The Seminary

by Theresa Carpine

Two students and I were in the piazza working on our photography assignment when we ran into a local man named Romano. My friend told him that we needed to get a photo of the whole city. She gestured with her arms, as if wiping down a table with her hands moving in opposite directions. Romano said, “Ah! The seminary! Come, I show you.”

 

We followed Romano down a side street and he stopped outside a door to tell us the story of his wife and her family who have lived in Cagli for hundreds of years. He produced a key and ushered us into his wife’s inheritance, which Romano rents to vacationers. We were impressed with the apartment, as well as two other apartments that he rents to visitors.

Eventually, we arrived at the seminary. I asked if we could go inside and Romano explained no, it was closed because there aren’t many men studying to be priests these days. We continued our tour and saw a few churches, his office, and his garden.

We parted in the piazza with a “Ciao ciao” and watched him leave before I asked, “Didn’t he say he was going to take us some place high so we could see all of the city?” My friends were under the same impression. Upon reflection, I realized that my friend’s motion could be interpreted as wanting to see many important sites in the city, rather than all of the city at once. But we didn’t want interrupt or seem ungrateful for what he did show us. And we were grateful! Although we didn’t get the up high shot we expected, we each took photos on the tour that fulfilled another requirement.