GL 350, Wk 3!

I can not believe I am starting week four of this amazing journey. It seems like I only arrived a few days ago! In my last blog I mention the confusion that Barzini and I share, I have been thinking a lot about it and have yet to wrap my head around the idea. This week was packed with tours and lessons and kept me up until the break of dawn studying once again. By Thursday evening, I was positive I had saw every church in Rome. When I glaned an the syllabus for the week to come, I realized I have not even saw half of them!

Margaret Visser writes in "The Geometry of Love," "Memory, in a church, is not only individual, but also collective: the building is a meeting place for a group of people who agree with each other in certain important respects." I could not agree more with her. It seems as if on every corner of the street there is a new church with its doors open beckoning people of all faiths to come in and admire its beauty. I am not Catholic and until I attended Walsh, I only knew a few Catholic people. I know hardly anything about the religion but when I walk into a church in Rome I feel like it does not matter whether you are catholic, jewish, or hindu everyone in the vast rooms with you are thinking the same things. It is a weird feeling, feeling so close to complete strangers.

While I was in highschool, I was very active in the Drama Club. I loved dressing up and pretending I was someone else for a few hours. There is no place in the world that I love more than a beautifully decorated stage. On the other hand, there is no place I hate more than a stage with no lights or sets. It is depressing to walk onto a stage that was once a whole new place. Visser stated in Smiles that a theatre is like a church the only difference is churches continue to "impress" others even when the lights are shut off. After visiting so many churches, I must agree with her.

I leave Rome in 34 days. It is bitter sweet knowing this information. I have fallen in love with the City and am not sure I am ready to leave it. On, the other hand I am looking forward to following a routine again and sleeping in sheets that do not give me a rash. I plan to make the next 34 days, the best of my life and living each moment to the fullest.