Praying for Fulton

Several weeks ago the online homeschool world was rocked by the news of Fulton Poppe's terrible burn accident. I met Fulton when he was about a year-old, an adorable, pudgy, healthy one year-old. I can't tell you how much it broke my heart to think about such a small child going through so much pain. I probably should have written this post earlier, but I want to take this time now to let the Poppe family know that I, as well as many in my college community, are praying for Fulton. We prayed for Fulton in St. Peter's Basilica, as well as at the tombs of St.'s Catherine of Siena, Sebastian, and Ignatius.

Today, I was delighted to hear that Fulton has made great progress on his road to recovery, but he still has a long, long way to go. More prayers will definitely be coming from all of us here in Rome!

St. Peter's (because one can't go enough)

I feel like an utter jerk, not posting about all the amazing adventures I've been having here in the Eternal City, but I've just been soaking it in. Everything here is so amazingly beautiful. On Wednesday, for example, we went into Rome in a really nasty hail storm, but it soon dried up, and we found ourselves admiring this view:

If you've never been to the Cupola of St. Peter's, you absolutely must go. Of course, there are a million and one tiny passages and stairs to go up to reach the cupola, but the view is simply stunning. We went into the dome too, and while it was beautiful, it didn't even compare to this breathtaking view of Rome. 

The big, white building is a monument to Vittorio Emmanule. 

While we were up there, we had a "small world" moment because my friend, Amy, met a very nice Jewish man from New York State, who now lives in Israel, but is well acquainted with her hometown. Who'da thunk it? 

The inside of the dome was also gorgeous. We had a great view of all of the mosaics on the walls. All those intricate designs inside the dome are mosaics! Thousands upon thousands of tiny little pieces are carefully placed to make up all the angels and saints that line the dome. 

We also had a great view of the main altar and the baldacchino. I always thought that the baldacchino was wood, but it's actually twenty-nine meters of pure bronze, designed by Bernini.  In case you wanted to know, they also store a large aluminium ladder on top of the baldacchino.

From our perch we could also see the mass where we had mass last Sunday, which was pretty cool.
My favorite view from the dome was, however, the window behind the main altar. It's an image of the Holy Spirit in vibrant golds and reds. I wasn't able to get a great photo of it, but I think my slightly fuzzy ones are rather good.

First Trip into Rome

Sunday morning, they had us up bright and early: 5 am. We all stumbled into our warmest church clothes, and made our way, very sleepily, to the buses. It was still dark outside, and there was very little traffic as we drove into Rome.  Suddenly the dome of St. Peter’s loomed over all the other buildings- completely illuminated.

            It was completely silent in St. Peter’s square at 6:45 in the morning, and the sun was barely coming up. The first thing that caught our eyes was an enormous Christmas tree next to the obelisk- see, the Pope doesn’t throw his tree out the day after Christmas. Next to the tree was a sort of tent that held the biggest manger scene in the world.

What you can’t see in the photo is that projected on the walls of the tent were the sun and fluffy little clouds, but these slowly faded, the sun set, and the moon and stars came out. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

 Then we went into St. Peter’s itself, which was breathtaking. Unfortunately, it was very dark inside, so it did not make for good picture taking. We had mass at a side altar just to the left of the high altar and just steps away from where St. Peter was crucified!

After Mass, we went on a walking tour of Rome. I didn’t take any pictures because I just wanted to let it all soak in. After all, I do have all semester to take pictures. My favorite thing we did, besides getting gelato, was visiting Santa Maria sopra Minerva, a gorgeous Baroque church which houses a statue by Michalangelo, and, oh, you know, Catherine of Siena’s body, and stuff like that. It was probably the most beautiful church I have ever been into! It had the most gorgeous painted, blue ceiling with gold stars.  I would have taken photos, but it seemed really weird to snap a photo before praying in front of St. Catherine’s tomb.

Today was rough, for some reason we’ve got a really funky schedule this week, and we had 5 classes back to back. It was slightly painful, but we did have some awesome sunshine to make up for it. 

