"Ah Ha" Moments

Have you ever seen, heard, or read something that on the surface seems to have very little potential to change the way you do or think about things but in reality it changes or enlightens your whole self? Since being in Rome, there have already been multiple occasions where this has happened to me. Because of this, I am going to make a serious of posts called the "'Ah Ha' Moments" ("Ah Ha" copyrighted by Zoe Ellen Azzi) over the semester mentioning these moments. These will not be detailed accounts of the moments, only snippets with brief commentary. Here are a few from my first 2 weeks here in Rome:

1. Acts 2:42-47

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

There is a little bit of this concept of the early church here on the Rome campus. Almost every meal is eaten together. The teachers and their kids eat with the students. There seems to be a unity among everyone that you usually don't get in a school setting. While great wonders and signs are not taking place, meals are shared, teaching is adhered to and everyone has a common goal/mind. I wouldn't call it a perfect community in a Christian sense, there are definitely signs of that here.

2. Dr. Roper, my English teacher, referred to a liberal arts education as a freeing experience. That it is intended to free you from the ideals that you grew up with. From that, two things happen. You either form a new way to look and deal with life or you come up with foundation of why you believe the things you always have. Him stating this helped me realize the time of struggles and growth I have experienced since my move to UD. Mrs. Legband once told me that I had great passions and desires to change things around me but that I had no substance to those passions. UD, I think, has helped start a foundation for my passions through the burning of a lot of chaff (which continues to this day and will continue in the future).

3. We just read Agamemnon by Aeschylus. The chorus mentions that suffering brings wisdom and that grace comes through violence. Suffering is a huge concept that Paul and Peter repeatedly exhort to their audiences, Gentile and Jews, while the grace given to us comes through the violent death of Christ on the Cross. I wonder if Paul and Peter and the Gospel writers used and focused on this terminology, especially to the Gentiles, because their audiences were accustomed to these ideas through these 4th and 5th century B.C. plays. I'm sure they were wiened on these works, especially the churches that Paul wrote too. Just a thought. I'm sure there is more to be hashed out but I've already written far to much.

More to come later, I'm sure. Sorry for the long windedness. Don't forget to check out my pictures if you want to.

-Justin

The Yellow One is the Sun

Lets go through a list of things that are normally used to help in ones navigation through a city or town:

Map
Mapsco
GPS device
Compass
An inherent understanding of how an ancient city is laid out
The sun?

This just to name a few. I'm sure there are some others that I am forgetting but I think you get the point.

On Sunday, six of us went into Rome. When we arrived into the city, three of the people made their way to St. Peters for Mass while the other three of us decided to explore a little.

As part of the exploratory group, we made the decision to try to find the Colosseum. You need to know a little bit of information before I continue. One of the difficult things about the transportation system in Rome is the metro does not run in many different directions because of the old buildings and such underneath the city you see today. Not only that, the city is not laid out on a nice square/rectangular grid like many of the modern cities of today. Also, there are rarely any signs designating which street is which. So if the metro does not run relatively close to your famous location of choice, you have to calculate precisely beforehand how to get there or you will get completely lost.

There are only 2 lines of the metro, the red and the blue. We our exploration from the red line which runs north of the Colosseum. We decided to exit the train at Repubblica thinking that it would be slightly northwest of it. We then attempted to determine, by the trajectory of the sun, our position in relationship to the Colosseum.

As you now know, the city is not on a nice and neat grid. So heading south on a street does not mean that the street will always be going south. Literally, after only a few blocks, we were headed in the wrong direction, due west(remember, going due south was imperative, not due west). But thanks to the astute eyes of Tim and Steve, we found landmarks along our misguided hike to help lead us down the correct path. While journeying west, we noticed the St. Maria Maggorie church far, far away in the distance. Also, we came to a clearing where we could see the front of St. Peters near the palace.

Thanks to the sun, and triangulating our position in conjuncture to our two other landmarks, we sojourned some more in what was now the correct direction. After only a 35 minute trek through the winding streets of Rome, we made our way to the famed Colosseum. I'm not going to lie, I felt kind of special for finding my way through the streets of Rome by using the sun and important landmarks. I guess a blind squirrel can really find a nut every once in a while.

The internet is way too slow to post pictures on the blog. So if you would like, click here to see the very few pics I have taken so far.

Lost Souls

Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.
So bitter is it, death is little more;
But of the good to treat, which there I found,
Speak will I of the other things I saw there
I cannot well repeat how there I entered,
So full was I of slumber at the moment
In which I had abandoned the true way.

-Dante

First off, I made it safe to Rome. Over the past few days, we have been immersed into orientation activities along with a few trips to Rome in between. So far, it has been a lot of fun, even in spite of the jet lag. Sadly, each time I have gone out to Rome or to some bordering town, I have forgotten my camera. But pictures will be on their way once my friends post them on Facebook. When they do, I'll post some of the good ones here.

Now, to explain the quote above. Last night, 8 of us went to a town called Albano which is about a 10 minute bus ride from campus. When we were done eating and hanging out, we waited at the bus stop for 40 minutes hoping a bus would come pick us up. I heard that the transportation system was poor but having to wait 40 minutes for a bus is plain ridiculous. So, thinking that no bus would come, we decided to walk back (about 11:00 p.m).

As soon as we began to make the trek back to campus, a fork in the road preceeded us. Not really knowing how we got to Albano, we decided to veer right. We walked, and we walked, and we walked. We were told the walk would only take around 30 minutes but an hour later, we were still nowhere near the campus. People were frustrated, annoyed, and tired as we had walked a few miles uphill in a nice steady drizzle that made us late for curfew.

At that point, a few of us thought that we figured out which way to go while the others were fed up and called a cab. Of course, me being a stubborn one, thought I had figured out the right way. So me and two others continued on the journey back to campus in the dark, cold, wet night. We walked, and we walked, and we walked---farther out of the way.

We ended up in the town of Marino around 12:45, a town 3ish miles from campus. As we stood at a foreign intersection to rest, we noticed we were right in front of a fire station. The firemen were hanging out in the window facing the street. We screamed and waved our hands like madmen hoping to get their attention. They noticed us and let us in. Thankfully one of them knew just enough English to give us directions to campus. They also made us some tasty espresso to boost our energy for the 3 mile walk to come.

On our way from Marino to campus, we walked along dark, residential roads. Dogs continually barked from inside the broken fences that "held" them in. At least one time it seemed as if a large dog was going to come roaring from the holes in the fence toward our tired bodies. Thankfully, no dogs attacked and no cars hit us as they whizzed by.

We finally made it safely back to campus at 1:20 AM, only a mere 2 hours and 20 minutes after we started the so called "30 minute" walk back.

While there was the definite frustration of being lost in a foreign place where it is a struggle to communicate with the locals, there was also some excitement and fun to the adventure of last night. Sometimes a little adventure (even if it is not intentional) can be good for the lost soul. Just ask Dante. Dante and I both decided not to stay on the easy path: for him the life of God and for me the bus or a cab. In our pride, we ended up lost only to be lead by our Virgils when we had no where else to turn. Eventually, we each make it to the ultimate and final destination of our journeys. His journey revealed the truth of God to him. But what did my adventure reveal me? Nothing really. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

-Justin