Flashback: Rome Update 7
Monday, October 11, 2004
Good Morning America (well, mostly America) -
With midterms just around the corner (next week) this past week has kind of been a nice reminder that I am studying in Rome and that the whole experience is temporary and I need to keep noticing all that is cultural and exiting around me.
My walk to school, for example is amazing. I walk through the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere which includes a beautiful fountain, a GORGEOUS church with a gold mosaic of saints on the roof. In the square there is always something happening. There are really expensive restaurants surrounding the exterior, and vendors selling very inexpensive wares within the piazza at all times of the day. Kids are often playing soccer against buildings, and tourists are sitting near the fountain eating gelato or studying maps. I don't have to take any big streets to school, just two side streets and the piazza, and I'm at school. There are beggars and gypsies mixed in with the crowds but they don't talk to me much and focus more on tourists (which by this point, they realize I am not). I pass fruit stands, pastry shops, cheese shops, restaurants and caffes. It is a beautiful walk which reminds me I am in Rome, and puts me in a good mood everyday.
This past week I became involved in a few groups at school one of which is the music/theatre group and I am really excited about it. The lack of musical involvement is kind of driving me crazy and the group is small enough that I think it will be a great way to get to know more kids with my similar interests. It will probably end up being a group of less than 20 and I think we'll have a lot of fun. My roommate Christina joined as well
and so we have been playing the music around our apartment all weekend. The show we're doing will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and is a musical review. I wasn't familiar with any of the songs, but they are all relatively sassy and should be fun to work on.
The other group is one I initiated this past week through Student Services and is a Christian Fellowship Group to meet every week at a local cafe. I feel like God is teaching me some wonderful things while I am over here, and I don't have the Christian friends here that I have at W&L to share these things with. I inquired early on with the school about such a group, and they said that none exists. Hopefully I am not the only person feeling a need for such a group as I have now started one. So far the group has gained a small but immediate response so I am excited to see what God does with it.
This past week was a big Catholic outreach festival week throughout Rome and there were masses held in public piazza's throughout the city and various other events. Christina and I attended some concerts the festival sponsored in Piazza Navona. The first night we got there just as the music was ending (although we really enjoyed the one song we did hear) and the second night we were there for all of it. It was an Irish
band called PADDY KELLY. I had never heard of him, but apparently he is or was really big with European Catholics. We had fun and then hung out afterwards and practiced speaking Italian with some random people who hung around afterwards.
This past weekend was quieter than most. I got a lot of work done and made plans with a few W&L kids to meet at various places throughout Europe before we head home. (How awesome is that I can write a sentence like that!) :) Also I made a lot of plans for when mom and dad are here in ONE WEEK! Actually, while I am thinking about it, my Rome Update may be a little different next week as mom and dad get in right about the time I usually write the weekly update. Rome Update 8 may be sent Sunday or Tuesday depending on what we're doing. Please keep them in your prayers as they leave Sunday and arrive here on Monday and we are all SOOO excited about the trip. The only hitch as of now is that they will be here for midterm week, but I am just trying to use that as incentive to study a LOT this week so that next week I can spend as much time as possible with them.
Looks like college football had a really exciting day on Saturday with some huge upsets (including a Michigan win!). Politics seems to be in full swing, and I have to say, I am not sorry to be missing out on these final high-campaign months. ***Editor's Note: This was the campaign of President Bush's second term -- George W. Bush v. John Kerry*** I love you all and I hope everything is wonderful in your world! You are in my prayers.
- B
Monday, October 11, 2004
Good Morning America (well, mostly America) -
With midterms just around the corner (next week) this past week has kind of been a nice reminder that I am studying in Rome and that the whole experience is temporary and I need to keep noticing all that is cultural and exiting around me.
My walk to school, for example is amazing. I walk through the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere which includes a beautiful fountain, a GORGEOUS church with a gold mosaic of saints on the roof. In the square there is always something happening. There are really expensive restaurants surrounding the exterior, and vendors selling very inexpensive wares within the piazza at all times of the day. Kids are often playing soccer against buildings, and tourists are sitting near the fountain eating gelato or studying maps. I don't have to take any big streets to school, just two side streets and the piazza, and I'm at school. There are beggars and gypsies mixed in with the crowds but they don't talk to me much and focus more on tourists (which by this point, they realize I am not). I pass fruit stands, pastry shops, cheese shops, restaurants and caffes. It is a beautiful walk which reminds me I am in Rome, and puts me in a good mood everyday.
This past week I became involved in a few groups at school one of which is the music/theatre group and I am really excited about it. The lack of musical involvement is kind of driving me crazy and the group is small enough that I think it will be a great way to get to know more kids with my similar interests. It will probably end up being a group of less than 20 and I think we'll have a lot of fun. My roommate Christina joined as well
and so we have been playing the music around our apartment all weekend. The show we're doing will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and is a musical review. I wasn't familiar with any of the songs, but they are all relatively sassy and should be fun to work on.
The other group is one I initiated this past week through Student Services and is a Christian Fellowship Group to meet every week at a local cafe. I feel like God is teaching me some wonderful things while I am over here, and I don't have the Christian friends here that I have at W&L to share these things with. I inquired early on with the school about such a group, and they said that none exists. Hopefully I am not the only person feeling a need for such a group as I have now started one. So far the group has gained a small but immediate response so I am excited to see what God does with it.
This past week was a big Catholic outreach festival week throughout Rome and there were masses held in public piazza's throughout the city and various other events. Christina and I attended some concerts the festival sponsored in Piazza Navona. The first night we got there just as the music was ending (although we really enjoyed the one song we did hear) and the second night we were there for all of it. It was an Irish
band called PADDY KELLY. I had never heard of him, but apparently he is or was really big with European Catholics. We had fun and then hung out afterwards and practiced speaking Italian with some random people who hung around afterwards.
This past weekend was quieter than most. I got a lot of work done and made plans with a few W&L kids to meet at various places throughout Europe before we head home. (How awesome is that I can write a sentence like that!) :) Also I made a lot of plans for when mom and dad are here in ONE WEEK! Actually, while I am thinking about it, my Rome Update may be a little different next week as mom and dad get in right about the time I usually write the weekly update. Rome Update 8 may be sent Sunday or Tuesday depending on what we're doing. Please keep them in your prayers as they leave Sunday and arrive here on Monday and we are all SOOO excited about the trip. The only hitch as of now is that they will be here for midterm week, but I am just trying to use that as incentive to study a LOT this week so that next week I can spend as much time as possible with them.
Looks like college football had a really exciting day on Saturday with some huge upsets (including a Michigan win!). Politics seems to be in full swing, and I have to say, I am not sorry to be missing out on these final high-campaign months. ***Editor's Note: This was the campaign of President Bush's second term -- George W. Bush v. John Kerry*** I love you all and I hope everything is wonderful in your world! You are in my prayers.
- B
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