What Up Ryan?

So I know that a lot of you have been wondering how our good friend Ryan has been doing.  And for those of you who may not know, I think I should probably re-explain what I am exactly doing with Mr. Adorjan here in Rome.  Last semester, Ryan brought one of my freshman year seminarian baseball cards to Charlotte  NC for a weekend so that I could "see" everything that he got to see.  And while I appreciated the trip, I thought that it would be so much better to bring an enlarged version of his baseball card to Rome and have him travel around with me this semester.  And it has been quite a bit of fun to have Ryan here for all of the excitement of Rome.  So I have some good pictures of what we have been doing here in the Italy to share with all of you.

In our first Ryan sighting, it looks like he has taken on the ancient Greek practice of wearing a toga.  Why he chose to do something Greek in Rome is really quite concerning, but alas, he seems to be enjoying himself.  Also, it appears that he has been working on one of his formation goals, and that is exercise.  I mean, look at  his "rock hard" abs.  (I apologize for all terrible puns).

Ryan also came along on our road trip, and here he is chilling with a gold statue of Padre Pio.  (Not to mention Max Behna, Viunce Fernandez, Justin Wiltse, and myself).  While he did scare off some of the locals, I think that he really enjoyed his time in San Giovanni Rotunda.  Rumor is that he even levitated, following the example of Pio, but we have no visual proof to back any of this up.       

Here is Ryan at the beach in Mattinata.  While he did appear terrified to enter the chilly water, his laminated head did a few drops of water on him.  Also, there was a sign warning of danger, showing a rather graphic image of a man falling on his head.  The area around it was rather rocky and one could possibly fall in, but the severity of the fall would be very hard to replicate.  Now Ryan, lacking most athletic capacities, did end up falling and was upside down for a while.  Too bad he didn't see the sign.  Mike did help him get right side up again.  

Lastly, we have a very shocking picture to show you.  Below, you will find Ryan and Justin in the middle of a cactus-like bush.  There were these cacti things growing all over, but they didn't really have thorns/pricks/whatever they are.  Lacking much knowledge in the field of botany, we just called them cacti for the entire trip.  And what is so shocking about this picture is that both Justin and Ryan are outside.  I just cannot believe that this historic event, where both of them were breathing the open air, was captured by my camera.  

So as the semester winds down, I am sure that Ryan will still have a few more adventures over here.