The War in Rome

The "anti-jetlag" stragtegy didn't work, after going to bed at 10pm, I was up at 1:30am. I finally fell back to sleep at 4am, but then didn't want to wake up for my 6am alarm ring. My "evil twin" turned off the alarm, rather than hit the snooze button, so I missed going to St. Peter's for daily mass. I love doing that every day I'm here, so I was feeling down on myself.

St. Paul talks about the Christian being "at war with one's body", and in Rome I understand exactly where he's coming from:

• My eyes ache from the smog and exhaust that comes from cars and the little motorino scooters. Thank God for eye drops.
• My stomach reminds me how much it loves gelati, pastries, pizza, and just about every other food Italy offers. But I walk about 10 miles a day in Rome, so that takes some of the guilt away.
• My feet give me the biggest battle: They're not used to walking on hard cobblestones, so each day in Rome is a battle with blisters and calluses (sp? or is it "callouses"? "Callusi"? Whatever).

But those Romans, they've been fighting these battles longr than I, and every Farmacia has an asorment of pads and gels to help the traveler. On another topic, today is the feast of St. John Leonardi, the founder of what we know as the Society for the Propagation of the faith, and his body is entombed here in Rome. I'm going to pay a visit in the afternoon. I love that about Rome.