When in Rome...

So here’s my next installment of my regular updates (it was a nice thought, wasn’t it?). We’re now in Rome, and it is our first free day in two weeks (don’t…make me…leave…the hotel…). It’s been a while, so here’s the scoop on the past few weeks. We finished up in Catellemare di Stabia, on the southern coast of the Bay of Naples. We finished the week by seeing the Archaeological Museum in Naples, Roman seaside villas in Stabiae, temples at Paestum, and a buffalo cheese production facility. No joke, Asiatic water buffalo are pretty cool, and they make great mozzarella cheese (and some decent looking buffalo skin bags, belts, etc). I spent our time touring the facilities plotting how I was going to smuggle one home to Davidson in order to make it our new mascot (or it could come to Austin…the dogs would love having a new playmate). C’mon, it wouldn’t be that hard to take care of…all they did at the farm was sit around and eat…not a bad life if you ask me.

Then we took a ferry to Palermo, on Sicily. After two or three days on Sicily, I became convinced that we had found the most beautiful countryside in the world. Every square inch of this island is pure emerald green (apart from the peak of Mt. Etna, the most active volcano in the world), and the landscape gently undulates in all directions, as if to imitate the surrounding Mediterranean. The weather was crystal clear, with few clouds (except for the smoke issuing from Mt. Etna), and the brightest baby blue sky. We traveled the whole extent of the island, driving down the east coast to Syracuse (where we climbed yet another castle after visiting yet another ancient theater), along the southern coast (seeing more rocks that used to be houses), and ended up in Marinella, where we spent a free day at the beach (looking across the water to Libya, maybe an overnight ferry ride away). Then we looped our way back to Palermo, went to a museum, and caught a ferry to Rome.

If you think our trip has been busy up to this point, our time in Rome was like CSA on steroids. We have regularly pulled 8-hour days in a scramble to cover as much as possible (it’s Culture Week in Rome, so everything was free). It’s been one giant blur of ancient sites, churches, gelato, and pizza. Oh yeah, and we still have reading…and journals…and perhaps a little time to sleep sometime in there. I have to admit, that first week in Rome was actually the hardest week of the trip for me. I hate to say it, but as soon as we got to Rome, I began to wish I were home (this actually hadn’t happened at all up to this point). Last Thursday, Dr. Becker flew over to a) take us to the Etruscan sites/museums around the city, and b) give Dr. Neumann a chance to catch her breath (notice that we are yet to get a break haha). It was an incredibly enjoyable time for all of us, a time, which included some beautiful excursions to Cerveteri and Orvieto.

After all that, it finally feels like we’re all settled in, and now we have a nice break over Easter to try and recover for the last few weeks. We hit day 100 yesterday, and I would be lying if I denied that we are all ready to be home. For myself, I am just trying to finish strong. It is during these times when it becomes more difficult to stay positive, selfless, and loving, that God shows us His grace and provision as He picks up our slack. It is easy to give in to lingering resentment and fatigue (I’ve already noticed this tendency in myself), but God has remained faithful to me when I’ve given him infinitely more reasons to turn His back on me. Therefore, I want to do more than just limp across the finish line; I want to do more than just make it to May 12^th. Each day needs to be a renewed effort to love others in an extraordinary way, and to give of myself to serve their needs, in all things consider others’ better than myself (Philippians 2:3). Admittedly, it is hard to see this carried out in my actions, but I seek improvement everyday, and I am dependent on the Lord to supply the means to do so. It is only through Him that such a transformation can be accomplished. SOLI DEO GLORIA.

Be back soon (I promise, I'll write another one in a couple of days to expand on our time in Rome)!