I write this as I sit in the doorway of our balcony. there isn't internet on this side of the apartment, but I can still type, and then go back to the other side of the apartment to actually post it. It just seems so much more romantic to be sitting on a balcony writing than sitting in our internet/entrance room... The sounds of the city sound so busy! just like I have been for the past few days. although I haven't really found a need to be writing that much about it. I just thought I'd keep you up to date, and since we don't have to do anything this morning and no one is awake yet to go anywhere with me, I thought I'd spend some time right now. On sunday we went to church. it really wasn't that far away from our apartments, although we had to take the metro and a bus to get there still. It didn't seem far, especially in comparison to where we went that evening. But at the Rome 1st ward, I think the missionaries were a little shocked and very excited to see all of us come up right before church started. I had already resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to understand basically anything of what was going on, but one of the missionaries was Rachel's friend from back home and so he knew english as well. They got out a bunch of head sets for all of us and then translated Relief Society, tried to translate Sunday School, and translated almost all of Sacrament. I say almost all because there were a few times in the second talk where the microphone cut out and we missed some of what was being said while they tried to figure out the problem and put more batteries into them. Even with that going on though, I still feel like I got a lot of the gist of what was being said all throughout the meetings. especially when everyone was chatting before Sacrament meeting and the bishop got up and said something about the music. I've been in enough wards to know he was asking us to be quiet and listen to the music before the meeting started. The one thing I noticed most prominently during all the prayers being said was their gratitude that a Rome temple was being built. it made me realize just how lucky I am in Arizona and Utah to have so many temples around and available all the time. But it also reminded me that we weren't going to see the temple site as a group, so I wanted to go see it and I figured it would be a good sunday afternoon activity. I was not alone in thinking it was a good sunday activity, but no one else wanted to go in the afternoon, so I pushed back when I would go til later in the evening, against my better judgement. we were going to leave at 5, or was it 6, to give us plenty of time to find it while the sun was still up (the sun doesn't set til about 8:15 here) but we pushed it back for a girl in the group who was trying to find where to fix her camera because she took it to the beach on our free day and got sand in it. by the time we finally got on our way, I was slightly annoyed but still optimistic that we would see the site. we were told that there is nothing much to see and there are high fences all the way around it, so we would have to go to the second story of the Ikea next door to see it. we were given a bus number that went in the direction that we wanted, but we didn't know exactly when to get off and we didn't have a bus map or a map of the area so we could know where we were going very well. We thought, and after we asked some missionaries who got on the same bus as us, that we would see the Ikea and know when to get off. however the bus didn't go past the Ikea, and so we rode all the way to the end of the line and then had to ride back a little ways to get off and walk towards where we wanted to be. luckily we found the road we wanted quite easily, but it didn't have anywhere to walk along side it, so we had to walk on the shoulder of the road while cars zoomed past us. it was scary, but it wasn't even the worst part. once we got to sidewalk that lead us straight to the freeway, with the Ikea and what appeared to be a mall on the other side of it. with no way to get across. so we split up into groups based on which direction along the freeway we thought would take us there. I went with a group one way that took us through the parking garage of the mall, and then one of the girls had to use the restroom so we walked through the mall following the signs for the bathrooms. that mall was ginormous! there were seriously 4 levels at least, and there were wide walkways and so many people! I was shocked and amazed at how large it all was, but as we were walking to the bathrooms we saw signs that pointed to Ikea. since we had been told that we could see the site from there we went to Ikea to find it. Ikea doesn't have windows to the outside world. we seriously looked along every inch of that wall, and there were no windows. I was getting tired, discouraged and just wanted to go home. so I sat down on a couch to wait for them to finish their search, and two other girls sat down with me, we thought they were going to come back for us, but they didn't so we finally realized how hungry we were and went to the mall to find a food court and eat. we had pizza (huge shocker there, right?) and then went to find a bus station. I was goign to take one bus to the other one we took all the way up to the area because I knew there was a bus that went that way. But when we asked the security guard for directions, he pointed us to an entirely different bus. we were a little nervous wondering where that went, but when we got the stop, there were many other people there and someone mentioned Termini, which is