Arrivederci Roma

Brace yourselves, this could get sappy, corny and emotional.

Today is my last full day in Rome. 88 days have come and gone, and I cannot believe that the program is over.

First I want to thank you all for taking this journey with me. It has been an incredible experience to have an audience, and I’m really glad you kept reading as I kept writing. 72 Blog posts in 88 days, and you keep coming back for more.

That said, I’m not done writing yet! I’ll continue to blog until my feet hit the ground in Newark Airport. My posts may not be daily because of lack of internet, but I promise I’ll do my best to keep on top of it.

So lets start with yesterday. Yesterday I did a bunch of running around to get ready to travel. I stopped off at St. Paul’s Outside The Walls for the last time, and had one last walk around the church I’ve been in for the past 2 months or so.

While doing laundry I brought my guitar and sat in Campo Di Fiori while it was in the machine. I have always wanted to sit on the street and perform, and see how much I could make if I just threw a hat out there with a couple coins in it. So I started playing, and a group of American high school students were standing behind me. I heard one say that I was playing for money, and I turned and told him I was just playing for fun, but that I wanted to play a song for all of them. Thinking quick, I played the “Rap medley” that my bandmate and good friend Kevin Tymon wrote, and I had the kids laughing and dancing. Then they started putting money in the hat. I played for about 5 minutes, going through all of the crazy songs that Kevin sings and adding a few of my own, all the while the kids were taking video of me on their cameras (I hope to come across myself on youtube someday). When I finished, they all clapped and then were on their way for more touring. Nate and I sized up my hat, and found that I had made over 10 Euro (and a coca cola), with just one song. Why haven’t I been doing that all semester???

Later that night one of the girls showed a slideshow of pictures from the past year in Rome, which was nice to see from start to finish where we had been.

We then all left together and went down to a restaurant called Mickey’s (short for Miscellanea). We are all big fans of the food there, and since we’re pretty loyal customers, with some girls going there every Sunday night, Mickey decided to throw an end of semester party for us. Free pasta, wine and dessert for all of us, which I believe totaled 40 people or so. It is incredible to think that 86 nights ago a large group of us were sitting at the same table, having one of our first dinners in Rome.

From there we went to Abbey Theater, where I performed again. We got a room to ourselves in the back and I played a few songs, including one Backstreet Boys song with a SMC girl Angela singing with me. We had a lot of fun, and so many people came I was asked by the people at Abbey to walk out to the bar and play an encore out there for all the people who couldn’t get in the back room. Way to inflate my ego St. Mary’s girls, and thank you so much for coming.

Today we had our banquet, a final wrap up lunch for the semester. The banquet was held at the hotel in the dining room we always eat at. Everyone got dressed up and we went down to a candle-lit 4 course meal. The food was incredible, some of the best I’ve had while being in Rome. The Staff did an excellent job with everything, and it was nice to have this sort of banquet.

Now I’m going to reflect on what Dr. Prebys, the head of the program, said when making her final speech. She asked us to sit and think, “What does Rome mean to you”. So here is my answer to that question:

Rome to me is where I’ve spent the past 3 months of my life, but a place that will be in my thoughts and heart forever. The people I’ve met, the friendships formed, the experiences throughout Rome on a daily basis, just being able to walk around the town and down to the Vatican on a daily basis, that to me is a lifelong memory, one that I will tell friends and family about for the rest of my life.

I wanted to reflect on the entire 3 months, so I’ve come up with a couple of lists. The first will be posted today, which I am going to miss about Rome. Later this week I’ll post my second one, which is everything that I’ve experienced, and my third will be a list of what I’m looking forward to when I get back to the States.

Okay, What I Will Miss about Rome:

The food…of course. The pasta, pizza, gelato, and everything in between, it has been some incredible food in Rome, and I would never get sick of this great Italian food.

The Coffee – I didn’t drink much coffee before I came to Rome. Now I drink at least 2 a day. It is going to be a hard transition back to the states, where I’ll have to find the equivalent of Italian coffee.

The Vatican- I will miss going to the Vatican on a daily basis, and even more so the ability to walk into such a spectacular church such as St. Peter’s and explore every inch of its enormity.

