Locked in my apartment!

I went back to the Vatican last Friday with some of the La Salle girls. We probably spent hours taking in the grandeur of St. Peter's. It is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in. It is so ornate in it's decorations and everywhere you turn there are shrines to certain popes. As you walk around the inside of the basilica you can see the final resting place for many of the former popes. It's quite startling to actually see the bodies of former popes. I'm not quite sure how i felt about seeing popes dressed up in Christmas wear, I don't think I understand why the bones were on display. I was much better around the closed tombs. One of the popes, I think it was Gregory something, had on red slippers. It was quite a sight. While at the Vatican we saw this huge green curtain and two security guards standing outside and letting people in, so naturally I knew that I had to see what was behind the curtain, the only rule was no taking pictures. So two of the other girls and I ventured behind the veil, and into the most beautiful room I had ever seen. It was decorated all in gold and everything was so quiet. It turned out to be a room set aside for people to sit and pray, so we sat down and I watched the altar server. What a huge responsibility for a 10 year old. He was lighting candles and then he forgot something so he had to run across the platform, but halfway to his destination he realized he forgot to bow in front of the altar so he ran back and bowed and then went and got something. It was cute, and reminded me of when I used to altar serve. I don't think I'd be able to handle the Vatican and also I don't think I would have been allowed, I think you have to be a boy.So after our Vatican trip we did the most American thing ever, we ate at McDonalds. I honestly don't regret this decision at all. I was craving a hamburger and fries. It was a nice McDonalds that had curly fries which was neat. After our detour to McDonalds we got lost and ended up back at the Vatican, I'm still not entirely sure how that happened but somehow we went in a complete circle.We continued our American theme on Sunday night when we went out to watch the Super Bowl. It was such a neat experience, watching the game in Italy. The game didn't start in Italy until midnight but we were told to make sure we were at the pub by 9pm or else we wouldn't get a seat, it was so packed there were lots of people there and not all of them were American, there were quite a lot of Australians and we were sitting next to an Irish couple. In Italy there are quiet hour laws and so throughout the entire game these guards kept shushing the pub. However even the big guards couldn't stop the celebratory cheering at the end of the game. People were all over the streets chanting and cheering, it was awesome. It was like this huge American parade walking through the streets of Rome and everywhere we went more Giants fans joined our group. One guy was asked "Now that the Giants won the Super Bowl where are you going?" and his response was I think the highlight of the parade, "The Trevi Fountain obviously!" It was such an amazing game that two days later I'm still excited about it. Being surrounded by Eagles fans for most of my life it was such a shock to see so many actual Giants fans. They were everywhere, we even saw a group of Australians decked out in Giants gear, get into a fight with some American Patriot fans.Unfortunately my stellar weekend ended on a sour note, I've lost my keys. I honestly have no idea where they are. I have only been here two weeks and have already managed to lose my keys. It is a huge inconvenience not to have keys, not only do I have to call my roommates to have them let me in the apartment but yesterday morning I was locked into my apartment. Luckily I didn't have class until 3:30 and someone came home and opened the door but seriously i could not get out of my apartment. I went around the corner to get a new set of keys made but the guy told me I need documentation to prove that i live there and that I can have the keys. Ahh so Today instead of going out and exploring Rome, I am stuck in my apartment waiting until I hear back from the housing agency.
Ciao
Amanda