And OH, the people you'll meet...

Getting back to work has been a positive experience, overall. After 3 or more months of sitting and eating, I am back to walking and talking, which certainly sounds healthier. One of the things I have always loved about being a guide is meeting people, for better or worse. Sometimes, the clients think you are the funniest, smartest person they have ever met, sometimes they think a room full of maps is the Sistine Chapel (and this after 30 minutes of looking a pictures of the Sistine Chapel). Either way, I get a huge kick out of it.

I have been fortunate, since I've been back, to have excellent clients; no one has asked me if Jesus ever said mass in the Vatican, everyone has laughed at my nerdy jokes about Latin. As if this were not enough of a blessing, yesterday I was pulled aside TWICE in the Sistine Chapel by people who were not on my tour. This is actually a very good thing. The first person who came up was a priest, who not only complimented my tour, but subsequently asked me to be part of what I am going to call a secret society of tour guides. Without snobbishly dropping any names, one of the people in this group is someone I have actually SEEN on the History Channel. I was beyond excited by this prospect, and only hope I have the wherewithal to last through 'initiation' (read: an email exchange).

Nonetheless, I was approached immediately afterward by the only people in the Chapel who could have topped the feeling of elation the Secret Society of Guides (SSG? Maybe I should give it some Greek letters...): a family with a Roman last name to top (most) all Roman names. The paterfamilias simply walked up to me and said, "Hi, my name is Tiberius." It was all I could do not to respond in Latin, and ask if his mother was called Livia. If his wife had actually been called Julia, I am not sure what I would have done. In any case, I discovered after a few minutes that Tiberius was his surname, and that he was third generation American, the rest of his ancestors having been true Romans. At least in the modern sense. We spent a few minutes chatting, and I agreed to take the Tiberii on a tour of Ancient Rome, if for no other reason that to be able to put "worked for Tiberius and family in Ancient Rome" on my resume.

As if I didn't enjoy Roman history enough...