Grosseto.

Interesting weekend. I went to Tuscany to escape the snow of Rome.. and it followed me there. However, I learned some very valuable lessons this weekend:

1. Things are never going to go according to plan. Ever.
2. Rome is my favorite city in Italy. The people are the best you will ever meet.
3. Ask questions. Nothing is ever given up front.

I sat in the most beautiful church I have ever seen, in complete serenity. I traveled like a true traveler would and made the most of every situation. I walked in what I like to call, 1/4 of a blizzard, to get to a shopping center. I met a man from South Africa in a pool that made me wear a swim cap. Carlo, we'll never forget you and your stories.

In a nutshell: I had the time of my life, doing the exact opposite of the plans I had made.

World wind.

I have been living here for three weeks now. Weird. It feels like I have been here for months. Today we visited the catacombs of Rome. It was probably single handedly the most amazing sight I have ever seen. They are huge and go on for miles and miles, leaving my mind with 500 questions. Of course throughout the day my brain has been jostling with the confusion of how they were built. However, the more I thought about it.. I found myself getting frustrated with so many concepts, not even directly related. Life is really funny to me. The things people get so wrapped up in, confuse me, and I will never make sense of it. I do not understand those that choose to categorize themselves by religion. Yes, religion was an amazing concept. Was. It was legalized so that the government and the church were separated. We live in a time now, where they could not be more set apart. My question for anyone that intertwines their identity with their particular "church" or "religion".. is WHY? God saved prostitutes, adulteress', murderers, and those that did unthinkable crimes. Not once did he ask them, "What is your religious denomination?, because if you are ____, I can't save you." No. He said, "Now, Go in Faith." I don't know about you.. but my religion is Jesus. When He was here on earth, he did not give us a set of rules to attain to on Sunday mornings. Live outside your box of fears. Give yourself a break. Befriend someone that believes something you don't. Agree to disagree.

Matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Snow.

It has SNOWED. It is so beautiful and out of context to see. I feel so lucky to experience such a sight. It has been 26 years since Rome has seen snow. Walking around today, there was so much energy amongst the people. I am really happy it did not snow on Friday, because we went to Pompeii for the day.. would have been a little cold outside all day in that! Pompeii was so incredible to see.. I can't believe I was standing in front of monuments that I have learned about in all my History books growing up. To see the volcano that effected so many lives and to stand on the ground which was once a home to a family. Being in Pompeii put life in so much perspective for me. I knew since being here I would grow in unexplainable ways, but I never expected to understand so much more in just 3 weeks. To see the last prayers being said before these families died makes me think about how much is taken for granted in life. Living in California the past 2 years has been really difficult for me. I can never quite put my finger on why there is so much conflict between the way that I was raised and with those that were raised in that state. It is because many people assume that it is THE world. That is all there is. A lot of the time I get comments made towards me like, "no wonder you came to California" or "Wow, this must be SO different for you." Yes. It is different. That doesn't necessarily make it better. We are all so self absorbed.. we assume that our lives are the reason why the sun is shining up above. It is such a newsflash being here. There are MILLIONS of lives out there.. why focus on just my own? It is hard being away from home and out of my comfort zone, I have really started to realize the amount of people that put forth effort to care about your experience or stay in touch.. let me tell you, it is very few. There are so many lives. The sun does not shine for just one person. And the day it does, Jesus will be back on this earth.

Boots and English.

To many, what I am about to say may seem so pointless. However, I do not care. Today I got my first pair of Italian leather boots. I am writing about this for 2 reasons. One, because I want to tell my mom about them, but our phones are down.. she is the only one who will probably be as excited as me, if not more. And secondly, because clearly boots are a part of the culture here. I will go as far as saying, a necessity. Upon coming here, I decided to volenteer in some way, since I would be here for three months. I am teaching English to native Italians every Tuesday night. It is so eye opening. Being in this city, has humbled me SO much. For anyone who has never left the US, you have no idea how hard it is to walk down a street, looking for a grocery store, bank, or better yet, a specific restaurant in downtown Rome, and not be able to ask for help or when you do ask, actually understanding the directions. It gets frustrating after a while.. no matter how many phrases I look up, until I am concrete in my Italian skills.. I will not be able to communicate. Anyone that knows me.. knows that I love to talk to strangers. I thrive off of it. It is starting to hit me, the fact that I am a stranger, an alien, a foreigner to this town. Being the minority is HARD. Hearing the level of  English that these Italians could speak tonight was shocking. They were learning the body parts.. hearing someone try to say "teeth" amazed me. English is the hardest language to learn, (argue with me if you'd like). We have more slang and informal phrases than any other language. It was a breathe of fresh air, to hear the words of my language. I love the level of "help" that a language class can bring.. a sense of bonding between two different cultures. When I am in my Italian class, my professor wants nothing more than to help and teach me to the best of her ability. I love being able to give back, to pass the gift of English on to those that need my help. It is amazing that here I am, abroad in Italy, and each week, I get to be a term of reference for residents of this country. I always thought it would be vice versa.

