Ciao Roma!

I leave Rome today for a new adventure. I am heading south. I will go to Positano first and have three lovely nights at a little seafront Pensione. After that I'm heading to Sicily. I don't know how long I'll be there. My original plan was to have about two weeks there and two weeks in Sardinia. As I've been thinking about where I want to go, my time in Sicily is growing. So, I may not go to Sardinia at all. However, I'm not making any decisions right now. I'm going to see how things go and enjoy each town I visit. If I want to stay longer, I will. This is a big step for me - not planning it.
I might also meet up with Antonello who is the owner/husband of Barbara from of the apartment I stayed at in Vienna. He is from Sicily and his parents still live there in a small fishing village on the west coast. He might come for a visit and show me around. He's also hooking me up with a friend of Barbara's who owns a B&B in Palermo. I love the direction things are going so I'm just trying to go with the flow. Things work out better that way.

Week in Review

It feels like a lot happened this week. Tuesday was the big sightseeing tour and hair salon visit that I already reported on.
On Tuesday night, the Canadian – John, came over to my place and made me dinner. Ahhhhh. How cute is that? Actually, this is kind of his thing. He does it for everybody and basically he was hungry, didn’t want to stay home, and didn’t want to go out to eat. It was really nice to have someone make me dinner. It’s been a long time since that has happened so I really tried to enjoy it. I had heard stories about how great his cooking is and how he has gone over to various student’s houses and cooked for them. I have to remember my audience. He cooked a bag of dry pasta and tossed it with a jar of plain tomato sauce that he “doctored” with pepper and basil. It was so not want I wanted – I had pasta at lunch. It was also really plain. He also did something I didn’t understand. He added water to the tomato sauce and the cooked pasta when he tossed it. So the bland tomato sauce got watered down. I was a bit in shock when I saw this happen. I chocked it up to something that he saw his mom or grandmother do and he thought this is what you did to pasta sauce. He probably didn’t know that it was his mother’s way of making the sauce go farther. I’m just guessing. Anyway it was nice of him to do this and I ate a big bowl of pasta with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.
On Wednesday, I met up with the usual group for drinks. We hung out in the Piazza Navona area. At midnight, I reported that it was time for Cinderella to head home and I called it a night. Thursday was my last day of school and I wanted to make sure I had some sleep. I was really excited for my last day of school. I think I’m just ready to move onto some other adventures. In the end, I really enjoyed my time at the school. I enjoyed the teacher and meeting the other students. I even relaxed and enjoyed my lessons. It never seemed easier but once I stopped over thinking it, I had more fun.
I celebrated my last day of school by attending the Wine of Italy activity at school that evening. My bus ride to the school was probably the worst one I’ve had. I’ve taken the bus to and from school every day and from three different neighborhoods so I’ve experienced a lot of interesting rides. I had thought my morning trip to school was the last time I’d make the journey but I had forgotten about the evening wine class. The bus was more packed than I’d ever seen it. I got on at the back door and figured, “okay, we’re full and no one else can get on”. Why do I ever think this way? On each additional stop on the route to school we added a good 3-4 people at my end of the bus. I couldn’t see what was happening in the front. I could barely breath. I was having flashbacks of the Billy Idol concert when I was in high school. I rushed the stage, upon Billy’s insistence that he was lonely, and found myself squashed against a mob of people. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t breath. Billy’s guitarist, Steve Stevens, even tried reaching his arm down to me to pull me out of there but I couldn’t put my arms up to reach him. You know I wanted to be pulled on stage too. I definitely tried to move.
I found myself on the bus, thinking I’ll just get off at the next stop and walk. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to the door and exit if my life depended upon it. I was trapped between two men, whom I became intimately involved with along the journey. They smelled like a mix of sawdust, leather, cigarettes, and drunk.
I kept breathing through my nose trying to prevent any chance of tasting this smell. I kept praying people would get out at each stop but no one was moving. I gave up hope as we got closer to Termini. Everyone was going to that stop. When we arrived, we spilled out of the bus, and I gasped for fresh air.
Thank god that was my last trip to Termini for now. Unfortunately I have to make the trip one more time on Tuesday to catch the train to Napoli.
Onto school and the wine class. I figured this would be a nice little night of sitting around a table discussing the various wines and tasting them all. Nope. It was a lecture, all in Italian of course, on the history of wine in Italy. Mamma Mia. I was in and out of listening and trying to understand the discussion, praying that I’d be rewarded with some wine when the professor was done talking. When he finished, 90 minutes later, we got some wine. Geez.
After the lecture I headed to a chain restaurant (I know but it’s good) called Insalate Ricca. They have an abundance of different salads, which is hard to come by here. I had only been once before and it was so good. I really needed a salad too, especially after my double dose of pasta on Tuesday. I plopped down and already knew what I wanted. I ordered right away and sat and waited, eavesdropping on the conversation of a couple of Brits next to me. They were leaving town the next day. Every time the server came back over to me for whatever reason, we’d chat a little about whatever in Italian. It was more of him talking and me understanding and answering with one or two words. He came back to the Brits table next to me and gave them some complimentary Lemoncello. They stared at it and gasped and mentioned how they couldn’t possibly drink it. I decided to jump in here. I told them what it was and how great it is. We started to chat about what they were doing in Rome and why I was here. They are traveling the world, endlessly it seemed from the tales they told. They were leaving the next day for Tokyo. As we chatted they confessed that they thought I was Italian by my conversations with the server. HA! Fooled you.
It made me feel pretty good though since I really don’t feel like I know a whole lot. I thought maybe I had even fooled the server until he came back over later and asked me if where I was from and that he knew I was an Italian student. Nuts.
On Friday, my first day without being an “official” student, I spent the morning lazing about my flat. I finished another book, did some messing about on the computer, and made a phone call to get a waxing appointment scheduled. It was time. I couldn’t put it off any longer. My fellow student, from Australia, gave me the name and number of this place and told me that they spoke English. Great! I gave them a call. Parla Inglese? Nope. Crap. Okay, I can figure this out. So I begin trying to explain that I’d like an appointment to get waxed. No problem. I want to get a wax from Sophia. She tells me that there isn’t a Sophia working there. Shoot. I hang up and read my text message again. Oh, Sonia. I call back. Yup me again. I ask for an appointment with Sonia. Sure, no problem. Today? Sure but only because that is easier to agree to than trying to negotiate for another day. Oh, and I want to somehow tell you that I don’t just want a bikini wax, I need my legs waxed too. I ask her to wait a minute while I look up the word in my dictionary. Got it – Gamba. I tell her that I need to have my legs waxed. She bursts into a fit of giggles. Crap. No? That’s not right. She tells me she understands in between giggles and says she’ll see me at 3pm. Oh well, I’ll just explain with hand gestures when I get there.
I ask for the location. I get bits and pieces of where they are located and I have an appointment booked for 3pm. I get off the phone and realize that (a) I only have part of the name of the salon and (b) they didn’t ask for my name to book the appointment. I’m thinking that they either think I’m not going to show up or that they just put down “American” in the schedule book next to 3pm. I pull out my map and look for this piazza near Piazza di Spagna where the salon is supposed to be. I’m hoping that between the letters and words she gave me, I can figure out where this place is located. I find it. Yeah. I make my way to the salon and when I get there the woman from the phone greets me and tells me she spoke with me this morning. She takes me to Sonia. Sonia is great, and also doesn’t speak English so I get to practice more Italian. She does a great job and asks if I want anything else waxed. Oh yeah! Eyebrows, please! She comes over and begins tweezing. OUCH! This is what they did to me in Beirut. What about waxing the eyebrows? My hair is so thick that each hair that is pulled out feels like a small tree with roots down to my sinuses. The good news is that she finishes quickly. I’m in and out of there in 30 minutes.
Friday night was a little last hurrah with some fellow students. Dinner and drinks and hit the clubs with the kids. I’ve got lots of sightseeing to do over the weekend and the weather is supposed to finally be AMAZING.

