Irony & A Big Ole Bowl Of "I Don't Get It"

The fact that it is Friday is just a beautiful, glorious thing.  Friday never comes soon enough, now does it?  Going into the weekend, I'm sure many of you have a busy few days ahead of you. Maybe it's Christmas parties, visiting Santa, looking at all the festive lights around town, or shopping for that perfect gift for everyone on your list.  With all the hustle and bustle that comes with the holiday season, I really want to encourage you to remember why we celebrate Christmas, though. 

I know you probably think you know where I'm going with this, and you're probably half way right.  As a mom of a toddler, I'm really trying to balance teaching Chloe the real meaning of Christmas while also getting to enjoy the sparkle in her eyes that comes visiting and learning about Santa, opening presents, and all the other festivities that go along with this time of year.  It's most important to me that she doesn't just think of presents and Santa Clause when she thinks of Christmas, though. I want her to know Christ, understand that he is the reason for the season. 

Now, that brings me to some frustrations I'm fighting off this week.  I'm trying really, really hard to not find bitterness in this, but more and more, I'm learning of people around me that are atheist.  I know that the proper way to feel would be to not judge, pray for them, and just generally be a good Christian. To be honest, though, I have a really hard time respecting their choice, especially during this time of the year.  SO many of these people I see on my Facebook newsfeed preparing for Christmas. Posts about Christmas shopping, pictures of trees decorated to the nth degree, all the basics of the Christmas season, and I just don't get it.  What is the point of Christmas when you take Christ out of it?  It basically makes for a holiday filled with meaningless presents and a bunch of festive hoopla with no true reasoning.  I can't help but letting it anger me a bit.  WHY do you participate in a Christian holiday if you aren't a Christian? It really borders on disrespectful.  It would be like me participating in Hanukah for eight days of presents.  Wouldn't that likely offend the Jewish community? So, why have we Americanized Christmas rather than Christianized it? It's become more of a cultural tradition than a recognized religious day.

I guess non believers celebrate just because it's a societal norm, but as I sit here trying to explain the meaning of Christmas to Chloe, I just don't understand. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND. I don't understand their lack of faith, I don't understand how people can surround themselves with others celebrating the birth of their savior and go along with it like they're there for the right reason.  It's something to think about... 

I'll leave you with this.  I saw this on Facebook this morning and found it poignant to wake up to after laying in bed for a good hour last night pondering the irony of Christmas for non-believers. 

 

Till next time,

 

Lori

Vatican City (Day 3)

So, this little trip to Rome I took was a quick one. Two days in flight, three days on ground.  Day three was my last day touring Rome.  It didn't start off too exciting, though. I went to Rome with a group of teachers to be trained and get prepared to travel with my students overseas in March.  Day three was scheduled to be a training day with a little adventure to Vatican City in the afternoon.

Therefore, after another morning of a breakfast that was definitely lacking Americanization, we all headed for the most oddly laid out training room ever.  The room had two large square pillars placed in the center of the room, one about 1/3 of the way into the room and the other about 2/3 of the way into the room.  They provided a lovely block from being able to actually SEE the presenters.  Depending on where you sat, you could have been staring at a pillar for five hours.  AND, not just that, but the pillars were mirrored. So actually, depending on where you sat, you may actually be staring at yourself for five hours!  To top it off, this training was done with no tables to take your notes on or rest your body on, just chairs, straight back, uncomfortable, no arm rest chairs....for FIVE HOURS.  It was less than pleasant.  I guess I can't complain too much, though, seeing as how our training was in ROME.

Once the training was finished, we ate lunch and headed out to Vatican City.  I was super excited.  This was the part of the tour I was the most stoked for.  We were scheduled to tour the Vatican, visit the Sistine Chapel, and of course, end our time in the Vatican City with a tour of St. Peter's Basilica. 

Let me tell you, it did not disappoint.  The Vatican is so full of history, culture, and art. Oh, the art...it was like an art hoarders dream. 

