peace | The Wandering Blondie

After a quick week, my boss, Flaminia, and I headed to Erice, a tiny town up in the hills of the island of Sicily, for a special event called Fly for Peace. The organization Fly for Peace hosted panels for dialogue on peace, an air show, and various events to support the peace and justice process in Israel and Palestine.(I would link their website, but it’s all in Italian – essentially the organization is an alliance of Mediterranean countries supporting Israel AND Palestine.) Flaminia moderated one of the panels on Friday and we attended other events throughout the weekend.

We arrived in Palermo, Sicily on Thursday evening and were driven an hour away to Erice, which sits at the top of a mountain overlooking the sea and cities. I have never seen a place like this before! The island of Sicily is absolutely astounding and I hope I can go back and explore it again someday! We arrived at our hotel, a converted monastery, after experiencing the beauty Sicily has to offer. Dinner on Thursday night was with the other guests in town for Fly for Peace. I met an awesome priest from Kenya, Fr. Benedict. He was one of the few English speakers at the conference so we got to know each other quite well throughout the weekend. Fr. Benedict is a Capuchin Franciscan based out of Rome, he went to NYU for college after bing ordained in Kenya, and he is heavily featured on the Roman Capuchins’ website.

Friday was a very long day; the dialogues began at 9 am and continued until 7 pm. There was a break for lunch, which was delicious, and dinner was provided at our hotel. I ate my fill of the amazing Sicilian lunch so I wasn’t particularly hungry at dinnertime. Instead, I went for a long walk up through the mountains. It was fantastic! I went into town and checked out the local color, so lovely. I got to see the sunset over the sea – truly spectacular.

On Saturday, there were more dialogues in the morning, followed by lunch back at the hotel. I was lucky enough to find a table with predominantly English speakers – Fr. Benedict among them! The panel that Flaminia had moderated included Ashraf al-Ajrami and Benjamin Rutland, two members of an organization called the Geneva Initiative that works to promote communication and understanding between the Palestinian and Israeli majorities for peace. As both speak English, I spent a lot of the weekend conversing with them about their lives and their work in Israel and Palestine. And, of course, I ate lunch with them on Saturday!

We were rushed to the opening of Torre Pepoli after lunch. The vision behind this ancient castle renovation falls perfectly in line with the Fly for Peace mission – the goal of Torre Pepoli is that is stands for peace and light throughout the Mediterranean region. The inside of the tower was totally redone and transformed into a multimedia, interactive museum and meeting space for cross cultural, political, and interreligious dialogue. A truly beautiful sentiment!

They fed us after this, and let me tell you – I was really excited for the table of goodies in front of me. Now, I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen Italians dive into a buffet but let me paint you a picture: Italians don’t understand the concept of lines or queues to begin with, add in a two hour presentation and the excitement of reopening a building that had been closed for decades and you have some very impatient people. When it was time for the aperitivo, I watched, astonished, as people DOVE headfirst into the food. I made several attempts to reach sandwiches and fruit, but was LITERALLY rebuffed as I tossed in the sea of hungry Sicilians. While I managed to grab two mini sandwiches, some fruit, champagne, and a dessert pastry, others had mountains of snacks on their plates – MOUNTAINS. Apparently, moderation does not exist in Sicily.

The feeding frenzy gave way to another hasty exit as the Saturday night festivities heated up. In the town of Trapani, down the mountain from Erice, a giant outdoor event featured my friends Ashraf and Benji, an Italian astronaut, and a famous Italian journalist. There were interviews, musical guests, and a rhythmic gymnastics show. In true Italian form, the whole event ran an hour and a half behind schedule and I finally was able to get a ride back to our hotel at midnight, before the final performance was even over.

Flaminia and me!

