It's been a hectic week here in the Eternal City. We met Pope Francis (although we much prefer his Italian name, Papa Francesco Primo). A really fun, historic experience. He seems like a nice, gentle guy. I'm not crazy about with the Catholic Church, but it was an incredible evening, being amongst the faithful in St. Peter's Basilica. Francesco's first words were funny: "Fratelli e sorelle ... " He paused, as if he hadn't prepared or didn't know how to go on. Then he broke into a smile: "Buonasera!" Applause!
Caitlin has a bit of a head cold, but she's already on the mend. Nothing like a day off from school to clean the apartment and plan our wedding!
Our St. Patrick's Day Gaelic Football exhibition match was a blast! It was nice to finally play an official match again. I felt much more confident in my skills compared to my first match. I even scored my very first point — kicked one through the uprights in heavy traffic. We had to recruit Australian football players to fill out the teams, and they played a bit rough. But all in all it was a great, fun match. I think my side even won.
Went to ultimate training for the first time in a couple weeks. I hadn't gone since my last tournament in Bologna. I'm having a tough time playing ultimate here ... the fun factor seems to be missing. But that's a topic for another post. In any case, I heard there was a group of Americans stopping by our training on Thursday, so I dropped by. It was a high school class field trip, from Mississippi! How wonderful to hear drawls and kids calling me "sir" and asking me if I'd lived in Rome all my life. Half of them were born in Flowood, probably the same hospital as Jack. I thought how cool it was for this group of kids to experience an authentic Roman night. There itinerary involved dozens of tours and attractions. Amazing, yes, but touristy. On this night, though, the high schoolers were playing frisbee with a bunch of Romans, having fun and laughing. It was a lovely night.
Things are good at the ESE. Finals are rapidly approaching. I have 2 final exams and 2 projects. Lots of work ahead, but I'm game.
The weather keeps teasing us. We had spectacular weather in early March, but a 2-week cold streak since. But highs in the low-60s this week!
Caitlin has a bit of a head cold, but she's already on the mend. Nothing like a day off from school to clean the apartment and plan our wedding!
Our St. Patrick's Day Gaelic Football exhibition match was a blast! It was nice to finally play an official match again. I felt much more confident in my skills compared to my first match. I even scored my very first point — kicked one through the uprights in heavy traffic. We had to recruit Australian football players to fill out the teams, and they played a bit rough. But all in all it was a great, fun match. I think my side even won.
Went to ultimate training for the first time in a couple weeks. I hadn't gone since my last tournament in Bologna. I'm having a tough time playing ultimate here ... the fun factor seems to be missing. But that's a topic for another post. In any case, I heard there was a group of Americans stopping by our training on Thursday, so I dropped by. It was a high school class field trip, from Mississippi! How wonderful to hear drawls and kids calling me "sir" and asking me if I'd lived in Rome all my life. Half of them were born in Flowood, probably the same hospital as Jack. I thought how cool it was for this group of kids to experience an authentic Roman night. There itinerary involved dozens of tours and attractions. Amazing, yes, but touristy. On this night, though, the high schoolers were playing frisbee with a bunch of Romans, having fun and laughing. It was a lovely night.
Things are good at the ESE. Finals are rapidly approaching. I have 2 final exams and 2 projects. Lots of work ahead, but I'm game.
The weather keeps teasing us. We had spectacular weather in early March, but a 2-week cold streak since. But highs in the low-60s this week!
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