Envoi

     It seems strange to say "looking back" for the Rome trip that was so instrumental to the semester and also changed a lot about my life. Before the trip, I had never anticipated the friends that I would make or the memories I would create while abroad. During the course of the trip I realized that my anticipations for the adventure were different than the outcome that was being produced. I managed to make life-long friends while in Rome, and all 25 of us have created bonds that are much stronger than the average friends on a college campus. I know that when I ever see the people I went abroad with we will always have a million things to talk about - even if none of them reach past the 17 days we spent together in Italy. All of the things that we saw, all of the places that we went, and all of the things that we learned and did in that short span of time could last a life-time of conversations. Our itinerary was so jam-packed with things to do we never really sat still. But, I will be forever grateful for that - we never sat still and so we missed very little. We managed to squeeze into 17 days almost every tourist site that is worth mentioning, as well as a lot of sites that most tourists don't designate as worth their time. Just with the site presentations alone we visited numerous sites that people don't visit - such as the Porta Maggiore and the Baker's Tomb, and the Tiber Island. Those places aren't on the to-do list of people when they come to visit Rome. I think where we went and how long we were there allowed at least myself to feel that I wasn't a tourist at all. Although it was a brief stay, I lived in Rome for 17 days - I wasn't just visiting the city, I was staying there, and that changed a lot of how I viewed each place I went and how I felt leaving. It is more crushing to leave a place you felt at home than a place you visited for a short period. I felt at home in Rome, I felt peaceful and safe, and I long constantly for never having had to leave.
     Besides making friends I will always cherish, I've learned a lot from being abroad for a period of time. Beyond even the things I learned about the city itself (there are a lot of them, don't worry Professors, I was paying attention the whole time) I learned a good deal about myself, my peers, and living. I know it's ridiculously cliche to say any of those things. Of course, everyone who goes abroad is going to say that it was a life-changing experience for them. Regardless, it's true. I don't think I'll ever be able to think about my life, what I've done and what I've accomplished without thinking immediately of my time in Rome. I became, over the course of 17 days, so much different than how I began. Opening up to the 24 other amazing people I got to go abroad with, combined with the need to find my way around a city that I had never visited before, allowed me to see myself as someone more than a college student. Though I still have a while before I have to become a "real person" in the "real world," being in Rome allowed me to glimpse that future after I've finished academia.
     I know I had to say goodbye to Rome, just as I had to say goodbye to all my friends who went with me, but that doesn't mean farewell. I will always think of Rome and those friendships I created, and with any luck I will find myself back there one day. No, it won't be the same - the people will be different, there will be a different atmosphere and I myself will probably have changed. But none of that matters. It's like Sarah said while we were in Rome, she will always have to visit the Janiculum because she lived there while abroad. I, likewise, will always have to visit those places where we made the fondest memories - S. Maria in Aracoeli and the Castel S'Angelo to name only two of the many. So, although I must acknowledge that my adventure time is over and begin looking for a job in NJ while I unpack all my things from Italy, Rome will always be with me in more ways than one. I will never really say goodbye because I will always have those memories, and I will always feel that loss. Sure, I will see most of my classmates on campus in the fall, and I will have those baubles to remind me of the city - but I will always miss the Rome I found these past few weeks, the people I've become close with, and the moments we all shared. I'm happy to say I have Roman Fever, and it's not going away any time soon.