Buon Giorno

So I thought I'd posted this yesterday, but our lousy wi-fi didn't cooperate. Without further ado, what I did yesterday:

We arrived in Rome with a bang- literally. Our plane sort of belly flopped on to the runway with a horrendous thud, but other than that I am safely installed in Italy!  It was a crazy, cramped flight, and I’m completely jet-lagged, but I’m really really excited to be here. I think I am, at least. I’m still very tired and hungry, so it’s hard to tell. 

            We’ve mostly been moving in today, so we haven’t actually been into the city yet. We have, however, been to the local grocery store to buy laundry detergent, and of course, the obligatory bottle of vino (since we’re legal and all that).  We have a convocation mass tonight, as well as a fancy dinner, but the real fun starts tomorrow when we wake up at 5 am to got to St. Peter’s. Yes, you read that right, I’m going to St. Peter’s for Mass tomorrow! As you can imagine I’m kind of freaking out, in a sort of exhausted, hungry sort of way. Actually my roommate and I are sitting on the floor by the window (the only place we get internet) and listening to the soundtrack to the Lizzie Maguire Movie. 

Packing, Packing, Packing

Today my boss told me off for not being ready to leave. As she said, "That was appropriate three weeks ago, but you're leaving Friday." Right. I'll get on that. That being said I am about 90% packed; not bad, in my opinion. Anyway, now is probably not the time, but I have a confession to make: I've always wanted to be a fashion blogger. So, as a step in that direction, I have put together some "dressy" travel outfits to share with you.

Cardigan:Gap- Thrifted. Skirt: American Outfitters. Cami: Target. Please excuse my photography. 

This is a pretty versatile outfit- the cardi is probably one of my favorite clothing items. I know all my friends are thinking, "Because it's orange and a cardigan, Pip?" Well, yes, but it also looks great with jeans and a T-shirt. The person of Goodwill in me would also like you to know that I got it new with the tags on for 1/4 of the original price. The pencil skirt is another story. I'm ashamed to say that I actually paid *gasp* retail for it!  It is, however, the greatest purchase I ever made, and it packs like a dream because of it's knit fabric. Despite it's horizontal stripes, it also, ahem, accentuates the curves. Here's another favorite outfit, featuring the wonder skirt:

Same skirt, different cardi (Target) and some cute jewelry (Goodwill, of course)

When I got into college I swore off of 2 things: horizontal stripes and "homeschooler" skirts. Well, this outfit has both, but I swear it looks great, especially with the red beads and sunglasses (which, of course, I'm going to wear all the time in January). I totally wasn't going to pack this skirt, but then I remembered how easy it is to wear leggings under a big, ole skirt, so in it went. But I didn't want to style it like I did in high school: think frumpy. So I paired it with a loose, grey top, and crazy, brightly colored jewelry, and it actually worked! I'm definitely looking forward to wearing this in Rome!

Top:Target. Skirt: J.Jill, thrifted. Necklace: Goodwill

Well, I'd better finish putting all this stuff in my suitcase, so I can actually wear it in Rome. I can't believe I leave tomorrow!

I have to keep listening to this song to remind me that I really do not want to spend the next five months here in Littleton. I get really awful pre-trip jitters, and I tend to be like, "Hey, I like it here. Why on earth would I want to leave?" Even when I've spent all break going, "I hate this teeny town. Why on earth would anybody ever live here?"I'm honestly feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. I keep getting a lot of random advice from people, and a lot of it is contradictory. If I need help I'll ask, but at this point there's not a lot I can change.

Although a lot of people have been to this program, this is going to be my unique adventure, and at some point, I'm just going to have to get on the plane and go. What stresses me out the most is people telling me, "It's going to change your life" or "It's going to be the best thing you've ever done." Not that I doubt them, but there's always that little voice in the back of my mind going, "This absolutely, positively must be the best thing I've done, and I absolutely must do everything right." As you can see I tend to over think things, so right now I'm trying to take deep breaths and relax.

