On Saturday even though we didn’t have class we were still up bright and early so we could have Jill show us around. She brought us back to St. Peter’s Basilica and gave us a full tour of the inside, and then took us to Castel Sant’Angelo. Both of the tours were very cool but the castle was definitely my favorite.

While in St. Peter’s Basilica we learned that there is not a single painted surface in the basilica. We also learned about Michelangelo’s Pieta. This Pieta is very special; Michelangelo took a lot of time with this sculpture so he could put as much detail into it as possible. Every curve and shape in the Pieta has a meaning behind it: Jesus body is laid out across Mary’s lap in the shape of an S. The S shape is known to evoke emotion in people and Mary is looking down but not at Jesus she is looking over his body as if she is looking down at us.

The Castel Sant’Angelo used to be the home of the Pope. It was built as a safe house so the Pope would be safe in times of emergency; there was even a “secret” passage to the Vatican City. It wasn’t very secret, it’s a giant wall the runs from the castle directly to the Vatican City. But in this castle was where Pope Clement VII escaped to safety during the sack of Rome in 1527.

The Castel Sant’Angelo was later confiscated by the Italian Government and used as the Police station. This is where Catherine Medici was held in prison for a year. After she got out she married Henry II of France. After some years she became the Head of France.

Thursday was a rough morning. After the long night before I think everyone was tired. That morning in class we had a Model UN, which was extremely fun. After class we took a bus to the Jewish ghetto. While at the Jewish ghetto we went to Museo di Roma, a museum about the history of the Jewish religion in Europe.

The Museum consisted of four rooms filled with awesome Jewish art works, cloths, scrolls, and even pieces of old synagogues, it also had 2 synagogues attached to one being what would have been a normal synagogue and the other being the largest one in all of Italy. The synagogues were absolutely incredible form the architecture to the details in the decorations, they were just absolutely beautiful. While in the synagogues we learned that while at the service the men and women would be separated the men sitting in the middle and the women to the side and second floor. They did this to stop the distraction of couples being next to each other and for other various holy reasons.

The Model UN that we constructed in class that morning was extremely insightful. I never really new how the UN even conducted business let alone how hard and difficult it is for them to make a decision and do something of use with the resolution they would have created. The amount of politics and the concern for what the resolution would effect is just surpassed anything I could have imagined. I am very glad we conducted this model UN in class, I got to learn a lot about the UN because of it.

Friday was an awesome day! Class was really fun we had free time in the middle of the day to hang out and shop around if we liked. Then we had dinner at the Vatican and had a tour of the Vatican Museum, which includes the Sistine Chapel.

While at the Vatican Museum we saw so many ancient paintings and artifacts that I can barely remember any of them, my mind was overfilled with all of the amazing things they have packed inside the museum. My favorite part, though, was for sure the Sistine Chapel.

Before we went in, our tour guide gave us a brief lesson on the paintings inside. It’s crazy to think that there were so many hidden messages, symbols, and even people in them. Michelangelo put himself in two of the paintings in the Sistine chapel, one showing him as a normal man in his 30’s and the other depicting him being an old worn out man in his 60’s by being nothing but empty skin that was being held by another man.

Our guide also told us about the cleaning of the chapel and how they had left certain spots to show how dirty it had become, so I made it my mission to find them all. I was able to count 27 of them but I couldn’t get the actual number of spots from any of the staff or tour guide. I was very drawn in to a painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of God giving life to Adam I don’t know why I was so intrigued with this one but I found myself staring at it for several minutes, just taking in all the detail.

That day in class we discussed multinational corporations. I never really thought of their influence on the culture of the country they’re in or how they can manipulate the government in some of the third world countries. I am very much more interested in finding out more about these company and how they treat their workers in third world countries that don’t have set wages or time limits and other laws that protect Americans from being abused by their companies. Multinational corporations are good for third world countries, too. They can help raise the economy and bring people out of poverty, but they can most definitely treat their workers better.

On Wednesday morning we got to attend the Pope’s bible study! It was such an honor to be in his presence. After the bible study we had a meeting at the U.S. embassy to the Holy Sea. It very insightful getting to talk to and learn what the everyday business of the embassy is. Finally to end the day we went to the Circus Maximus which is very impressive in size and it’s just so cool to think about all the races and reenactments that went on there.

Well obviously the Pope’s bible study was all about religion. The bible study started with the Pope’s entrance. On his way out of the building alone he blessed at least 20 people. The Pope the entered the Vatican square on his pope mobile which is actually a Mercedes Benz. He looped around the square with everyone that he got close to reaching out and screaming for him. The energy in the square was incredible, it was like we were at a concert. After his entrance the Pope sat in front of the St. Peter’s Basilica and gave his speech after he did there were cardinals that translated it into multiple other languages.

Again obviously the meeting at the U.S. embassy was all about international relations. We met with the economic advisor for the U.S. to Holy See embassy. She seemed to really love what she did and was very enthusiastic about everything she talked about with us. We got to ask whatever questions we had and by the end I felt like I could do her job we learned so much! One of the coolest things I think she got to do was sit in on a meeting between Pope Francis and President Obama, I was extremely jealous.

On Tuesday we explored what seemed like all of Rome. We saw the Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain, and the Pantheon they were nothing short of immaculate. We even got to watch an Italian soccer game in the Piazza del Popolo. It was quite an experience walking through the historic center of Rome.

While visiting the Pantheon we learned more about the Romans polytheistic religion. In the center of the dome of the Pantheon is an oculus that lets the light shine in on the walls of the pantheon where there would have been paintings of the gods all around the circular wall. As the day goes on the light let in by the oculus would move around the room highlighting each painting of the gods for one hour each.

Later that night we watched the Italian soccer game at Piazza del Popolo. While watching the game we could see more than just the Italians there to watch it. There was people from all over the world that may have moved in to Italy or may have just been tourist like us, but while that game was on it was like they were all from the same place. It didn’t matter if you weren’t Italian as long as you routed for them everyone was okay with you. It was a really cool experience to see everyone get together and along so well. That is a true example of peaceful international relations.

Yesterday we toured and got to climb to the top do St. Peter’s basilica. It was an amazing experience.

The inside of the church is absolutely magnificent and the view from the top of the dome is unbelievable. We got to learn all about the Catholic religion and the Pope while touring and during the mass we attended. We learned about how the Pope is elected and which signals determine if the Cardinals have come to a decision.

There was also some International Relations thrown in there when we learned that Italy has taken claim to and taken away land and buildings that were once owned by the Vatican. We also found out that the main security in the Vatican is the Swiss guards and they also wear really funny outfits.

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On Monday we went and saw the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We started the day with walking through the Roman Forum. It was really crazy to think about how old all the ruins are. The size of the building are absolutely ridiculous. The fact they could create buildings that size with no tools or equipment is mind blowing. After walking through the Roman Forum we toured the Colosseum which is immaculate. The Colosseum is huge stadium that was used as basic structure for most of stadiums in the world today.

We learned about the towers of Jupiter and Venus showing how the Romans worshiped their gods and practiced their religion. They were very religious making temples to honor every one of their gods. They would make sacrifices of goats and other foods to the gods.

At the Colosseum we learned about international relations with how the Romans would use Slaves and people captured in war as people to slaughter for entertainment. This showed how the Romans had no concern for the other societies and they would slaughter them with no concern or remorse.