The Sistine Chapel

     Being in the Sistine Chapel, a place that is only used rarely for the Conclave of Cardinals when electing a new pope, reminded me of being in my church, S. Maria in Aracoeli, on the Capitoline. Although very different in their own respects, the space held the same impact on me, and the scene in the front of the chapel especially drew my eye. There is not a lot inside of the Sistine Chapel that depicts Mary, where my entire church is about the mother of God. On the other hand, the painting on the front wall of the chapel, depicting Jesus and the saints and Judgment Day reminded me of the apocalyptic painting of Mary inside of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception inside of my church. In the painting by Michelangelo, painted in the 1470s under Pope Sixtus IV, Jesus is in the center of heaven surrounded by some of the more prominent saints - including Peter, Paul, and Bartholomew holding his flayed skin. Underneath him are the people being taken into hell and the people being brought up from purgatory. One man in particular, getting ready for damnation, is being attacked brutally by a snake in the corner of the painting. In S. Maria in Aracoeli, the apocalyptic painting is directly out of the Book of Revelation - depicting Mary as the Queen of Heaven with a crown of stars, standing on the moon, and being threatened by a seven headed, ten-horned dragon. The different tellings of the ending of the world shows viewers the important emphasis on death and eternal life within the Catholic Church, as well as how the belief in certain aspects of the church are bound to save you. Mary is the Protector of Rome, according to S. Maria in Aracoeli, and Jesus is going to save the Christians who have suffered in His name. These all lead to the same conclusion: if you follow and obey the Catholic Church you will be saved from eternal damnation.
     All of this helped me think more about the saint and martyr stories that we read in Reading Rome, the first section of the class, and how the Church began at the fringes of society before it was able to move into the center of Rome. We talked, before going into the Vatican Museums, about the collection being the best in the world - really being a fabulous collection of Rome itself. Being inside of the museums and seeing the immense number and importance of the objects held there truly showed the power of the Catholic Church inside of Rome. Just as the S. Maria in Aracoeli was built in the center of the Capitoline Hill to show the prominence of the Church, the Vatican Museums are meant to make visitors realize their amazing power throughout history. No, the Pope doesn't still have the same influence in the world as he used to (evidenced by the demolition of part of my church in 1886 for the Wedding Cake - or Victor Emmanuel II's monument) but the power he holds on Earth is still very present today, especially considering the impact the Popes have had on our history and our preserved artifacts and artworks.

(Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, June 1)

A Queen of Ostia (Ekphrasis)

     Although her face is mostly worn from age, her expression is serene and knowledgeable looking out over the road. Her eyes are the most preserved, extremely feeling despite the stark white color. Her nose and mouth have been marred but there is a small upturn on the one side of her face that implies a long lost smile. From her helmet spring plumes accentuating her face and the hair she has tucked underneath the headpiece. Her dress drapes around her body, clinging loosely to her form. The small belt ties with a small bow just above her abdomen, creating additional folds in the fabric around her body. Though both of her arms have been lost to time, her shoulders indicate where they may have been before. Her right arm leans downward towards the piece of marble her leg leans upon. Her left arm appears to have been raised upward, leaving to the imagination what emotions or thoughts she meant to inspire in her passersby. Wings rest at each of her sides, beginning in the folds of the back of her dress. The feathers overlap gently, reaching all the way to the feet she hides beneath her clothing. Although the wings appear to be in a resting position, they almost appear ready to take flight - to lift her off the ground with beauty and grace. Age has been unkind to her, marring features and adding darkened shades where there was once only white - lines along her body appear where there should not be any. Despite these detriments, she appears regal and beautiful, above the crowds that would surround her and above the tourists that ogle her today.

(Minerva Victoria, Ostia Antica, May 31)

Momentary Blindness

     As I close my eyes, the birds around the orange garden sing in perfect harmony and the breeze tickles the hair on the back of my neck. I can feel and hear the wind whistling through my hair and clothes; but it also picks up pieces of the dust on the ground. As I'm still recovering from being sick, there is a constant tickle in my throat and I can't help but cough every know and then as I sit on the bench in otherwise silence. I can't smell anything - though I long to smell the oranges and blackberries that I saw around me before I closed my eyes - nothing permeates through my dulled by sickness olfactory senses.

Romics (Voyeur)

     He will only wear brown: brown cloak, brown socks, and brown shoes. He hangs on every word of Pope Francis and every word of his German Cardinal. As he listens, one of the men by his side pats his shoulder. There is a circle of six tourists surrounding him, all of them speaking German. They each wear matching colors and their hats contain images of the Pope - he escorted them here from their hometown in order to have the pleasure of being blessed by His Holiness after the service. He is a brother of the Franciscan order so he does not wear one of the tourist hats. But, he also came to Rome for a reason other than the Papal audience. His black sunglasses glimmer in the sunlight as he thinks fondly of earlier in the morning when he was on the Via Portuense.

Cornettos and Castels

     I started off the morning right - a made to order croissant (cornetto in Italian) injected with Nutella. Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do when I no longer have Italian breakfast. Maybe have chocolate withdrawal problems. Anyway, I walked with Anna to a little bench spot about a block away from the pastry shop and we sat to eat our breakfast. I don't care that we freaked out multiple people with our aggressive chocolate eating. It was more than worth it.

Yellow Isn't Happy

     There were multiple signs telling us not to go into the Palazzo Massimo. First, we couldn't find the entrance and had to walk the entire perimeter of the building. Second, the Boxer statue was on display in another museum (so the reason we were visiting was moot). Third, Anna's ticket decided not to scan to let her inside. Despite all these attempts to dissuade us from entering, we proceeded as if nothing hindered us.