Beggining of Program, the Vatican, and Making New friends

Harg. I already posted an entry about my journey today, but when I tried to incorperate photos, the post got corrupted and I had to delete it.

So, in sequence, here's what happened today:
The study abroad program started today
I had to say goodbye to the nuns to go to my student housing
I met with one of my classmates, whom I met at Pallaza del Quatterno yesterday for dinner, and we took a taxi to my apartment, then walked to hers
There, Ellie arrived, and we went into Vatican City to find that the pope had made his final appearance if the season, and we did not get to see him
Two of my housemates, Andrew and Momo, arrived, and we got to see the Russian Orthodox Church, and a much better view inside the Vatican as the crows had dispersed

For school, I had to read Mixed Views by various authors from the late 1800s. It seems that Rome isn't always met with positive reviews. Many of the letters seemed to have found Rome overrated, underwhelming, or overwhelming (not the good kind). I wasn't in a most alert state of mind when reading this article, but from what I gathered, I believe a lot of reasons these authors may have responded the way they did could be due to any number of things; culture shock, irritability from traveling, having other expectations, or just pure snobbery. I found one entry particularly interesting where Henry Jame's traveling companion, Miss Garland, is lamenting over the fact that Rome is changing and the past is becoming dead and obselete. I interpreted this as to her sorrow relating to Roman buikdings either lying in ruins, or being replaced by the new in comparison, Catholic art. Her words sounded like that of a distraught woman aging or facing the rapid changes caused by the recent Industrial Revolution.