I'm also trying to spend a lot of time with my family, who I won't see or really talk to for five months. I have to admit that I call home pretty much every day when I'm at school, so my lack of phone-ness is going to be really hard. Of course, there's always email, but it's just not the same as having an hour long chat with your mom after a hard day.

This is all to say: I'm completely terrified. But I am so glad that some of best friends will be coming with me. I'll miss the ones at home in Texas, but I can't wait to compare experiences, Junior year!  I'd also like to say thank you to all the people who are making this trip possible for me! Only 2 more days!

So, I'm leaving for Rome on Friday. Yes, Friday. And yes, I'm kind of freaking out, a lot. Did I mention that I haven't packed? Yeah, I'm leaving the country for 5 months, and I just started packing. If space-bagging one's socks counts as packing. I'm pretty sure that all my clothes will fit into my suitcase. Pretty sure, not positive.

What I'm taking:

• 10 Shirts in various shades of blue and grey (a bit excessive, perhaps, but I really hate doing laundry).
• 2 pairs of dark, skinny jeans
• 3 skirts (all knee length)
• 3 Cardigans (Orange, purple, and black- that's some color, right?)
• 4 dresses most for cold weather, but 2 that can be worn without tights. Just in case. 
• 4 scarves (2 black and white, 1 orange, and 1 light pink)
• 1 winter coat with a zip out lining. 
• Jammies
• Unmentionables
• Purse
• Backpack
• 1 towel
• 1 blue fleece blanket
• Also, shoes. That's kind of important. 

I'm really afraid that this will be way more stuff that I could possibly need. Everyone who has done this program says that they threw away half their stuff at the end of the semester, but most of my stuff's from Goodwill, so I'm not terribly attached to it, and my motto is "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it." I'm also justifying my over packing with my sneaking suspicion that one of my roommates is going to underpack. Sorry, Candace, love, but we all know it's true. 

Now, I'm going to go have fun with my space bags. Nothing says fun like making your clothes look like packaged meat. I'm sure there will be several more posts before I leave, as well as lots from Rome! Stay tuned!

Epiphany

Happy Feast of the Epiphany, everyone. As Fr. Clark said in Mass today, "Unless your Jewish this is your feast day, "and I was sitting there going, "Why, yes it is! Thank you for noticing." This year my birthday was duly celebrated many times over the last twelve days, so today was nice and low key.

The past year has been...strange, goofy, fun, and awesome, but still really, really strange. I was going to post pictures from my last birthday to illustrate how strange this year started off, but all of them were too strange for the internet. So I'm just going to skip that bit. Anyway, second semester of Freshman year was a whole lot better than first semester. Instead of bawling my way through finals, I laughed... hysterically from stress, but laughed none the less and breezed right through that week.

Then I got my first real job as a counselor at Camp Cheery, which I loved. Totally loved. But it was not exactly what I expected. I mean, even for an all girls' camp, it was awfully girly. I did not realize that one simply cannot over pack for a week at camp. I turned up with a backpack, the other counselors turned up with trunks, suitcases, boxes, and bags. I'm pretty sure I didn't have that much stuff in my dorm room, but okay. Although some of the counselors and I were rather different, I did bond with the two other counselors who were not in sororities, and we had a great time just being our dorky selves. But most importantly, I loved my campers! I had a cabin of ten, yes ten, second grade girls, and they were just the cutest things ever! We had so much fun dancing at the dance party, singing camp songs at dinner, keeping the cabin clean... Of course I had my favorite little camper (don't tell), but I thought each one of them was just terrific.

After that I worked as a nanny for a while, but that didn't work out, so I went to work at the bookstore which was the best thing ever. Basically I clean stuff and then I get to play around with stuff I don't own. And by play I mean creatively arrange in a way that makes other people want to buy it. It works too. I am a very good merchandise arranger. Of course, I always have to stop myself from spending my other paychecks in that store.

