La mia mama!

This weekend was my first trip to Rome where I went with my school and met up with MY MOM and the crew. The crew consisting of Aunt Heidi, Dana, Nancy and Coco. Unreal! Upon arriving in Rome my school group went directly to the Vatican (after stopping for a coffee break- they don't make you do ANYTHING here without a coffee break, not even a 2 hour class). Oh. My. God. It was amazing. I was absolutely floored by the Laocoon- you stumble upon it while going through a pretty courtyard and then peering around the impressive display of seemingly tropical foliage that's in bloom even in February. The Sistine Chapel was gorgeous, and so fascinating to see in person. Only downside is that in person it's so far away that you can actually appreciate the details of it better in books. But the overall impression is obviously out of this world. Saint Peter's Basilica was just wow. You're standing in the middle of this enormous space and then you're told that the arch over the altar is 104 ft high- about the height of a typical 10 story building here. What!? I live on the 5th floor and sometimes feel like I'm floating about the world. This is twice as high and is just an arch that fits INSIDE the Basilica. Outrageously large are the only words I can think of to describe that place. I think the thing that surprised me the most though was the Pieta. I'm not a very religious person and quite honestly my only beef with Florence is that sometimes I feel like I just cannot look at a another religious painting or sculpture without screaming. I almost cried when I saw the Pieta. Glass wall and 20 ft of space and all, it was such a moving experience. The pictures help but cannot even convey what it was like. Also indescribable with words or pictures is the Pantheon. It was raining when we went and you could see the rain falling through the oculus. It was so beautiful and unexpected and oddly delicate in a space that is all heavy marble and geometric perfection. And on the subject of perfection, let me describe my first encounter with the Trevi Fountain. I'm walking home from a Mexican restaurant with my friends Nancy and Rachel.I'm the epitome of content because I've just had my first good beer in a month (I finally broke down and had a Corona since we were at a Mexican place and I really couldn't stomach another bad Italian beer). It has finally stopped raining after a damp and kind of cold day. We round a corner and suddenly BAM. I'm standing face to face with the Trevi Fountain in all it's illuminated night time glory. Again, words cannot describe how beautiful it was with the light reflecting off the water and casting shadows on the statues.
To top it all off, my MOM is finally here! Well, it hasn't really been long enough for a finally but it sure seems like it. I"m pretty sick right now so she could not have come at a better time. Having everyone here is so exciting because, especially now that we're back in Florence, I get the opportunity to show people from home the new home that I've found here. Which is precisely what it felt like, returning home, after a hectic, alternately wonderful and terrible, and all around intense experience in the bustling city of Rome. Tonight my mom came to dinner at my host family's house, which was so great. I really wanted all of these people to meet because obviously my mom is integral to me and who I am, but my host family is an integral part of my experience here and the person I am becoming by living here. And as my host dad said, you haven't been fully "mom'ed" about being sick until both your real mom and your italian host mom have decided to go off about your cough/cold. But sometimes that's precisely what you need.
Buona sera a tutti!