There is nothing like a trip to the salon to boost a girls mood.

After a very wet Easter weekend, the sun finally came back out on Tuesday. I celebrated by taking myself out for a day of sightseeing. I kicked things off by visiting the church, San Clemente. I had read about this church many times but never visited. It is a church built upon a church, built upon another building. The building on the bottom level is from the 2nd century, the next level is a church from the 4th century, and the main level is a church from the 12th century. This was one of the best preserved and organized ruin I have been to in Rome. It was really well done and very interesting. I couldn't take pictures though so you have to imagine.
Next I went to another church, San Giovanni in Laterano. This is no ordinary church though. You get major bonus points in the Catholic faith for a stop here. This was once the sight of the original papal headquarters before the move to the Vatican. It is a massive, massive, massive church. My guidebook used the turn "hangar". Maybe that is more appropriate. I did give out a little gasp and "oh, ah" when I came in.


After my stop here I walked across the street to visit Scala Santa (Holy Stairs).
Apparently, these are the steps Jesus climbed in the house of Pontius Pilate. They were brought here by St. Helena in the 4th century. You are supposed to say a prayer as you walk up the 28 steps. I stopped to ponder...do I know 28 prayers? I thought of 3 I could say and then thought in my mind it shouldn't have to be an "official" prayer. However, since this was a catholic holy site I decided I probably did need to know 28 official prayers and opted instead to walk up the side stairs to take a peek at the Sancta Sanctorum (Holy of Holies).
Apparently this is where the heads of Peter, Paul, and Agnes were kept at one time. Why do they keep the heads? yucky.

