Today we had an official tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. It was awesome to hear all of the intricate details to each meticulously crafted aspect of the building. One of the things that I found interesting was how even though the building was commenced under one specific Pope, there was so much in the Basilica involving others. Another thing that I really loved was seeing the statue by Michael Angelo. Despite the fact that it humbling enough to make me feel like I have not, and probably will not accomplish that much, the statue was absolutely beautiful. I hate myself for forgetting it, but Jill told us the word used for describing the statue that meant a sort of passion, but had a lot more depth than our English word. All of the negatives and positives balancing out the statue were incredible. In addition to the aspects of the sculpture itself, the story with it had so much to it as well! This Michael Angelo’s first major piece with recognition. Not only that, but it was also attacked and fortunately restored. So, not only did the art have so much to it, but what it brought with it had a lot, too. I wouldn’t feel uneasy about saying that that was my favorite piece of the trip.

After the Basilica, we went to Castel Sant’Angelo. The building was really cool and medieval looking. It was so interesting to walk around. I remember watching a video last semester about Castel Sant’Angelo involving the Medici and seeing the Pope hide, and that memory definitely made the experience more vivid of the history. It still blows my mind that I’m seeing all of this in person when I just learned about it (in a text book!!) barely months ago.

I’m still amazed by all that we were able to see. Every day on this trip I am shown more history in this city than I knew existed.

Yesterday was our last day of class! (in Italy, anyways.) Going in to these two courses, I barely had much of an understanding on either of the subjects at all. However, nearing the end of them I feel that I have learned so much about each of them. I had absolutely no idea what to expect for IR. It was a lot more political than I expected, which looking back I don’t know why I would expect anything else. I have a new perspective about how important intricate aspects are, and also how complex international relations are.

I also like the World Religions course a lot, as well. One of my favorite things about the course is how it was taught in a way that related the numerous religions back to each other, and I feel that that is so important. I would have liked to have more time for the course, but I do think that I would like to continue to learn about it on my own time.

After class and a bit of down time, we got to go shopping for a bit! Surprisingly, I was able to make myself bold enough to get some prices down! You can see the difference in the Italian culture through the markets, and the types/styles of clothing. It’s definitely more interesting than the US! Also, we were able to see international relations in the shopping. The little markets — that were probably illegal — with people from different countries in combination with the question of legal taxes on product being paid, or not paid, and such.

Finally, we got to see the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel! I still find it absolutely ridiculous that it would take 12 years to look at every single thing for just a minute. One thing that was really cool was that we were able to see more than just one religion in this museum. We could see things from Rome before Christianity, and we could see how that affected the art and their perception of themselves. This also adds to how the rise in Christianity may have changed their perception of themselves. Otherwise, the museum was overwhelming in the best way. I was able to see even more things that I had just learned about in a textbook the previous semester. It was also incredibly humbling. It brought into perspective how much these historical people accomplished. I would absolutely love to come back to this country, and if I should, I would love to visit this museum again and take out another few hours from those 12 years I’m gonna need.

Today, we did so much that I can hardly remember it.

After class, we went to a bakery for lunch, and then most of us made our way to the market to pick up various — mostly extremely unfamiliar — things. I really like just walking through the streets here. It’s easier to accept the fact that we’re actually in Italy, which is still completely weird to me. I also noticed how the personality of the people in this culture is reflected visually here. Their parking/driving is messy, assertive, a lot of everything is unorganized, and they just kind of do what they want.

We also visited a lot of sites that I’ve just recently read about this past semester. It was surreal being in the Pantheon and seeing the Trevi Fountain (no matter the construction.) I learned about these things as distant objects and now seeing them is quite unbelievable. Walking within the area was beautiful, though. The buildings are so similar all around, and I absolutely love all of the plants and flowers hanging from them everywhere.

After the tour portion of the day, we were able to go to a place to watch the Italy World Cup game. Or, watch all of the people watch the game. I thought it was so funny seeing all of the lights, staging, screens, etc., placed on and around buildings and roads that have been around so incredibly long. Although Italy did not win, we were still able to see how culturally involved the people in this country are. Whereas in America — and I don’t know that Italy is not like this — people seem to be more concerned with winning than the actual game, or particular aspects of it.

I’m still not used to the sleep schedule, but I already love this country very much!

Well, so far I don’t want to come home and that’s it.

Everything is interesting, and so different than I expected. One of the first things I noticed was the graffiti. Obviously, that’s not a good thing. But I thought it was cool considering that this is such an old, well-known, important, and historical city, but it continues to grow to be modern. Meanwhile, this city seems to remain almost directly in touch with its history by the celebrations of St. Peter and Paul’s “Heaven Birthday.”

Although extremely tired, going to St. Peter’s Basilica was still incredible. It was extremely humbling. Relating a building of that size, detail, and beauty to the reason that it was built just blows my mind. I couldn’t count the different kinds of people there, or the different languages spoken, and it made communication — probably the most important thing that we have — seem so small.