Sunday was short – just mass in the piazza in Trapani and a quick lunch before Flaminia and I hurriedly escaped back up the mountain to gather our things and head to the airport in Palermo. It was a great experience, traveling with Flaminia. Once again, I was reminded what an excellent personal assistant I would make (although, thankfully, I aspirations are a bit higher). Overall, it was a challenging weekend, in that I had to be really on my game with my language skills. All of the panels were in Italian, most of the participants only spoke Italian, and I was the only American in attendance.

not over it.

What will stick with me forever, among the awesome people I met and gorgeous scenery, is the food. Sicily is famous for their dolce, or sweets. Let me tell you, the pastries are real. I cannot wait to get home and attempt to make buccellatti.

I am so grateful for this opportunity!

Con affetto,

Sara

Since I began my internship about a month ago, I’ve been working on preparations for a conference that took place this past weekend. The event, entitled “The Global Common Good: Towards a More Inclusive Economy,” centered around poverty, justice, and economic inclusivity. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Vatican office with which I have my internship, hosted over 50 scholars, civil society leaders, and NGO directors in Vatican City for the two day seminar. Among the awesome attendees were the Governor of the Bank of England, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Executive Director of Oxfam International, the presidents of Ferrero and Nestlé, and the Managing Director of the World Bank. Needless to say, I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet these people.

The conference was held at Casina Pio IV, a building inside Vatican City that houses part of the pontifical Academy for the Sciences. It went very well. The seminar began Friday afternoon with the first few sessions to discuss the Working Paper written before the event and continued through the whole day on Saturday, concluding with a group statement calling for action and setting goals for the future. I spent most of the time preparing for coffee breaks, organizing paperwork and conference materials, and reading. Occassionally, I got to sit on the a session for about an hour or two and listen to what was said.

The real excitement surrounding the whole seminar was Saturday’s lunch. We had the opportunity to meet and eat lunch with Pope Francis. I MET THE POPE! He was so gentle and happy; he smiled the whole time he was with us and his presence was amazingly calming. I cannot believe that a lowly, unpaid intern who begged for a job in Rome was allowed the opportunity to be in the presence of arguably the most influential person in the world with such high company. I will not downplay the fact that this is the most exciting thing that will ever happen to me, but I would like to explain some things right off the bat:

1. I get really flustered around important people. When I saw Bon Jovi on the football sidelines at an ND football game, I teared up. It took me twenty minutes to work up the courage to ask if I could take a picture with Jeff Samardzija. I don’t do well in these situations. When I saw Pope Francis arriving, it took all of my willpower not to burst into tears.

2. My job at this time was to wait by Bishop Toso (the Secretary of our council), Pope Francis, and Cardinal Turkson (the President of our council) with an empty bag into which people placed the books and letters they brought for the Pope. I got to stand less than a yard away from Pope Francis for an hour and hear what he said to these important people and what they said to him. WOW!

3. When I had the opportunity to shake his hand (I TOUCHED THE POPE) and speak to him, I forgot how language works. I know that I said, “Grazie mille,” a few times but then I just wasn’t saying anything. My boss, Flaminia, stepped in and said, “She’s a student! She’s working with us this summer!,” at which point I chimed in and repeated what she said. So graceful. He didn’t say anything to me, just smiled and laughed a little.

4. I had brought a number of things to get blessed by Pope Francis but obviously forgot when I went through the receiving line. This was disappointing. Lucky for me, after lunch, my coworkers were determined to make it happen so I was urged to follow Pope Francis out of the dining room and pat him on the shoulder before he left. I quietly asked, “Santo Padre, would you mind?” and he gave me a blessing for several items: my class ring from ND, the rosary given to me by my Aunt MaryLynn for my Confirmation, my ND medallion and the Vatican medallion Emma gave me when she visited Rome during high school, and the gold Madonna necklace from Toledo, Spain given to me by my friend and roommate Alyssa Hummel.

I don’t think anything in my life could compare to this. It was an exhausting weekend, but it was so worth it! I made some great contacts for the future, met some awesome people, and I TOUCHED THE POPE!