Nono Giorno

As a class, we were introduced to and had the privilege of participating in a Question and Answer session with Ambassador Miguel Diaz of the U.S. Embassy of the Holy See. He's the first Hispanic-American ambassador to the Holy See and only the ninth since the establishment of the embassy in 1994. I also found out that the Vatican broadcasts worldwide in over 45 languages via Vatican Radio, publishes a newspaper named The Observa Romano AND operates a Facebook page! The media nerd inside me got excited (Beyonce proceeded to give her a side eye).

Ambassador Diaz and his staff clearly take their work seriously and approach it with passion. This much was clear to me when we met Nathan Bland, Public Affairs Officer to the embassy. We made a connection when I found out he received his master's from Seton Hall University, located literally around the corner from the house I grew up in. What are the chances? He spoke about his part in strategic planning, relations with the media and organizing conferences with panels of experts on subjects like mother-to-child HIV transmission, religious tolerance and the role of African-Americans in the church as a part of their Black History Month series. I instantly thought of my friend Angie, who just graduated from Loyola with a B.A. in Public Relations. She's a devout Catholic and is determined to put her degree to use in ways that will help people. I honestly can't think of a better job for her. We had a good conversation this evening about my encounter with Officer Bland among other parts of my experience in Rome thus far.

Ambassador Diaz speaks with conviction on issues he believes in while also executing a conversational tone that isn't the slightest bit intimidating. His tone sets the pace for his nineteen person staff. He is positive and persistent and has a hard-working group of individuals behind him. He's not a trained politician. He is not by any means a guy who operates by the book, but he is naturally diplomatic. His life's work until accepting the position of ambassador was teaching Theology at the College of Saint Benedict. When he told us these things I think my level of respect for him rose. He has managed to find a job that fuses his gift with his passion after first serving in a line of work combining his passion with his faith. I hope I will be half as fortunate as him.

Following the Embassy visit we went to the Biglietteria Museum - which is a small section of a villa! Um, what?! Insanity. - where Kristin gave another fantastic presentation on Caravaggio. I was able to give a brief presentation on a panel of a 4th CE sarcophagus. I guess it was good practice for The Vatican, but still a little scary. I'm just happy I hit all of my main points. While touring the museum I found a few works by a painter named Francesco Albani. Like Caravaggio, he was endorsed by the Giustiniani family, a prominent family from Venice that contributed to the Church, the Roman government and sought out thousands of works that, collectively, have allowed historians a window into the history of Italy dating back to the 15th century.

Albani emerged as a prominent artist in the Baroque era. He focused on mythology and saints, but he has a series of paintings on display at the Biglietteria that show Jesus Christ in infancy, as a teen, the crucifixion and after He's risen. I'm curious to find out whether he was influenced by biblical stories just as Caravaggio was. I'll post more about that tomorrow.

After an adventure on the bus that brought us across town, we arrived back to the Collegio where I made my first dish with authentic Italian pasta and read some of The Inferno (I wish I had a cool pasta picture like Michelle's, hers turned out great). My spidey senses tell me our Metro days will be behind us pretty soon. So I'm all for the idea of resting up. Until next time, ciao.