Subiaco & Assisi

Wow! I have so much to catch you up on! Let's start with Thursday. Thursday evening I had dinner at my professors' apartment. A group of 6 of us went for good food and conversation. I am getting to know my professors/advisors and they are one of the cutest couples ever! They are Americans that met in Italy and I love hearing them tell the story of how they met!

Friday began with an early morning bus ride to Subiaco. The drive there was amazing! I can't believe how well our driver navigated through such curvy, narrow passageways. And the view....SPECTACULAR!! Oh and the fact that we were on a coach bus made me even happier! I didn't have to hold on to my purse for dear life, comfy seats, and it reminded me of the days of marching band!

We got there and soon found our selves in the presence of two Johnnie grads! I had class with one of them last semester and had to do a double take look because I had no idea he was living in Italy now. The guys are volunteers for Subiaco and gave us a very in depth tour of the cave and monastery. Side note: (Subiaco is the birthplace of the Benedictine tradition). I go to a Benedictine school, you connect the dots. The landscape at Subiaco was amazing too, especially because the monastery is built into the side of a mountain. After that we headed to St. Scholastica's first monastery for a very brief tour.

Saturday was fantastic as well! I took the lead on planning this trip, because it was an easy one to plan. I figured out the train schedule, the finances, and the activities for the day. Too bad I am directionally challenged. Don't let me ever convince you that I know where I am going, I don't. There were 13 of us on this trip, including my professors, so it was a pretty decent sized crowd. We got off the train and went to tour of the Basillica of St. Mary of the Angels. It was pretty, but seriously I don't know how many more church tours I can do. Ahh time to visit more museums!! After that we split apart from our professors and had to find our own way around with a map that was not helpful at all. I led the group up a hill and around a few corners before we figured out where we were going.

We actually didn't figure it out by ourselves, I saw a couple with the same guide book as us so I knew that they must know English. Turns out they were from Seattle and were looking for the same landmark that we were. We got to the landmark and I was underimpressed. Oh well, you can't win them all. The couple was really fun to talk to though. I think that our excitement about our experiences sometimes overshadows that of the people that we meet so we don't get to hear much of their story. They were super nice and did give us a few helpful hints!

A few more wrong turns and we made it to what turned out to be one of the coolest things of the whole trip so far, Roccamaggiore. Roccamaggiore is a castle museum, for the most part minus the museum. There was hardly anything to look at inside besides blank walls. No information, no tour guides, but they did have a flat screen tv. Random. The best part was climbing up to the top of one of the towers and looking over the whole area. Roccamaggiore is on a "mountain" and we were on the highest point, which meant an amazing view. I seriously have never been so taken back by a view before. It was super windy up there (which felt great) and just an overall wonderful experience.

After that we went to the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. We saw St. Francis' tomb, which was really interesting. The church was cool, but again I am sick of visiting churches, and I was still not over the view I had seen moments before. We all made it back safely, so I consider it a successful trip. Someone else can plan the next one!

For the record, today is Bennie day, and yes it can be celebrated in a foreign country. A few of my roommates and I wore our Bennie gear and went to get gelato to celebrate. Lisa Teresa and I also cooked a pretty impressive meal tonight. I made rice with sauteed zucchini and eggplant on top with parmesan cheese. Lisa made crunchy coated chicken. Yum. I am just impressed that I am functioning without an oven, microwave, dryer, and laundry machine (for the mostpart). It's fun to experience a different lifestyle!

Not much else is new here! I am making some good friends and enjoying visiting amazing places! I just have a few thoughts about the culture here. One is that the professors teach differently than back in the states. I am used to professors wanting discussion and asking for your interpretation of a certain reading. Professors here tell you how it is and do not leave room for discussion. A couple of my friends interpreted a passage differently than my professor the other day and she went off for 10 minutes on how she has studied it so much that she is right.

Today I learned more about Italian culture from a former Johnnie that came to speak to our class. He has been here for over 20 years and has been working as a journalist for the Vatican. He was telling us about how ethics are different in the U.S. For instance in the U.S. it is looked down upon to ask favors of others and do business under the table. He said that with reporting about the Vatican he has to have his insider people to give him the scoop. He cannot directly quote them, because the whole situation is so secretive. He talked about how he will give information to another person in hopes that they will return the favor. It's so different than at home. I'm not saying that either country does it correctly, we just do it differently.