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)