Happy Birthday to Me...

Yesterday I took the day off from blogging to act as a tour guide for Becky and her friends…oh, and I also took the time off to celebrate my birthday.

The big TwoOne
So what’s it like to be 21? The same as being 20 and 364 days old I suppose. I woke up and felt the same as I have every other day I’ve been in Rome. And that’s my point exactly, that it may not have felt different for me to wake up and be 21, but the fact of the matter is that I celebrated my 21st birthday in Rome.

Not many people can say that. Well okay, tons of people can say that, I forget there are thousands of 21 year old Romans, so, not many Americans can say they have. Okay so again, yes this is probably not extremely rare with thousands of American students studying abroad in Rome every year I suppose. But how many can say that they turned 21 while studying abroad in Rome and Interning at the Vatican?

What? That’s cheating because nobody else really has the chance to say that due to my special and unique situation through Villanova’s special Internship program at the Vatican? My point exactly.

Yesterday I showed becky and her friends around the Vatican. We went to the Vatican museum and I saw the Sistine Chapel for the first time since I’ve been here. I stood in the center of the chapel, taking it all in, and realized how lucky I was. I had a connection with the chapel, because sometime in the near future a virtual tour of it will be going up, which was produced by Villanova Students and Faculty the semesters before me.

We then went to St. Peter’s Basilica. I stood there, for probably the 6th or 7th time, and still was able to find new things to look at. I have an even stronger connection with this, because when that virtual tour goes up, I will be able to look at it and know exactly where I was standing the second every one of those pictures was taken.

And that to me is the best birthday gift of all. This experience is a gift. So I want to take a second to thank everyone who has made this possible, for me to be in Rome on my birthday, standing in St. Peter’s Basilica.

(Here's my academy award-esque blog post of thank you's on my birthday)

Thanks to my parents, who have raised me these past 21 years. For always supporting me, especially in my endeavors in College and in all of the other crazy dreams I chase.

Thanks to Villanova, The Communication Department, and Mr. Waterhouse who have setup and funded such an amazing program. For them to realize the potential this could have to change a student’s life, I thank them for going through everything to keep this program going strong.

Thanks to my friends and family who have come to visit me here, and for letting me share my experiences with them. And for those new friends I’ve made along the way, the St. Mary’s students who have been so open to including us Villanova guys into their experiences.

And of course, thanks to all you readers. I’m normally not one for journaling or writing in general. My hand writing is horrendous (A 1st graders penmanship is better), so for me to have this blog is a new thing for me. It’s actually the only way I can see myself having ever written about this trip, but since the first blog post I’ve been hooked to write as much as I can, and to share my pictures with you all. I know I’ve thanked you before, but I can’t thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to really open up my mind and explore my experiences deeper in order to share them with you. I’ve learned a lot from just the writing and reflection.
And thank you for all of the birthday wishes. The cards, emails, phone calls, and of course comments on the blog. Yesterday brought the most traffic to the blog to date, I’m sorry to have not posted anything. Thanks for checking though, I hope you keep coming back for more.