First Stop: Roma

My Italian Christmas began in Roma, the capital of Italia and home to the Vatican. And you want to what? It was warm there. How warm you ask? I wore flip-flops to dinner. That in and of itself was heaven or earth and made the entire night worth it. Two hours outside in flip-flops.

Meg and I spent most of Christmas Eve at, in, around, trying to find the Vatican, which I ended up liking more than Rome itself. The Vatican was breathtaking and everything I thought it would be and more. I never was and never will be Catholic, but the history, majesty, and importance of this holy place was astounding. St. Peter's Square was decorated for Christmas with a huge tree and a life size nativity, just waiting for Jesus to arrive. The tour of the Vatican museums was fascinating; there was so much to see! At one point I pondered as to whether or not the pope would hang a painting I made for him. I decided I probably would not make it into the gallery, but probably to his refrigerator door. Seeing "The School of Athens" was phenomenal, but the highlight by far was the Sistine Chapel. I cried. I do not really think that God is an old white guy with a long beard, but that aside to be so close as Adam is. . .wow.

Christmas Eve dinner was McDonalds. We needed some American food. BUT do not worry because we ate our McDonalds while looking at the Pantheon, so we were still enjoying Italian history and culture. We were fortunate to find an English mass to attend that evening. Again, I cried, but for several reasons. First and foremost, I missed my family, but a very close second was the mass was in my mother tongue, and I could understand and participate fully in the service! This was the third time I was fully understood a service since coming to Poland. It was probably the best Christmas present ever. I even got the customary picture by the altar for my parents, even though I later learned my brother was a slacker and didn't let Mom take his picture at home.

After mass, we wandered home, past the Colosseum and then headed back out with most of our hostel-mates to go watch Midnight Mass at the Vatican. Since we were out and about all day, we didn't hear that the Midnight Mass had been moved to 10pm, so we only caught the last little bit. It was still amazing to watch the pope to his thing and to watch such an important service. NOTE: I did not witness the tackling of the pope. There was a massive downpour and I had run for cover. However, he was doing fine the next day, so I think he recovered just fine.

Less than 9 hours after we left the Vatican, we were back again, camped out ready to watch the pope give his Christmas address. We arrived so early that we got seats in the seventh row from the front!!! Soon thousands of our closest friends joined us in St. Peter's Square to wait for Benedict XVI. Being in such a large group was overwhelming, and I am very thankful that we had chairs. It was like being in a movie. Though I was not able to understand most of the pope's address because it was in Italian, he did add greetings in about 16 different languages at the end of it, and thankfully English was one of them. The rest of the day was spent wandering Roma on foot and eating amazing food. Almost everything was closed, but we still saw a lot and enjoyed being in a new place. I was also able to briefly talk to my family and boyfriend, so that was also a wonderful part of the day. Surprisingly, their presents made it to America on Christmas Eve!

Needless to say this Christmas was unlike an holiday I have ever had before, but I am grateful for the experience. Being apart from my family was very difficult, but it was worth it in the end. But I will not lie, I am looking forward to a traditional Erie Christmas next year.

Blessings,
Colleen