Learning from wild flowers: Days 2 and 3!

Brittany and I at the Trevi

First "full" day

Yesterday was awesome, although I imagine everyday from now on to be so! I slept in late to get over jet lag (til noon) but then I had some fun witnessing God's providence. The AVI does apostolate (ministers to) with the study abroad students of St. Thomas University (I'm not sure which one) and at the end of the semester, the students donate their extra goods to both the Sisters and male branch. This includes mens/womens clothes, foods, toiletries, and other things such as laundry detergent. The girls in formation brought it home and immediately started sifting through it to find what may fit them or will remind them of home (i.e. peanut butter). It was especially beautiful to see them grab an item and immediately think of one of their Consorelle who they knew would love it according to their style. I suppose one learns a lot about a person when living with them in a foreign country.
After a hearty Italian lunch (pasta of course) and midday prayer, Brittany and I set off to see some of the Roman sites. First stop was the Piazza del Popolo which contained a church (Santa Maria del Popolo) that contained three ORIGINAL Coravaggio paintings. I can't express enough my excitement at seeing originals. In America, there hardly are any originals and the things we have originals of usually don't surpass 200 years old so this was a special treat! Next up were the Spanish Steps but honestly they weren't quite as impressive as I would have imagined. Just a bunch of steps with a bunch of people on them. And worst of all the beautiful church atop of them was being renovated so it was covered by scaffolding. One of my favorite stops was Bernini's Fontagna di Trevi (a.k.a. the Trevi Fountain). It was so huge! How did one guy have such vision and ability to make something like that perfectly to scale?! Also, Bernini is all over Rome. I don't know how he had enough time to make all of these beautiful sculptures and architectural structures. As I told Brittany, I wish I could just have 2 minutes alone with the fountain. It was so crowded it was ridiculous but yet it was still beyond anything I can describe. Pictures can't do it justice. I wish I could show you how it looked from my eyes. Brittany and I talked about how before the technology we have today, people went out and experienced things. They didn't stay home and watch a tv or computer screen but took walks and had real conversations without a digital mediator. And those that traveled had sketches made or did them themselves which better capture what they saw and how they felt when they saw it. The pictures I took/will take on my iPhone, as good as they may turn out, can't do that. They can't convey the awe I felt at these buildings still standing after centuries or even millenniums. They can't express my excitement at actually seeing the original works of famous artists. They say a picture's worth a thousand words but no amount of words is enough. It is quite a conundrum but I'll do my best to help y'all understand my experiences.
After seeing the Trevi Fountain with Brittany, I was handed off to Tatum with whom I saw the Pantheon, and three other beautiful churches. The Pantheon, which was originally a Roman pagan temple was converted to a Christian Church around the time that Christianity was legalized in Rome. The structure is out of this world. The dome constructed at its top is said to be un-constructible even with today's technology. Also, the first Italian King, Vittorio Emmanuelle, and the painter Raphael are buried in the Pantheon. Next we visited the Church that houses St. Catherine of Siena's body. Ironically enough, her head is in Siena. The story goes that upon her death in Rome, Rome wanted to keep her body so someone from Siena stole her head and transported it in a bag of roses. This is why she is sometimes depicted with roses. The body in this church was not displayed but her head actually can be viewed in Siena. Another church we went to was that of St. Agnes and in the a back room in the corner of the church there was reliquary that held the skull of St. Agnes. She must have been very young at her death however because the skull was tiny. Finally we finished our tour at the "Gesu'" which means Jesus. This church housed altars to many Jesuits, understandably so. St. Ignatius had a side altar with a moving painting that reveal a large statue of him in glory adorned with jewels and gold finishes. We walked in just in time to see its unveiling. Otherwise we would not have even known there was a painting. At the opposite side of the church was the right hand of St. Francis for it is said that with this hand he baptized so many people.
There was so much in each church with side altars and chapels that I felt like I saw many places by entering through one pair of doors. Churches literally are in every corner of Rome. There were two that were just across the narrow road from each other. It's beautiful! I've never walked so much and been around so many relics and it was only one afternoon! We got back just in time for mass. Thank you metro. Apparently there was no public transportation strike today.
My favorite part about the whole day was just being in Italy. It seriously is, in a way, just like the States. People living their every day lives but just doing so in Italian with slightly different customs. Hearing little kids talk is my favorite I must admit. That's something I never heard in the classroom and surely not from the few Italians that live in College Station. I have to constantly remind myself while here that I am in Rome. Sono qui. Sono a Roma.

