June 6 -- First Official Day

First, I thought I would respond to a couple of questions that popped up in the comments section...

I am staying at a Villa on top of the Juniculum hill, the hill closest to Vatican City. We are next door to the building where all of the priests who come to study at the various universities in Rome stay. Pretty safe neighborhood, Id say...unlikely to get mugged by a priest, or by someone who is afraid to mug a priest.

The weather is beautiful. It hasnt been too terribly hot (by Texas standards) and is pleasant in the evenings. But it is about to get very hot for the rest of the summer, so I hear. It actually rained a little today, and Jason and Taco and I tried to race over to the Pantheon to see the rain come in through the oculus in the roof, but if any of you have ever tried to race anywhere in Rome, you know how successful that must have been.

Someone also wanted to know who Joshua is, and Joshua wanted to know why no one knew who he was, so for those curious parties, he and I went to high school together and just became reacquainted last weekend at our high school reunion, just in time for me to take off for foreign lands, and for him to enter an intensive training period to prepare to work with youths\young adults at a church in the Fort Worth area. You wont see him show back up on here for awhile because he has committed to 30 days of no contact with the outside world while he studies scripture and spends time in meditation. Those of you who are praying for me, which I appreciate, he could use some support as well.


Today I had my first introduction to the Academy. It is an amazing place with a fantastic library, very quaint, with the ladders around the shelves, etc. and dark wood panelling, like I have always wanted in my house. Extensive gardens as well, and a lovely central courtyard with fountain around which we will eat all of our meals, community style at long tables mixed in with all of the various scholars working here. Everyone I have met so far has been quite nice, and we are all having fun getting acquainted.

A few of us, as mentioned above, took off this afternoon after our History of Italian Archaeology introductory lecture, and went to see the Baths of Diocletian, over by the Termini, the main train station. I had seen them from the outside every day last week when Celia and I walked by, and they were visible from our hotel, but I had no idea the extent of the interior that was open (or we would have gone in also). About a quarter of it was converted, in the 16th century I believe, into the church Santa Maria degli Angeli, Saint Mary of the Angels and Martyrs. It is absolutely beautiful, and is also famous for the presence of a sundial at an angle through the sanctuary, lying directly on the meridian line that passes through Rome (15 degrees latitude). There is a small pinhole opening on the side of the church that produces a beam of light on the floor that at exact high noon each day falls on the sundial. If you are interested in seeing pictures, I am sure there are plenty to be found online through Google, etc.

At this point it started raining and we tried to make it to the Pantheon, as I mentioned earlier, but by the time we got there it was no longer raining. But it is still an amazing building and since it is Jasons first time in Rome Taco and I gave him the whole tour, which was fun.

It then took us forever to get back to the Academy because we stood at a bus stop for about 20 minutes before a local kindly stopped and informed us that the bus route no longer comes that way. Thanks for not taking the sign down, city of Rome! But we did eventually make it back and even though we were 20 minutes late for dinner, they served us anyway, so all is well for the time being.

I guess thats about all I have to report for today, thrilling I know. Oh, I did find out one interesting thing that I have in common with a fellow participant though. Taco, who is from the Netherlands (where apparently the name Taco is quite common) used to play bells when in college, as did I. The only difference was that he actually pulled on the ropes like you see in movies, while I played from a console. But still he is the only other carilloneur I have ever met outside of school.

Guess thats it for now. I hope everyone is well!

Oh, and yes, Christina, I will pick you up a figurine. Which would you rather, the Tower, the Coliseum (or do you already have one of those?) or St. Peters?