Marzio would make Lynne and I delicious espresso!
See the prices of gasoline? This is the price per liter... so multiply that by 4...and then add in the exchange rate... gas is expensive!
Tunnels! We went through SO MANY tunnels on our journey through Europe!
We walked to lunch...ravioli...delicious ravioli...in a sweet little restaurant.
The town also has a chocolate festival and also a jazz festival. Marzio told me that Perugia's jazz festival is the 2nd best in Europe and it's held in July.
Umbria is the name of the region...
We rode the mini-metro back to the bus, then took off for our visit with a priest. We met the priest at the Basilica Papale di Santa Maria...and our 'priest' was a 'friar'. He was excited when we told him where we were from. He talked to us about the connection between this basilica and Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Clara. He told us about his views on God...and his relationship with Christ. Then he opened it up for our delegates to ask questions.
Some of the questions asked by our group:
1. If God is a God of love...why is there hell?
2. If Jesus conquered death, does that He spent time in hell?
3. I can't remember how it was phrased, but they asked about him specifically...and how he became a friar. He said he had his 'first calling' when he was 8 years old and he sensed that during the years he was 8, 9, and 10 years old. When he was 20-21 years old, he started engineering at the University of Rome. He said he was trying to understand the faith...the meaning of life...and at the same time he was studying science. He said God kept calling him...and at 29 years old, he said 'yes' to God and gave his life to Him.
4. What's the difference between a friar, a monk, and a priest?
He told us that monks and nuns live in a closed monastery. They spend their life studying and praying...praying for us. A Friar and a 'Father' are the same...unless they're also a priest.
5. How does a person find the inbetween between science and religion? He said 'science' searches for the truth of the world...and 'religion' searches for the truth of God. He said you listen to both and search for the truth..
6. Does God work through science? He said 'science' is part of the intelligence of God.
7. Is it possible for people in heaven to see people on earth? (I don't know what happened...but I don't remember - and didn't write down - how he answered this.
From this question period, he recommended we visit the original chapel of this basilica. It's INSIDE the church...the basilica was built around it. He suggested we all go in...and spend time praying...and said prayer was just talking to God.
I think the majority of our delegates went in the little chapel...but this visit definitely opened up some discussions among the group!
From the basilica, we headed into the heart of Assisi. We went to a 'school' or a place where there were about 10 mentally and physically handicapped children/young adults. This was our service project. Our delegates sang with them, played games with them, walked with them...whatever that person liked to do, our delegates did it. It was precious. I know it was difficult for some, but everyone participated.
From there, we had about another hour to roam around the town...to visit St. Francis' Basilica. We gathered for a group photo with the countryside of Assisi in the background. Unfortunately, right about the time of our photo, we had a couple of delegates get a bloody nose...and then another get nauseated from seeing the bloody noses!
Our hotel this night was not the favorite of the delegation! It was out in the middle of nowhere and we were the only ones in the hotel...at least for the first night. To compound the uneasiness, 6 of our girls' luggage got stuck in the elevator...and they couldn't get a technician out to work on it until the next day! We are a resourceful group, however...and everyone chipped in for clothes, shoes, etc.
Tomorrow is FULL-ON!
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