Perspective

"Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri" is a famous church basilica right near my apartment that I had never entered. (Please note: almost EVERY church here starts with "Santa Maria".) I walked in and was so stunned that I started tearing up. I see beautiful things every day here but something about the splendor of this church just hit me. Lame, I know, but I thought to myself: Don't forget how you feel in this moment. It was near empty, save a few tourists and a slew of younger guys in military uniforms. I walked around the space soaking in the mammoth columns, religious paintings, the light spilling in from the windows. There was also an exhibit set up in the church about the Italian scientist, Galileo. Diachotomy is EVERYWHERE in Rome and I found it interesting for this church to bring science and religion together.I walked into the church with my Ipod in my pocket and when I went to take it out of my pocket down the street...it was gone. I spent an hour and a half looking for it. Either someone on the busy streets took it from my pocket or it fell out and someone picked it up. Goodbye, Ipod. It was that very morning that I was thinking, "Callie, listen to music more because it makes you feel good!" So I did what ANY sensible 22 year old would do who just lost their Ipod: I stood outside the front doors of the Santa Maria church and I cried like a baby.

A beer and un panino in the nearby park made me feel better for 10 minutes but I spent the rest of the day upset, cranky, and in a whirlwind of doubt as to why I'm actually here. I planned on booking a flight back home.

The next morning I began quasi-Italian lessons spending time one on one with my friend Mazen's "Lady Land." Nella is the most lively 81 year old Italian woman that I have ever met. She doesn't speak English and I don't speak Italian. It only makes sense for us to be best friends.

Nella turns on the TV and every Italian news station is covering the same story. Right where I was standing the day before in front of the church, a state funeral was taking place and the bodies of two Italian soldiers who died in Afghanistan were being carried into Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Matiri. Nella and I watched the whole service together and she explained in Italian what had happened. The Italian government was present and the entire area and basilica was filled to the brim with people.

No wonder all of those soldiers were there the day before. There I was crying about some stupid songs I lost on a little machine that can be easily replaced. Here was a 25 year old, leaving behind a young wife, who died trying to help his country. Talk about some perspective.

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." -Galileo