B-B-B-Benny and the...Angelus?

Oh helloooo! (Exclaimed in Mrs. Doubtfire voice.)

I hope this post finds you well, wherever you are on God’s green earth.

Let’s be like old friends and just pick up where we left off, shall we? Good.

Going to the Vatican was quite the eye-opening experience, in more ways than one. Grace and I got all dolled up in our Sunday best, making sure that our knees and shoulders were fully covered. (Which wasn’t difficult to do at all, considering I wore pants.) Then we set off with the other girls on the twenty-minute walk that it takes to get to Vatican City. When we got there, we had another “Ohmygoshthisisnotreallife” moment. And then we got in line to enter St. Peter’s Basilica. Yes, there was a line. It was similar to the lines you see on Black Friday at 6:00 AM in front of various department stores. We sure have our priorities straight in that there Amurica…

The line moved relatively quickly and we passed easily through security. Yes, security. Like at an airport, except maybe not so strict. I didn’t have to take my shoes off. After security, we were free and clear to head into the basilica.

I have two words for you. Swiss guards.

Just kidding. That’s not all I have to say.

The basilica was massive and beautiful, just as I suspected. But it still managed to blow my mind. There were multiple statues of large proportions that were situated in various alcoves in the walls. There were scenes painted on different parts of the ceiling, and I remember seeing the color gold a lot. We walked in right as the procession started. I have never seen so many priests in one place in my life. There was incense, and I looked through the crowd, hoping to see Jon serving. But he is in Nashville being a scholarly beast. Alas.

The mass was spoken entirely in Latin. I have never been to a Latin mass before, but I have always wanted to experience it, and I finally got to! It was very beautiful, and now I have even more of a thirst to learn Latin. I suppose I should conquer Italian first, though. Our program director told us that there was no guarantee that we would receive communion because of the number of people that attend mass every week, but we did get to receive it, and for that I am quite thankful. After mass, we joined the large crowd of people gathered outside that were waiting to see the pope. I have never been so violated in all my life. Don’t get me wrong, I like to be touched, but this was more of a smother. It was insane. No can of sardines will ever be as packed as that crowd. And once the pope came to his window, people actually tried to move through said crowd to get a better view of him. Grace and I miraculously made it to the edge, where there was the teensiest bit of elbow room. Good old Benny came and perched at his window and prayed the Angelus in Italian and I got a glimpse of his arm. It was nice.

After our crowd experience, Grace and I thought we deserved some gelato. So we stopped at a little shop in Vatican City and got the best gelato we have had so far, minus Assisi. We strolled back to the Tiziano (the hotel where we are staying) in order to get some homework done. Partway through our homework sesh, we decided that a twenty-minute power nap was in order. Three hours later (sorry I’m not sorry) we woke up to continue our homework. Later we ventured out to find some dinner, but most places were closed or had slim pickings so we ended up at the supermarcato and bought bananas, coffee yogurt, crackers, and jam. We took our delicious spread home (err, back to our room) and sat on the floor to enjoy our feast. Somewhere in this time frame we were almost trampled and killed by a horse-drawn carriage, but we managed to escape.

Classes are going wonderfully. I answered a ton of questions in Western Civ the other day and I was so proud of myself. Yay for not being completely ignorant! I am loving archaeology, as usual. My Italian prof has managed to make learning a foreign language fun. Who knew?! And Fr. Mark Attard can talk about the Paschal Mystery like it’s going out of style. I know the story quite well, but he just has a way of speaking that makes it so real and rich. He has many leather bound books. Not really, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he did.

The past few days have been great bonding time with Grace. I mean, ever since we got on the stinkin plane it has been good bonding time, but this week especially. We have had so many good conversations, lots of giggling, a few serious moments, and lots of dance parties. We made travel plans together and finalized them today. We are both starting to catch a cold. It’s like we’re the same person. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that our beds are literally two inches apart…it’s whatever. I would just like to throw a special shout out to her for being a fantastic roommate. I’m not sure there are very many people on earth who could put up with me as well as Grace Coffey can. Haha, coffey can. It’s punny, get it?! (That one’s for you, Maureen.) Grace puts up with my singing in the shower, my random movie quotes and song lyrics, my ridiculous laugh, and my need for hugs. And she is tops at keeping up with my sass. 50 points to Hufflepuff! (We both decided that if she attended Hogwarts, that is the house she would most likely be in.)

Happy Birthday, Joseph Paul Zahm. You are one beautiful man.

Happy Feast Day of St. Francis! He is also one beautiful man.

P.S. Skype can be a wonderful thing. I was able to talk to four of my favorite people so far this week. Wizard.