Greetings from Assisi!

My first week in Rome has flown by, and I am already living in a new city for the next month to study Italian. I enjoyed my time in Rome, but it went by too quickly. The first week was filled with getting settled into my new room, meeting the men I will be studying with for the next few years, and trying to see Rome. The seminary provided guided tours everyday which let me learn things about these places that I never would have known if I was walking through it myself. Our first trip was to San Lorenzo where St Laurence, St Stephen, Justin Martyr, and Pope Pius IX were buried. Pope Pius founded our college in 1859 which is why our first pilgrimage was to this church. Over the next few days I was able to wander through many churches, and walk beside the Coliseum and other ruins. We also took two day trips outside of Rome. The first was to a little town called Bracchiano. This town had a perfectly preserved castle which we explored. After that we travelled down to a beautiful lake where I spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing on a paddleboat which we rented. Our other day trip was to a town called Orvieto. It is famous because of the relic held there from a Eucharistic Miracle where the Eucharist bled onto the altar cloth. The main church in Orvieto has one of the prettiest facades that I have ever seen.

Now I am in Assisi until the end of August. The town is beautiful, and I know that I will enjoy my time here. I am only in my second day of class, so I would ask for your prayers that my Italian continues to improve. I will send more pictures of Assisi later, but I thought I would tell you the story of our arrival to Rome. The seminary told us to bring fans along because of the heat. The hotel sent a van to take some of our luggage, but we got to make a grand procession through town holding our fans which got a lot of laughs from the locals. Until next time, pace e bene.

I made it to Rome!

I made it to Rome safe and sound. God does have a sense of humor however. The fun started when my flight from Houston to Newark was pushed back. I ended up barely making it to Newark in time to get on the flight for Rome. Once I was on the plane, I was able to play the fun game of guess who is a seminarian. Unfortunately, 10 of the guys missed the flight and didn't make it into Rome until much later. Once I got in the plane, I found out that my chair couldn't recline. I wasn't able to sleep much because of that, so I was a zombie when I finally made it to Rome. It was not until I went to get my baggage that I found out my baggage didn't make the plane to Rome. I hope that it shows up soon, but I'm not betting on it. I still find it hard to believe that I am actually in Rome. Tomorrow we begin to go tour some of the things in Rome, so I will try to take some pictures.