Standing Guard...

Alright...it is true that there is a child in all of us, sometimes you notice this when you find that you cannot walk past a bucket of legos without having to build a little something or how you get excited to cut out snowflakes for Christmas. This prelude, having a point, is to setup a recent acquisition of mine. As I enjoy taking sweet pics of the places I have been there is no reason I should not personalize them with a Roman/Trowbridgesque character!
Below you will see that 'character' is more literal than you may have first imagined. So I found this hilarious looking swiss guard figurine and as soon as I saw it down in 'LOsservatore Romano newsstand I knew this lil fella had to be incorporated somehow.



Despite his short and stocky stature he is a guard at heart. We were walking from his residence of vendorship and I noticed he felt summoned to honor his home with several photogenic moments of duty!
It was hard taking him with me as he was compelled to jump into the fountain...

I was able to stave his desperate attempts to escape his new future. I told him of the wonderful European destinations he will be able to experience. I did have to coerce him a little with a recent trip to Santiago de Compostella, Spain. He thought that would be fun, afterall he could say hello to James, a great Apostle he has heard so much about.
He had to pay service to the Holy Father by standing guard at his residence then we were off.


He was quite excited about his new journeys. I brought him to the NAC and as we entered the Courtyard he sprang from my hands and scampered up a tree. With only a few trees in the Vatican, save the Papal Gardens of course, I was amazed at his lemur-like tactics. There he sat perched like a finch upon that branch, sporting that jolly grin.


I could tell, after a mere 20 minutes, that he was going to enjoy himself completely!
You can look look forward to seeing this lil fella all around!
I have not chosen a name for my travel bud...any suggestions?

Later,
JT

Pro's and Con's

Well, I am wrapping up finals week here in Rome and it has been intense. I have one more final on Monday then I'll be officially completed with my first semester of studies in Rome.
Alright, it all comes down to oral finals, literally!

pro: you only have one assignment
con: your whole semester is based on one assignment
pro: you don't turn in anything
con: you have 10 minutes to prove your course knowledge
pro: less assignments/papers = more reading time
con: you are the meter by which you work
pro: if outside events come up you can make time
con: this typically results in doing nothing academically [save going to class]

the deception: you get to schedule your own finals, so its your call. Excellent! Kind of... I have never had an Oral finals weeks and your Oral exam knowledge is a bit different than written exam knowledge. So this is not taken into consideration when those eyes of greed look to see how soon you can finish, but in disillusioned prudence you say "Hmm, don't wanna put them too close...24 hours apart should be good!" So you have it set, in 6 weekdays I'll be done with finals and when I’m done I'll have 14 days off! Now in college I have never had a schedule so easy [one final per day] wherein I'd have 2-4 finals a day and be done in 3 days, so naturally, you think you have all the time in the world.
Yeah, One forgets soon how little out of class work we do so the internalization of the material is not as forced when you aren’t having tests every few weeks There are no past assignments to study from, no old study guides to acclimate yourself to this professor's exam delivery style. So study basically consists of re-learning the entire class in 18 hours. And this seems okay 2 months before exams [when we sign up for time slots]. But something gets lost somewhere between the Coliseum and the Janiculum hill [near school and home].
Very interesting, indeed!
As I write this I only have one to go and tonight is mass with Benedict XVI [which makes everything feel better]. Point being, I have survived. Not with stellar academic performance but respectable...at least that is how I feel. Which brings me to my next point...GRADING!
The tales of any schools and professors run deep when mystery hangs in the air like a thick London Fog. Half of what fills our brain prior to or Oral is the 'lore of the prof'. We strategize as if planning a militaristic attack. We gather all the information we can scrape together from older students who have 'lived to tell the tale' and we formulate our plan of attack. Knowing that he cannot ask everything so what is the minimum we can do while still pulling of the grade? Isn’t that what college is anyway? No matter what the subject or the love of it, it is part of the American gamble...sticking with the mantra 'If the minimum wasn't enough then it would not be the minimum!" And when our plan is in place...'forward march!' and stop we shan’t until we are seen standing amid the rubble of victory [which is about how you feel when you are done...one among the pieces. The point: the grading is on a 0-10 scale and the grading is almost entirely subjective. If you have been to class you have a better chance than he who has not, how you are dressed, how nervous you 'appear', many elements play into this and less than one may think is based upon the material. After all, the prof may want to bust your chops or give you and easy ride. And when you leave you have no clue what your grade could be. If I were a betting man, and this is who you know me to be, I would say 8s across the board. But then again I have not the fainted clue. Hope for the best, ehh?!
Uncertainty makes things so much more entertaining and makes for great hallway conversation both at school and the NAC.
Now, I do not want this entry to come of as complaining because I know my fellow college friends and family back home have a longer and louder dirge to sing, so my hat comes off to you. I just wanted to let you know how funny academic assessment is here in the European Union.
Thanks for all your prayers they are a huge help and I could not image how things would be without them!

Think of the Joy and Concern of Mary as we recall her reception of Simeon's prophecy in the temple. The bitter-sweet calling of the Mother of God who is our Protectress and Mediatrix, providing for us the most clear reflection of Christ that any created being could!

God Bless
Jeremy!