Getting to Goodbyes

I'm just going to recap the past few days here since they've been kind of a flurry as we're winding down...

We had our last Italian class on Tuesday and finished up with a final exam on Thursday. We had fun with our  final oral skit and had to say goodbye to Lucy, our great Italian professor. Goodbyes are always tough  for me because I don't want to be overly sentimental, but I don't know when I'll see these people who have influenced me again. I want to make sure I let them know that I appreciated them and leave them with something to remind them of our time together. Anyway, when Italians part ways, either for the day or for a while, they say "Ci vediamo a dopo", which means "we'll see ya later" and they also say "Tanti auguri", which means "best wishes." So, I've been saying my fair share of both of those phrases the past few days. Especially Tuesday night. We had our last English Class and said farewell to some great people that we got to spend the last 10 weeks with. I don't know what it is, but God's been pulling my emotions extra hard this semester, so the goodbyes are tough. It was fun to go out to eat after on Tuesday night, the man who helps lead the English Classes came too. Him and his wife have a great story - they left everything they had back in America and are now missionaries in Italy...

Anyway, on Wednesday, we went to a Papal audience, which is where Papa Francesco blesses everyone in attendance and recites a short sermon in a bunch of languages. Here are some of the best shots...

Too blessed to be stressed

Blessed and "supercharged" by the Pope...

He rode around beforehand and (IMHO) this is some pretty good footage...

Then I went to see some sweet Caravaggio art. Wow!

The Conversion of Paul on the Road to Damascus...

...the Crucifixion of Peter...

Thursday we had a Toga Party...kinda. We dressed in togas and danced at the big sights around Rome. It was really fun and people even wanted to get pictures with us! We came back and had a potluck and enjoyed hanging with each other...I didn't get any pictures, but be on the lookout for a movie that may go viral with people dancing in Togas, hahaha.

This morning I had my last caffe latte at my "secret restaurant" and said goodbye to my man there. Later today, we went to the beach as one of our last big activities as a group. Sperlonga beach was soooo relaxing. There was essentially no one else on the beach, and it was a great day to spend time with everyone and soak up some rays...

Along the coast...

Chilling on the beach...

So it's been a nice past few days winding down and packing up and starting to get ready to leave. I don't know how it'll all shake out, especially saying goodbye to the people who live across the country and in Rome. Ah. We'll see when we get there. Things will never be the same. But here's a good quote, though, that I think gets at the essence of my time here:

"We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... and then we return home."