I spent just about all my free time in Goodwill with Joy. Talk about most fun ever. Goodwill is not only a clothing store- it's a way of life. That's why in Mass, during the Gloria we say, "peace to people of Goodwill." That's just Jesus' way of saying he loves Joy and me best. Just kidding. Anyway, Joy really encouraged me to expand my clothing horizons, to wear clothes that aren't blue and grey! She also got me into wearing dresses, which I still do, even though they're all blue and grey. Sorry, Joy. We spent the summer plotting to do all these cool things, but in the end we just went to goodwill, which was A-okay.

In August I went back to school. It was hard. Once all the novelty of Freshman year wears off, college really stinks. It also stinks when half of your class, including many of your best friends, are in Italy having fun and posting pictures on facebook. Call it jealousy, but you try concentrating on Moby Dick, while all your friends are drinking wine and chilling in Italy. Of course I still had a bunch of friends on campus, and we all had a lot of fun together. I really bonded with my new roommate, and we had a great time listening to country music, going dancing, and just hanging out with the remnant of our class.

My classes this semester were hard. Not just a little hard, like really, really hard, but I loved them all. Except biology. I still really hate biology, but other than that I was motivated to do well in all my classes because I loved them so much. Probably my favorite class was my Anglo-Saxon England class taught by the coolest professor ever. I must have talked about this class all the time because most of the books I got for Christmas are Anglo-Saxons related. I also enjoyed my German class very much. It wasn't as hard as my other classes, probably because my dad speaks fluent German and has been talking at me all my life, but it was great to learn a language that people still speak. I was super stressed all semester, but when grades came back, my hard work had paid off!

I've spent my Christmas holiday relaxing and looking forward to an amazing semester in Italy, which I haven't eve begun to pack for. And because it's not yet midnight where I am. I will wish you all a Merry Christmas one last time. Thank you everyone for making this a great, if slightly strange year!

Happy New Year! (Belated)

In the midst of all my frantic packing and other preparations for my journey abroad, I have indeed found some time to think about my New Year's resolutions. I know it's kind of cheesy, so please don't laugh. In 2013 I resolve to live life to the fullest. I mean this academically, spiritually, and socially. I resolve to enjoy my semester abroad to the fullest by soaking in the culture, art, and spirituality. I'm also going to enjoy this time to be young with my friends, traveling, learning, eating, and, drinking (responsibly). This is a big year for me, and I refuse to waste it!

Happy New Year to all my readers!

Sheep and Shepherds, Don't You Know

Every Christmas we all put out our nativity sets: Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, an angel, and of course the obligatory shepherd. I feel like the shepherds and their fuzzy charges are the cause for more Christmas hilarity and awkwardness than anyone else. For example: as a small child I was a sheep in our church Christmas pageant. I worked very hard on my costume, trying to be a very convincing sheep. My endeavors do not seem to have been successful because the vicar took one look at me and said, "Epiphany, what are you supposed to be?" It crushed my acting dreams for ever. Just kidding, but I do remember several of my friends becoming inexplicably entangled in the tea towel portions of their shepherds' costumes and having to be rescued.

  Another one of my absolute favorite Sheep/ Shepherd stories is one my dad tells about a bad gospel acclamation contest held by several Anglican priests of his acquaintance. The winning verse ran something like this:
Lector:While shepherds watch their flocks by night.
Congregation: (With gusto) All seated on the ground!

One of my seminarian friends recently posted the following picture of his favorite character in his parish's nativity set.

As he says, "Not many people know this, but according to a gloss on the text of the Gospels, one of the lambs present at the Nativity of Our Lord, so touched by the Incarnation of the Word as a tiny baby, so awed at the presence of the Almighty Creator in human flesh, tossed his cookies. Hence the ancient tradition of the Veneration of the Barfing Lamb." 

Finally a quick reminder that shepherds should not be discriminated against-particularly not in nativity plays.

Also, there will be a New Year's post, once I've had a chance to think long and hard about my resolutions. So expect a post, y'know, mid July?