Election of Pope Francis

It was an exciting time to be in Rome when the Papal Conclave was taking place. Many of our friends at St. Johns walked to St. Peter's Square multiple times a day to witness the smoke. When long awaited white smoke finally appeared, Stefan and I were in the dorm. We heard commotion in the hallway and people yelling "there is white smoke!" So, we grabbed our coats and headed for the Vatican, which is only a 10 minute walk from our dorm.

There were people everywhere and some people were sprinting to get there. From the time we left the dorm to the time the Pope finally appeared a little over an hour passed. It had been raining all day, but luckily the rain turned into a drizzle and eventually stopped while we were waiting in St. Peter's Square. We in the front half of the St. Peter's Square and dead center. The energy of the crowd was pretty amazing. Finally, the Pope appeared. Unfortunately, everything was in Italian and we didn't understand what he was saying. Overall, it was a great experience and it was cool to be part of such a historic event.