A long overdue update

So I realized I've been neglecting my blog for quite some time- time just slips by so quickly here that I didn't really notice how long it had been since I updated!  I don't really have time to go through the last four weeks in great detail, but I'll run through the highlights real quick.

On Friday, February 12, it snowed on campus (see pictures in last post).  It was the first time it had snowed in Rome since the 80s, and we got pretty good ground cover here on campus.  We had no classes that day so we had a huge epic snowball fight with our professors and the mensa ladies, and made some snowmen, including one that was made to look like Dr. Hatlie, who runs the program over here.

The next day, Saturday the 13, I went to Naples with my friends Joe and David (pictures in last message as well).  It was just a daytrip, and our main purpose was to visit the Naples Archeological Museum.  After visiting there we had some really good pizza and then walked around a bit, visited a castle, and then went out to the bay before heading back to Rome on the train.

Then on Sunday I went in to Rome early in the morning with my friends Catherine and Jon to visit the catacombs of the popes and go to Mass.  We got to see the tomb of Pope John Paul II!  Then we went to Mass in St. Peter's and afterwards went to the Angelus with the Pope in the square.

Later that week, on Wednesday the 17, we had an Art and Arch fieldtrip to the Roman Forum.  We got to see all the excavated ruins of the old cultural, religious, and political center of Rome.  The Roman Forum was basically the downtown of Rome, and most important events and activities took place in the Forum. Most of the buildings are knocked down close to their foundations, but there are still some low walls and columns in place.  A few of the buildings are still in pretty good condition.  After the class in the Forum, I went with a few friends over to the Colosseum since our Forum tickets would get us in there as well.  It was really cool to finally get to see and be in the Colosseum!  Then, since it was Ash Wednesday, we went over to a really small church near Campo dei Fiori.  The Church was not normally open to the public, but our chaplain was able to get access to it so that we could have a private Mass there.

On Saturday the 20th, Christi, Nick, and I left for a weekend trip to Pisa and Verona.  We took the train into Pisa where we stayed for a few (too many) hours.  There isn't much to do in Pisa besides see the leaning tower.  I really liked the leaning tower though, it is actually one of my favorite things that I have seen.  There was also a really beautiful Church right next to the tower.  Other than seeing those, we wandered around the town alot, going into lots of stores and souvenir stands.  After dinner we took a train to Verona.  We had to change trains in Brescia, where we had a 20 minute connection.  Well, our first train was 20 minutes late.  We bolted for our next train and got up to it when the doors had just closed.  I tried to open the doors, but they wouldn't open, and then the train started moving away.  Luckily, however, the next train was only an hour later.  So we sat in the basically deserted Brescia train station for an hour!
The next morning in Verona we visited a really cool castle.  It was still really castle-y inside in alot of places and we got to walk out on ramparts and such.  They had alot of art inside as well.  We also went to visit Juliet's (from Romeo and Juliet) house and see her balcony.  One interesting thing that was happening in Verona while we were there was a marathon.  Lots of the streets were blocked off for the runners, and in one of the main squares there was a little fair/market going on and a big band.  In another square they also had a bunch of carnival games (ring toss, marble mazes, some sort of three-person walking skis) for people to play with.  After spending the day in Verona, we headed back on the train to Rome.  We had an interesting experience in getting back to campus since we took the wrong bus from Rome to campus.  It ended up dropping us off in a random town in the hills above campus, and we had to walk for a couple miles downhill in the dark before we could figure out where we were and find a taxi!

On Wednesday the 24th, we had another Art and Arch fieldtrip, this time to Pompeii.  We took buses down for a daytrip.  I really liked Pompeii.  I didn't realize beforehand how much like walking through an ancient city it would be.  Once you entered the archeological zone, it was like going back in time.  Obviously everything was partially destroyed, but it really was like walking through a city.  Some of the houses and restaurants were remarkably well preserved!  We even visited a brothel!  One thing that was a little creepy about Pompeii though were the plaster casts they had of the corpses that they had excavated from the volcanic ash.

Thursday, February 25: I finally get to go to SPAIN!!!!!!!!!! Catherine, Joe and I flew out Thursday evening, and despite a long flight delay, made it to Madrid.  We checked into our awesome hotel (it was really cheap, so we weren't expecting much, but it had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, full kitchen, and washer and dryer) and went to sleep.  The next morning, Friday, we took a bus to Avila, a small town about an hour and a half northwest.  Its the birthplace of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.  Its also a really cool town because it still has its medieval walls, which look like castle walls with turrets and everything.  We got to see alot of relics of St. Teresa.  It was also awesome because I got to practice using my Spanish and eat Spanish food, like Spanish tortillas (egg and potato omelet-like things), sopa Castilliana (Castillian soup), and sangria (the famous Spanish alcoholic beverage).
Early on Saturday morning we flew out of Madrid and into Lisbon, Portugal.  From there we took a bus to Fatima, the site of the miraculous Marian appearances.  It was really awesome to actually see the place where it happened and pray in the Church there.  The only downer was that tropical storm Xynthia was hitting Portugal while we were there, so it was really windy and rainy.  It was so windy at times that you couldn't even walk in a straight line!  Then on early Sunday morning, we flew back to Rome.

Today, Wednesday March 3, we had another Art field trip.  This time we went to the Church of San Clemente.  It is a unique church to visit because you can go down through the layers of archeology under the Church.  When you first walk into the ground level Church, you are in a Church from the 11th Century, which is incredibly beautiful.  Then, you go down some stairs and end up in a 4th Century Church, which they built the current church on top of.  Down another flight of stairs they have excavated some buildings from the First Century AD, including a house, an ancient Roman shrine, and a warehouse.  There are even more levels of buildings underneath, but they have not been excavated yet.  All of Rome is actually built in layers like this, most places it just hasn't been excavated.

On Friday we leave for our 10-day class trip to Greece.  We've already finished most of our midterms and one of our essays.  So everyone is kinda slacking off and having fun tonight.  Tomorrow will be a fun day as well- I only have one class, and then we have 'Geek Olympics' in the afternoon to kick off our Greece trip.  Then we'll have a Greek dinner in the cafeteria, and our chaplain is hosting a wine-tasting/social party in the evening.  And then, on Friday morning, its off to Greece!!!!!!