I also did something totally impromptu and spontaneous. I popped into a salon and had my hair colored. I was walking by this little spot and there were two stylists standing in the doorway talking. I walked past them, stopped, turned around and asked if they could color my hair right now. I was able to barely explain what I wanted and even chatted with my stylist a little, all in Italian. When they started me out by washing my hair (not normal for someone who is having color done - you wash afterwards) I started to worry a little. The whole event took forever too between them washing my hair 3 times and the power going out (hello Beirut!) but when they finished my hair looked great!

Buona Pasqua! Happy Easter!

Today is Easter. I had some deep thoughts about personal Resurrection and what this time of year means but I'm going to save that for another time. I haven't finished my thoughts on the topic and I was too excited to tell everyone what the Easter Bunny brought me!!
For weeks now, I've seen loads of Easter items for sale. I first noticed these special eggs at the shop near my first apartment and every day I passed the store selling this huge Barbie theme egg.

They have them in all sorts of themes - Barbie, Spiderman, Simpsons, etc. Each egg is filled with a surprise of some sort. The stores that sell these eggs also sell loads of other chocolate easter treats. It's wall-to-wall eggs, bunnies, chocolate, and colomba cakes. It's nutty. I'm curious to see these stores after the holiday.




But back to what the Easter bunny brought me!

Field trip!

My school organizes ongoing activities for the students. There's everything from film nights, to walks around neighborhoods, to all day trips out of town. I decided to sign up for the trip on Saturday to Pompeii and Napoli. I've been wanting to see Pompeii for awhile and even tried to get on a tour while my brother was here. I was definitely excited to see it and excited to get out of Rome for the day.
I had to get up super early and go to school to meet the tour bus. On my way there, via the city bus, I had another interesting experience. Now, I think I've possibly mentioned how Italian women stare. It is up there with the way Indian men stare. It's not just a little look or a sideways glance. It is a full on, mouth open, looking straight at you, for as long as you will let them stare at you. Now you are probably wondering, what could I possibly do that would make them stare at me. It doesn't take much but here it is - I filed my nails. Yup. Shocking. I sat down in the bus across from this mother and her teenage daughter. They were going on about something and I think the daughter wanted her mother to give her something and the mother wasn't going to do it. (Hey! I understood some of their conversation!) They were deep into this discussion. I pulled out my nail file and started taking care of a snag on one of my nails. I'm going about my business for a minute or so and I realize that they've stopped talking and I can feel them staring at me. I turn and look and they are both looking directly at me with their mouths open, staring. When I catch them, they sort of look away, pretending to notice the dirt on the floor. I'm sure my look was "what". Is filing your nails offensive in Rome? Is this written somewhere and no one told me? I immediately started to look through the catalog in my brain and see if I had any memory of anyone filing their nails on the bus. No memories, but the bus is usually so crowded that people are crowd surfing over the top to make it to the exits. Was I doing something totally offensive or is this just another thing for Italian women to stare at? I think I'm going to have my camera ready next time and take their picture.
Allora, onto my field trip.
We headed to Pompeii first. I was excited to see it. I had recalled people saying it was interesting because it was a whole village just stuck in this time and this situation. People had also mentioned what was really intense were the people who had tried to run from the volcano explosion and they were frozen in their attempt. A classmate mentioned that when she was little she had seen a dog running with sausages in his mouth.
I didn't have high expectations that this would be some monumental experience. I expected to see a really well preserved, interesting ruin. I wasn't that impressed. The problem is that they take out so many pieces of the ruins here and they put them into museums. There were pieces here that weren't the originals. Those were in a museum. I expected to see these people frozen in time. There were a few but they were in glass boxes in a sort of storage area behind a gate.


I understand that everything needs to be secured and protected from thief, weather, etc. but this is possible to do without turning the actual ruin into a boring maze of old buildings. Even if they had one area set up as a sort of display of what it might have been like for these people, that would have been an interesting scenario to see. I think I prefer to see a little of the "here's how they lived" shadowbox display.
I did see the bordello and the accompanying sign directing people to it - see photo.

They did have some nicely preserved bath areas and that was interesting to see. I also realized after the fact that I didn't see it all. It's huge and we just saw a portion of it. I think that they didn't want to overwhelm us with a tour of the whole place and as it was I think we were there for over two hours. So maybe I won't discount the place completely since I didn't see all of it.
After Pompeii we went to Napoli for just a short visit of about 1 1/2 hours. I had super low expectations of Napoli. For starters, you might have heard that they have a garbage problem. Maybe you haven't but it it's been going on awhile. The garbage collection and disposal is managed by organized crime. So as we were driving through Napoli to Pompeii and then back to visit the city, you see loads of garbage everywhere. It's not just bags of garbage but the piles also include tires, couches, matresses, etc. It's really nasty. It's sad too when you think of why the problem exists.

