On my way home from Rome

First off, the pictures and videos will be posted here tomorrow or Wednesday.
Secondly, the Keisers are wonderful and I love Rome. It's gorgeous. (You'd have to figure that I'd love a place that has loads and loads of pasta and pizza and gorgeous churches.)
I got into Rome around 9pm on Friday night and then we went back to Santa Marinella where livest Heidi and Kevin and then they gave me pasta.
Saturday morning, Kevin and I went out to explore "profane" Rome...all the old Empire stuff. We also checked out the Mamartine (sp?) prison where Sts. Peter and Paul were held at one point. Then we headed towards the Pantheon and met Heidi who had been home resting. And we had lunch. I had mushroom and potato pizza...which was cheeseless. And then we went a-churching. We started with the Pantheon. And then we went to Vatican City so I could buy icons and rosaries before Sunday when I would be attending Mass at St. Peter's followed by the Papal Angelus where these things would be blessed.
And then we went to Trastevere to the Basilica of St. Cecilia for the Vespers in her honor. Afterwards, I was taken down to the crypt to pray before her relics. There were red carnation and white lilies in the crypt chapel and I decided that I think I want those flowers at my wedding in honor of that day. It was SUCH an amazing experience.
After Vespers, Kevin went to hang out with some friends while Heidi and I went home to make ourselves dinner and then watched Stranger than Fiction and talked for a good long while.
Sunday morning, I went to Confession (in English with an amazing little old Italian priest who speaks English) at the Basilica of St. Peter and then spent some time praying and asking various people for their intercession. For example, I was able to pray before the tomb of St. Gregory Nazianus and a few popes.
And then at 10:30 am I attended Mass for the Feast of Christ the King in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. (I'll post pictures tomorrow but it's where inspiration forthe Holy Spirit stained glass window at CTK in Ann Arbor is.) There were literally dozens of priests and 2 bishops and an amazing choir and oh it was beautiful! Tomorrow I'm going to post a video of the ending procession where you can hear the choir and see all the clergy.
I got out of the Basilica around 11:50 just in time for the noon Angelus that's led by the Pope. I also had some icons and rosaries blessed while there.
And then I met up with Heidi and Kevin and we headed off to St. Mary Major to continue my goal of seeing all four major Basilicas of Rome in one day. We didn't see Cardinal Law.
Then we had lunch (I had pesto and linguine!) and Heidi headed home to rest.
And Kevin took me to St. Paul's outside the walls, which I had been really looking forward to seeing. And it exceeded my expectations. I loved it.
Next up was St. John Lateran, which was also great. And I got to see it's amazing baptistry. And on the way there we saw some awesome Roman baths.
And then, finished with the four major basilicas, we decided to hit two other churches: Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (The Holy Cross of Jerusalem) where we saw some amazing relics and ran into some friends of Kevin's including Heidi's old roommate from her first year in Rome.
After that we went to Santa Maria in Trastevere which was gorgeous.
And then we went home to eat dinner with Heidi.

This morning, Kevin and I got up at 5:30 so I could head to the airport where my flight ended up being delayed for about an hour. And the landing on the flight was horrible
But now I'm in Barcelona waiting for my 4:50pm flight back to Bilbao. I should do some homework.

Anyway, Rome was lovely and I'll put pictures and videos up tomorrow. It was honestly my favorite city I've ever visited.
But now I must head back to Bilbao for three more weeks. I cannot wait to come home. I'm so ready for it.
21 more days............

God bless!

En route to Rome

I'm using the WiFi (wee-fee; I really did have to pay a wee-fee for this privilege to use what the Spaniards call "wee-fee") in the Barcelona airport so I can get some paper writing done while waiting for my next flight. I got up this morning at 5:45am and took the metro to the bus station to take a bus to the airport. (three forms of transit before noon...not bad at all)
My flight to Barcelona went well and now I'm sitting here waiting for my next flight which departs at 6pm local time. Two hours after that I'll be in Rome.
But right now I really should be writing about "Sin Rumbo" since that paper is due on Wednesday.

