Snow in Rome & more

The biggest news in Rome right now is that it snowed yesterday and last night. If I understood correctly, the last time it snowed in Rome was in the mid '80s. Like most of the southern US cities, Rome is not prepared to cope with snow. Even St. Peter's Basilica closed--which I am told never happens. And while I am used to snowy winters, I certainly was not prepared to face one in Rome. Needless to say, it's melting as I type.... However, I made sure I snapped a few pictures.

The street just outside of the "front door" of our residence looking toward a nearby "piazza".

I am adding this to my list of firsts. First time I ever saw a palm tree frosted with snow.

And today marks the completion of the second week of helping out in the book center. Thanks to these two wonderful people, I have made remarkable progress. I wanted to take a picture of the third person this morning, but nobody made it to work this morning, except us, of course!

Rita, all decked out in her wintry best ready to scurry home yesterday. She works in our A/V department and, thankfully, knows English.

Marcelo works in our Italian section and boy does he know his stuff. Thanks to his expert explanations of the various sections, I succeeded in helping a few customers without help. Yesterday, since there were no customers, he put some music on where we were working. It was great hearing him sing along to "What a Wonderful World", and "The Streets of Philadelphia."

So, I went from the smallest section (A/V dept) the first week to the largest (Italian) section this past week. Whew! And the stock is not only completely unfamiliar to me--but there's tons of it!

One woman approached me at the computer--I was alone at the time--and started rattling off what she needed. After looking one book up in the computer (thank God she had everything written down so I had a cheat sheet), I went to the shelf to get one of the books. Then I heard her asking in English, "How long have you been here?" My response, "A little over a week." Then she said, "But you must have been here longer than that, you speak better Italian than someone who has been here a week." So, I told her that I had lived her for a year a few years ago. "Oh, she said. Because when I started speaking to you so rapidly in Italian, a look of panic crossed your face. I knew you couldn't have been here that long, but then when you replied, you spoke so well...."

Then as I was helping a sister yesterday who was purchsing books for a priest who lives in Australia, as I was explaining one of the books to her she said to me with a compassionate look on her face, "You can speak to me in English" she said--music to my ears!

A highlight of the week was seeing a familiar face in the book center. Bishop Lennon, now the bishop of Cleveland, was here in Rome for the Ad Limina visit. He stopped in our store on Tuesday morning. It was wonderful to see him and catch up a bit.

Stay tuned for more!