Today, we didn’t have class because we were scheduled to visit the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN. We had breakfast and got on the bus to the headquarters at 9:30. The building we saw was very different from the ones we had toured in Rome previously. Firstly, it wasn’t ancient. This was probably built in the later half of the 20th Century. The rooms were all modern and many countries even got their own room to decorate. Allison, a communications person at the FAO gave a presentation on who they are and what they do. Fun fact: 2015 is the International Year of Soils, which was proposed by a number of countries before being approved. The modern side of the ancient city of Rome was pretty nice, and there was a lot of artwork that came from people all over the world. I definitely approve of the FAO and what they do after this meeting.

After the presentation, Devin took us to a couple of old churches in that part of Rome. We passed by a big wall with a door that had a peephole in it. Each of us took turns looking through the hole, and we found out it was Malta, another tiny country that lies within Italy. I’m assuming that it’s very exclusive, since there was a red carpet inside the door.

The churches we saw were incredibly old. The oldest one was from 400 AD. Not 1400. 400. Some of the churches are still active to this day. We also looked at the garden surrounding the area.

After touring these areas, we got lunch at a place called T-Bone Station I was pretty surprised to go here, because it was an American style restaurant that had no pasta or Italian foods. And I absolutely love Italian food, but I missed having a big juicy hamburger like in the United States. It was also a pleasant surprise to find out that the Italians didn’t just eat pizza and pasta. I got a baked potato with my burger and it was absolutely heavenly.

We bid our goodbyes to Devin and went back to the hotel. He had told us about another interesting church to see, so Mr. Hesting gave us an option. We could either see the church or stay at the hotel and work. I stayed at the hotel to perfect my Model UN resolution. Unfortunately, I was the only one who did so, and I deeply regret not going to visit the church. I stayed in the lobby working for about 2 or 3 hours, and when they got back, everyone except Malachi went and got dinner. Since our lunch was covered, we paid for dinner. I got an eggplant pizza and an apple cake, and it cake to about €13,50.

I couldn’t eat anymore after that, and neither could anyone else. So we just went back to the hotel and slept.

Up next, we’re touring the Jewish Ghetto and Synagogues. I’m excited to see the diversity in religion in Rome.

Until then,

Summer