ok, im not even going to bother apologizing for not writing. but since everyone has a blog these days, i am feeling more and more compelled to conform myself (or should i say get back into it) i can only hope i will try my best to keep up, instead of doing these 3 times a year "recaps"
anyway... it has been almost a whole 8 months since i've written, and holy shit, a lot has happened.
february 2005feb 2, first day with bluetooth earpiece for the cell phone. wonderful invention for those of us who live in 500 year old buildings that weren't built with cell phone reception in mind. i have about an inch and 1/2 of space on the table where the cell phone will work. so with the bluetooth, i can walk around and talk and not worry about dropping the call. we have a long day at work doing an interview for dateline. camera problems, re-synching audio, etc... i get home finally at around 10pm and set up the bluetooth. lay down to start a film, and the phone rings. its alfonso. the dude is talking so fast i only made out 3 words. papa. ospedale. ufficio. (pope, hospital, office) i understood right away.
shot up from the bed, threw on some clothes, kissed aubrey and bolted out the door. the pope was in the hospital. this is what we've been working on since i arrived in rome 3 years ago. it was one of those movie moments. the clock is ticking... the nightly news broadcast is creeping up... we're not going to make it. power's on, mic is plugged in, correspondent arrives. ifb in the ear, click. boom - you're live. "that's right, brian, the pope was rushed to gemelli hospital...." we JUST made it....
anyway the pope is in the hospital for about a week. about 45 people from london and new york were here, we were working our asses off, sleeping in the bunker, and just making tv. around the 10th he is released, and all goes back to normal.
aubrey's parents arrive. having a good time. 1 day later, my aunt and uncle arrive. more good times. food, drink, sites, sounds... ah rome in february! then 3 days later my parents arrive. again, more good times, just bigger dinners! all in all it was a great time. everyone had fun, they all went to florence even. stephen had been on vacation in venice since the pope got back to rome, so they sent in a visiting correspondent.
feb 24th we're working on a story about an exorcism class that the vatican is offering at one of its universities. this class only happens once a week, so we were not alone. bbc, cbs, abc, sky tv, everyone's there shooting b-roll and getting interviews. after our second interview i get a text message from stephen in venice:
"just heard that rai sent a sat truck to gemelli. dont do anything yet but be prepared to get out of there."
not again?!? so i nonchalantly start cleaning up the lights, and breaking down the tripods. 15 minutes later another text: "code red - get on the air!" trying to call no attention to the fact that we know the pope is back in the hospital... i get everyone together - we get in the car, say rushed goodbyes and speed back to the office. we made the today show that time, just by the skin of our teeth.
pope's back in the hospital, 2nd time in a month. the 45 people come back to rome. we do the drill all over again. long nights, lots of live shots, translating, a few cut spots. easter is coming up. will he make it thru? this hospital stay drags on a bit, and in the meantime i start thinking maybe aubrey and luca should head back to the states for a little while. with easter coming up, and the obvious interest - even if the pope makes it thru we won't have a break for at least a couple of weeks. so they buy the tickets and off they go.
all this time, more and more gear is arriving in rome. lists are being made of people to call, more drivers, more runners, tables and chairs are ordered, and its pretty much mass hysteria. the whole experience of it was pretty much a blur, and i curse myself for not keeping a journal during the event, but christ, i was averaging about 3 hours of sleep per night.
easter comes. pope is back at the vatican. we saw a live video hookup during the good friday stations of the cross. easter sunday he came out of the window after mass and tried to speak but couldn't. it was pretty sad watching him, wanting so bad to just say happy easter, and all that came out were scratchy noises.
end of march/beginning of aprila few long days have passed. more prep work, and a sad phone call.
my grandma died. getting a call like that while having lunch - awaiting the death of the pope. they all said they understood that i couldn't go to the funeral. i never called her on her birthday.... i was able to take a day to myself and collect myself... but then it was back to work
a charter flight from NY arrived with about 160 people. engineers, camera crews, producers, correspondents... and TONS, i mean TONS of gear. we spend a few days setting up the stages, getting things ready. for about 2 days people have been gathering in st peters square, since word spread that the pope was not doing well.
april 2nd.its now close to 930pm, and we finally get permission to have the huge truck full of lighting equipment enter the grounds. i'm walking up the hill, following the truck. the truck parks. cue the distant chanting of the pilgrims below in the square. the driver comes out and says to me in italian, i just heard on the radio that the pope is dead. (we've been hearing rumors about this for about 3 days) no, no, he says, it was from ANSA, the italian wire service. i turn around and see correspondents running to their positions. oh god, it must be true. bells start ringing, people down in the square are clapping, chanting, singing, crying.... the whole place is full of energy.
long days ahead now. the pope is dead. since the beginning of february we were getting closer. when i moved to rome in june of 2002, we would talk about it... when it happens, when he dies, after he dies... 3 years of talk. now it's real. it didnt seem real at all. now its all gotta be past tense. when it happened, when he died, after he died...