The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking to say the least.  It was painted by Michelangelo from 1508-1512.  Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope to basically cover the walls in pictorials of events from the Bible.  Much of those four years, Michelangelo spent on his back painting the ceiling.  The ceiling is divided up into 33 different frames, each illustrating scenes from the Old Testament. It is said that once completed, Michelangelo threw his paint brush on the Pope's desk and told him that he was done, he would never paint again. And, he didn't...for 25 years. Honestly, I don't blame him. Look at how much work went into painting the Sistine Chapel!

From the amount of people piled into this one small chapel shoulder to shoulder with little room to walk or move around, to the breathtakingly beautiful masterpieces painted by Michelangelo surrounding you in every which direction you look, the Sistine Chapel is truly a "must visit" experience. I was the most awed by Michelangelo's depiction of The Last Judgment.  This piece of art depicts the second coming of Christ on the altar wall.  It was not part of the original paintings done by Michelangelo, though.  Twenty five years after completing the ceiling and sides of the Sistine Chapel and vowing to never paint again, in 1535, Pope Clement VII  was able to commission Michelangelo to return to the Sistine Chapel to paint the resurrection on the altar wall.  However, soon after, Pope Clement VII died and his successor found The Last Judgment to be a more appropriate choice for the wall. I stood staring at the wall for what seemed like forever; it is so full meaning, symbolism, and Michelangelo's personality and feelings about what was going on in the world around that time in history.  Sadly, photography is strictly forbidden in the Sistine Chapel, but here are a few of the paintings I was most taken by.

        

Of course, this is The Last Judgment.  Let me be the first to say, I am in no way an art connoisseur or even a huge fan of most art, but this is just beautiful.   If you're a Christian, take a minute to look up the symbolism Michelangelo put into this depiction.  There are pieces all over this painting that, unknowing, mean nothing at all but knowing what they are and why they're there makes it such an interesting piece of work.  Did you know Michelangelo's own face is in this painting???  Did you know there's a man with donkey ears?

 

This is the ceiling of the chapel.  The nine large scenes along the middle of the ceiling are from the book of Genesis, depicting the creation.  Along the outer edges are pictorials of prophets, scenes from the salvation of Israel, and pictorials of other important figures from the Bible. 

 

 

Following our visit to the Sistine Chapel, we were led into St. Peter's Basilica. 
 

 

St. Peter's Basilica is on the grounds of where the first apostle, Peter, was crucified and buried.  The Basilica is considered one of the holiest sites for the Catholic community, houses the tombs of countless centuries worth of Popes, and is the Pope's principal church.  Also built in the 1500s, many famous artists/designers, including Michelangelo and Rafael, can lay claim to different pieces of artwork and design in the basilica.  The basilica houses items such as:

 

The Pieta: Before Michelangelo was a well-known, highly regarded painter, he worked fixing sculptures who had fallen victim to the hands of time.  In 1499, the Pope at the time saw the talent Michelangelo possessed and requested him to create a sculpture for him of the Virgin Mary cradling her crucified son.  This was the result.  It is such a powerful piece of art; literally, The Pieta brought tears to my eyes.

 

Below St. Peter's Basilica is a crypt, housing the tombs of previous Popes.  However, any Pope who is declared a Saint is actually buried within the Basilica itself with an alter before it.  Recently, Pope John Paul II joined the ranks of those declared Sainthood, and this altar, at the foot of his tomb, is currently one of the most visited sites in St. Peter's Basilica. 
 

There are also several past Popes entombed in glass caskets.  Pope John XXIII rests in this case.

 

Beneath this altar is said to be the burial place of the first apostle, Peter.

 

This is the work of Rafael, titled The Transfiguration of Christ, and was painted between 1516-1520.  Rafael died in 1520 and the painting was left unfinished.  It is housed above a tomb in the basilica.



