Vatican City was a nightmare. An impressive and important nightmare to endure, but a nightmare nonetheless. The line was hundreds of people long hours before opening when we arrived, and we waited about 2 hours to get in. Jessie and Jenny played the °who am I° guessing game which was a little obnoxious after that amount of time, but my economics book kept me entertained.

Before going, I thought I could spend all day inside the museums like most famous places, but no, the Vatican Museums close at 130. So after getting in the doors around 1030, you have just about 2 hours to run like herded cattle to the Sistine Chapel making very brief stops when someone in front of you cranes their neck to take a picture of something. So what did I do? I bought a book. A super huge, touristy book of Vatican City. I figured, why spend all this time fussing with a camera and taking mediocre shots and being bumped constantly when I can spend money to read a knowledgable perspective and look at professional photographs? It was a great purchase.

So needless to say, I sat in the Sistine Chapel long enough to listen to my detailed audioguide, then bailed to a pizza place to fulfill my craving for carbs. Honestly, anyone who travels in high tourist season, the summer, has to be crazy! Anyway, the musems and the Vatican were amazing and unlike anything else in the world, as you can all see when I show you my fabulous coffee table book!

Theres been a couple other thoughts on traveling lately, mainly dealing with my thoughts on trust and control. Ive noticied that sometimes Ill stay at a hostel and shut my things in a locker and not think about it all day in terms of the safety of my belongings. Trust here is high I guess because I feel I am in total control of access to my things. Then theres places where I leave my stuff lying out on the floor all day, but because of the roommates I have and like, I dont really think about my exposed belongings being in danger either. Here I dont have control over locking up my belongings, but I feel the interpersonal vibe still gives me some control. Then sometimes, my trust goes down because I feel exposed and out of control and/or have become too attached to some souvenirs that Im tempted to carry them around with me all day or hide them away under my bed, (as if that will help!) Anyway, this may seem like a super obvious experience, but sometimes I wonder if its all in my head what I decide is safer or who is more trustworthy. All in all though, at the end of the day when I come back to find my chaos in the same place I left it and the random guy next to me offering me an orange, I relax and can get over those concerns for the time being. Its amazing to me how much the idea of trust can go back and forth in a pendulum motion as you enter new situations. Guess its a good thing for me to experience that gain and loss of control to know my limits.

Well, the longwinded tangent was definitely circular, but Im sure some of you can relate! Hope all is well is beautiful Oregon! Still one of the greatest places to live!