felt strange that these people were at mass and behind them were hundreds of tourists, some passing by and ignoring them and others gawking. There was also a part of the church sectioned off for confession and another side altar was strictly reserved for prayer--this one had a guard posted to remind people that no cameras were allowed.
The inside of St. Peter's Basilica was amazing, of course, but we weren't finished there. Next we paid 5 euro for the privilege to climb what seemed like a bajillion steps (okay, maybe it was only 550--but the last 320 are up a narrow, winding staircase...one where if you stop, everyone stops so you have to keep climbing). We were rewarded, though, with one of the most amazing sites in Rome: the view from the cupola, on top of the dome. We saw the square below us, with all the little tourists rushing around taking pictures and on the other side we saw the Vatican Gardens, which are closed to the public so up on the dome is the only way possible for tourists to see them.
Our final stop on our Vatican tour was the Vatican Post Office, which I already love more than the Italian Post. Once I did try to buy stamps at a tabacchi and they were out. What kind of post office runs out of stamps? Turns out that was lucky because then I waited to buy stamps at the Vatican (because it's its own city-state you have to buy special Vatican stamps to send stuff from the Vatican). So I bought some stamps, put them on postcards, and dropped them in the cheery yellow box. And then I realized I never told the man I needed stamps for America...which means I had stuck European stamps on my postcards. I felt like an idiot, but I figured I would ask the man to see if there was anyway to fix it.
I told him my predicament and he sold me six more stamps to make up the difference, but there was still the problem of the postcards already being in the box. He asked me if I remembered the addresses and, because I'm turning into my father, I did. He was pretty amazed that I could recall nearly all of them (with the exception of a random zip code) and said that even just the names would suffice. So I wrote down everything I could remember, plus USA, and he set aside my list plus the extra stamps and said it would be fixed. I was speechless. This guy was really going to find my postcards and add the extra postage? That would NEVER happen in regular Italian post offices. I've only been here for three weeks, but that's long enough to know "customer service" means something different here than it does in America.
Tangent about customer service: our Italian professor has taught us a lot about daily living in Italy. Some of her best advice: do not tip Italians. She said to never tip them at supper or at the bar, which is one of the ways they know to con Americans. Apparently they get paid well enough and sometimes a gratuity is included in the bill. She also said that when you go into a store you need to ask permission to just look around. And when you want to see something, instead of picking it up like we do in America, we are supposed to ask a salesperson to open it for us (say it's a folded shirt, we should not touch it--the salesperson will unfold it for us). In the few stores I've stepped in I've felt very unwelcome. I don't know why, but I guess they consider it a privilege for you to be there? There's a huge cultural difference and I definitely felt culture shock then.
Okay, so back to the Vatican: it really is a blessed place if my postcards make it to America. Now I want to go back and mail more things just so I can see the man and thank him again!
Last night, after recuperating from the Vatican, Shannon and I decided to set out again in the opposite direction, this time to find Santa Susana. Santa Susana is an American church in Rome, but to get there took us about an hour, even with a tram ride. Of course, we did get a little turned around in the Piazza della Repubblica but after putting my simple Italian to use (dov'e Santa Susana?), a lady pointed us in the right direction.
Santa Susana felt like an oasis of English in the desert of Italian. Don't get me wrong, I love learning Italian especially in Italy and I think it's a beautiful language, but after a while my ears get tired and even hearing English with an Italian accent can be tiring. To hear American English for the better part of an hour was refreshing.
The sermon was great, too. Because the gospel was about Jesus getting rid of spirits I wondered what the priest would talk about. Luckily he said just what I needed to hear. Just because we don't talk about "demons" or "spirits" today doesn't mean we don't have them--we all have our own fears and things that are keeping us from living our life to the fullest. And his take was Christianity, by its very nature, is freedom from those fears.
All in all it was a successful day--we started with the birthplace of Christianity, the mecca of Roman Catholicism and ended with a modern American service. Here are my pictures of the Vatican. And what's in store for next week? So far the only thing I know is a trip to Circo Massimo for art history and boring boring stats. C'est la vie....oops, that's French. Cha la vita then.
First, Shannon and I headed out fairly early to get to the Vatican before most of the tourists would get there. St. Peter's Square was as impressive as it was the day before, but yesterday we actually made it past the Papal Swiss Guard inside St. Peter's Basilica.
And wow. It's massive inside, with something on every surface, in every nook, around every corner. Michaelangelo and Bernini were the main architects but inside there is art from Michaelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and lots of other artists. The first thing I noticed was La Pieta by Michaelangelo. The statue shows a young Mary holding the body of the crucified Jesus. There were other pietas (or lamentations as they are commonly called in English) before Michaelangelo's, but his is the only one showing such a youthful Mary. One of the theories (my favorite) is that we are seeing the young Mary holding the baby Jesus, and at the same time seeing the future and what the baby Jesus will become.
