Hawaiians in Rome

10/7/09 wow....who would've imagined all these Hawaiians in the ancient city of Roma. they all arrived exhausted from Belgium after being greeted like heros by the locals in Fr. Damien's hometown. it is such a trip to see them spread their Aloha to the staff at the Ergife Hotel as well as around St. Peter's Square. today was the audience with il Papa. and it was like the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. each country followed by the naming of each group was introduced to Bene-san the 16th. and let's just say we weren't quiet and stoic when US/Hawaii congregation was called out. we could NOT let the those German Nazi bastards out-yell us. hell NO!!! the Indian priests from India (not to be confused with the Native American Indian priests if there are any) seated next to me were impressed with my finger whistling (a must-learn ability while growing up in Kalihi). unfortunately they only had 6 dudes from their church so needless to say they didn't have an impressive group such as ours. they decided to not stand up and cheer when their group was called after our 5 minute screaming like UH football fans during the June Jones era. but.....they forgot to tell one of their people and it was pretty funny when the group was called and he was the only one standing and yelling. talk about a scene from an Adam Sandler movie. i tried to hold back the laughter but the dude was shown on the jumbo-tron and then all his buddies from his group just busted out laughing. needless to say i joined in and we all bonded....even the embarrassed dude-priest.

10/8: today is catch-up-on-your-sleep day. or shop at the Vatican after a tour of the museum. my mom and i decided to check out the train station and pick up our tickets to Florence. the best way to travel in Rome is by taxi. they are friggin' nuts and fearless. between the crazy moped/motorcycle riders and the tons of buses weaving in and out of the lanes like there are NO traffic lanes, it is dangerous to be on the road in Rome. the cars maybe small and compact but the speed and impatience that they drive is chaotic and stressful. there are Smart Cars everywhere here. even the Polizia have a Smart Cars. how the hell they are able to transport a bad guy in one of those things, i don't know. but they are sure cute and can be parked ANYWHERE.

a difference i noticed in Rome since the last time i was here in the 1990's, the graffiti/tagging is out of frickin' control. it's like i've flashed-back to the movie Beat Street. huge bubble tags with tons of color. it is on everything in the city of Rome. now Vatican City is tagless which makes sense as the city is super small and the Popes guards in their cool outfits from the Renaissance era look like they could kill you with a look...even if they do look like they are heading to Renaissance Fair.

10/9: we invaded Assisi. there is still some construction going on from the earthquakes of 1997. the city is still impressive and on a hill/mountain with an incredible view. and they added escalators to help people get to the town. you have to walk down but it's not as bad on the heart that walking straight up the friggin' mountain. the amount of historical churches and buildings are balanced by the many tourist stores and restaurants located throughout the town of Assisi. St. Francis (totally a nature dude) was it's local son and he teamed up with St. Catherine of Sienna, the patron saint of Italy. the streets are narrow and cobbled but so is most of Italy. as in Rome, there are lots of nuns, priests, brothers and monks wondering about the town. many of them young too.

while people watching in Assisi, i bumped into a leprechaun of a man wearing a Fr. Damien shirt Aloha shirt. as i didn't recognize him from our group, i engaged him in conversation. come to find out that he was a brother from Ireland....a Sacred Heart brother who used to work at St. Patricks on Waialae and he visited Sacred Hearts Academy back in 1973. dude missed me by a few years! he and a bunch of his other brothers were also heading to Rome for the canonization. he was certainly happy to know we were here to represent. i steered our media crew towards this cute leprechaun brother as it surely made for an interesting story.....sort of a "circle of life" thing with him 'cause i'm sure he bumped into a few of the SHA sisters who were on this tour with us who probably knew him too.