Vatican City, the size of a golfcourse

On Sunday, I visited the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. According to the tour guide, 900 people live there with 2,000 commuting every day for work. A question I posed to my uncle was; if you are born in Vatican City, what is your nationality? Are you officially Italian or what do you call yourself, A Vaticaner? Vaticanian? I truly have no idea and what I find in google states there is none. Lame. Vatican City is also called the "Holy See" which is a little too big-brotherish for me but I guess when you're a country with over 1 billion people hanging on your every word you can call yourself whatever you want. 

Since my trip was so short we packed a TON in 2 days! On Sunday I had a flight back to Spain at 6:20pm so bright and early, we headed to the Vatican to take a tour with a great guide we had met the day before. I have about 100 places I consider must sees in my life but if I had to narrow it down to 5, one is absolutely Vatican City! Again, my family was INCREDIBLE to allow me to come with them on this trip and include me with them on the tour. What an amazing place!! I read the books by Dan Brown and I really wish I would have reread them before going because you walk into the square and you cannot help but gape in awe. You are standing in one of the most important areas in the world for Catholics and regardless if you are one or not, it’s a spectacular sight. It certainly didn’t disappoint and I loved thinking of all the historical moments that occurred in the exact same place I was standing.

 Our tough guide explained how it would take 8 ½ days to see everything in the museum/church if you spent only a minute on each piece of art so he was great at pointing out the really important stuff. In my opinion, having a guide can really enhance a trip and I think the people who explain art in museums should be given their own statue. I love going to museums but sooo much more when I have someone with a little more knowledge than me of the art world. (That basically means any knowledge...at all.) For example, I have been to the world famous Prado Museum twice in Madrid and right when you step in it’s like an automatic intelligence boost. I swear you just FEEL intellectual. The first time, 

 went with my roommate who doesn't speak English. He did his very best to explain to me what things meant but at that point I was at the REALLY basic level of Spanish and what I heard was a whole lot of words followed by "entiendes?" asking me if I understood. So basically, I was left to decipher the paintings for myself. For anyone interested in my knowledge of the fine arts I will sum it up for you. These are the key phrases that if asked, I could confidently state;

That is a brilliant blue. Blue is my favorite color.

He looks real. You can see all his muscles!

This is a really unique piece (code for I don’t get it.)

I bet there are a lot of layers of paint on that one.

I love this! The shadow is doing something really cool.

(someone states something…) “yeah, I agree”

Now, round 2 I went with my friend Lizzie who was an art student from the U.S and I cannot BELIEVE how the same exact artwork looked so different. I learned the meaning of hand placement, light, types and styles from different eras as well as how politcal art can be. Art is amazing when you are with someone who A. you understand and B. doesn’t limit her own attempts at art to stick figures with triangle skirts to show the difference between boys/girls or if feeling REALLY creative, adds eyelashes (We all have our challenges and yes guys, I realize this is one of mine) I envy the person who has more skill than the artist of the bathroom signs.

Carry this example to my time at the Vatican and you can see why I appreciated it so much with Anthony, the kiwi (New Zealander!) as our guide. I added a few photos as an example of some of the incredible things we were able to see. I would have taken a shot of Papa JP deuce but they waved us through that really quick so you will just have to go to Vatican City yourself to see the latest dead pope’s burial site.

On a final note, I love knowing people’s top 5 places they would go if they could pick anywhere. Leave a comment and let me know! Here are mine after conquering Vatican City;

1.New Zealand J

2. South Africa

3. Hong Kong

4. Sudan/Chad (don’t worry mom, not anytime soon)

5. Tie: Istanbul/Constantinople AND Madagascar (I just can’t pick only 5!!)

 

3 countries, 1 weekend!

So realizing I was moving permanently from the home I have known for a year known as Madrid this Sunday, I found it timely and the perfect relaxing moment (note my sarcasm please) to take a quick trip to Rome, Italy. This was ONLY made possible due to my  incredible luck of having the best Italian aunt! My relatives were on vacation and finishing their Italian tour in Rome where they generously offered me a place to stay with them! Que Suerte! Figuring I would never be able to afford Rome on my own at the moment AND being able to see famil

y, I went!

Definitely a great decision. I wish I always had a personal translator for any language I didn’t know because it makes everything so much easier! Having her + Rick Steve (great travel books for any country) made my trip amazing. I am a huge history nerd and standing in spots where Ceasar and St. Peter and hundreds of others who made their impr

int in history at one point in time stood was amazing.

