Celebrations

What a week. A rush to the finish in both of my classes, a whirlwind trip to Rome, a field trip to Orvieto, and an Italian Mass to top it off. Where to begin...

Last week was the climax of my classes, which made for some late nights but ended up making my birthday that much better because I had nothing to worry about over the course of the weekend.

Rome and my birthday were great. I have a wonderful, amazing, caring group of friends and family that let me know that I'm loved, and for that I am forever grateful. I am so blessed. Thanks to all of you.

Rome itself was amazing. We caught a later train that we wanted due to a guest speaker announced at the last minute here in Cortona, but things worked out as they always do, and the group made it to the amphitheater in Rome long before the show started. A wonderful dinner preceded the show, setting the mood for a quiet, upscale evening.

Damien Rice was unbelievable. The venue was an imtimate outdoor amphitheater, the stage a simple semi-circle dotted with candles on the ground and a fairly simple lighting set around. The show began minutes after the last bit of sun fell behind the horizon, making the candles and the single spotlight on Rice's piano that much more effective. He started off the show alone, playing "Rootless Tree" with piano being the only accompaniment to this haunting song.


"what i want from you
is empty your head
they say be true,
don't stain your bed
we do what we need to be free
and it leans on me
like a rootless tree
what i want from us
is empty our minds
we fake a fuss
and fracture the times
we go blind
when we've needed to see
and this leans on me
like a rootless..."

Band members joined Damien one at a time, song by song. The setlist was wonderful, with only "Older Chests" and "Amie" left out from my favorites. A completely unplugged version of "Cannonball" closed out the set. And when I say unplugged, I mean that Damien Rice asked the audience for quiet, unplugged his acoustic guitar from the mic, stepped out to the edge of the stage, and played the song sans any electrical help at all, just his voice barely carrying through the night, as if he was just some guy sitting on a streetcorner in Rome playing for the passerbys on the street. As if that wasn't enough, the encore was full of fun songs and topped off with a version of "Cheers Darlin" that I can't even describe. Phenomenal show.

The next day was spent visiting St. Peter's for one last time and then making our way back to Cortona. The night was finished off with pizza at Tonino's and a viewing of "Almost Famous".

Saturday was spent in Orvieto, a neat town on top of a plateau about an hour from Cortona. Naps in a park, a bit of cave exploring, yet another duomo visit, and a little bit of window shopping made up the day.

This morning I got up a bit earlier than usual and went to an Italian service at the Catholic Church in town, just for a change of pace. I wanted to see if the worship of God carried over to me through the denomination and language barrier. It was a beautiful service, and the nun that led the hymns had a voice that carried through to my soul. The ritualistic nature of the Catholic Church is something that interests me. I like that they show so much respect to the past and to God, but I wander if it is these same rituals that have alienated so many people within that organization from the God that it is supposed to be about. Regardless of my theological questionings of the church, it was nice to be in God's House again, however different it may be from Glady Branch.

Sorry for the rambling nature of this post. I don't really have the patience to go in-depth on much, but I wanted to share the last few days' events while they were still fresh. Take care everybody.

Ciao,

-msr