While many of us were parked on our couches watching reruns of House or Sex in the City over February break, 17 Brandeis students embarked on a journey to explore religion and culture in beautiful Rome. Led by the Rev. Walter Cuenin, the Catholic chaplain on campus, the students traveled all the way to Italy to visit marvelous sights ranging from antiquity to present day. The idea for the 7-day voyage came from Cuenin when he arrived at Brandeis, and the trip has taken place each February for the past four years. It is open for all students to apply during the fall, and participants are chosen by Cuenin on the basis of having an equal number of men and women and students of different ages. The lucky chosen ones receive the coveted ticket to Rome.

"The trip is centered around Rome, the center of Catholic origins," explained participant Janette Mynette '13.

"In a way, it's like Birthright," Mynette said. Birthright, a Jewish foundation funded by philanthropists and the State of Israel, sends young Jews on a 10-day trip to Israel for free in order to solidify their Jewish identities and explore their Jewish roots.

"This is my Birthright-Catholicism type trip," Cuenin said. "For the Catholic students, I wanted them to see the roots of their faith. For everyone [on the trip], I wanted them to see the great influence of Greco-Roman culture [on the world]."

"For me, this was a great opportunity," Mynette said. "At Brandeis, I always question my faith. This gave me an opportunity to pray and meditate and recharged my spiritual life."

To help fund the expensive trip, Cuenin raised money from local parishioners and donors. The students also had to pay $600, a relatively small sum for such a trip, which included food costs and room and board.

The group stayed at the iQ in Rome, a four-star hotel complete with vending machines stocked with bottles of wine for a small cost of 5 euros.

The group toured a variety of places from Rome, the holy city of Catholicism, to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis and the Franciscan Religious Order.

In Rome, the travellers saw great ancient ruins including the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and more. They then toured Vatican City, where they experienced an explosion of history and culture: St. Peter's Square and Basilica, the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.

Despite the Catholic theme of the trip, the group included two Jewish students.

"I did it as a trial run; I want to expand the trip to include more people," Cuenin explained. "When you are with someone from another faith, you learn you are connected, even though you are different," he said.

David Azer '11, one of the two Jewish students involved in the trip, chose the trip after being approached by Cuenin and seeing the irresistable itinerary and unbelievably low price.

"I'm really glad I went. As a Jewish person, I felt really comfortable. People were very willing to answer questions. I could definitely sense the spiritual energy of the place."

The group was fortunate enough to receive a blessing from the Pope during Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, which aired on live television.

"I'm not sure how many people there were; maybe 1,000," Azer said.

"People speaking all kinds of languages: people from the English-speaking world, Spanish-speaking countries and Chinese-speaking people."

"There was an awareness that, although we came from different countries, we're all connected by our faith," described Cuenin. "To be with so many different people is amazing."

The group also discovered the diversity within Catholicism-the different strata within the sect.

"A lot of people don't understand that there are different dimensions to Catholicism," Mynette said.

"Within the Catholic Church, there are so many different orders of Catholicism-that was enlightening to me," Azer remarked.

The trip did not answer all questions, but it allowed students to ponder their religious identities and begin to explore different issues of religion and faith.

"I still have questions, but I did take time to be connected with God," said Mynette. "When you are away from school, away from family, away from home, it allows you to investigate life from a very different perspective."

It seems, however, that what the participants on the trip most appreciated was the incredible bonding that took place.

"Most of us did not know each other before. But now, we feel like a community," Mynette said.

"I think I took with myself the relationships I made on the trip more than Rome itself," Azer said.

Though the trip is over, the group has returned with new relationships and panoramic views that will hopefully continue to impact them.

"I'm going to tell people about it and encourage people at Mass to go," assures Mynette. "It was more incredible than I could handle.