+JMJ+
Mi dispiace! I'm sorry!
It has been a long time since I last wrote a blog entry, and I won't lie...I saw that coming once that classes started.
I want to recount some of the fun memories that have taken place in the past couple of months, while also giving a realistic view of my life here in Rome...because it's not always papal masses and gelato over here (okay, I might eat a fair amount of gelato).
This week marked a 'breakthrough' point in my Italian! I am finally beginning to understand the majority of my classes and the especially exciting part is that I am understanding when people speak directly to me. Although it seems that listening to a lecture and listening to someone in a conversation would be similar, I find it much more difficult to decipher direct questions because I must understand everything the person is saying, not just the main gist.
This leads me to my first beautiful memory and also 'real life in Rome' example.
Last week, the people in my year of communications decided to organize a dinner out on the town, and it was a blast! There were 5 priests and 4 lay students at dinner and because everyone spoke a different language, Italian was the common denominator. It was a great opportunity to practice the language around people who were in the same boat as me, and it was also a moment when I realized how not normal my life is. It isn't necessarily normal for people to go to school with priests, much less to hang out with a group to where the ratio of priests to lay people is in favor of the priests. With that being said, I love that! I love that I am able to experience this side of the Church, that I am able to witness the genuine holiness of these men who have given their lives in service of the Church, and also to witness the love and devotion of the other lay students in my program.
On the 'real like in Rome' side, everyday is exhausting and challenging because my brain is typically functioning in three different languages; English, Spanish, and Italian. I have come very close to doing my school work completely wrong because of slight translation errors and to be quite honest, I feel very stupid most of the time. I am used to expressing myself and my ideas in class and sounding somewhat intelligent, and here I am doing well if I understand what people said to me the first time they speak. I have to frequently remind myself that 3 months ago I knew 0 Italian, so understanding a lecture is still a huge victory!
I have had the opportunity to go to the apostolic palace, to pray at the tomb of St. Francis and St. Claire, go to masses celebrated by Cardinals and Pope Franci, and so many other crazy things, but even though there are awesome opportunities life here is hard and not everything is the ROMANticized (see what I did there) life you see in the movies, shocking I know. I can honestly say this is one of the most challenging things I have done, and I often struggle on a day to day basis, but the joys and difficulties in themselves have taught me so much.
My goal for the blog from here on out is to occasionally explain what I am up to, but to focus more on intentionally expanding on specific instances/ experiences/thoughts rather than a report of where I go on cool trips. Moving away from home, regardless of where you end up, brings about a new look on life. New cultures bring new perspectives and ideas and I want to elaborate on those!
So if you have any questions for me that you would like me to turn into a blog post, whether about Italy, learning a new language, graduate school, the Catholic Church, etc. please let me know and I am happy to discuss anything...otherwise you are leaving me up to my own devises and there are no guarantees for where my thoughts may end up.
Until next time, I continue onward in Rome and be assured of my prayers!