 Day one started with me finding my way to the hotel and arriving early. I dropped my stuff off at the front desk after watching a quick Italian drama unfold where a woman returned to the hotel literally swaying around the room. I thought she had heat stroke but turns out you should never assume! When she finished her one act play, the front desk attendant informed me she had been up allll night due to a moquito that had been preposterously allowed to enter her hotel room. As a result, she had to come back early from her sightseeing excursions to share her misery with us as well as lament on the fatigue she had to endure. I loved that the guy shared all this with me! What a treat to walk into your hotel and the entertainment is FREE. After her debacle/my "Real World; Old lady in Rome," I decided what better thing to do in Italy than eat! If you have ever read Eat, Pray, Love, it is an incredible book beginn

ing with a women’s trip through Italy in search of the pleasure found in the world’s greatest food. She writes how she asks the locals to tell her where the BEST food is regardless of location or “touristic interest” and with this knowledge, winds up traveling all over to these hole-in-the-wall locations sampling food God probably cooked himself. Completely inspired and with this in the back of my head, I decided I was going to do the same. I got out a map anticipating a great walk to someplace really out of the main area to sample “Italy’s finest.” Weirdly enough, according to the desk attendant, I was in luck! The BEST food “just happened” t

o be located across the street from the hotel and “just happened” to be owned by his good friend Mr. Omar and he "just happened" to have a pre-written card to provide a discount for the patrons of this hotel. Hmm…I guess I should also mention that this man said he went there every day for lunch and while it was a little pricey, I am taking a WIIILD guess that the best restaurant in Italy also “just happened” to provide his food for free. I graduated with a business degree so excuse the dripping sarcasm but this sounds like an inside deal if I ever heard of one!

However, I can't complain. Mr. Omar was a good guy and after being overwhelmed by the amazing pastas on the menu, I decided how could I not order the Stozzapreti, funghi procini i gamberetti (make sure you say it like Mario would from the Mario Brothers) which underneath in perfectly written English explained the meal translates to “choke the priest” pasta with mushrooms and shrimp. Awesome. I am so confident with my decision that I closed my menu and waited for Mr. Omar. Here my social skills take a big hit. RIGHT before he comes to my table he seats two men directly to my left. This would not be a problem if one of these men was not dressed in his priestly finest complete with gorgeous white choker and shiny God shoes (it sounds better than lace-ups) Uh…I have never ordered something in a complete whisper in my life. I am in Rome for an hour and I am already scandalizing myself in the eyes of 

the church. Of course, when you speak quietly as I should know, the waiter repeats your order loudly and clearly to make sure he/she understands. I seriously felt like I might be moving waaay down on the "your coming up" list but when I tried that pasta, it was amazing!!! I recommend choke the priest to anyone and everyone who ventures to Italy where it is made fresh and the noodles are NOT premade! Hopefully your luck will be better than mine and you won’t have continuous looks from the table next to you as you pretend you don’t understand the significance of “choke” with “priest.” Oops.

 

I attached some a quick video of my cousins, aunt and I at the Trevi Fountain and pictures as we toured the Coliseum (Fact of the day: When asked what is the top things to see in Europe, the Coliseum comes in 2^nd…can you guess the first?)

 

If thats lucky...

Today I quite possibly became the luckiest girl in Madrid. I'll explain; apparently there is a saying that if you get crapped on by a bird you are supposed to have good luck. Teaching English sidebar; Crap = "stuff" but be careful, it can also mean SHIT!" Yes, I took that verbatim from a lesson plan today about getting "stuff done."

Anyways, I am waiting for the local English second-hand bookstore to open to sell back my

 teaching books and with that money and 

generous donations from my friends and family, buy some books for the kids! As I am sitting on the bench, I literally hear what could have been a roar from the God's above my head. Well, that "roar" turned out to be a shower of shit that literally pounded the pavement in front of me like someone threw a large bucket of water over the side of their window TEN STORIES UP, no lie. Let's just say my bag, shoes, jeans and half the bench could now go back 20 years to the 80's and match the paint splattered style that I hope to God will never be cool again. That or we could have gone to Green Bay, Wisconsin where every person there has a pair of those outrageous pants in green and yellow to support their precious Packers. This was serious. Acting casual (per usual) I walked up to an elderly couple who were also waiting for the store to open and asked for some tissues. Keep in mind, I am speaking in spanish and I am so flustered I said "una pareja" pooped on me rather than "un pajero." Basically I think they thought I had just been seriously wronged by my boyfriend. Oh well.