We continued around the basilica taking in the many paintings and side altars. Everything about the inside of the basilica is meant to take the visitor's breath away. Each dome has a mural painted or mosaic laid out and there are windows placed strategically so sunlight hits the marble floors at the right places. It was funny to see all the different tour groups walking through and snapping pictures. I wondered how many of the people came for the beauty of the place or just to say they've been there versus people who actually know what St. Peter's Basilica is and the history of it.
When we were there, there was actually a mass going on at one of the side altars. It looked like a pre-Vatican II mass as the priests and the congregation were both facing the same direction, but I couldn't tell if it was in Latin or Italian. Either way, it felt strange that these people were at mass and behind them were hundreds of tourists, some passing by and ignoring them and others gawking. There was also a part of the church sectioned off for confession and another side altar was strictly reserved for prayer--this one had a guard posted to remind people that no cameras were allowed.
The inside of St. Peter's Basilica was amazing, of course, but we weren't finished there. Next we paid 5 euro for the privilege to climb what seemed like a bajillion steps (okay, maybe it was only 550--but the last 320 are up a narrow, winding staircase...one where if you stop, everyone stops so you have to keep climbing). We were rewarded, though, with one of the most amazing sites in Rome: the view from the cupola, on top of the dome. We saw the square below us, with all the little tourists rushing around taking pictures and on the other side we saw the Vatican Gardens, which are closed to the public so up on the dome is the only way possible for tourists to see them.
Our final stop on our Vatican tour was the Vatican Post Office, which I already love more than the Italian Post. Once I did try to buy stamps at a tabacchi and they were out. What kind of post office runs out of stamps? Turns out that was lucky because then I waited to buy stamps at the Vatican (because it's its own city-state you have to buy special Vatican stamps to send stuff from the Vatican). So I bought some stamps, put them on postcards, and dropped them in the cheery yellow box. And then I realized I never told the man I needed stamps for America...which means I had stuck European stamps on my postcards. I felt like an idiot, but I figured I would ask the man to see if there was anyway to fix it.
I told him my predicament and he sold me six more stamps to make up the difference, but there was still the problem of the postcards already being in the box. He asked me if I remembered the addresses and, because I'm turning into my father, I did. He was pretty amazed that I could recall nearly all of them (with the exception of a random zip code) and said that even just the names would suffice. So I wrote down everything I could remember, plus USA, and he set aside my list plus the extra stamps and said it would be fixed. I was speechless. This guy was really going to find my postcards and add the extra postage? That would NEVER happen in regular Italian post offices. I've only been here for three weeks, but that's long enough to know "customer service" means something different here than it does in America.
Tangent about customer service: our Italian professor has taught us a lot about daily living in Italy. Some of her best advice: do not tip Italians. She said to never tip them at supper or at the bar, which is one of the ways they know to con Americans. Apparently they get paid well enough and sometimes a gratuity is included in the bill. She also said that when you go into a store you need to ask permission to just look around. And when you want to see something, instead of picking it up like we do in America, we are supposed to ask a salesperson to open it for us (say it's a folded shirt, we should not touch it--the salesperson will unfold it for us). In the few stores I've stepped in I've felt very unwelcome. I don't know why, but I guess they consider it a privilege for you to be there? There's a huge cultural difference and I definitely felt culture shock then.
Okay, so back to the Vatican: it really is a blessed place if my postcards make it to America. Now I want to go back and mail more things just so I can see the man and thank him again!
Last night, after recuperating from the Vatican, Shannon and I decided to set out again in the opposite direction, this time to find Santa Susana. Santa Susana is an American church in Rome, but to get there took us about an hour, even with a tram ride. Of course, we did get a little turned around in the Piazza della Repubblica but after putting my simple Italian to use (dov'e Santa Susana?), a lady pointed us in the right direction.
Santa Susana felt like an oasis of English in the desert of Italian. Don't get me wrong, I love learning Italian especially in Italy and I think it's a beautiful language, but after a while my ears get tired and even hearing English with an Italian accent can be tiring. To hear American English for the better part of an hour was refreshing.
The sermon was great, too. Because the gospel was about Jesus getting rid of spirits I wondered what the priest would talk about. Luckily he said just what I needed to hear. Just because we don't talk about "demons" or "spirits" today doesn't mean we don't have them--we all have our own fears and things that are keeping us from living our life to the fullest. And his take was Christianity, by its very nature, is freedom from those fears.
All in all it was a successful day--we started with the birthplace of Christianity, the mecca of Roman Catholicism and ended with a modern American service. Here are my pictures of the Vatican. And what's in store for next week? So far the only thing I know is a trip to Circo Massimo for art history and boring boring stats. C'est la vie....oops, that's French. Cha la vita then.
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