Problems

I am trying to upload more photos, but it won't let me and the person who can help me is back at the apartment, but I can't go there because I am waiting for my cioccolata calda.

Figured it out. It was something stupid. The pictures are just put in, though, not in any order or anything.

Our apartment

Dec. 30

We met this morning at 9:30 a.m. to make sandwiches to take to the park. Again, too many people to fit in the kitchens to make sandwiches. I went with Rudy to get a Coke, and along the way, he had me take a picture of him with some random Italian woman. Again. He likes to do this. Rudy is our youth minister. He’s never been to Rome before and is very excited about everything. He’s also very excited because he is always hyped up on caffeine.

Scott and I then went to see if the free WiFi place was open, but it wasn’t. I walked around for a bit on my own, and then the place opened. So we went back and posted two days of blogs, but didn’t have time to do photos.

Halfway to the bus stop for the park, I realized I forgot my camera. We weren’t planning to come back today before going to Hard Rock Cafe and Trevi Fountain, so I handed off my backpack full of sandwiches, grabbed another woman and went back to the apartment. Then we caught the next bus No. 3 to Colosseo (the Colosseum). At the park, Scott was talking to some guys from Guinea and Mali (in French, of course), and lots of people were talking to other refugees and playing soccer, Frisbee and hackeysack with them.





I walked down to the other area where our people were because that’s where my backpack was. Once there, I began talking to some guys from Nigeria who would like eventually to go to the United States because they said they could get jobs and become somebody there if they worked hard. They do not like Italy because they said Italians are not friendly at all and won’t even look at them or touch their hands or anything. They said Italians don’t like them because their skin color is different. I told them it was once that way in the United States until people stood up and said, “No. This is wrong. We are not going to do this any more,” so people can change. So Lisa and Richard and I gathered around with them and Richard prayed that Italy will change and that these guys will be able to make their way somewhere. They told us they are Catholic, and one asked for an English Bible. I did not have mine with me, but will try to remember to take it with me tomorrow in case they are there.

We also went to Basilica di San Clemente, the three-layer church. On top is the newest church. A level down is a fourth century (I think) church, and below that is part of ancient Rome where it is said Christians first met together in someone’s house.

Then we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, where we did not have to wait an hour and a half this year, but we sat in smaller groups, and then to Trevi Fountain. I did not throw any coins in it and don’t know if anyone else did. Then we shopped a bit around the area and came back in smaller groups. We took bus 63 back to Largo Argentina and tram 8 back to our area, where we stopped for pastries to have for breakfast.

And now we are in our apartment, snacking and talking. I hope I will be able to post this tomorrow, along with some photos.

Dec. 29

It is not raining and not as cold today. We went to the forum area, although not down into the forum because the line was really long.


We did go to the Mamertine Prison, where Paul was almost certainly kept and where Peter was also imprisoned, at least according to Church tradition. It is not nearly as certain about Peter, though. I did not go down into the cell, having been down there before and not liking the small space and the cramped stairwell to get there.

We intended to go into the forum next, but the long line led us directly to the park, where we met some Kurdish refugees from Afghanistan and a refugee from Sudan and one from Guinea. The guy from Sudan said he spoke a little English, but it was very good English, although I had to listen closely and watch his face to understand him. He was in the army in Sudan for eight years, but left when the government sent him to Darfur because he did not want to kill Sudanese people. He said he is Christian. He would like to have a place to live here and a job but says no one will give him one even though he has his documents. Because he has his documents, he also cannot go anywhere else in the EU without getting sent back here. He also speaks Arabic and can talk to the Kurdish guys from Afghanistan. He said they are friends, and they must be because one of them rolled a cigarette and gave it to him.

There were also some guys from Afghanistan who speak Farsi. We still have lots of material in Farsi from last year (when we had a Farsi speaker with us and met no one who spoke Farsi), so Rudy gave some of them a Bible and some tracts in Farsi.



Playing hackeysack in the park:



We went grocery shopping then and stopped for lunch and then came back to the apartments, where some people have started cooking and some have started sleeping for a bit.

After naps, we all went to headquarters (one of the apartments) to help make sandwiches and cook, but there really wasn’t room in the kitchens for most of us. Scott and I went to the free WiFi place, but it was closed.

