the past few weeks have flown and i've done so much! the streets of rome have been packed as the christmas shopping season officially began here december 8 (funny, i thought it began september 23). i finally was able to do the scavi tour which was probably one of my favorite things i have done so far. it took us through the excavations of the necropolis that once was below saint peter's, and at the end we were shown the very bones of saint peter himself. i have to say, i like saint peter - he's a pretty cool dude. our campus ministers had mass for the saint mary's girls in saint peter's last week as well, and that was awesome as well.
last weekend, a few friends and i went for dinner in front of the pantheon at a ristorante completely decked out for christmas. we had been pestered by the filipino host, dingoy, to dine there for some time now, so we finally caved. it was definitely worth it, because the owner was so impressed with us that he served us complimentary vino. we were serenaded by the roman opera singer, antonio over dinner. it was just a great, classic roman evening. i met a really nice guy (and nice looking, for sure) by the name of mario who offered to take me on his vespa through rome. he was from catania, sicily, which is where my italian background is rooted. but, i can only juggle so many ragazzi, so i had to pass.
also last week i went to lunch with inge, who has led all of our tours and excursions while in italy. she's originally from denmark, attended university in scotland, and has lived in italy for 10 years. her accent is very unique, and she is just so delightful.
this week we finished up classes - finally - and now i'm rotting in the library studying for these fabulous final exams. in art history, the most ridiculous class i have ever taken, our professor, harula is a crazy woman. she's absolutely stunning and really reminds me of senora santiago, but there are no words for this lady. our midterm consisted of identifying 5 pieces of artwork, yet she insisted we memorize all 128. for the final, we have to memorize just as many, and also, as she suggests: "if i were you, i'd memorize the whole glossary." sure, harula, sure. and then, as she reviewed, she responded to the class's lack of knowledge of a sculpture by saying, "this is hadrian, from the 2nd century. if you don't know this already, there's the window!"
rome is not always so accepting of public forms of exercise, and it's difficult to find a place where it's not so crowded. since the beginning, i've enjoyed running along the tiber river. but my new favorite place to walk/run to is the gianicolo hill. rome is built upon 7 hills, and this one has the supposed best view of rome. as i went up there, i passed the north american college where a few of my favorite priests entered the seminary. it definitely does have an incredible view! and on the way back, with the sidewalks slick from the rain and leaves, i faceplanted!
it's been rainy every day for the past 2 weeks. with the first sign of a raindrop, out come the indians peddling their umbrelle. they are pretty annoying, but i've developed friendships with them as i've learned we share very similarly ridiculous senses of humor. last weekend i even danced to their banjo playing in piazza navona - they loved it!
yesterday, there was a university student mass and audience with the pope at saint peter's. my friends wanted to get as close to the altar as possible, but i decided to do my own thing and sit near the aisle as i had anticipated papa to make his way down at some point. turns out, i was right, and during his exit he walked right up to me, looked me in the eye, smiled, and shook my hand! i was speechless and basically high on life at that point. his hands were incredibly soft, and he is such an adorable man. it was a priceless experience!
with only one week left in rome, i have a long list of things i have yet to do. aside from finals and packing, i plan to tie up the loose ends on shopping, visit my favorite monuments one last time, take one last vespa spin through rome with massimo, and just soak up my last days in rome. i can't believe how quickly these 3 months have gone - hard to believe! i am excited to get home for the holidays. if i had to go back to september to do it all over again, i wouldn't. paris, london, capri, rome, florence, saint peter's, vespas, shopping and fashion and papa and vino - it's been perfect and i wouldn't change a thing!
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