where we wanted to get to. so then I wasn't worried any more, and the other girls were trusting my judgement. I guess I've sent off the vibe that I know how to get home. I'm a homing pigeon! but seriously, it works we were one one bus, off and immediately on another one that took us to the metro stop, and then walked home and got in by 11. we wondered where the other girls had gone, but we figured they could probably get themselves home. they did, but not til at least midnight. They traced our steps back excatly, and then waited for an hour for a bus to come by and pick them up. and they had adventures coming home on the bus itself, but that's their story, so I won't tell it here. so, huh, I guess it was saturday when we went to St Peter's Basilica, and it was really pretty. it's in the Vatican City, so we had to go through security to get in. I guess they dont' want anyone to kill the pope. but we had to put our bags through the x-ray scanners and they definitely didn't catch the pocket knife I had in my purse. The church was pretty awesome and the statues and paintings were gorgeous. but my favorite part was going into the prayer room and just sitting there and enjoying the quiet and incense was pretty incredible. Then we went down into the underneath of the church where ancient churches and graves were. There is supposed to be St Peter's grave down there, although the bones aren't in the grave. there is a box of bones in the wall, and because Peter was crucified upside down and there is a tradition that his feet were cut off and lost, the bones in the box have no feet and they think it is Peter. There were a lot of Roman graves and sarcophagi down there that were really cool to see, as well as a lot of early Christian graves. The only annoying part was they had to keep it so humid down there that it was nearly unbearable to be down there for too long. and the tour guide had a very thick accent, so it was a little difficult to understand him. I think if we had been able to understand him better all of the time it would have been even more interesting. but you either had to be focusing on what he was saying, or looking at all the sights. it was hard to do both at the same time. yesterday we went to the Vatican Museum. It was really pretty, but there were just so many things to look at it was hard to take it all in! My favorite part was the Greek pots and the Roman statues. I took so many pictures of those, and I wasn't really in any of them. but there were plenty of other things that were awesome as well. We got to see Raphael's School of Athens fresco. I grew up on that painting (I remember Mr. Vierra talking about it in 7th grade Ancient History) so seeing it in person was a highlight of the day. We also saw the Sistine Chapel ceiling. it wasn't as great as I thought it would be though. when I remember seeing pictures of God and Adam almost touching (I don't remember what that's called) I always think of it in somewhat vibrant colors. it's not. Everything is very pastels and light, which works for a ceiling because you don't want something dark that would brink the ceiling down, and it is not supposed to detract from the purpose of the chapel: worship. But I was seriouslly expecting a little more. although, after staying in there for 40 minutes, I did begin to like it better. so it grows on you, but the initial is just not as jaw dropping as I thought it would be. Last night we went out to eat dinner and I finally ordered something other than pizza for the first time. I ordered gnocchi! it was good, but I am not sure I liked it as a meal. I would have preferred something with more sauce or more meat. different flavors. But we also decided to get dessert, and I don't remember what it's called, but it was seriously one of the best things I've ever had! it was light and creamy and mixed well with the chocolate that was drizzled on top of it. man, if I could have some more of that right now, I would in a heartbeat. But I think the best part about the whole meal is the fact that we were flirting outrageously with the waiters the whole evening, so when they finally brought out our check (we had to specifically ask for it even though we were the only ones around. I think they wanted us to stay til they got off work) they said it was actually 10 less than it said on the paper. maybe they were picking up the rest, but whatever it was, we were all super grateful for it! they even asked us to go dancing with them, and we said maybe, but we didn't really want to. I guess we should have said no, but no one really wanted to say no to them. they were so cute! especially the one who couldn't speak english. his buddy would tell him phrases to say and he would be so embarrassed to try and say them. but I definitely know the feeling. and that's basically what I've been up to til now. We still have a few hours this morning to go do something, but I don't know if we actually will, or what we will do since no one had any clue what they want to do. I'm kinda rooting for Saint Angelo's Castle. it looks like it could be really cool, but only if we make it there in time to be back by 2:30 this afternoon. then we are going to Capitoline Museum as a group this afternoon. I'm starting to have so much fun I don't know if I actually want to leave Rome! although I can't wait to meet my host mom and get started with actual classes. Prof. Stanford has given us a few assignments to do now and I need to get those done before next monday, but I don't want to get them done yet. they'll get done before next monday. :) off to the Museum of Modern Art!