Lisa knocked on my door at 3am just before my alarm went off.  She had to knock twice before I could arouse myself enough to respond.  Quickly gathered my stuff and headed down the elevator of the convent to meet the others.  We were going to have to go out the back way.  The nuns had showed Pr. Kelly last night.  At night the front gates get locked, but she gave us the key to the side gate so we could leave in time to catch our early plane.  It was hard not to giggle as we sneaked through the halls, going through four locked doors before we reached the outside door.  It felt like “Sound of Music” again!  Pr. Kelly was the Dad and we were all escaping!  The hired van was waiting for us outside and we barely fit ourselves and the luggage in.  

We drove through the dark, deserted streets of Rome at 3:30am.  The “movie” experience was about over.  At the airport we waited in the usual long lines.  On to Amsterdam for a three hour lay-over.  We all looked whipped, and many of us were sick.  At this point we just wanted to be home in our own beds or with our own families (Mom and Dad are coming to Cicero on Monday, figuring I would return sick and wanting me to be able to come home to someone.  I’m so glad.).  Then the long flight to Chicago.  The van is waiting for us here, and we load luggage once more.  Home by 8 or 9pm.

Even though we had Rome as an interim between India and Indiana, there was still a bit of reverse culture shock.  Everything seems so clean, sterile, and spread out here in America now.  I no longer felt the need to put toilet paper down on the seats in public restrooms.  I could eat off of the floor at the mall and not feel defiled.  I felt guilty buying fruit for $2 a pound when I knew how much food that would buy in India.  People seem to be so oblivious to the fact that the rest of the world doesn’t live like we do!  I can almost hear us say, “If they have no bread, let them eat cake!”  I hope I can hang onto this realization, but it is already fading.  Would I go back to India?  Yes, not for a vacation.  But for the sake of those there who don’t know what Christianity can do for them.  And for my sake, who forgets so easily what Christianity should do for me.

Up at 7am and feeling yucky from sleeping in my clothes, on the floor, for just 6 hours.  My sinuses were stuffed again - guess I got too cold on the floor.  Finally found a nun at 7:40 that could get my key for me.  Glad to get into my room for fresh clothes and a shower.  Had to miss breakfast for this so ate my remaining prunes for breakfast while I had my devotions.  We all met in the girl’s room for worship at 9am.

On our last day in Rome we tried to see it all:  Saw the Lateran Cathedral where people were making their way up the stairs on their knees trying to find favor with God - how sad that they do not understand the favor that has already been given in Jesus!   There was a Pope preserved in wax (Innocent III if I remember right).  And the inside of the cathedral was amazing.  Took a bus to the catacombs and saw where some early Christians met for worship during the time it was illegal to worship as Christians.  Got on the wrong bus (providentially I think) and got to see a half hours worth of the Italian countryside!  It was so pretty, reminding me of Ukraine in it’s wildness and calendar pictures in its quaintness.  

Spilt for lunch again and this time Pr. Kelly found a sandwich place that had mushroom & veggie sandwiches.  Pr. Clark finally found his canolli and Pr. Kelly shared a third of his with me (I was out of money by this time).  It WAS good!  Sort of a pancake/pastry type thing rolled up with a sweet cream cheese filling with a flavor I have never had before.  That was a terrible description for such a fancy dessert.  It’s hard to describe.

We all met back at the convent then and took a train to the Mediterranean Sea.  Not being able to swim, I didn’t jump in with the others.  But I waded in up to my ankles and skipped rocks and played in the warm sand.  It wasn’t all that clean I suppose, but after India we didn’t really seem to notice.  : )  The water was fairly blue and sparkly.  It was fun to think I was at the shin of the “boot” at a place I had only seen on a map!  I took a rock for my collection.  

Then we headed back to the train to go to Ostia Antica - ruins of almost a complete city from the 4th century BC!  It was our favorite place of the trip!  It was perfect weather that day, we played around in the ruins of the amphitheater, around columns, palace walls, market shops, and homes.  I saw an emerald 8 inch lizard basking on one wall.  It was a huge place.  We explored like kids.  A day to remember!

Back in Rome, we all split for supper again.  Mr. Pickett and I got a donar for supper and had a gellatto before heading back to pack up by 11:45pm.  Pr. Clark is sick now too.  That makes three of us.  But after the last month and with so little sleep....

Woke up to beautiful bird songs (nightingale?).  Looked around my pretty little room with it’s comforter-covered bed, nightstand, armoire, and desk with chair.  I felt like a little girl in a palace as I pulled the rope that opened the drapes, parted the sheers, and pushed open the tall lead-paned, shutter-style windows.  Just below me was a rose garden walled off from the street by an ivy-covered stone wall.  And just beyond was a park of some sort with a ruin of some monument.  It was so clean and so pretty!  I felt blessed.

