This week (particularly the weekend) was FANTASTIC. If I went into detail on every great experience that I had, this blog would take at least an hour to read. However, unfortunately I can only pick one best moment. (FYI: The runner up best moment was mass inside St. Peter's Basilica, which means this one is pretty darn awesome). It is Thursday night, and I am heading back to the Duquesne campus after an already fantastic evening, starting with a field trip to the beautiful church of S. Cecilia (there is a church involved - now I know its going to be good). The field trip included going to see the tomb of S. Cecilia. One of my favorite saints, and the patron saint of music, I was gracious that I had the chance to honor her miraculously preserved body. Pray for us S. Cecilia. This experience is only heightened by the fact that I turned in a major paper and finished my major presentation during that same class, under the protection at S. Cecilia. I'm at a very good mood, and a beautifully amazing dinner with my professor and some white chocolate gelato caps the day off perfectly.
Relieved from the release of all major stress of projects and papers, I nearly skip back to campus out of happiness. The memories of delicious food lingering on my tounge, plus the anticipation of a relaxing weekend in Rome gives me a level full of happiness . Little did I know that the best was yet to come. Walking into the campus, I habitually sign in and begin to walk past the front desk when one of my friends stops me. "Hey Jen, you have some mail!" Mail? Me? I am handed a large white envelope with my name printed on it. Not even opening it yet, I am bursting with pure joy. A letter from America. YES. I try to open up the letter the second I have it in my hands, but I unfortunately have to put letter opening on hold because I cannot walk up stairs and open a large envelope at the same time. Finally coming into my room, I tear open the envelope, only to give out an audible cry, because in front of me are 10 beautiful notes from my wonderful community of friends back at Duquesne.
Wait a minute, this moment goes above mass at St. Peter's? Really? Yes it does (although again, close call), and for one of the most important reasons of all: the amount of joy that this little package gave me. Sitting down and reading all of those letters was one of the if not the best moment in Rome that has ever happened to me. I cried while reading some, I laughed hysterically for others. Just the fact that these wonderful people care about me so much as to send me letters giving me prayers and thoughts means the world to me. The feeling I had after reading all of those letters was nothing more than the highest form of joy. I was sitting in my bed at the moment, but I felt like Jumping up and down, squeeling with joy and shouting to the heavens, I could not contain the joy that overflowed in my heart. God could not be greater to give me such great friends. This feeling continued as I fell asleep that night, and was the first thing I felt as I awoke the next morning. A smile never left my face as I went throughout my Friday, as all I could think about was the words of the people that cared for me, and how much God has truly blessed my life. I cannot thank God, or my community back at Duquesne enough. They gave me the best feeling of my life, and made my week one of the best weeks ever. It was such a little thing compared to some of the great places I traveled to this week, (Note, St. Peter's, the Pantheon, and some more fantastically beautiful churches), but sometimes the little things are what make life so beautiful, and for me, all the way on the other side of the ocean, it is the best feeling to know that there are friends back in the states who care for me.
Onto my worst moment, which honestly isn't really that bad. It's just me trying coffee for the first time ever in my life.
To be fair, I did like coffee for the most part. Sitting in the cafe with my cappuccino, I am excited to try what is a necessary part to Italian culture. And I don't exaggerate. Coffee is to Italians as water is to the Mediteranian Sea. One cannot exist without it. Thus, being an international study abroad student, I want to fully immerse myself in the culture, and thus try this coffee.
At first the taste hits me like a brick wall. Now, Italian coffee is very different than in America. I am trying a cappuccino, coffee with a milky foam added to it. The norm is espresso, a very strong, completely black coffee in a small amount. However, even the weaker coffees like cappuccinos or macchiatos (coffee with milk) are stronger than coffee in America, or so I have been told. My cappuccino to me tastes so strong it almost tastes sour. Well, an added packet of sugar does the trick, as from the next sip on, the milk, coffee and sugar blend in the perfect mixture that pleases my taste buds.
So why is this a worst moment? Well, after reaching the halfway point of my coffee, I begin to feel a set of jitters running through my body. Naturally, with coffee comes caffinne, so I'm not in for anything good. The best way I can describe it is an artificial joy. It is the same feeling as I described earlier, that feeling of jumping up and down, not being to stand still and not being able to contain the feeling inside. But it's just not the same as pure joy. This feeling I wanted to go away, it was very annoying. Probably because I really had nothing I feel that I needed to be super joyful about, and I had no reason to be joyful. It was like taking a virtual tour of the Roman Forum. I still can see the same things as an actual tour, but the actual thing is ten billion times cooler. Thus, real joy, the joy that comes from say, letters from back home, is the best thing ever. In the meantime, the jitters of coffee are just painful, especially as after they go away they just cause a large headache that lasts through my trip from the cafe back to campus. Painful and not fun, I conclude my coffee experience in Italy as okay. Not great, but the taste was so good that it wasn't terrible. Take that as you will, my week was still fantastic!! Hooray for Joy!!!
Finally, Scavanger Hunt Find #8! Here is a beautiful fountain in the middle of Piazza Cairoli, near the Tiber river. Gorgeous place to relax from wandering around Rome all day long!
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