An Unforgettable Wendesday

I was really looking forward to this day because it was my first Papal audience in Saint Peter's Square. Ralph, which his Swiss Guard powers, got me about a dozen tickets for seats, which I gave to the practicum students that were out of school that day, my professors, and Jesi of course. I was able to say thank you to Ralph on my way to the audience because he was working a side entrance to Vatican City, which is the same place that we met. He looks very official in his stripes. Even though we had tickets for seats, we should have probably gotten there earlier. People supposedly start lining up for audiences before 8am. However, we did have access to get close tot eh enter which worked out perfectly because the pope drove by in his pope mobile only 20 feet away from us (I have amazing pictures!). The scriptures and the address were done in 7 different languages. Though it was a bit on the long side and also extremely hot, it was a wonderful experience.

After the audience, Jesi and I went to an area called Campo De Fiore. During weekday mornings it is a huge open air market and at night it has some of the most popular bars (for Americans). We had never been there during the day, so we decided to make an afternoon of it. Flowers, fruit, vegetables, olive oils, pastas. Everything made your eyes pop and your mouth water. After perusing and using my Italian bargaining skills, I made all of my purchases in the native language. Jesi and I walked out of Campo with 1/2 dozen eggs, pasta sauce, oranges, a head of broccoli (which I got the vendor, Marco who was very fond of me, to give to us for 1 euro instead of 4...after he bought us watermelon slices and complemented my eyes numerous times), and our own personalized trail mixes from a dried fruit and nut vendor. It was a great success.

Wednesday night we had our first "family dinner" with the entire program. It was a mexican themed night (yes, in Italy). Since the other rooms took care of the food, Jesi and I brought the beverages. We made homemade Sangria in big pots from blush wine, blood orange juice, and fresh fruit. I've got to admit, for never making it before and no recipe, we did a pretty good job. After our burritos, we had meetings with our practicum students to discuss their weekly journals and to see how they were liking Rome. To no surprise, everyone is have the time of their lives, just as I did when I was in the program two years ago (and also how I doing now).

I feel so lucky to be back in this magical city and thank God every day for this opportunity.