 

The central dome over the altar was designed by Michelangelo.  However, he did not live to see its completion.  Nonetheless, it is a work like no other.



 

My visit to Vatican City was definitely the highlight of my time in Rome.  It brought tears to my eyes on several occasions, and I can now cross a very big item off my bucket list.  How will I ever top visiting the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica?  In March, when I venture into Paris and London with 23 kids in tow, I am certainly going to try!

 

Till next time,

 

Lori



When In Rome (Day 2)

Ah, day two. After being up for almost 48 hours, sweet sleep was welcomed.  I woke up on day two feeling energized, renewed, and ready to explore everything Roman.  While getting ready for the day, I encountered a small issue, though.  My flat iron, my most prized "getting ready for the day" tool, decided to up and blow up on me. Warned about the higher voltage in Europe, before I left, I ordered one of the nicest, priciest voltage converters I could find off of Amazon.  I mean, a girl's got to have good hair, so having a converter was a must.  Excited to make myself look presentable [remember, I was coming off of a 48 hour stint of wearing the same clothes, makeup, and having my hair on the top of my head], I plugged my flat iron into my voltage converter and proceeded to start putting my makeup on.  A few minutes into creating my masterpiece, complete with under eye bag coverage, I hear what sounds like a light bulb popping. You know, how they sound when they go out.  I walked into the hotel room to check out where the sound came from and was greeted with the aroma of burned up electronics.  Specifically, my precious flat iron. It was a goner. No amount of CPR was bringing it back to life. Saddened, and not looking forward to any more bad hair days, I went back to getting ready, trying to figure out how in the world I was going to make this mop of hair I have look decent.  The answer came in the form of a pony tail for three days. Three days of selfies with pony tails. :/ #bummer

Now, we've all heard the phrase "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," but I never really realized until day two just how true that statement is.  I travel a decent bit, but I will be the first to say that I am truly a spoiled American girl.  So, when I went down to the continental breakfast area only to be greeted by the looks of sweet bread, deli meat, cheese, and pomegranate juice, I must say, I reacted like a typical American.  [Insert nose in the air here.]  Where are the eggs, Fruit Loops, orange juice, toast, bacon...OATMEAL?!?  Breakfast was hands down my least favorite meal of the day during my time in Rome.  Every morning I would walk down hoping for something different that day only to be met with the same sweet bread, deli meat, cheese, and pomegranate juice as the day before. 

Never fear, though! I wasn't going to let breakfast get me down. It was day two, I had energy, and we were going to see the Colosseum and Forum! 

I was in awe of the Colosseum.  Built between 70 and 80 A.D., to think that the Romans were able to create something so architecturally advanced and beautiful is amazing.  The Colosseum

was built by the emperors of the time with the purpose of providing entertainment and enjoyment to the Roman people.  It could hold approximately 70,000 people. Think about it. AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, holds around 80,000 people, yet the Colosseum was built almost 2000 years ago!  It was used for gladiatorial contests, animal hunts, executions, reenactments of famous battles, and for dramatic mythological performances.  Here are a few pictures I took while I was there.  Obviously, time has not been kind to the Colosseum, and it is definitely showing its age, but for being almost 2000 years old, the structure itself is in amazing condition.  The Romans were impressive architects!

        

After visiting the Colosseum, we continued our tour moving into the Roman Forum which was directly next to the Colosseum. The Forum is an area that houses the ruins of ancient Roman governmental buildings and during its heyday was the center of Roman life.  It was the place of elections, trials, and commercial business.  Today, in 2014, it looks something like this.

These doors are over 2000 years old! Talk about standing the test of time. AND, the lock still works!

Following our morning tour of the Colosseum and Forum, with extremely loud bellies [remember breakfast?], we were released for seven hours of on foot free time.  First stop, FOOD!  Now, let's talk about the food in Rome. You have two choices, pizza or pasta. Or, pizza and pasta. That's it.  Seriously.  Honestly, though, I was so hungry that day, that they could have given me dirt to eat and it would have been delicious. 

