An original mosaic from 1090 in the "off-limits" church next to my residence
Hello Everybody!
I'm going to try and get this blog out before my day of classes start. This is the last week before the weeklong semester break, and I have two papers to write before Thursday night. As soon as these papers are finished, and my week is over, the finish line is really around the corner. One month from tomorrow and I will be on a flight home. I must admit I am looking forward to getting back to the States.
As I walked out to classes one morning, one of the porters at our residence took me aside and asked me if I would like to tour the 11th century church next to my residence. The church has been closed for, to my guess, at least a few hundred years, and is currently in the process of being renovated, but it is closed to the public. Paulo, the porter, took me inside, and took me around. It is a great example of Romanesque architecture, and although the apse is the only part of the church that hasn't been dug up it is for good reason. There are two excavated holes in the floorleading to the foundation below--an ancient Roman home, filled with all sorts of pottery. When the excavators found this, they decided to keep digging, and found a graveyard, which must have been the crypt, under each side nave of the church. Paolo asked me for a souvenir, and when I answered in the affirmative, he told me I could take anything from any one of the large plastic bags--except one. It was filled with bones. I took pictures instead.
I met with five priests before my trip to Amsterdam. Fr. Corey, the pastor at St. Mary's in Bethel, was in Rome for a retreat, and offered to take me out to dinner. We had a lovely meal, and some of his priest buddies were really pretty funny. They were all from Boston, and they talked up being priests. I didn't realize that meeting a group of priests (and a seminarian my age) subjected me to talks aboutjoining their ranks, but I did manage to thwart their attempts. We had great dinner conversation, and after the meal ("It's on me," Fr. Corey said. "Actually, it's on the parish's dime, but you get the idea.") Fr. Corey slipped me a fifty euro bill and told me to, "Have fun in Amsterdam. Just remember: everything that is legal isn't exactly moral."
It rained in Amsterdam the entire time I was there, but being in a northern European metropolis was refreshing. New culture, new attitudes, new architecture, Amsterdam really got me excited for my class next semester, the Northern Renaissance. I met three of my buddies from school there, Tyler, Victor, and Nathan, who had that week off from classes and were traveling around Europe together. I can't tell you how excited I was to see some fresh faces not associated with Kenyon in Rome. Kenyon is a tiny school to begin with, but when the only students you share classes with are the ones you are living with, it becomes exponentially insular, and seeing three of my best friends in a city I had never been to before was delightful. We visited the Rijksmueseum together, and also the Van Gogh, and walked all around the city together. The Rijksmuseum has a tremendous collection of Rembrandts and Frans Hals, and as I said before, made me that much more excited for my Art History course next semester. Amsterdam really would be a nice place to live, if I spoke Dutch and if I had money. Everything was much more expensive than in Italy, and it was tough to budget, especially with three guys who needed to save every penny for the remainder of their Eurotrip.
When I returned to Rome, I learned that I missed our program dinner with the provost who was visiting to make sure everything was running smoothly. I volunteered to take him out around the city between classes on Monday, and I couldn't have been more surprised by how laid back and fun to talk with. He answered a bunch of my questions about a possible career in academics and treated me to a filling lunch in Trastevere. I'm looking forward to talking more with him when I get back on campus next semester--it also can't hurt to have a buddy in the administration.
A bit later in the week, my Vatican class toured St. Peter's again, but this time we had an even more special treat than we are normally accustomed to. Our professor took us all over the Basilica again to various off-limits places, but then the climax was the trip inside the sealed off chapel where Michelangelo's "Pieta" is held. The public, maybe 15 yards away, and separated from it by an immense plane of glass, can only view his masterpiece (sculpted when he was about my age) from a distance, but with Dr. Carlo-Stella we were able to enter the chapel and view the work face to face. There were dozens of people behind us, separated by the glass, taking pictures and what not while we had a brief lecture (15 minutes or so) right in front of the "Pieta". The chapel was silent, completely protected from the sneaker squeaks and camera flashes and not-so-hushed whispers of the tourists, while we took notes and reflected. Our professor, Dr. Carlo-Stella, had this to say right before we exited: "Each one of you someday will ask yourself about death and suffering and whether you believe or not. Please, regardless of your faith or lack thereof, I ask of you to please keep with you spiritual beauty. With this you'll be able to face that moment of transition--death. Spiritual beauty will guide you during this eternal bliss. My message to you is to foster and develop spiritual beauty in your existence." Needless to say, it was the most profound lecture I've ever had, and I'm beginning to think that this is the best course/professor I have ever had.
Back at school, my friends on the football team have just finished their season in which they went defeated. 0-10. Yikes. I was able to tune into the broadcast online and watched most of the game, until I saw one of my friends break his fibula. That's when I turned off the game. They were down 20-0 and surprise, lost.
OK, I'm off to classes. Three today, and then homework for the next few days before break. On Friday of this week, we will have a guided tour of the Villa Farnesina with reknown art historian, Ingrid Rowland, which I am super excited about, and then on Tuesday I fly to Paris until Thursday, when I meet up with Tyler and Victor in London. I hope all is well at home, looking forward to hearing from you.