Run like the Romans do.

Today is a good day. I have found my running community. You see, everywhere I have run thus far, I get stared down, almost hit by every smart car that passes, or have to stop every 3 feet to wait for a green light. Finally a running park where it does not matter if my hair is blonde and my eyes are blue as long as my Nike shoes are running at the same pace as those around me. It is nice to have a little piece of home with me. A place where I blend in. A place to pursue one of my favorite passions. And better yet, it is surrounding by villas that look like castles and plants flourishing left and right. Never knew I could enjoy my runs even more.

Taking personality personally.

Sometimes it is really difficult for me to understand people. Personality types have always bothered me. Is that egotistical to say? I shouldn't be wanting everyone to be just like me. All I wish I had in life was the opportunity to meet people who actually care. Who care enough to put forth the effort in any relationship. Diversity is a beautiful thing. That word gets thrown around a lot with the wrong definition in mind. A definition I read about and really appreciate is that diversity means, "a point of difference." That means somewhere in someones life, they hit a point that caused them to move in a different direction. They chose a different path than what we chose. They experienced different things and had different outcomes. Living here in Rome has really tested me with this concept. I live in a convent (yes, with nuns) and with 19 other college students, ranging from the west coast to the east and everything in between. Of course, that calls for conflict, tension, and weird encounters of every kind. My prayer all along on this trip has been to accept others for their beliefs and upbringing. How much is too much? How many rude remarks and glares do I take before I can stop putting forth effort? I understand that we are different and that some people are more emotional than others. Judgment can break up some great potential relationships though. I am by no means perfect at this or have it all figured out. The number one thing helping me accept other people studying here in this convent is knowing that although we all have a different "point of difference", our point of likeness is that we are all here in Rome from across the country looking for a connectedness needed in some corner of our lives.

Beautiful.

Wow, I feel as though I have no time to even sit down and think about all that I have been doing. It is crazy to think I have only been in Rome for one week.. feels more like a month! Yesterday we took a trip to the San Clemente church.. it was so amazing. It is a three level church and each level was built without the knowledge of the first level being there. You can really see the progression of society and life in each church as they are built on top of each other. It is hard to believe that things that old still exist. It is so easy to brush off history as something in the past. I learned about history my whole life and I always associated it with something lost. Something old. Something pointless. In all honesty I can say that (don't judge, I have sat through some pretty boring history classes). Being here in one week has opened my eyes to a world that not only was demolished, lost, and of the past. But, a world that is still standing and is beautiful. It is beautiful. It started to make me think about all of the newer modern buildings that are standing in America today. They are ugly. They get torn down within 5 years of the start of their existence. The beauty found in this place that I am living in, is one that is discovered but not defined. For crying out load, cities in America refuse to put a restaurant in town because their marketing colors don't "match" the rest of the surrounding buildings. What is beauty? Why is it defined by the eyes of high decision makers? Isn't beauty something philosophical? Something that is a possession of subjectivity? I live across the street from the Afghanistan embassy and there are at least 3 other embassies in the surrounding area. I was expecting to see just Italians here. I was wrong. Of course, Rome is touristy so there are cameras flashing at big historical sites in the hands of countries represented. However, the mixture of culture and language is a ringing sound in my ears as I am walking down streets of cobblestone and viewing buildings of marble. And I am convinced that I will not see a more beautiful site until I am in heaven. Isn't this what heaven will be like? When all the nations come together? Of course, there will be a common relationship with the living God verses standing in a line to see the Colosseum. Why is beauty on earth defined by the selfishness of this world and driven by a goal of wanting "more". Beauty is subjective. Beauty is culture. Beauty is not only the created nature, but the things made by man to reflect what God's creatures can really do.