Europe Day 22: Good Friday

There was no class today.  I had no reason to wake up, nothing on my schedule, and no place I particularly wanted to go.  In honor of that event, I decided to turn off the alarm and sleep as much as I could. 

I went to bed at one in the morning.

I woke up at 8:30.

Mission: failed.

See, Kayla and I just so happened to be on the season finale of Lost last night, and apparently it is an especially long episode. And this morning, I could tell my roommates were trying very hard to be especially quiet, but the noisy ol' Roma was not nearly so considerate.  I pretended to be a sleep for an hour or so after I woke up, then Kayla caught me with my eyes open, so I felt obligated to get up. 

I didn't make it very far-Kayla was watching Iron Man on her computer.  Despite my best efforts to get in the shower, I watched the movie and ate breakfast instead.  There is nothing quite like Iron Man, cashews, ritz crackers and mixed berry jelly first thing in the morning! I promise-I generally eat a better breakfast than that.  I just need to go to the store.

Around noon, Housekeeping kindly asked us to leave so they could do our job.  Therefore, we set out in seach of the Spanish steps.  I have no idea why they are special, if Spainards built them, or what the big deal is with the fancy church on top, but I climbed them, took pictures on them, admired the view from them, and left.

A glance at the map showed we were close to the Medici's house.  I'm not entirely sure the story on the Medici Family.  I think they ran the Italiain Mafia, but that's about all I know at this point.  Whatever they did, they certainly made a lot of money because their backyard was absolutely ginormous!  People rented segways and four person bikes to putter around in and admire the landscaping.  There was also a bouncy house, restaurant, and a child's carnival ride featuring circus animals that went round in a circle.

As fun as it would have been to continue to explore, the cashews quickly burned off and my tummy demanded some food.  We went back into the city and found a McDonalds.  Yes, I felt a little guilty eating fast food in Italy, but I am certainly not the only one. There were so many people there!  Every single table was taken.  After ten minutes of searching for a place to sit, we finally stood in one place until a group finished their food, then leaped into their seats, bowling over anyone in our way. Okay, so there was no bowling over, but had some one come between us and that table, something violent may have happened.

Oh, and that was probably the best McChicken sandwhich I have ever eaten in my life! Then again, I cannot remember the last time I ate at a McDonalds in America. I rather like McDonalds, it's just not convenient for me most of the time.

When we had finished eating and given up our seats, we struck out towards a few things our tourist map considered significant.  A fountain, a building, and a very old market.  Again, I have no idea why they are siginificant, but they were on the map so we went to see them.  I know I was just saying that I never expected to grow tired of stumbling upon cool, old buildings, but when there is no context or explination for any of them, they sort of start to look the same after a while.  It makes me miss our guided tours that we were getting.

Finally, Kayla and I decided we should not continue to look at old things-despite feeling obligated to.  It's tough; I mean, how many times will I get to wander around Rome?  Shouldn't I take full advantage of it?  But, we have walked around so much! I have completely explored the entire interior of the city more than once; this lack of direction is starting to get to me.  In addition, the frequent crowds are wearing on me.  My Professor said that we would need the peace of little, beachside Sorrento after crowded and bustling Rome, but I did not quite understand what she meant until now.

Upon returning to the hotel, a little group of us went to get kebabs for dinner.  Lucy, a member of my class, had been eating them every night in the internet room, and I all but drooled on my computer everytime I saw them.  Therefore, I decided it was time to get one for myself.  Fortunately, Kayla, Casey, Melissa and Josh all agreed.  We found the place without a problem, and greatly enjoyed our meal.  This is not a kebab like you would think of a kebab.  This was beef, lettuce, tomatoes, hummus, and sour cream put inside pita bread and wrapped in foil.  The pita was coated in a little too much flour, and it could have used a little more sauce, but that meat was so delicious!  It was something unlike what I have been recently eating, and the change was very welcome.

As we ate our kebabs we walked to a gelato place.  This gelato was so incredibly good!  I had vanilla with chocolate flakes, and some other, random flavor I picked with a little eeny-meeny-miney-mo.  After she scooped them up into a bowl, she dipped it in chocolate sauce that quickly created a shell on top of my gelato.  That added a particularly special touch-even if it meant my gelato melted that much quicker.

A short while later, Kayla, Josh, Casey and I left for the coliseum.  Here, the Pope was hosting a Good Friday service featuring the venerations of the cross.  The entire thing was done in Italian.  I am not sure why that surpised me, considering that we are in Italy, but it was not nearly as moving as the previous services I had been to that were in English.  Fortunately, they passed out candles, so I discreetly played with the wax the whole time.  It was outside and the wind was blowing, so I had a lot of melted wax to work with. 

The best part about the service was waiting in line to get through security.  It was so crowded!  Everyone was pushing to try and get through the open place in the gate.  Our little group struggled to stay together. We chatted a bit with the British family next to us. The Mom told me to hang onto Josh so I didn't get lost in the crowd.  Then she apologized and said she was "just a nervous Mother and didn't want me to get seperated from my group."  I told her it was okay, that my Mother would appreciate it.  She then said that if I did loose my people, I could stick with her and she would take care of me.  I told her thank you, and we laughed a little bit.  Being so far away from home, surrounded mostly by people who do not know me, will never see me again, and probably wouldn't be concerned if I died, it was comforting to have one person be so obviously concerned for my wellfare, despite having no connection or responsibility to me. I can only hope there are more people in the world like her, and that I am not nearly so close to being as uncared for as I think.

That is not to say  my classmates do not care.  It's just that most Italian people seem so aggressive and only want you to buy their things.  Coming across a sweet, caring person who spoke English was really nice.

Oh Italy; I seem to have such mixed feelings about you!