"I'm almost a little bit proud of you"

Behind in blogging again...which means there will probably be a post every day this week. :)

Last Sunday was the famous Wall Walk with Professor Jan Gadeyne - a 13 mile walk around the Aurelian walls of Rome. We met bright and early (8:30am) outside St. John Lateran, and began the trek around the wall. We had about 32 stopping points around the wall at which Professor Gadeyne would give some commentary about the history of the walls and the city. It was a great way to see parts of the city that I hadn't been to yet, and it was interesting to learn a bit more about the history of Rome. And the amount of knowledge this guy has about Rome and Italy is absolutely unreal!

Professor Jan Gadeyne - after each stop, he would say "I'm almost a little bit proud of you...Andiamo (let's go)"...even after 10 or so miles! haha

The one thing that really struck me about these walls was how something that is almost 2,000 years old just blends right into the city. It just becomes part of the everyday scene, and it's so interesting to see how the Rome has been built up around the walls. There are even some sections of the walls that have been marked with grafitti...a bit sad, but at the same time it's somewhat intriguing. I found myself wondering if the people of Rome forget the markers of history that they walk past each day. Every wall, every monument, every piazza has a story behind it and tells a piece of the story of Rome and Italy. Do they rush past it and not even consider what it means? Even worse, will I forget? In my rush to get to class and after becoming more familiar with and comfortable in the city, will I hurry past and not even consider what they mean? It was a good wake up call for me to pay attention to the details...open my eyes, take it all in, and not miss a thing.



When we finally finished the walk (almost 8 hours later) we all stopped at a bar near St. John Lateran and Professor Gadeyne bought everyone a soda. We even got to sign our names to a paper saying that we survived the Wall Walk. I have to say, at 8:30 that morning, signing my name didn't seem like a big incentive, but after about 8 miles you change your mind. ;)

Ciao for now!