Maybe it's my lame sense of humor, but when reading over the menu, I came across this and it gave me a chuckle. Fish...poisson? Maybe that's why I don't like fish. Oh, and did you notice the third menu item?  Grilled dory fish?!? Don't eat Dory! She's special!

After refueling, we headed out in pursuit of the Galleria Borghese which was supposed to be somewhere on the grounds of Villa Borghese.  Villa Borghese is like Rome's version of Central Park. It's huge, beautiful, and full of winding pathways for you to get lost and turned around on. Did I mention that the walk there was uphill and full of stairway after stairway?  Did I mention it was miles away?  Miles and miles of uphill, stair filled treachery.  Let me be the first to say, there was absolutely no guilt in the carbs I ate that day at lunch. Nor was I guilted by inhaling that treasure of a Snickers I found in a remote store while perusing the streets. Getting back to Villa Borghese, though, it was seriously a beautiful park,  complete with a fabulous view of the city.  Here is the Galleria Borghese. It houses many famous pieces of art.  The Borghese namesake can be found all over Rome. Consider them the Kennedys or the Trumps, if you will, of Rome. 

Galleria Borghese

During those seven hours on foot, I'm pretty sure we traveled anywhere from 6-8 miles; who knows, maybe more. If there was a place to see, we saw it.  If there was a street to get lost on, we did it.  We ended our free time with dinner at a fabulous restaurant, Grazia & Graziella. 

Finding our way to the restaurant proved to be another treacherous walk filled with wrong turns and less than helpful directions.  We did meet a kind man who offered to walk us to our location. Being the cynic that I am, that made me nervous.  He walked with another girl we were with and they just carried on a conversation like long lost friends. I, on the other hand, lingered behind planning my course of attack the minute he detoured us in to some dark, abandoned alley.  Maybe I need to stop watching so much Criminal Minds.  I just knew we were going to be his next victim, bait for his sick mind, and end up on the nightly news.  Much to the demise of my over active imagination, just as I had finalized my "crotch shot, boobie twist, and run for your life" plan of attack, he safely dropped us off at our desired location.  #thankthelord  

At Grazia & Graziella, the sign outside boasted they have the best staff in Rome.  We decided to put them to the test, and let me tell you, they did not disappoint! What nice people they all are!  It honestly was the first time in days that I felt like I might be at home.  The people were friendly, you didn't feel like they were judging you or sizing you up as a stupid American, and the food was delicious!  Grazia & Graziella is a must visit when in Rome, but I suggest waiting until you're feeling a bit homesick.  You will leave feeling renewed, as if you just visited a restaurant close to home.

Day two was great.  When I walked back into my hotel room, my calves were tight, my memory card full, and my eyes very heavy.  After a quick FaceTime with Chloe and daddy, it was off to bed for me.  After all, I must be reenergized for my meeting with the Pope!

Till next time,

Lori

Il Mio Viaggio A Roma (Day 1)

Last Friday, despite a crazy two days of a fevering, grumpy toddler, I packed up my carry on (which proved to be too big to actually qualify as a carry on), and set out on across the Atlantic Ocean headed for Rome.  ROME! Rome, ITALY! 

When I told my classes where I would be going, one bright student chimed in, "Rome!?! Like, as in Rome, Greece!?!" LOL! I'm pretty sure some of them were as excited as I was for this opportunity of a lifetime.  I would be traveling and touring Italy with 40 other teachers from across our great nation to prepare for our own upcoming school trips. 

Our first plane took off around noon Texas time.  By the time we landed in Rome, it was 2 am Texas time, 9am Rome time.  The plane ride across the Atlantic was an overnight flight, but I couldn't sleep at all. Like, not one bit. I watched a few movies and several tv shows, though. By the way, a word to the wise, never, and I mean NEVER, watch The Fault In Our Stars on a plane filled with 250 other passengers! It is sad, it is sappy, and you will be caught ugly faced crying. 