more adrenaline. more long days. more people.... there were about 3 million people who came to rome. the line to see the pope's body laid out in st peter's basilica stretched for almost a mile. people stayed up all night, some it took 20 hours to finally pass by the pope's body and snap that one digital picture. this lasted for 9 days. there was a mass each day. at the end was the funeral. i watched some of the funeral from above the square, on our position. i think it hit me particularly hard since i was unable to attend my grandma's funeral. i was pretty moved by the whole thing. the crowds interrupting ratzinger's homily with cheers of giovanni paolo! just the amount of people that were in the streets. the day of the funeral, it took me almost 45 minutes to walk to work. (on a normal day, it takes about 7)
so now. the pope is dead. time to vote in a new one. now i start freaking out, oh god, what if it's a cardinal who i don't have video of, or enough of... where are all the tapes? etc etc. the conclave starts on april 18th. being the video geek that i have become because of the job, i am thrilled that the vatican shows the entrance to the conclave LIVE!!!! not many people seemed to share in my enthusiasm. it doesnt matter. i'm satisfied...
a couple of us walk up to the terrace around 7 pm, waiting for the smoke. then it comes. oh my god its white! no it's black. no it's greyish. no bells. it's definitely black. ok, no pope. thank god... now we can go have dinner and drinks and do it all again tomorrow. that night at the pub we bought a megaphone, and were ordering drinks from outside, and blasting the whole street with different comments. until water was splashed on us from an apartment above, and giovanni confiscated the megaphone...
next day there are two ballots. afternoon is the same deal - black, white, white, black, no bells, wait bells! no those are the normal clock bells to say it's 15 past the hour. definitely black, no pope. 2nd ballot - its WHITE. a little black, but more white... and it keeps coming. where are the bells? wait, some one needs to run from the sistine chapel to tell the bell guy to ring them. so it could take time. then the bells come. habemus papam. we have a pope. i run downstairs to get ready. to pull the tape of the guy they picked. the cardinal comes out and announces in latin, we have a pope. cardinal joseph ratzinger, takes the name benny 16. cue the mood change.
it was like a total anti-climax. all those months led to this? anyway we pressed on, covered the installation mass, the first angelus, the first everything. little by little everyone went back to london or new york, or moscow, or where ever they came from. but aubrey was still in america. and i was still in rome. during this papal fiasco she had decided to send her passport in to get the name changed finally. it was over 3 weeks, and she still hadn't received it. so we decided the best the thing would be for me to come back to the states for a little and when she has the passport we'd all head back together.
may 8, mothers day.i land in jfk after not seeing my wife or son for almost 2 months. it was great seeing them again. i felt so bad that aubrey didn't get to experience the "pope event" in rome, or luca for that matter. it was a tough call sending them back, but i think in the long run it was the better choice. i was working for at least 18 hrs a day... but i gave her and my mom a good mother's day gift. being there... together.
sadly during my week in america aubrey's uncle passed away. but i was glad we were able to be there. im pretty sure had we been in rome when it happened, we wouldn't have been able to come back just for a few days. it was a tough week, although we spent a lot of time looking back at old pictures and telling stories, and reminiscing about his life. my dad did the funeral service, and he was on, as always.
we got back to rome on the 18th. with aubrey's new passport in hand. 4 1/2 weeks after she sent it in... im expecting a whole new passport, and what is it? a typed message on the back page saying let it be known that the bearer of this passport is now called... no stamp, no seal, nothing. incredible...
around the time we get back we start having discussions about what to do. we're both feeling a little strange being back in rome. aubrey at first was happy to be back to our lives after almost 2 months away. but something wasn't right. and for the first time in my roman life, i am having thoughts about returning, and it's not money related. we go over all possible possibilities and decide the best option for the family is to head back to the states. it wasn't an easy decision by any means, and still isn't. we've been here for 3 years. made friends, made a life, made a family! we've done lots of things that normally wouldn't have been able to do... in rome! we've learned a second language, been introduced to all new ways of life, and mentality, and culture. it's been an amazing ride. and we'll miss it. everyday. we just need to keep what we've learned and experienced in our hearts and live as best we can back in the states.
so that;s where we are now. most of june and july was spent mapping out our plan of attack, what to throw away, what to bring,when do we leave etc etc. aubrey's sister carol and the kids were out for a few days in july with phyliss, carol's mother-in-law. it was great having luca's cousins around again, and they all had a great time together. and of course seeing phyliss in rome, i always love watching first-timers' reactions to this city!
my friend darren who i haven't seen in over 5 years came out the day after carol and co left. again, great to see him, and his reactions, and just generally hanging out and having a good time.
all in all it;s been a pretty eventful year. im satisfied so far. we've got 10 boxes packed and ready to be shipped, and the walls are bare. 30 something days left in rome. and then its' starting over time! once again.
