Il Papa
The weather today was overcast, and was sprinkling at about 5 PM. We had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI today. It was an experience I will never forget. First different cardinals who spoke different languages read a verse from the Bible one at a time. After they were finished the Pope gave a speech in Italian, I’m not sure what he said because they did not translate it for us. Next the same cardinals came out and introduced the different groups that came out who spoke their language. A cardinal came out and told us that the Pope would like to bless any religious artifacts we have and introduced different groups who spoke English. When they said that the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering is here we all stood up and waved to the Pope. This was fun to see because all of the people who were being introduced would stand up and some of the groups would sing or play an instrument. After the cardinal would introduce people the Pope spoke to us in all of the different languages. This means that the Pope can speak French, Italian, German, English, Polish, and Spanish fluently. I don’t know about you, but I can only speak English fluently. The other languages I can speak are definitely not at the level of being fluent.
After seeing the Pope we had free time for the rest of the day. The plan for tonight is still up in the air, but a group of us might go with Barbara and John down by the Trevi Fountain and eat somewhere near by. Hope those of you who are in Minnesota are staying warm. The phrase for the day is: Dove’ è il bancomat? Pronounced dohveh eel bahn-kohmaht. This means: Where is the ATM?