Almost immediately after we arrived, a man from the refugee center approached us about starting to help. He didn't speak English, so it was a good thing that Brandon and Sarah were able to struggle their way through a conversation with him in Italian. He took us downstairs to the main room, where the refugees pass most of their time, and we started passing out their breakfast: tea and biscuits. Once we ran out of tea, most of our group started helping out at the English school in the facility, while Brandon and I found a few random people to talk with in the main room. Most of the refugees that were not attending the English lesson didn't speak much English, so it was a little difficult to interact with them. But, in the blink of an eye, it was noon and we had to head back towards the Campo di Fiori for lunch.
We only had a few hours before our Art History class began, so the volunteer group headed over to a nearby pizza place to grab a few slices of pizza (3 euro each!). After spending the remaining time in our apartment, we headed down to the Rome center for class.
Today, we would be traveling internationally! To visit one of the most famous countries in the world: the Vatican. It was a short bus ride over to the district around the Vatican and it wasn't that hard to find the line to get into the Vatican. Of course, this was because the line was pretty long:
Fortunately, we were being guided by the famous Lisa Schultz, who had a plan to get us in faster! After quite a bit of maneuvering and a few discussions with the Vatican guards, we were in, in less than an hour. Go Lisa!
After setting us up to use a microphone headset (so Lisa could communicate with us while in the noisy hallways), we began our journey through the Vatican, starting with many famous paintings, passing through several rooms filled with sculptures, stopping briefly in the Sistine Chapel, and ending outside of the front door of the Vatican. What a spectacular display of art!
During the tour, Mauna and Erik both gave their presentations. Mauna discussed the Sistine Chapel, emphasizing renovation, and how people were concerned about renovating the chapel because they were worried about damaging the original paintings. Erik talked about the Swiss Guard and their history of defending the Vatican, despite their continued association with Switzerland. He also mentioned that they frequently refer to one of their uniforms as the "clown suites."
After touring the Vatican, our group split up for dinner. A small group of us decided to take route around one side of the Vatican wall and, just after leaving the main part of the Vatican, we noticed a small group of people hanging around the street. After a few minutes, we find out that the Pope would be passing by soon! We waited around the street for about half an hour and, sure enough, Pope Benedict drives by in his car, waving at us. Here's a photo as proof, courtesy of Daniel Chiang.
After heading back to the Campo di Fiori and grabbing a quick bite to eat (I promise we normally have more time for meals!), it was time for a movie. “L’Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio," directed by Agostino Ferrente, was a very pleasant documentary about a small group of individuals trying to start an orchestra using immigrant music styles, instruments, and players. According to the movie, the orchestra they formed is still around today, though many of the members has changed.
After the movie, we decided to grab some gelato at a nearby gelateria before heading to a local bridge to watch some fireworks. Tuesday was the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a Roman holiday, and in celebration, they were lighting fireworks off over the Castle Saint Angelo. So, we grabbed some gelato and headed to a bridge to get a better view of the show. We waited around half an hour before hearing the first crackle in the sky, and, to our utter disappointment, the fireworks were behind a row of trees. After a brief attempt to try and find another vantage point for the fireworks, most of us simple gave up and started heading back to our apartments. It was time to get some well-deserved rest after our long, action-packed day, and I was certainly ready for bed. Well, not before finishing a little homework first.
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