Anyway, we got into the city and started to wander around and it was actually a really great city - what I saw of it. I was pleasantly surprised at how cute it was and how nice the center of the city looked. A small group of us decided to just hit a grand cafe for warm drinks. It had been pissing rain on and off all day so we were all pretty well cold and wet. We found a great spot with heaters, because of course we're still sitting outside, and had a nice chat.

I got home pretty late and indulged myself with cheese, bread, wine, chocolate, and four episodes of America's Next Top Model (downloaded from itunes).
Such an interesting and nice day.

My flat in Trastevere

A little over a week ago I moved into a flat in Trastevere. This is a neighborhood on the west side of the Tiber river. It is kind of the hot neighborhood these days. It's very hip with lots of restaurants and wine bars. It has such a good feel to it. It is popular with the tourists but not a typical stop for people that are just visiting for a short time.
I had commented in a previous entry that I didn't think I'd end up here. I thought I'd be staying in Campo d'Fiori. I was mistaken. I ended up in a huge apartment in the heart of Trastevere. This place is twice as big and twice as much money as the place I rented, but because the owner made changes, I got a deal. I really wanted to stay in this neighborhood so I'm glad it worked out.
The apartment is huge and on the 3rd floor. It feels like it's bigger than the last place I had in Seattle which was around 620 sq ft but it could also feel that way because it has a ton of windows compared to the two that I had in Seattle and the ceilings are really high.
I am about one "block" off the main street, Viale di Trastevere, but I don't hear any street noise. There is a Baptist(!) church across the street from me, a restaurant and a bar on the first floor of the building, and shops across from my front door, next to the church. Looking out my kitchen window, across the piazza, is another restaurant, Carlomenta, which is always packed. I'll try it soon and see what the fuss is all about. I have a feeling it's just convenient.




I love watching the neighborhood activities from my kitchen window. There are loads of interesting people and situations.
Once a week this little old guy comes and sets up his bike outside of the restaurant below me. He places the rear wheel into a trainer that prevents the bike from moving. He then sits on the seat and uses the bike pedals to turn a sharpening wheel that is attached to the bike. He sharpens the restaurants knives this way.








There is a convent down the street. I love seeing the sisters. It's very comforting to me to see them. It's definitely a pleasant childhood memory for me. I never had the bad nun hitting me with a ruler scenario. I think it was either because I was just really good in school and never caused trouble or I had nice nuns as teachers. I think it's a little bit of both. I was very friendly with the sisters at St. Mary's. I even did impersonations of one of them, Sr. Ermelinda. She even witnessed me doing it and said it was quite good. However, it was strangely similar to my impersonation of Ed Grimly, a character played by Martin Short on SNL.

Skip Day

I took a little vacation yesterday. I decided that I needed a day off of school so I skipped my Italian classes. I didn't feel too bad about it either. I figured I've been a diligent student for over four weeks and I'm pretty much in school 24/7 by just being here. It was a great decision. I slept until 7:50am, which is late for me here. That sun really wakes you up in the morning. It's no wonder I want to sleep until 10am in Seattle. I got up, had a little Italian breakfast (cafe and bread + some nasty strawberry flavored sugar yogurt with whipped sugar cream that my brother had picked out while he was here) and watched a little morning news. After the news I headed out for my first official exercise since I got here. I was feeling a major need to sweat and get moving. I've been wondering if I could count my bus ride as exercise, considering all the pushing, pulling, lunging, and squatting I do just to make sure I don't fall over. I'm pretty certain you don't need to take a driving test to get your bus driver license here. Joe never wanted to take the bus while he was here. Unfortunately I have to take it to school otherwise I'd be walking forever and be sweaty when I arrived. But back to my skip day...
I put on the official exercise clothes and walked to Circo Massimo to run laps. How's that for a race track? I've never been much into running around tracks but the view is pretty good here. (see photo)

It was a GORGEOUS day. Sunny & warm. I had a great run and was actually able to run which is a miracle. Side effect of Palm Sunday mass with the Pope perhaps? Or, it could be that I bought new running shoes before I left the states and took a mini course before I left Seattle on Chi Running. I tried to put some of the philosophies into effect as I ran and I think it may have helped a little. My knee never even began to hurt. It usually hurts immediately.
After my run I decided to visit the Testaccio farmers market. I thought I had read in one of the many guide books that it's the best one. Maybe I misread (highly possible) but it wasn't so great. I also think that I might be spoiled by the Pike Place Market and all the great farmers markets in Seattle and Portland. Anyway, I enjoyed wandering around, trying to speak Italian, and buying a few things. I skipped purchasing the baby pig. (What is with all the baby animals I keep finding in the meat departments here?)

