GL 350; week sette

                                                      The ending is just the start of a new begining

            Wow, I cannot believe that this is the last blog I will have to do for this trip of a lifetime. This experience has been life changing and full of memories I will never forget, this is somewhat bittersweet. The memories made and the great people to have met, the humbling moments and tough learning experiences. As writing about week 7 and what we did it was definitely an amazing week filled with a day of possibly the second greatest moment of my life so far.

            The papal audience, it is where we went on Wednesday morning, bright and early. I have been excited and waiting for this for the past 7 weeks and it did not disappoint. We were less than 50yrds away from his holiness. When he walked in their was just so much emotion in the air and all around me, when he walked into the room, I got tears in my eyes, it was an amazing moment for me. That was the second greatest moment of my life so far, with the first being this Easter when I was baptized into the catholic church. A very special thank you to Danilo Mori for making that possible and being that close, I am beyond thankful and appreciative.

            As for the rest of the week we went to Nettuno, to see the American Cemetery of Italy. This was also an emotional moment, not because I had a relative in it but the emotion that grew from being an America citizen. It was amazing to see the two American flags wave proudly in the air that was just a sight in itself, for me anyway. I have never been a very patriotic person except for supporting the troops but I feel like this experience has made me grow into a more patriotic and proud American citizen. Going to that cemetery was a humbling experience, just like the Arlington national cemetery. Then, the city of Nettuno in general is beautiful, kind of like Florida, even though I have never been there. Was went to the beach for a while, the second beach I have ever been too, I can now say I have seen and been to the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea.

The Talented Mr. Ripley, what can I say about it? Well, for the first comment it surpassed my expectations because I thought it was going to be difficult to keep my attention and be a hard read but no, it was not. I loved the book, especially how in the book Mr. Ripley went to Naples and stayed in Venice for a while. I could relate with him going to Venice because I was there and seen what he saw. Now, Naples on the other hand, they talked about it being a place you could go and eat and enjoy yourself but when we visited it for a short period, it was somewhat unnerving and nerve racking because now a days it is a not so friendly and safe place. The book as a whole was good but for the ending well, I was in my room getting close to the end and Tom kept seeing or thought he was seeing police. He thought he was going to get caught, his heart was racing and he was becoming nervous and while, I was reading it I was getting excited because I thought he was finally going to get caught. Then, at the last page, he got off scotch free! I thought it was horrible because I was all ready and excited for him to get caught but he was a free man. I was an excellent book though, a really good read.

This experience, going to Rome, seeing everything that we have seen, it has been amazing. I am so thankful and grateful for this opportunity and being able to live in Italy for eight weeks. I have learned many life lessons from this trip and made memories that will last for forever. I was able to grow deeper into my new found faith, something that I had planned or at least hoped for. I was able to become a more indepenpendent, assertive , patriotic and humble person. This experience reinforced that good old saying that everything happened for a reason, like maybe I did not get into the nursing program and move to the 5 year program, so I would be able to be apart of this experience. All the readings that we have ahead to do, the blogs we have done, somehow made this trip better, I think. As for this last week, I will take in all the scenery, everything that is around me and live this last week to the fullest until that Friday morning, when it is off to America!