Roma!

This weekend 11 of us went to Rome, Italy! Jillian Maggard and I took a hop on hop off tour bus around the city and spent some time at the Colosseum and the Vatican, as well as shopping. The Colosseum was my favorite. It felt so powerful there, to know that so many gladiators and other people died there, mostly for entertainment. I'll just have to go home and watch Gladiator to relive the good ole days. The Vatican was amazing! We walked through the Vatican Museum which houses the Sistine Chapel. All the millions of hallways that led to the Sistine Chapel were amazingly beautiful. So many intricate paintings on the wall as well as the walls and ceilings themselves. The Sistine Chapel was awe inspiring. There were guards that kept shushing everyone. Apparently the Sistine Chapel needs complete silence to work. Whatever. Also no pictures. I got yelled at... Oops. Well I wasn't going to pass up the illegal opportunity to get my own picture of the famous ceiling! We did some major shopping after that and stumbled back to our hostel. Then we left to go home (Maastricht) on Sunday.
Today I had to say goodbye to my year 6 class. They left for camp this morning and my last day at their school is tomorrow. I had a harder time saying goodbye to them than their parents did. At least their parents get to see them when they come back from camp on Thursday. I really had a great time with my class and I already miss them all! So many different languages spoken in that class, yet a very tight sense of community. I have gotten email addresses from teachers and substitute teachers. One sub told me that she would do anything for me because she so enjoyed working with me. This lady worked with me for ONE DAY! That was pretty cool.
Tonight our professors took us to a nice Italian restaurant that GVSU paid for. Also Gelato for dessert. Did I mention that while we were in Rome, Jillian had 4 Gelatos in one day? Also she got pooped on by a bird. But not a pigeon because they are all too fat and lazy to fly in Rome.