Thirteen hours after the take off of the first of my two flights, I finally arrived in the beautiful city.  Let me tell you, if I was to chronicle everything we did over the span of our trip, it would take hours to write. Hours that I don't have. Plus, I'm not narcissistic enough to think that you care to read that much about my adventures.  However, at the request of my students, here it goes; my trip to Rome, day one, summed up into a few paragraphs and lots of pictures.

Upon landing, all of Rome was waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed, while all of us teachers were sleep deprived and still wearing yesterday's clothes. Sleepy eyes and dirty clothes couldn't slow us down, though. I mean, we're teachers...in a city so rich in culture and history.  There was no time for naps, no time for showers. We brushed our teeth, slapped on a little eyeliner to make ourselves look alive, and hit the streets of Rome.  First stop, the Pantheon. 

 

The Pantheon dates back to B.C. times, finally being completed around 126 A.D.  It is rich in history, being used to honor the Gods, bury the most honored and revered of their times, and is now the site of masses and, of course, a tourist hot spot.  It's so crazy to walk into a building as architecturally beautiful and think that it dates back to the times of Christ and shortly thereafter.  Within the Pantheon, you can also find the tombs of many previous Roman emperors and even that of the illustrious Raphael.  I was awed.  What a way to start my trip!

After a lunch of traditional Italian cuisine, PIZZA, we headed out to do some more exploring.  Now, here's where I really must put in a disclaimer.  I learned a few things about myself on this trip. 1. I suck at speaking Italian, learning Italian, and remembering anything with an Italian name that I wasn't already familiar with.  Trying to remember the names of everything I saw was so hard for me.  That being said, bear with me.  2. Italian streets and I don't see eye to eye. They're tricky! They don't just run North/South and East/West. They do this funky looping around stuff and really mess with my inner compass.  I learned to be a follower, not a leader, while in Rome.

Directly in front of the Pantheon is the Piazza della Rotonda.  Piazza basically means "city square" in Italian, and let me be the first to tell you, Italians are very fond of city squares. They. are. everywhere.

Apparently, I was too taken aback by the hilarity of this goofy looking guy to get many pictures of the fountain that sits in the middle of Piazza della Rotonda.  However, I must say, for being up about 36 hours at this point, I don't think I look too bad!

 

  

We walked and we walked on that first day, taking in the sites and learning about this great city.  Some areas were literally straight out of a picture you'd see on a wall at the Olive Garden. Other areas, so different from what I expected.  AND, the cathedrals! Did I mention the beauty of the cathedrals?!?  I'm fairly sure that I have set foot in 90% of Rome's Catholic Cathedrals, each one beautiful and unique in its own way.

 

Let me enlarge this picture below, so you can see JUST how populated Rome is at night.

 

The last three pictures above were taken at the Spanish Steps, yet another "square" in Rome.  I knew Rome was a highly populated area, but until you set foot onto the Spanish steps at night, you have no idea just how densely populated this city of six million is. Try finding your tour guide in that crowd when he looks just like every other Italian man in Rome! 

Day one was exciting, exhausting, and even overwhelming at times. While hanging out on the Spanish Steps, Rusty was whisking my sweet girl off to the emergency clinic for her second visit to the doctor in two days. Chloe just couldn't quite seem to shake her high fever.  He was worried. I was worried.  Heck, I even threw out the idea of hopping a plane home to be with her.  There's nothing worse than not being able to be with your baby when she is sick.  Overall, I'm glad I didn't catch the first plane home, but boy did I feel terrible for jet setting it across the world and leaving my sick girl at home without her mommy. :(

 

Tomorrow, I will chronicle day two in Italia where we took in the sites and sounds of the Colosseum, the Forum, and walked about eight miles of uphill, step filled treachery to see every last nook and cranny of this great city.

 

Till tomorrow,

 

Lori