Vita è Bella!

Another Interlude

Life in Rome is kind of surreal. I'm going to look back in a few months and think, "Wow... was that really my life?" Two examples:

Yesterday I decided to take a walk over to Villa Borghese to read. On Via Dei Condotti, the street that leads to the Spanish Steps, I was getting frustrated because there seemed to be a big holdup ahead of me. The street is normally packed with tourists, because it has all the big name stores (Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Dior, Burberry, etc.), but yesterday there was a crowd gathering around one store. In an attempt to get through, I found myself in the middle of this crowd just in time to realize that the people were trying to see someone who was entering the store right in front of me. I looked around me curiously, and saw a woman with the most beautiful wavy hair I've ever seen (which makes sense, in retrospect) and big, dark sunglasses. She had bodyguards all around who, who were guiding her through the throngs of people. She looked oddly familiar, and I heard an American behind me saying, "I think it's that one Victoria's Secret model... Stephanie something?" Yes, indeed. Stephanie Seymour. (I googled her later to make sure.) I got held up on my walk by Stephanie Seymour out on a shopping trip. Goodness.

Last night a bunch of the girls went out, but I stayed in the room and just relaxed, talked on the phone with Tim, and read. It was a pleasant night! This morning when I woke up, though, my roommate Janelle looked at me and said, "Sarah, you really should have been there last night! We danced with two of the Swiss Guards and one of them gave Ellen his number!!" Apparently there was a large group of them at this bar, but only two stayed later. Janelle said they were very respectful and kind of dorky, which would have been perfect for me, because I'm proud to be a self-proclaimed dork. I'm really not all that comfortable with the "going out" scene in the bars here, because large groups of girls often attract creepy guys, and I much prefer other venues for conversation. Last night sounds like it was fun, though. I wouldn't have even cared about the dancing--I would have just bombarded them with questions all night! So maybe it's better that I wasn't there, as they probably get tired of questions like that. I think it would be really interesting to talk with some of them though, just to find out what their job is like.

Anyway... how crazy to think that this is an average day of my life in Rome! :-)

I'm off to Assisi for a retreat this weekend, but will update more next week. God bless you all!

posted by Sarah @ 8:40 AM