We'll get by with a little help from our friends...

First, let me explain this photo. Sarah and I saw this interesting procession as we were looking for apartments. Notice the priest at the head of the column of gladiators, or Roman soldiers. A local vendor was kind enough to tell us it had something to do with the Pope. We were just a couple of blocks away from St. Peter's.

It is amazing how helpful the vast number of Italians on the street can be. Folks really do go out of their way to help. Last night we were coming back to the Bible Institute late from a day of appointments and apartment hunting. We got ourselves lost and a young Romanian woman overheard us asking for directions in very bad Italian. She said she was going to the Metro, too, and did we want to follow her. She said this in better Italian. As she herded us into the correct Metro, she insisted on giving us 3 extra Metro tickets. I'm sure this young Romanian woman living in Italy needed them more than we did. Once in the Metro car, we found out we were going pretty much the same place. It was her first time on that bus, so we helped her find it. Somehow, though, in our Tarzan Italian we communicated that we didn't know the way to where we were going once we got on the bus. "I new here. Where go you? Me, too. First time (we meant for her, but we don't know how to say that!)" You get the idea. The whole bus was discussing how to get to our address. Then, the bus driver pulls over and comes back to talk to everybody, trying to figure out how to get us home. Finally, I checked my dictionary and was able to communicate "I already know." I'm sure it sounded rude, which is always how you sound when you're learning lanugage. People here are so helpful on the street. I wish Romans enjoyed finding apartments for foreigners like us as much as they enjoy giving directions!