Better Late than Never!

So yes, only one week after I've already been home in the States I decide to finish my blog. For my own sake (and maybe some of yours) I couldn't leave it hanging. As Paul Harvey would say, "And now...the rest of the story."
The day after my last post (Ostia Antica and the beach), Jenn and I went to the Colosseum. That was Saturday, April 9th. Let it not go unsaid that we got in FOR FREE! It happened to be the beginning of Culture Week in Italy, meaning that all sites were free throughout the country. After the Colosseum, we went to the Roman Forum and milled around a bit. It was just too hot, though, and we had homework to do. Here are some pictures:

Tuesday, April 12th, we went to the Opera. Sounds pretty exciting...a real opera IN ITALY, but we honestly had no idea what was going on. We had forgotten to look up the synopsis beforehand. It was by Mozart, so it was performed in German. Of course the subtitles were in Italian. We tried our best.

Next up was the art show at school. I don't have any pictures of me WITH my piece, but here it is. There is a statue of Peter in St. Peter's Basilica with a worn down foot from years of everyone touching it for luck or a blessing. This is the lower half of the statue, done in pencil.

That Saturday the 16th we went to a soccer game, Roma v. Palermo. The energy there was incredible and we had an absolute blast! In fact, my roommates and I were so into the game that Italians were looking at us like we were crazy! Unfortunately Roma lost to Palermo, 2-3, but we definitely enjoyed ourselves.

Then came finals week. It was pretty awful, that's all I have to say. Both to celebrate the end of the week and to begin our sad goodbye to our beloved city, a group of us did an evening walk from Piazza Navona, to the Pantheon, stopped for some gelato, continued to the Trevi Fountain, tossed in a coin, and finished at the Spanish Steps.

Gianni, our wonderful Programs Director

Sara, Sarah, Jenn, Rhiannon, Brianne, and me

Friday night we went to the Colosseum for the Via Crucis, or Stations of the Cross. It was all in Italian, but we enjoyed trying to understand the Bible passages read and what was happening. And of course seeing Pope Benedict XVI was pretty exciting as well! He's a tiny speck in this picture:

Saturday was spent packing and saying goodbye to Rome and new friends. It was definitely a difficult day. Sunday most everyone left, so I got up early to bid Jenn and Sara farewell and a safe flight home before heading over to St. Peter's Square for Easter Mass. It was a long service standing (I didn't have a ticket, so I couldn't sit) and I understood little, but just like Good Friday it was fun to try to pick out phrases. And I saw the Pope again. ;) That evening I stayed in a hotel and was picked up at 10am the next morning for the airport. All of my flights home went well and here I am in Lancaster County, back from my Old World Adventure. It was the semester of a lifetime and I will miss Rome greatly!

My attempt at taking a picture of the Pope on the screen -doesn't work so well