i was so close to the pope!

[sammysosa84]

sooo i fell asleep last night at 930 because I was so tired. I woke up at 6am to prepare for the papal audience. sharon and i caught the bus at 745 where we met a few other people. finally getting off the bus around 815, it started pouring down with rain. i was wearing flip flops too which tend to slip and slide in the water. eventually we bought some panchos at the magazine stand to keep ourselves a little less drenched. we meet up with our ta's and they inform us that we dont have to have tickets to have a seat, it was a free for all. well we ended up getting the best seats in the house! it was me, a barrier, and the aisle way where the pope was coming.

i got some GREAT pictures of the pope! even though emma got a better one:) he came out in his popemobile while the crowd chanted BENNNNEDETTTTTO! it was crazy being that close to the pope. by the way, it stopped raining about 10 minutes before the pope came out and it was sunny. CrAzY! after he drove past us he went up to the front and proceeded to give shout outs to people who had traveled here from all over the world in 6 different languages, french, german, spanish, english, italian, and russian (maybe). afterward he gave a blessed everyone in the crowd in italian! definitely one of the most memorable experiences of my trip and my life:)

now to work w/ sharon on our radio assignment:)