Speaking Italian- Yes I will miss speaking Italian. At times it is very stressful and inconvenient, and can become tiring, but when you succeed in speaking the language to get through an entire meal, or give directions even, it is the most satisfying feeling ever. Being able to blend in and be a true part of the Roman society is something I was set on doing when I came over here. I didn’t want to be looked at as a tourist for 3 months. Yes, there were times when I was a tourist, but on a daily basis I tried my best to blend in.

The Hotel Tiziano- Staying in a four star hotel in Rome is special. Living in a four star hotel in Rome is unheard of. The staff of the hotel are the best. They’re always eager to help us or just to say Ciao when we walk in and out past the desk. They cleaned our rooms and made us food, which made it feel like one big happy family.

The Girls of SMC – For a group of 65 girls from the same college to take in 4 strangers from Villanova and make us feel at home from day one, especially being one of 2 guys in the entire program, that was something I didn’t ever imagine. Since the first few minutes in the airport when we got here until the banquet tonight, they have always been friendly, helpful, and all around great people to be with for 3 months in a foreign country. I’ve made some really good friends here, and I am so happy for that.

Rome- I am going to miss Rome, in its entirety. The city has proven to be an incredible home for 3 months. After all of my traveling and experiences, I cannot see myself studying abroad anywhere else other than this city.

So thank you St. Mary’s for giving me this opportunity to be part of your program, and thank you Rome for being so open to my exploration and discovery of a great city.

I will surely be back again, hopefully sooner than later.

Summer Vacation

At 10:37am today (4:37am East Coast time), after studying for a long time, and losing an hour due to daylight savings, I finished my last exam in Rome, thus beginning, believe it or not, my summer vacation.

Yesterday when I updated, I said that there were too many days left. What I meant to say was that there are too few days left (I've fixed it in the post from yesterday, I don't like leaving tracks of my mistakes, like when I use their instead of they're, which seems to really bother some people who read the blog everyday...you know who you are).

So I have a few free days now to take in Rome as much as possible. I met up with my visitors, Jen and Alan, and we got some pizza for lunch and walked around some of the Piazzas. We then made our way back to St. Peter's Basilica. I've been in St. Peter's a lot of times these past few months, but each time I find or notice someting new and different about it. Today we had the opportunity to climb the Cupola. About halfway up you are inside the Basilica and can walk around the circumference of the dome, looking down at all of the people in the church. As we were doing this, a group of priests were processing in for mass in the main Apse. I stood for as long as I could, head against the metal caging that keeps you from falling from the balcony, and watched the procession. To be able to walk down the street any day of the week and go into St. Peters, that is something special. Out of all of the churches and monuments, museums and buildings I've seen, St. Peters is undoubtedly my favorite that I have experienced.

One of the reasons I like going into it with all of my past visitors is that I get to share my (somewhat limited) knowledge of the Basilica, and I want to share with them the same overwhelming experience I feel every time I walk through those doors. To quote Taylor Carson, a great musician I've had the pleasure of sharing a stage with, "I'm so lucky to be alive". Yes I know, I'm sure many people could be quoted as saying that, but I've been listening to his music a lot over the past three months as I travel and when I'm just walking around Rome, and find myself singing his songs out loud when the sun is shining and I take a second to stop and realize where I am and what an exciting experience this has been. (Even listening right now as I write this post)

The view from the top of the cupola was equally impressive, one of the best views of Rome I've seen. The view of St. Peter's square is incredible from up there as well.

Down the stairs (320 to the elevator) and out to Piazza del Popollo and then up to Villa Borghese, to the spanish steps and back down to my hotel. I think it was a good workout for all of us.

For dinner, It's hard to imagine I still hadn't tried Bafetto yet, so we decided to go there to try it out. Food was really good, but I've come to expect that in Rome at this point. We did a mini gelato crawl afterward, Giolitti and San Crispino. I'm not sure which Jen and Alan liked best, but I still think I'm a Giolitti fan, even after the side-by-side comparison.

Another stop at the Trevi for Jen and Alan to throw coins in, which seems to have worked the first time they both came to Rome a few years ago.

