Thursday was yet another beautiful day in Rome. Hotter than heck, but glorious nonetheless! I am getting some muchly needed Vitamin D. Every day has thus far been wonderful. Although I miss everyone, I do not regret my decision to take this class and experience Italy.
Yesterday, we headed to the Accent Center, where Paolo was our guest speaker. Paolo works for Caritas, a social service organization here in Italy. He works in the volunteer section of the organization. Caritas is a fantastic organization. Think of it as a version of CHUM Center, Damino, Lake Superior Community Health Center, AIDS resource center and social services all wrapped into one package. While Caritas is a Catholic organization, it is funded by donations. Employees of Caritas are not paid by the Church.
Every day, Caritas Soup Kitchen feed up to 600 people not only for lunch, but also for dinner. Food is not prepared on site. Donated food is cooked and sent to the soup kitchen. Dishing, cleaning, visiting with people who need a meal, and many other tasks are done by volunteers. Paolo said there are up to 30 volunteers working each meal. How amazing is it to think that there are sooooooooooooo many willing volunteers available to lend a hand!?!?
Caritas does more than just soup kitchens. They have health care centers for those in need. They have a beautiful house for people who are HIV positive to live in. They have a nursery for small children. They good out into the night and provide coffee and clothing to those homeless people who do not make it to the soup kitchens. Doctors volunteer their services to the health care clinics. Caritas reaches out to the gypsy camps to provide health care and mentoring for those children of gypsies. They have schools to teach Italian to immigrants. It sounds like a wonderful organization that is muchly needed in Italy.
I couldn't resist asking Paolo if they have the same shortage of volunteers as we are seeing in America. He said on average 15-20 people call a DAY asking to volunteer their time, services, make a donation of food or money. AMAZING! Caritas provides training to their volunteers for the many areas they work in. Volunteers are asked for a minimum of ONE night a week. Many do more than that, but really....one night a week. I simply cannot get over the fact that they have so many people who are willing to volunteer. I wish more Americans had that level of commitment.
Thursday afternoon, we trekked up to the Baths of Diocletian to meet Antonella again. She is an amazing guide, who has tied the subject of community health into each of our tours. During our tour of the Baths of Diocletian, she explained how in ancient days it was believed that an equilibrium between the elements (earth, water, fire, air) and the humors (black bile, phlegm, yellow bile, blood) produced health. They also believed that there was a link between good health and virtue. Health issues have been around much longer than one has ever thought of.
Our next stop was the Forum. But first, Antonella walked us back down the hill and brought us to Sicilian Caffè-Pasticceria 'Dagnino'. Dr. Tornabene treated us to the BEST cannoli from there. I think it was the first cannoli for many of us. Talk about amazing!
Sadly, when we arrived at the Forum, it was time to say ciao to Antonella. I hear she is coming to UMD at some point and will love to see her when she does.
Here I am, in the heart of Rome. The streets are cobblestone and to see grass seems to be a rarity...then you enter the Forum. Yes, there are all those ancient ruins, but the most amazing parts were garden areas and the view of the entire city. (Pics will be posted next week. Internet accessibility for uploading is limited right now.) It was such a serene feeling walking through those gardens, mixed amongst the ruins. If it had not been close to the time that the Forum was closing, I would have hung out longer.
Personally, I did not make it to the Coloseum (I'm told there really is not much to see within the Colosseum, so I'm not feeling like I missed anything that I couldn't see in other's pictures). The charger for my camera battery decided to stop working...making my first mission of Friday morning one of acquiring a new charger. I was able to find one in time to get the battery charged before we headed to the Vatican. I'm not sure there are enough descriptive words to describe the things we saw in the Vatican museum or for the Sistine Chapel. Astounding, marvelous, utterly amazing...these cannot come close enough. To simply think of the time, effort, and resources (that were considerably less than we have today) to complete such masterpieces is mind boggling. Statues, tapestries, frescos,the Sistine Chapel...all fine detailed works of art. To see Michelanglo's masterpiece in a book, does it no justice! To be in the Sistine Chapel and experience it first hand....completely profound. Certainly something everyone should put on their bucket list.
Last night we attended an opera performance at Chiesa All Saints, an amazing church in the heart of the business district. We passed shops like Tiffany's, Prada, and so many more high class shops. The arias were beautiful, and the tenor...was HHHHOOOOOOTTTTT!
Well, my roomies and I are off to more adventures today. More later! Ciao!
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