And for my countdowns!
0 days to Rome...but still about 9.5 more hours
1 day until the feast of St. Cecilia and the 45th anniversary of the deaths of JFK, Huxley, and C.S. Lewis
And I'll be home sweet home en los Estados Unidos in 24 glorious days.

Now off to righting about a man without direction and the child who gave him direction....

And the C.S. Lewis quote of the day, which I almost forgot: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’...No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it.”
(a huge thank you to Kyle's facebook page for supplying me with that one.)

All roads lead to Rome

First off, the C.S. Lewis quotation del dia: "Miracles do not, in fact, break the laws of nature."
I like that.

Yesterday I took two grammar tests in less than an hour; it wasn't wonderful. But then I got some great ideas for my essay about "Sin Rumbo" that's due on Wednesday. And I know what I'm writing my "San Manuel Bueno, Martir" essay that's for Thursday about. Unfortunately, I have to take my laptop to Rome with me so I can write essays while on my layovers. I love being a student.

Tomorrow morning, I'm flying to Rome. I'll leave Bilbao around 8:30 am and land in Barcelona about an hour later. And then I'll leave there around 6pm and get to Rome around 8pm. And there I'll be meeting Heidi and Kevin Keiser. I cannot wait to see them. I miss Heidi very muchly and I'll be staying with her (and her husband) for the weekend. I'm coming home on Monday and missing all my classes that day. Boo-hoo
This Saturday is the feast of St. Cecilia and so they're taking me to the Basilica of St. Cecilia. I'm very excited. And I'll get to see Rome. What else could a girl ask for?

Tuesday I'll post (with pictures, I promise; I'll remember my camera this time) about my Roman Holiday.
I feel like Audrey Hepburn jetting off to see the world.

Where are these kids learning these things?

This morning, Gabi and Dani came into my room to say good-bye to me before I left for school. I was in the process of French braiding my hair but definitely took the time to say "Adios" to them. And what does Gabriel say to me? "Adios, Cecilia, guapito." Guapito comes from "guapo" which means handsome. So a three-year-old tried to flirt with me. Welcome to Spain.

I have two exams tonight. Both in are advanced grammar. I could die or just start crying.

2 days to Rome
3 until the Feast of St. Cecilia and the 45th anniversary of the deaths of Aldous Huxley, JFK, and C.S. "Jack" Lewis
26 days until my return to home

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says in the end, 'Thy will be done.'"
-C.S. Lewis

Let's face it; I like the guy.

The Countdown begins

27 days to home...
3 days to Rome...
4 days to the 45th anniversary of the deaths of JFK, Aldous Huxley, and C.S. "Jack" Lewis...

So which countdown was I talking about? Wouldn't you like to know?

Tomorrow I have two grammar exams. Next week, I have two papers due and a presentation on Thursday.
And the week after that I have a presentation. I think I have two papers due as well as exams for each of my five classes the week after that. And then I'll be home free. And I'll be home on December 15.

On a pro-life note, please check out this article about Christoff Cardinal Schonborn and the population crisis in Europe.

And this is one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotations: "You don't have a Soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

Silly People

So these are my little siblings. Daniela wants me to take their picture at the end. It's only 13 seconds. But hey, you get to see them and hear her voice. And I thought it was pretty funny.

This weekend, I developed the grippe or the flu. And the family was off in Asturias so I was home alone and sick. So I called my friend Natalie and my phone told me that I was out of minutes. But somehow, Natalie got the message that I was trying to get a hold of her. And she came over to bring me Sprite and make sure that I was surviving.
And I lived.

The family got home last night around 8pm. And I wasn't dying anymore by then. So life was good.

And yes I would love some peanut butter for Christmas. But I also want a pony.

Not much to report

Sorry...my life in Spain is boring.
Dad's birthday is Sunday. But he's in the States and I'm not. So yeah, I remembered; I noticed. I win.

I'm still sick. Lovely...I need to go buy medicine.

So now I'm going to make you a list of things I miss from the States.

1. People
2. Peanut Butter
3. Oreos
4. Starbucks
5. Peanut Butter
6. UCO
7. Snow
8. Peanut Butter
9. Macaroni and cheese
10. Salsa
11. Peanut Butter

Yeah, I miss Peanut Butter. See you in 32 days.