On the bright side (right) that is the SECOND time in a month I have had a bird's poop land on me, the first being DURING a class on my head...true story. For those of you keeping track of my luckiness, add another time this year where a bird pooped on my jeans and finally several years ago while rollerblading in "mid-blade" a bird managed to find me. Seriously, I am set for life. I hope they decide to bless someone else as much as they have so kindly taken to me.

All this is before the most important part of my day and that was getting the COOLEST books for the kids in Uganda. Take a look at the pictures; I got a 3D Dinosaur book that blew me away. This book kept ME occupied for 10 minutes so I can only hope these kids will never put it down! I also believe I bought every single book with a person on the cover who was African-American (ok so that was 4 books) as I think it is important to have kids relate to characters in a story. 

I got to thinking about how children "relate" to characters in books and need role models when I started searching through the shelves for cool books to bring. I never thought about it and I bet you haven't either but next time you go to the bookstore, pretend you are shopping for a small child in Africa who has no concept of "mega-stores" or malls and relates the term fast-food to the animal he just couldn't catch for dinner. Now try picking out books that this child will find relevant, interesting, and helpful. It was a lot harder than I thought! It was a moment where I felt really grateful for what I had and I remembered all of my favorite books when I was growing up. I was obsessed with Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High, and Babysitters Club. NONE of those books have any relevance to a child's life when growing up in a developing country with relatives because he/she was orphaned due to AIDS. That was a really unexpected moment for me that I think will occur a lot more frequently once I am there when it comes to appreciating my good fortune to be born in the U.S. I guess I am the luckiest girl...

To end the post, I had my final class with the 2 cutest little kids I teach, Javi and Luisa. Luisa just turned 6 and I guess she feels that when you turn 6, you are 1. too cool for pictures and 2. much too cool for English class! Fortunately, I managed to sneak a few pictures with her in them and attached one. Their mother, Marisa has been my spanish teacher when I have time on Saturdays and I will really miss their family! Muchisimi gracias para todos Marisa y bueno suerte con tu hija "super guay"

Sinking In...

So I have what I would call pre-traumatic stress syndrome. I can't sleep and it is a struggle to be productive since coupled with lack of sleep, I feel overwhelmed! Instead of doing things like oh, deciding what I should bring and what to give away or leave for my roommates, I do things like stare at the papers on my bedroom floor and check my mafia wars page to see if I have any new "members" in my mafia. (Quick plug: if anyone is interested...addicting game, add me!) The biggest problem seems to be realizing that it is absolutely impossible to bring everything I want. Now granted, I am in a unique situation; I am not going away to volunteer only to return to all my things. I am officially LEAVING my home for the last year never to return and must decide what I am taking with me and what I will never see again.

Thoughts like this freak me out. I am a "just-in-caser," the person who keeps half a piece of two sided colored sticky paper "just-in-case" a few months from now I will want to do an activity with some of the kids I teach using said piece of paper. Well, add up about 50 of these necessary to have items and you might as well be looking at my bedroom floor with me. So that being said, I also have moments where I look around and think how incredible it is to HAVE such a problem. I am going to Uganda to help people that probably have never seen dual-sided multi-colored sticky paper (don't judge me on this one, you'd keep it too it's awesome) When I am in that mindset, a lot of my stress starts to turn into feelings of gratitude and puts me back in the place I should be; thinking about how I can help others on this trip and also to appreciate and be grateful for everything I have, even if some of it will sadly be left to my two roommates who I just can't imagine will have the same enthusiasm for half-used paper or outdated English workbooks. 

Less Than Two Months Away!

With less than two months until I land in Entebbe, Uganda for eight weeks of volunteer work, I think it is finally starting to sink in; I AM GOING TO AFRICA. A small, nagging panic invariably rises up at what appears to be scheduled times throughout my day peppering me with questions; (morning) "I hope you are ready for a busy day, you aren't going to workout today are you? NO TIME" (afternoon) "You should probably stop reading the newspaper and write down a To Do list of things you haven't done." And yes, the questions that keep me up at night; "Do you have all your vaccinations? What else do you need? How many things can ACTUALLY fit in your travel bags?" Where/what will you do with the rest of your stuff?" 

Really. I could make a list of 1,000 things I feel need to be done and yet I have to keep reminding myself, it WILL work out! I can't believe the support and the positive feedback I have had from my family and friends and when I see the overwhelming generosity both financially and with kind words and shared stories, I know I will be fine. With these amazing people in my life, how could I not? :)