However, I did find some strawberries that look like Oregon strawberries (they are different than the California ones in the store), a Colomba cake for Easter/Pasqua, and another freaking bigne alla crema. These things are turning into my version of crack. If you recall I ordered one of these when I first arrived in Rome. It's the lighter than air cream puff dough, that I think is fried not baked, and then filled with about a cup of egg creme. When Joe was here he went out to buy some sweets for breakfast and came back with these from a local shop. They were insanely good. The one from the farmers market? A waste of calories but it was all in the name of research to find the best one in Rome. I think I will throw the towel in on this research project though. I'll just announce that the neighborhood joint has the best one and stop eating them before my pants split.
The rest of my day was spent reading and doing very little.
In the evening I went for a stroll in my neighborhood to check out some book bars. These are a new concept in Italy. A bookstore where you can also hang out to read and eat something. What an idea! Seriously though, this is a concept counter-culture to the Romans. The book stores were great though and I'm sure I'll go back.
I ended my night with two stops. The first, in a local pub where I noticed all the tables were reserved except for one bar stool at the end. I plopped myself down and then realized that the Roma vs. Lazio football match was that night and they were preparing for it. The last stop of the night and my skip day was to have a pizza for dinner. I know I've been complaining about too much pizza but this place looked so great. No one was in there which is typically a bad sign. That wasn't the case here. I decided on something sort of random for me - anchovies and zucchini flowers. I love that they use zucchini flowers here. They don't really seem to taste like anything but I keep ordering them anyway. I think I just like the idea of eating flowers. I will probably start buying that salad with edible flowers in it at home. I never eat anchovies though and I thought of my mom and brother George who love them. You were in my thoughts while I enjoyed my pizza!

Getting in touch with my catholic side

Today, Joe and I had our sights set on going to church. Joe hasn’t been since…I’m not sure but it’s been a long time. I went at Christmas time as a present to my mom. We had plans to go back to the flagship church of the Jesuits today at 12:30. We had seen on TV that there was something happening at the Vatican. We decided to make our way up there to take a few photos before church. In addition, today is the Rome marathon, which runs along the Tiber and by the Vatican. I was really regretting that I didn’t sign up for the 5k. I thought this could have been such a cool experience. Anyway, I figured I’d watch the runners a bit en route to the Vatican. Maybe this would provide the excitement of the race without actually having to exert myself too much.

As we made it to the Vatican, Joe exclaimed, “Oh, it’s Palm Sunday!” Right. Duh. It’s the Sunday before Easter yo, (as my friend Horace would say).
As we got closer we saw more people selling olive branches. I notice this is the more typical item used on Palm Sunday in Italy vs. palm fronds. In the states, for my non-Catholic friends, you get a palm frond on Palm Sunday. Here, you get an olive branch. It kind of makes sense since there are so many olive trees but it’s not like there are palm-trees-a-plenty in the states. In California and Florida sure but in Oregon there are no palm trees. Maybe we should get some pine needles or a branch of Oregon Grape. That would be a bit unfortunate however because that shrub sends me into an allergic fit. Anyway, I always figured the palm fronds were sent from the Catholic Archdiocese right before Palm Sunday. I assumed it was some sort of specially packaged selection of palm fronds sent directly from the Pope. Sorry to blow the lid off this secret. Those palm fronds are not from the Pope.
As we made our way up the Via della Conciliazione, the main road into the piazza, we saw that festivities were in full swing at Piazza San Pietro. We made our way in and…went to Palm Sunday mass with the Pope. I know. It’s better than mass at the Jesuit flagship church and I’m pretty sure that this gives me a “free pass and go directly to heaven” ticket. Joe kept joking about going to confession but now he’s pretty sure that this wipes his slate clean. I’m not as sure but that’s another story.
(See video from mass.)

Living la dolce vita

The week has been flying by and I'm pleased to report that there hasn't been another sleep walking episode. Whew!
The last few days have been pretty packed and Joe and I have gotten into a comfortable rhythm with the Italian tradition of eating a big lunch followed by a big nap. I haven't been napping as often as he has, possibly because I don't have jet lag or I'm not as drunk. Not sure which. Anyway, it might not be possible for me to nap due to the thunderous, beast-like sound that Joe emits when he sleeps. I'm starting to wonder if it's a family trait to snore. I'm aware that both my sister Peggy and my mom snore. I have been told that I snore a little too although I'm praying it is nothing like the snarling cacophony that comes out of Peggy and Joe. I digress.

Over the last couple of days Joe and I have spent the afternoon grabbing lunch and seeing some sights. On Wednesday we met up and did a little walking around. We started with Portico d'Ottavia which is located behind the Museo d'arte Ebraica - Jewish Museum. The portico was built in the 1st century ad by Emperor Augustus for his sister Octavia.

After that we viewed largo di Torre Argentina ruins. It was getting dark but we could clearly make out the thousands of cats roaming the ruins. Apparently there is a shelter there for them. Not too shabby for a stray. It's possible that they spend more money on maintaining the shelter there than the archaeological sites.
After that we headed to Il Gesu which is the flagship (do you say this in this case) church for the Jesuits. We headed inside and the church was phenomenal. Joe immediately commented that this was probably where his money went. Never fear Mom - I lite a candle for you AND Joe wants to go to church on Sunday. GASP!

