A Story of a Blessing and a Curse

I have the rather dubious distinction of having been both thrown out of the Vatican, and blessed by the Pope. Though not on the same day.

The Vatican Incident (a good Robert Ludlum title) happened while I was on a semester abroad with Eastern Michigan University’s European Cultural History Tour — 14 countries in 4 months. We’d just arrived in Rome, and were doing a Vatican day.

Now, I’m a huge fan of Roman history, especially the latter days of the Republic. Recently, when naming all the Romans who interested me, a friend said, “You like all the…