Megan and Jack share more about their experiences as participants of the Papal Audience (from the 6:15AM wake up time to seeing Pope Francis ride by in his 'pope mobile') and viewing an exhibition by Safet Zec.
I have been looking forward to this day ever since I learned that we were going to see the
pope. Indeed, we did see the pope today—some of us from less than a few feet away. However, this excitement came at an unfortunate cost: our much needed sleep. We had to meet at 6:50am, about two hours earlier than we have been meeting on previous mornings. Nevertheless, it was worth it to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
After a few long hours in the sun, we headed over to a church where Safet Zec’s
“Exodus” exhibition was being shown. A migrant himself, Zec’s art portrays scenes that either he or other migrants experience using poetic realism. Painted over news pages, his work depicted dramatic and moving images, invoking sorrow and sympathy for those pictured. This trip was a continuation of the discussion started on Tuesday about refugees and migrants in Italy and was followed up with an Italian film called (roughly translated) All Against All. It was about an Italian family’s struggles against people who take over or “occupy” their apartment. Also shown in the movie were many ethnicities and groups of people, which connected to our topic of lecture and discussion.
Overall, today has seen a physically tiring (but still enjoyable) adventure to the Vatican,
emotional pieces of art, and the mentally intriguing and complicated topic of refugees and migrants in modern Italy. The variety and breadth of today’s activities only goes to show the potential of a simple 24 hour period of this program.
-Megan
Today was an early day. I woke up around 6:15AM, took a shower, got dressed, and left for the Vatican at 6:50AM. When we arrived, the line appeared to be extremely long but ended up moving pretty quickly. I had not set my hopes very high for our chances at getting actual seats to sit in, however, once we split up into smaller groups, we were able to get first row seats right next to the pope’s driving path. Our expectations were further surpassed when the pope drove past us not once, but twice. Needless to say, Pope Francis and I are practically best friends after the amount of time we spent together.
After the Vatican, we had a pretty relaxed day. We made a quick stop at McDonalds for a nice American snack, then we went to Safet Zec’s “Exodus” art exhibit about the horrors of being a refugee. Following the art exhibit, we went to Lunch and finally back to the Notre Dame Global Gateway to watch an Italian movie to further understand the struggles that refugees face and see an example of how it could be represented in modern day Italy. To end that day we toured the villa where Notre Dame students in Rome live during their time here, then went back to the hotel to relax before dinner.
-Jack