On Thursday, we met up for lunch in the neighborhood near Termini where there are a few international restaurants. I thought maybe Joe could get his fix of middle eastern cuisine. Allora, we went to an Italian restaurant. After lunch we headed to Santa Maria Maggiore which is another massive church built on the site where Mary predicted snow to fall the next morning. Who knew Mary had a meteorology background? I covered my bases and went ahead and lite another candle here.
Today is Friday - yeah! We had lunch in a Trastevere neighborhood Sicilian restaurant. Have I mentioned how excited I am for my trip to Sicily in April? I'm so excited and this restaurant made my expectations grow. Who knows how Sicilian it was but it was just such a nice lunch that it made me excited for more lovely lunches on my travels down south.
I arrived at the restaurant to find Joe in the midst of lunch. He had ordered veal saltimbocca, lasagna, insalate caprese, and Sicilian sausage. We also were given some roasted potatoes to go along with the sausage. We finished things off with an AMAZING dessert wine of almonds. YUM! We also had cannoli and panna cotta. No dinner for me.
Tonight we are meeting up with the kids (20 year olds) for a drink or two and send a couple of them back home. Mai is returning to Japan and Nadia is returning to Switzerland.
Tomorrow we hope to go to Pompeii for the day but I still need to arrange the whole thing. We're going the low impact route and joining a tour bus instead of taking the train down.
I've got to nap now.

Please don't pee in my closet

My brother Joe arrived in Rome yesterday. I'm very excited he's here and I'm looking forward to exploring Rome and eating out at some non-pizza joints.
We spent the day moving me into my new apartment which is in the heart of Trastevere in a 16th century building. It's a great place. I'm really excited about it. (I'll post pictures another time.)
We spent the afternoon walking around Rome. We basically made one big circle and he saw all the major landmarks, fountains, and buildings. Now he'll spend the next week visiting everything in more depth.
I surprised my brother at the end of the day with a trip to a middle eastern restaurant and argyle (not sure if it's spelled right but hookah is another word for it) bar. I had discovered this place my first week in Rome and knew he'd appreciate a smoke. We ordered apple flavor and smoked and ate some hommos and baba ganosh. It was very relaxing.
We headed back home afterwards to relax and call it a night.
Shortly after falling into a very deep sleep, I awoke to find a strange figure in my room near my closet. I started screaming bloody murder. I couldn't hear myself scream however because I had put ear plugs in when I went to bed. I'm pretty certain I was freaking out. I felt like I was freaking out but I was also half asleep and couldn't hear myself. My memory is of total silence but my mouth is open and I'm jumping around in bed pulling away from the strange figure in my room. Immediately shocked awake by my screams, my brother turns around and walks out of the room. I jump up and run after him asking him what he was doing, as I also try to wake up. He's in the bathroom at this point and says he doesn't know. I'm so freaked out. I ask him what he means, "he doesn't know". He doesn't remember. Oh! As I wake up fully, I realize he's been sleep walking. He scared the poo out of me. I was so freaked out. I keep asking him what he was doing. I can't grasp the situation or I'm trying to calm myself down. I was in such a deep sleep that I was so totally rattled by the situation.
I've witnessed someone sleep walking only one other time and I think I acted in a pretty similar manner. I awoke to find my boyfriend Greg standing at the end of the bed. I ask him what he's doing and he responds in an extremely irritated tone that he's going to the bathroom. I tell him not here, you're in the bedroom. He again responds at me in a very irritated tone that he is going to the bathroom and...voila. He goes on the carpeted bedroom floor. Retard.
Joe found it so funny this morning that he was about to pee in my closet. Of course I'm still nursing my heart rate back to normal so it's not that funny to me.
It is funny. I just wish I could lock the door to my bedroom so that we don't have to repeat this tonight. He can pee in the kitchen if he wants.

Joe Arrives Today

My brother Joe arrived from Japan today. He got in this morning. I picked him up at Termini and dropped him back off at home so that I could attend a couple hours of Italian school. We'll meet up this afternoon and move into my new apartment where I'll stay until April 1st.
I've got a surprise for Joe tonight which should be fun. I'm looking forward to having him here and exploring with him.