We went to the train station with soup, fruit and sandwiches. There weren’t a lot of guys at first, but they trickled in and we ended up with around 35 or so. That’s a wild estimate. We also gave out long underwear, hats and gloves and Bibles and Gospels of John in Farsi. Before we started handing out any of the literature, three guys came up to Scott and asked if he had an engine. Or at least that’s what he thought they said. They pantomimed book and then repeated and he understood they were asking for the Injil, which is what Muslims call the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). So he asked what language and started going through them: Farsi, Pashto, etc. They spoke Farsi, and we have lots of John in Farsi from last year when we were ready for Farsi speakers and met none. One guy took it, another asked for Pashto, which we don’t have so he took Farsi because he speaks it, and the third guy wouldn’t take one. He came back a few minutes later, though, and asked for one for himself.



Then we went to the guys’ apartment, met and had some soup. Then we went to La Piazetta for dinner at about 10 p.m., apparently dinner time here. It was pretty busy. Since I had eaten two cups of soup, I just had chocolate mousse with zabaglione. It was very, very good.

Then it was bedtime, so we went to bed.

Random photos:

This is what was the Fascist Party headquarters in Piazza Venezia. Mussolini used to make his speeches from this balcony.



This is the headquarters apartment, where Albert and Cindy stayed. Selena and Kevin were also supposed to stay here as it has enough beds for four people, but none of them are in closed-off rooms.



This is a view of the loft in the guys' apartment. It was a nice apartment.

Dec. 28

It is raining and cold today. Well, drizzling and cold anyway. We went to the park, but didn’t stay long. No one was there except a few people passing through obviously on their way somewhere and an old man walking his dog. Several people thought they remembered seeing him, or his dog anyway, last year.

So we walked down to the Colosseum metro stop and took the metro to Termini, where a few people could eat at McDonald’s and the rest of us could eat at the Turkish kebab shop. It was good.

While we were doing that, some people were shopping for groceries to make the soup for tonight. We took the bus back to Trastevere from Termini and went back to our apartments.

Some people rested, some people cooked and some of us went out walking around.




Kevin, Scott and I took Rudy out to see some sights in the area.

We took him to Santa Maria in Trastevere and actually went inside the church this time. We had not gone in before. I didn’t realize you could. You can’t during mass, but it wasn’t time for mass. It is probably the oldest purpose-built church in Rome. The original building (not the one there now – it’s been rebuilt several times) was built around 320 AD (sometime after Constantine’s conversion – don’t yell if my date is wrong; I can’t look it up right now).

We also stopped for coffee (hot chocolate for me) and gelato. We intended to go to the grocery store, but forgot.

We also went to the cat sanctuary at Torre Argentina, which was open this time, so we went downstairs into the little shop, where Scott bought me a T-shirt and I got to pet a lot of cats. The woman took me into the quarantine area, too, where they keep the cats for three months after they get them to make sure they aren’t sick. One had a neurological condition and could barely walk, but she said he is much better than when he came in and couldn’t move at all. Now he shakes a lot when he walks. He doesn’t get to go outside.

Tonight, we are going to the train station, I think, with soup and other stuff. I think we’re not going to the park because no one is likely to be there since it is cold and rainy and also because we didn’t see anyone earlier to tell them we would be back.

Later.
We went to the train station, hoping to see some guys, but not too many since we didn’t have enough soup for 100 and didn’t want to start a riot or anything. We met a couple of guys when we got near and gave them soup. Then we went on and split into two groups, one that went ahead to look for more guys and one that stayed near the station. The guys who had soup went to get their friends and before we even got back to where we were going, they came running around the corner looking for us. So we gave out all the soup and most of the crackers and apples and oranges, along with all the hygiene kits and all the gloves and hats we had with us at the time. We left when we ran out of soup.



Normally, we eat with them, but didn’t tonight because there wasn’t enough for us and them. So after we reconvened in the biggest apartment, we split up and went to eat. Our group ate in a restaurant we ate in last year and then went to the Blue Ice place for gelato.

And now it is time for bed. So good night.

First Post

Well, we've celebrated Christmas early and are now concentrating on getting ready for Rome, along with the usual work stuff, of course. We've started lists, but not packing. So that's next.