I MET THE POPE TODAY!!!

OH MY GOSH! The Vatican was SO incredible. I MET THE POPE!

I woke up really early this morning to get ready for High Mass. I met Alex, Royce, Adam, and Daniel outside out apartments to walk to the bus stop (where we met up with Vicki and Stephen). We all got on the bus which took us straight to the Vatican. I was really tired until the bus passed right in front of St. Peter's Square. And then I started getting REALLY excited! It was so beautiful - I can't even find the words to describe how awesome it was to see St. Peter's in person!

Anyway, we got off the bus and walked to get cappuccinos since we were really early for High Mass. I'm getting addicted to the amazing Italian coffee, by the way. After cappuccinos and croissants, we headed back to St. Peter's and walked around a bit, taking pictures! It was so exciting. I can't even write about it without smiling.

We met up with KG (Dr. Karl Galinsky) and got through security really quickly. We all walked around taking pictures and admiring St. Peter's Basilica for about an hour before we lined up to get in for High Mass. Michaelangelo's Pieta is in St. Peter's Basilica - it was so awesome to see in person because it's one of my favorite pieces of sculpture. Oh, we also met up with Harvey and Barghav in the basilica. They had a bit of a bus mis-hap, but it got sorted out.

Mass (even though I couldn't understand all the words) was absolutely incredible. I loved watching the priests, bishops, and cardinals process in through the long nave of St. Peter's. It was such an amazing experience - and I plan on going to St. Peter's every Sunday until I leave Italia now. :)

After High Mass, we all went into St. Peter's Square where we waited for Pope Benedict to come out and say, "Hey, Ashley." Which he did, of course. Yeah, I got a personal shout-out from Benny himself. OK, not really. But pretty much, he waved to me. And blessed me. So, I think that's practically the same.

After getting blessed from the POPE!, KG took us all out to lunch at a nearby ristorante. It was absolutely delicious - and free lunch is always good lunch. :) It was really sweet of KG to take us all out (Thanks again, KG!).

After lunch, Alex and I went back to St. Peter's to mail our postcards. Unfortunately, we needed stamps, and we couldn't figure out how to use the machines to buy stamps. We tried all the buttons and levers - we even prayed that it would work - but we had no luck. She and I are going back on Friday (no class, YAY), so we're going to get postcards mailed then.

Then, Alex and I walked around the area for a bit, got some gelato, and took a bus back to our apartments. We ran into Linda (a woman from the AIRC) who told us that we could come to the AIRC to study for our exams tomorrow. Which was really sweet.

Now, Alex and I are going to be productive... soon. :)

This is what happened before I met the POPE since my last post...

On Saturday evening, Alex and I went to go get some pizza by a place near the AIRC. We took it to the Trevi Fountain and ate while people-watching. It was really relaxing and hilarious to see how touristy some people were being.

Then, we headed to the grocery store to get some lunch supplies for the week. The lady in front of me in the check-out line spilled her bleach over EVERYTHING (including her fruit) and it was really sad. But the guy scanning items didn't make her pay for it, so that's good. Anyway, when we got back to the apartments, I climbed up the insanely steep three flights of stairs to get to my apartment.

There, I worked on papers with Shyam, Apu, Ishanee, and Meagan in our apartment for a bit. The apartment started getting REALLY hot (yay for Rome summers), so Shyam, Meagan, and I went to go get some gelato around 11. We got a little lost on the way to find this new place, but it was worth it because a guidebook told us that that gelateria was JP2's favorite in all of Rome. It was really, really crowded, but the gelato was really good!

When we got back, I headed to bed so I could wake up early (720 AM!) to go to the Vatican! Which was amazing!

My life is officially complete, having met Pope Benny. :)

Ciao,
Ashley

PS - I'm in love with Italia today.