Weekend of the Woman

I feel like i didn't do a ton this last weekend. Who knows? Maybe as I look back it will feel like more.
Friday I had to move out of my flat in the suburbs and move to a flat in the Campo di Fiori/Ghetto area. I was supposed to move into a flat in Trastevere. However, the woman I rented the apartment from, sprung it on me a couple of days before that she was no longer renting that apartment. She had decided that it wasn't safe to rent or comfortable for visitors because it was located by a prison. Good reason. However, she never contacted me or filled me in until I called her to arrange for the keys to my place. She was putting me in this other apartment instead. She also sprung it on me that I'd only be here for 4 nights and then move to another flat. The other flat is also in Campo di Fiori. None of this is horrible news it's just not what I had arranged or wanted and this woman acted like it's no big deal to change everything around. I did want to stay in Trastevere. Oh well. It's across the river.
After I moved into the flat and settled in, I met up with other students for a Friday night out on the town. We met at Termini and were then all going together to another students house. A few people were late and by the time it was all said and done we left Termini an hour later than planned. We got to Yung-ho's (a fellow student) neighborhood and met him at the metro stop. He didn't want to spend much for dinner so we all made our way to a neighborhood pizza spot. The only thing I really wanted was to have a nice dinner. I've eaten at home all week and was looking to Friday for a treat. At this point I had to go with the crowd. The pizza was bad. We hung out at Yung-ho's for a few hours enjoying everyone's company. By about 2am, the majority headed back to centro. Me, Sophia (Oxford), Hector (Mexican), and Estrelle (Spain) all headed back in a taxi with the intention of hitting a new hotspot - La Maison. The night ended shortly after that for me and Hector. The girls were attempting to get into La Maison and Hector wasn't allowed due to the excess number of males already in the club. I didn't need to beg to get into a club so I called it a night.

Saturday was a special day in Rome. Day of the Woman or something like that. I had no idea until I decided to visit Castel San Angelo (first photo). There was a sign saying women were free for the day. Apparently that was the case all over the city and other celebrations were also happening. Very cool. Saturday night I just had a casual dinner out with Sophia and Eleanor. Coordinating two people was much easier than Friday's attempt at coordinating eight people.


Sunday morning I got up early and met Eleanor and John in Trastevere to hit the flea market. It's huge. It goes on forever. Booth after booth selling everything from scissors, sponges, jewelry, clothing, tools, batteries, and antiques. It was a great site but I didn't find too much to buy. I needed a battery for my watch and was able to buy 10 for 1 Euro. A steal! I also bought a little massage device for my aching feet. Eleanor purchases a few gifts for family members and John bought sponges. The clothing was a little tacky (see picture of Fat Albert jeans).

I was loving the chandeliers but alas I'm homeless and fitting it in my suitcase might be problematic since I'm already over my weight limit.

I had a moment this week

I had a little moment in class this week. I was having trouble understanding how to say the word “pieno”. Of course I didn’t know it was spelled this way at the time. I heard “piano” which has a different meaning and it didn’t make sense to me to use that word in this way. So, I asked for clarification. They teach you verbally first and then eventually write it on the board. I’m sure these people know what they are doing but I always get really frustrated that they won’t show you what the word looks like until you’ve tried saying a ton of times. Some people learn better audibly and some visually. I believe this is a well-known fact. I also think its well known that when you have both you learn even better. I am a visual learner. Once I see something I have a new level of clarity that I didn’t have when it was just spoken to me.
Anyway, I was trying to understand how to say the word and I had three people saying the word to me at slightly different times. I hate when I get instruction from more than one person at a time. Everyone who saw me rock climb for the first time can attest to this issue. It’s impossible to focus and I get really short tempered. Also, when you are trying to learn a language with other beginners and you have a person from Spain saying the word, someone from London saying the word, and someone from Korea – it sounds totally different coming out of each persons mouth. I kind of snapped. Maybe not kind of, I snapped. I said, “I can’t understand how to say it when three different people are saying it a the same time”. I looked directly at Estrella, from Spain, who has one of the better accents, and she kindly repeated it for me.
I have to admit that I was close to boiling anyway. It’s been brewing off and on since I got here but the last week we had a new addition to the class who has been getting on my nerves while in class. Outside of class I enjoy her, but in class – ugh. She’s the one from London. I’m sure I’m stereotyping but she’s going to Oxford in the fall so I assume she’s smart. She had mentioned after a couple of days in class that it was too easy for her and our teacher was going too slowly. I said, “not for me! Maybe you should move up to the next level”. This is what they do when you are really good and the class isn’t challenging you. They’ve done this with a handful of people that have been in my class. Hector from Mexico, Annielle from Australia, and Michael from LA all got moved up a level. Well I think there’s a reason she hasn’t been moved up. I thought she knew what she was doing and sometimes she does but she’s constantly talking to the point that I can’t hear what our teacher actually said. This leaves me with hearing how to say something second hand from a non-native speaker. She’s also pretty confident that she’s correct all the time but she’s frequently wrong and Marina, our teacher, is often laughing when she tries to understand what she’s saying.
Anyway, it was funny how I immediately assumed that she knew what she was talking about because her level of confidence was so high and mine is so low with this class. We have quite a few Asians in the class who I typically doubt because their speech isn’t as fluid and easy to understand. However, they are the ones that have all the verb conjugation memorized and can tell you most anything – if only they could feel confident enough to say it.
I am relaxing a lot this week though. I missed three days of class last week because of the flu so I felt really behind. I'm feeling better this week and trying to play.
I'm trying to not take it so seriously. I felt really stressed the first week to know more and know it right away. I think that was because there were three people in the class who were so good already. I've realized that we are all learning and we all have different strengths. I've even had a few moments when I've been right about something that another student had disagreed with me on. Those little learning victories have been really good for my confidence with the language. I'm trying to practice outside of class more too. The first week I was so tired at the end of each day that I couldn't do much after school. I'm still pretty exhausted at the end of the day but it's more manageable.
Tonight the group of us will have dinner at a fellow students house and then go out on the town for a bit. I'm moving out of the suburbs today as well and to the center of town. It's a busy day!