First actual full day

I call this my first actual full day because I was awake for all of it.
I got up at 7:15 and had breakfast in time to observe the fast for 8:30 am mass. After mass I prayed a little more and set off to do some more sight seeing with Sr. Janel. Because of my great devotion to her, I asked to go see the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. In order to get there we took the tram and the metro so I had my first subway experience! It wasn't glamorous by any means but it gave me a chance to get a feel for some city people's day-to-day and I love that kind of immersion.
The church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was very beautiful. Much more humble than that of the others I had seen although not humble at all compared to many in the U.S. It had a richer color palette with deeper hues of blues, reds, and greens rather than mostly gold and white. We stopped and prayed for a bit in the back of the church. What looked like a pilgrimage was having mass (in English) so we couldn't get to close to the icon but I saw it and she was beautiful. I can't wait to go back and spend some longer time in prayer another day. Next Sr. Janel needed to clarify something with her phone company Vodafone so we crossed the street and took care of that. I didn't understand too much but again it was a chance to experience the day-to-day in Italian.
After this we walked just down the block to St. Mary Major which is one of the major basilicas in Rome and a favorite of Papa Francesco's. It was massive! The side chapels were literally more adorned and extravagant than all the main churches I've seen in the States and even some of those I've seen during these days in Rome. The ceiling was covered in gold taken from the Americas at the request of Isabel and Ferdinand of Spain during their rule as a gift to adorn the basilica which had been there long before their birth. And coolest of all, directly under the main altar was a relic of the manger of Christ. Now, the history of this relic is, of course, contested BUT this is still considered a sacramental and has been venerated by the Church for a long time. It is undeniable that its presence reminds one very sharply of the true humanity and humility of Christ in that He would take on human flesh and come to this earth as a baby truly vulnerable and completely dependent on His parents. Then, it was almost lunch and Sr. Janel needed to meet with some of the girls for a lunch outing so she gave me some direction and I confidently strolled down the street alone. We were at the bus station and I had the option of taking two buses to get me to the house. When I first came to Rome I took one bus which made its last stop near the house so it was impossible to miss it. This time I accepted the challenge and took the bus that required me to request the stop. I simply kept an eye out for the Auditorium that is directly across from the old Olympic village and pressed it when it came into view. Not too bad for a newbie eh?
Returning here I made it just in time for a great lunch. One of the vowed Sisters (who all returned last night), Simona, engaged me in conversation and I was forced to whip out my 4 semesters of Italian. It didn't go so bad. After a little while I got more into it and felt a bit more comfortable. I shared the story of the Aggie Wildcat (of all things) and I explained my major and such. This was quite enjoyable but painful all the same because I realized that I cannot express myself in the same way that I can with my native tongue. I also noticed that I am extremely hard on myself grammar wise because after 4 semesters I know basically all of the grammar but I haven't had enough experience using the grammar in spontaneous conversational Italian. Thus, I don't use it correctly or take too long to do so. Anyways, as they keep telling me, it'll come. I must grow in patience and humility which I am starting to think is going to be less of a choice and merely a result of this summer. For me this was followed by a holy hour and then, being Saturday (a.k.a. market day) I got to partake in the vegetable cleaning a preserving process. Whichever girls are on market duty this week go to the market after lunch and are given leftover vegetables that wouldn't make it very far next week. These, plus those brought later in the day by the male branch, are cleaned and put away for the meals the following week. Most of my time was spent going through the greens and throwing out what was bad while others cleaned and cooked them to be frozen for later use. This I did with Nancy who doesn't speak any English. Thankfully this didn't result in just a quiet working station but rather, with great patience, she and I talked with each other asking about our families and schooling. It was a rather nice conversation and I felt very comfortable with it. I actually quiet enjoyed the fact that I could not just easily clarify what I meant by saying it in English and that if I couldn't finish a sentence for lack of vocabulary I had to do make-shift sign language or start a new sentence in a different way. It is what I anticipate to be doing more of during my month of study in Camerino. This being said, the Lord answered my prayers by helping to boost my confidence.
When that was finished, I came here to my room to write out this blog. Vespers and meditation is at 6:45 followed by "cena" (supper) and an outing with some of the girls. We are going to the Roman Seminary to watch an Italian play put on by the Seminarians. Ruth and I are going early because the group is too large to fit in the car. We are taking the metro. I volunteered since I've only been on the metro once but in a car thousands of times. I am quite excited for this evening. I don't anticipate to understand much of what is said but I think it will be fun just to go out and see some more stuff as well as a bit of the night life of Roma.
That's all I have for you now though I am afraid. But be assured that the Lord is taking great care of me. I am enjoying my time immensely and look forward to the more experiences to come.