Religion Week: Vatican City

Today we were on to the smallest country of them all, nestled in Rome, Italy: Vatican City! 

Vatican City, as we all know, is home to the Pope, Saint Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. With an area of 109 acres (about 1/8th of the size of Central Park) and a population of 450 (that's the 2012 number anyway), Vatican City is the smallest country by really any measurement. That population number is a little misleading, too, because most of the 'residents' don't even live there. But this tiny country does print it's own postage stamps (the stamps are actually very sought after), issues passports, and has it's own flag and anthem. 

It is also the only place in the world where women can't vote (Saudi Arabia let woman vote in 2015, leaving Vatican City as the sole country in that department). It's not a sexist move, really, though. Only Cardinals can vote, and only mean can be cardinals, so there you have it. 

The Vatican is home to some pretty amazing works of art, thanks to Michelangelo, which of course the boys remembered from Art Week. He painted the Sistine Chapel, and the famous Pieta statue (the only piece he ever signed) is there as well. The dome of Saint Peter's Basilica was designed by the artist, and is so big you could actually fit the Statue of Liberty in there (pedestal and all!) and still have plenty of room to spare. 

Other Vatican City notes: 

They are home to the 'Vatican Secret Archives' where they keep important letters and such from people ranging from Abe Lincoln to Galileo! 

The Swiss Army, colorful uniform and all, is tasked with the protecting the Pope. 

Vatican City obviously wouldn't fall for quite some time alphabetically, but we're on to a new unit: World Religions!

So, while we study the 6 most popular religions throughout the world, we'll be doing countries to co-inside with those Religions. 

I know they say don't talk politics or religion, so I'm tip toeing into some dangerous territory lately. Since we are not a religious family. Asa and I subscribe more to the theory that religion is so complicated, and difficult to understand, we'd rather have the boys pick one when they are adults, if they'd like to pick one at all. I'm totally cool with people who raise their kids within a religion, that's just not for us. 

But, I think for the world we live in today, it's important to at least know a bit about each one. Now, you could teach forever on one branch/sect/division of each religion. But, we're just spending a couple of days on each one, so the boys can be familiar with some of the beliefs, customs, and terms for each one. 

Christianity is the most practiced religion in the world. Numbers vary, but most agree a little less than third of the people on earth are Christians. Most of us are familiar with the ten commandments, the bible, and the various branches of Christianity, so I won't go on. 

We're trying to do a small activity each day, too. I am about out of voice after teaching today, so this activity was super easy! I had the boys postcards taped to the bottom of the table, so they could make their Vatican City postcards like Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. 

Hayden and Peyton made themselves comfortable. 

And then Calib squeezed in. 

But, they didn't complain, except to say their arms were a bit tired afterwards. 

All in all, decent postcards for the way they made them. 

Since Vatican City doesn't exactly have it's own cuisine (although there is a cafeteria for tourists!), we obviously had to have Italian. We took some help from all kinds of 'Product of Italy' packaged foods at Trader Joes. Sometimes we just need a little help from the store. 

 We had the Tiramisu, and the crackers, along with grapes, an Italian salad (finally used up the rest of the feta!), cheese wrapped in prosciutto, and two different kinds of Ravioli: goat cheese and pesto, and arugula and Parmesan. 

This meal earned five spoons up. Everyone ate pretty much every last bit of it, and asked for seconds. No surprise there. (They were mixed on the cheese and prosciutto though). 

And the Tiramisu had to be eaten all at once, it was getting melty and it said not to put it back in the freezer, so Peyton kindly helped out with eating the rest of it. 

We 'colored in' Vatican city with a dot. Proportionally, it's obviously not exact, but we'll paint around it a bit whenever we get to Italy. 

25 Down, 168 to go! 

Next Up: Brazil