Breakfast, as served in the convent dining room at 8am, was crusty rolls and jam.  We were all starving and low on money, so this was a bit of a disappointment.  But it was something.  We met in the girl’s room for worship then were off for another whirlwind tour of Rome.  Today we saw the Pantheon!!!  I wished Dad could be here to see it in person; he’s always loved to study about it.  We also saw the Colosseum where I couldn’t help but think of all the martyrs who gave their lives there.  It was sobering and one of those re-calibrations in life that must forever change you or be pushed far back in your mind in hopes of being forgotten.  Paletine Hill and Old Rome with the remnants of Herod’s palace and other such ancient history.  Also the Mammertine Prison where Paul was kept down in the hole while a prisoner.  It all seems not so long ago when you can touch the very stones that they touched.

The ceiling of the Pantheon - one of the Seven Wonders of the World - like 80 feet across at the dome's hole.

The hallway to the Sisteen Chapel (you aren't allowed to take pictures of Michael Angelo's work inside)

The stairway in the Vatican Museum - a long spiral ramp.

The Colosseum.

The lower part was under a floor and the animals and captives were kept in compartments there.

Umbrella Pines were planted by the Romans to shade soldiers as they marched.

The hole Paul was let down through and kept in as prisoner in Rome.

Somewhere in there we all split for lunch.  I went with Pr. Kelly and ate a Turkish doner (a falafel sandwich with shredded cabbage and pickles and ?); it was cheap, and a LOT of food, and I have thought of them many times since then!  We saw the Vatican Cathedral just as the Pope was leaving in his car.  He’d had some speech earlier that day.  I got a far-off picture.  The statues on top of the Vatican Square walls were amazing to me!  Such craftsmanship - in stone!  

Lisa and Rachel went home and the rest of us went on “the night walk” to see certain things lit up.  The weather was perfect and it was so beautiful.  We ate at an Italian restaurant that was very expensive, but worth the experience.  The pasta and boletus mushrooms with garlic was so good!  And we tried several kinds of cheese on their yummy bread.  The waiter didn’t speak English, so Yissy spoke spanish with him and we got along OK.  We walked some more places and got a little lost : ) and finally got back at 12:30pm.  I wasn’t told that we were supposed to keep our room keys (which normally get turned into the nuns when you leave the premises).  So I couldn’t get into my room!  I slept on the girls floor on three blankets.

Arrived early in the morning and navigated from the plane to the train connection with our strong men throwing the luggage into the train compartment just in time!  At Termini (the main station in Rome) we tried to get a taxi to haul all our luggage to the convent we would be staying at, but the driver started the clock as soon as Pr. Kelly started talking and we were up to 9 Euros before we even got the luggage in (and it would be a two trip affair!).  So, plan B, we walked and hauled all our luggage with us down the cobblestone streets of Rome.  Pr. Clark stayed with the second load of luggage for an hour as we tried to find our way and get back to him (and he was needing a latrine the whole time - and we thought our missionary sacrifices were over when we got to the western world - nope!)

View of the Alps from the plane.

The girls stayed in this pretty room in the convent.  So luxurious after India!

The convent seemed like a palace after India!  It was so clean!!!  And it was pretty and had real beds and facilities and glass in the windows.  The air in Rome smelled fresh and even though we couldn’t understand the language the culture was mostly familiar.  The nuns at the convent were friendly (except the matron) and we couldn’t help but feel like we had stepped into the “Sound of Music” movie.  We quickly cleaned up and headed out to see as much as we could see.

Pr. Kelly has been here before and had the maps and metro tickets in hand.  Off we went on a whirlwind tour of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Meuseum, another famous cathedral, and Trevi Fountain...  Somewhere in there, we ate pizza (at a Russian pizza joint, much to our chagrin).  We saw a lot, and again it felt like a dream.  I never thought I would be here!  We got home at 10pm, just before the nuns closed the doors.  The grumpy matron wouldn’t let me sleep on the floor, insisting that 5 girls in one room is too many.  (probably they needed us to pay for another room)  Lisa wanted to stay with the girls, so I was whisked off to my own room, Santa Monica #315.  All of these rooms shared bathrooms with the others in their hall, and it took me a while to find one in this new area.  It took me even longer to find my way to everyone else the next day - the hallways were a maze!  But I was so tired I didn’t mind being shuffled off.

Someone confessing their sins to a man in a booth.

A gorgeous cathedral - I saw so many I can't remember which one this is : (

Everything was so clean and pretty.

Little cafes were tucked into every nook and cranny.

The Pizza place.

The top part of Trevi Fountain (people's head were in the way for the rest).

Smart cars are extra smart for these narrow roads in Italy!