Tomorrow involves tying up a lot of loose ends, and even, dare I say it, a bit of packing to do, with Wednesday quickly approaching.

And if you're looking for some great music, please do take a look at Taylor Carson's webpage: www.taylorcarson.com

I promise, you'll like what you hear.

A quick update before studying

One exam down, one to go. At 11am tomorrow I will be a free man, in the sense that I'll be free from studying and taking tests, free to roam Rome for the last few days I have here (far too few as far as I'm concerned)

I did want to give a little update though to all of you to let you know that my final guests of the semester have arrived safely in Rome, and had a fun first day. They were able to get out and see a lot of stuff while I was studying and taking my exam this afternoon, and I met up with them afterward to walk around a bit, and then go to dinner. I took to them to, of course, my favorite restaurant, which all of my guests have been taken to ( I think I've been there maybe 4 or 5 times now?) and I think they really enjoyed the food. By the end of dinner I could tell they were getting very tired from traveling and being up for such a long time, plus all of the walking I made them do today (I forget sometimes that people aren't used to walking for miles the second they get off a plane) so we made it an early night so I can get some studying in as well.

Daylights savings tonight in Rome, so I lose an hour of sleep (or studying, not sure which I'll apply it to yet). 11am tomorrow,(5am East Coast Time), 12 hours from now, I will be done.

I also just realized that tonight was probably the last time I will go to Fraschetta, my favorite restaurant here in Rome. That thought just hit home pretty hard, more-so than knowing I leave in a few days. I am excited to travel, and yes even to come back to the States and see everyone and everything I've been away from, but it is small things like that, a favorite restaurant, that I are the hardest to leave.

Being a good student

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, I have finals for my two classes through St. Mary's. So instead of writing a blog for tonight, and maybe tomorrow night, in order to study (cram) for my exams.

Saturday I have my Religion exam, and Sunday is my Mythology exam. I also have some visitors, the last ones I'll have, coming tomorrow morning, so I'm going to be incredibly busy. Come Sunday at 11am, I am done, and though I'm not ready to be done with Rome, I'm ready to be done with studying.

We've had some of the most beautiful weather in Rome, and I've had to enjoy it inside a library and my room, so I'm ready to have a few free days to enjoy the weather and take in as much of the city as I can before I leave it again.

Okay, I'm procrastinating, back to the books...

Internet office goodbye

This week has been full of "Lasts" for me, so why kill the streak and talk about something different?

Today was our last day of work, in the Internet office of the Holy See. Nate and I went in at 10 for work(since we didn't have Italian we got to sleep a bit!) and worked on finishing up at our computers. We mostly were backing up files, and prepping the computers for the next set of interns. It's hard to believe my work is done at the office, even though I still have some work with my St. Paul's video to finish up Stateside. Writing a note to the new interns to take our place brought back a lot of good memories from when we walked into the office the first time, and how it took us a half hour to figure out all the different passwords for the computers. They were all different, and had wacky hints from past interns to try and tell us what they were.

I took a minute to contemplate the change over the past six months or so from: "I am going to intern at the Vatican" to "I am interning at the Vatican" and now finally: "I interned at the Vatican". With each of those three statements comes to mind very distinct memories and thoughts. The first, telling everyone about my internship to come, and the mystery of it all, which at times made me nervous. Then came the present, where I was involved in the office and my project at St. Paul's, and now finally, I will talk about it in the past, as I share my experiences and stories with family and friends, and most likely some potential employers (who hopefully turn into simply "employers"). I know I will remember my experiences forever, but I'm also glad I took the chance to document them with you all on the blog.

We said our final goodbyes to everyone in the office as well. The people we work with have been great. They were always willing to try and involve us in conversation, even though we sometimes couldn't understand them, or them us. We used our Italian as best we could, and they tried out english just for us. I want to thank them for allowing us to join their office life for the past 3 months.

We stayed a little late today in the office. We got caught up writing our notes to the new interns. Or maybe it was just something in our subconscious, telling us to stay as long as we could, just a little while longer, to prolong having to walk out of our office, down down the stairs, and out the giant Green doors, looking left and seeing St. Peter's just at the end of the street, before turning right and heading across the bridge, back to our hotel.