Tired Dogs, Horns, and a Husband for Dr. P

Foot massages never appealed to me. I hate feet in general, so I recoil at the thought of subjecting a stranger to my tootsies. My opinion on foot massages changed around 2 pm. At this point, my feet hurt so bad from walking every day for hours and hours that all I could think about was how nice to would be to have my feet rubbed. And then I walked around for another 5 hours. (Incidentally, when I travel with others, I don't subject them to this insanity.)

The day began with a visit to a church that has a statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo.Isn't his dedication to anatomical correctness in the face of policital correctness inspiring? I mean, I've seen another Moses that he sculpted, and Michelangelo always captures his Jewish horns so perfectly. It seems that since Moses was thrown into a basket and sent down the river to save his life, his parents didn't have time to do the ritual horn removal that all Jewish boys undergo when they are also circumsized. (Might as well take everything off while the baby is wasted, right?) Girls have ours chopped off or filed down at birth since we don't get any other infant surgeries. My parents have the cutest picture of me right after I was born with my little Jew horns sticking out through a tiny shock of hair. I should post it some time. (Sigh.)

Anyway, it wound up being a day of Jewishness for me, although first I stopped off at a very cool 12th century church built on a 4th century church built on a 1st century structure used by a cult. The layers are excavated and you can go through them. While I was wandering around, I somehow wound up tailing a high school group from Texas, which was great because I learned a lot from their teacher.

My next stop was the synagogue and Jewish Museum, although on the way I stopped at another church, which surprised me by having the relics of St. Valentine. My photo will make the greatest Valentine's Day post ever, assuming I don't forget that I have it. I learned about the sad history of the Jews (is there any other kind of history when it involves Jews?) in Rome. The first Jewish community documented settled in 160 BC and evolved into a special Italian Judaism similar to Sephardic Jews, but with its own culture and traditions. I won't bore/depress you with all the ups and downs of Roman Jewish life over 1,850 years, but I was psyched to see that a tour of the Jewish Ghetto (1555-1870) was offered in the evening.

Only two other people signed up for the tour, a Jewish couple from Ft. Lauderdale. When I mentioned that I would be in their 'hood next week helping my friend Dr. P move to start a fellowship down there, the woman was excited.

"Is she married?" she asked.

"No," I replied.

"Oh, my son is a doctor. I'd love to introduce them!"

I nearly fell down laughing. Dr. P may not be as amused.