Weekend in Roma II - There's a Mall!

I had a very quiet weekend this go around. I was still recovering from the flu that I had earlier in the week and decided to take it easy. I didn't do a whole lot over the weekend.
My fellow students had informed me that there was a mall near where I'm living. A mall? In Rome? I didn't believe it. They told me to just take my bus out about 15 minutes past my typical stop and I would see it. "You can't miss it," they said. I got on the bus Saturday morning and made my way. I kept doubting that I knew where I was going until "TADA", there it was. It is huge!! Apparently it is one of the biggest malls in Europe.
I made my way into the mall, and as I entered I was overcome with joy. I was so happy to be in the presence of something that felt so much like home. Immediately upon entering there were a boat load of restaurants. Food Court?? I began walking through the mall, taking it all in and noticing what stores were there. Nike. North Face. Sephora. Ah. Home. In all reality, I don't love malls. I rarely shop at them and tend to run through them accomplishing my task as fast as possible so that I can leave quickly. However, I lingered in this mall for hours. I wandered around and around the halls. I got lost a couple of times. I found an H&M. Hooray!
I had also heard that there was a big grocery store with employees on roller skates. I found the store. It was the size of Costco. The aisle for biscotti alone was tremendous. See Photo.

Unfortunately I couldn't nab a photo of the speedy roller girls.

I also made my way to Villa Borghese this weekend. It was so lovely. I hadn't been before and I think I'll go back again and wander around again. It was really so peaceful and beautiful. I didn't know where to go or what to see there and I stumbled upon the lake where people can rent little row boats and make their way around the lake. It made my day. It was so fantastic. I might have to rent a boat one day.

I am not 20.

I went out with my little gang for dinner and drinks on Thursday night. Myra, the (self proclaimed) spoiled daddy’s girl, had gone to dinner the previous night at some restaurant that she said was really good. So, I thought maybe we could all take her suggestion and go there together for dinner but shame on me for not thinking this through. I was trying to be nice.

Myra (see self portrait of me and Myra), I have witnessed, is a picky eater. I watched her take her pizzette, two flat pieces of pizza folded over like a sandwich, and remove everything that was inside it. She also told me she loved sushi but not the fish. Really just the hand rolls with rice in them.
Anyway, we went to a restaurant that was very near the Pantheon. Right then you know it will be expensive. I ordered a steak because I’ve had enough carbs to last me for the rest of my life. It was Euro 20. That’s a pretty nice steak. Not really though. It was good and fine but not a Ruth Chris steak. Anyway, long story short the food wasn’t that great and it was very expensive. No more dining suggestions from Myra. I was so excited to eat out too. I’ll have to wipe this memory away with a better dinner somewhere else. That should be achievable.
After dinner we went to a club where John is going to work as a bartender part time. They were having an all you can drink special for people that came in before Midnight. John wanted to take advantage of this special. We went to the bar and ordered something and found a spot to hang out. John was soon going back and forth to the bar to “stock up” on drinks before the special ran out. When I went to the bar another time I got a chance to witness the two-toed sloth’s working as bartenders. This is how they run the special. Get people in but then take 20 minutes to mix a vodka and soda. Seriously. They took that long.
Before long John was showing, what he had previously advised me and Eleanor to watch out for, the droopy eye. If he got the droopy eye it was time for him to go home. By a little after 2am he had the droopy eye and it was time to go. I however didn’t realize how late it was until I got home. It was almost 3am. I am too old to go out on a school night, stay out that late, and get up in the morning four hours later. I can’t do it. My companions bounce out of bed in the morning as if nothing ever happened. I’m completely useless if I don’t sleep eight hours. I have to remind myself that I’m not 20 years old. I need sleep and going out on a school night for anything other than dinner or a show is now prohibited.
I don’t want to be 20 years old either. I really prefer being where I am now and one reason is because I don’t feel like I have to go out to a club during the week or the weekend. I’m really okay with staying home and getting up early to go sightsee.
I do like my young group of friends. It’s helping me to remember to play and have fun while I’m here. I just have to remember to balance that out with other things and that I’m not 20.
(last picture is of Hector, Eleanor, and John)