rainy days and mondays

I've been floating along a few feet above the ground all week, so I guess it was inevitable that my energy would drop at some point. Today Yvette and I were going to go try the Colosseum again (for the third time - we kept going too late in the day) but I just woke up on the wrong side of the letto this morning or something. I was kind of in a fog through class and then decided I needed a quiet day alone. I decided I would go buy "Harry Potter E Il Principe Mezzosangue" and then spend the afternoon trying to get through the first five pages of it.

Yvette left for the Colosseum, after making complicated plans as to what time I should be in the room (we share a room key, it hasn't really been an issue until today) so she can still get in. About two minutes after we parted I realized that she had the room key instead of me. So I figured we'd figure something out later, and walked a long ways to get to a bookstore that I had been told of, found the book, and then left the store and turned left to leave, which was the complete wrong direction.

While Snow Pea, being her usual handy self, has basically been my GPS for this trip, I really didn't think that I wouldn't be able to make my way home from the bookstore (especially since I do have one of those pieces of paper with pictures of the roads drawn on them... maps, I think people use to call them), but somehow turning the wrong way that first time just threw me off. After going for a while in the wrong direction, I realized where I was and that I was near a coffeeshop that had been recommended to me (I had asked about one with couches... here in the cafés, or bars as they're called, you just stand at a counter and throw your espresso back like whiskey) so I looked for that for a long time, with no luck. I was kind of lost in this labyrinth of cute little back streets when it started to rain so I decided to head home (the place I had no key to get into). And that's when the ridiculously circular wandering began. I really don't know what on earth I was doing, but I passed the Pantheon three times. After literally two hours of walking in the rain I emerged from an alley into the piazza WITH THE STORE WHERE I BOUGHT HARRY POTTER. It was like one of those Family Circus cartoons where the mom tells Billy to go do something and come straight back, and you see the little dotted lines where he wanders in little circles all over the place. And it wasn't any funnier today than it is in Family Circus. So anyway, this time I turned right from the bookstore, like I should have done to begin with, and walked my little stubs of feet to this internet cafe near our apartment. Now I'm sitting here waiting to see if Yvette finds me. I hope she's not sitting somewhere else hoping the same thing.

death and chocolate

I'm enjoying school a lot, which may not shock you. The class is exactly the right level for me, very challenging but I don't get lost. In my class are four women and a one man: Maria (Spanish), Maya (Israeli), Ingrid (German), Vincenzo (New Yorkian), and Patricia (also American, a sculptor/painter who received the prestigious Rome Prize from the American Academy here and is living here for a year to practice her art - very cool, I want to see her studio later since that's a scene in my script). Yesterday we were paired up and had to describe our ideal man. Vincenzo was my partner; his ideal man and mine are fairly similar, but probably with one big difference. After that we did a roleplaying exercise where I had to be a daughter trying to explain to her father why she wants to marry a wonderful but poor young man who hasn't yet finished university. I thought this was good practice. For, you know, my Italian.

Yesterday after class it was raining, like usual it seems (thank you, Heidi, for making me get waterproof boots), so Yvette and I decided to slack off. We picked up a newspaper to get movie times and went back to our room. She took a nap and I translated an article from the paper ("Modella-attrice Ana Nicole: misterioso morte in Florida!"). That's our room, our building, and our room key.

Then we walked to a theater in the Piazza Barberini to see "La Ricerca di Felicità" ("Pursuit of Happiness" dubbed in Italian). It was a good pick because even though I'm terrible at Italian comprehension, I had read the script already. I think some of Will Smith's humor was lost but I was surprised at how emotional it was anyway. On the way home we stopped for some candy (Mars Delight... yum) at a corner store and the guy behind the counter gave me a piece of dark chocolate for free. Finally, my first Roman conquest. I don't see Italian men hitting on anyone. Why even have stereotypes if you're not going to abide by them?

your panini or your life

It's been a bit rainy here. Not today but yesterday, the day before, and tomorrow and the day after. It's been ok, I bought an umbrella from a guy who was following me. The Spanish girl Maria bought one too and then he followed her for about ten minutes screaming that he'd given her too much change. The streets, especially the cobblestone ones, are pretty in the rain, although I've nearly bitten it approximately 7,000 times.

The first day walking to school I looked down one of the streets we were crossing and saw a statue of a woman riding a chariot on top of one of the buildings a long way down the street. (This is a picture of my viewpoint, only in the evening.) It reminded me so strongly of a dream I had years ago where there were horses riding across the sky. It was this strangely beautiful dream, one of those where it feels normal but something extraordinary is happening. That's how Rome feels to me. You're just walking along past pizzerias and cafes and banks and you get to an intersection with a fountain at each corner. Or you see horses in the distant sky.

Today after class (where I completely rocked indirect pronouns, if you want to know the truth) we went to see some of ancient Rome. Free ancient Rome... we'll pay for some of the rest of it later. The first stop was the Pantheon. Standing outside was kind of incredible. Besides being a little nervous about pickpockets, since that's a notoriously light-fingered area, it gave me chills to think about the people who have walked through those columns, the rituals that have been performed there, the prayers that have been offered up. Inside was somewhat disappointing because part of it had been sectioned off, giving it such a modern air that it was jarring. Raphael is buried in the Pantheon, with a Latin inscription that, translated, reads, "This is Raphael. In life, Nature feared to be outdone by him. In death, Nature feared she too would die."

After stopping off for some gnocchi (Thursday special at an enoteca that I have to take you to, Brie and Heidi) we headed east to Il Colosseo. On the way we saw the building I had seen from far away, an enormous monument built for Victor Emmanuel, Italy's Savoy king. It contains Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, built just after World War I. Two soldiers stood guard with an eternal flame burning. Apparently the Savoys were maybe not such great leaders (one of them invited Mussolini to set up his own government) but the monument was pretty breathtaking all the same.

Near this was the Roman Forum. We were too late to go in to that or to get our ticket's worth at the Colosseum, so I'll have to enthrall you with that story another time... wait by your computers.

me and snow pea

I've been trying to find an internet cafe with the ability to upload pictures. The one we were using has that function disabled, but says it doesn't so I had gone through a lot of computer-type heroics before admitting defeat. Now I found a nice touristy one by the Trevi Fountain and it looks, beyond all reasonable hope, like it's working.

The downside of waiting this long (two and half whole days) to write is that already I feel like I have too much to say for someone paying four euros an hour. So here's a very quick rundown of my trip so far, for Mom and Grandma and people who will want to read it.

So you know, this is Yvette, my traveling companion. (I call her Snow Pea because she's so prepared, like a boy scout - this won't make sense to you but that's ok.) Yvette took an early flight to Atlanta, which was freezing, and then what became a red-eye to Roma.
The plane was pretty empty and we both had empty seats next to us, so I slept more. Then we took the Leonardo Express from the Airport to Termini Station, and walked about ten minutes to our apartment. This all went by so much faster than we had planned that we had time to shower and change at our apartment before going to the school. We surprised our landlady/apartmentmate Maria Grazia, who was still in her robe, but she let us in anyway.

Then we went to school, and I took a language test. I was afraid they would listen to me for five seconds and say, "Sei stupida, go back to the beginner's class," but they didn't. And I learned the word for screenplay -- "scenegiattura". We did some orientation stuff and walked down to get a panino for lunch at the Spanish Steps, which are about a block and a half away. This is them. There was a protest, I couldn't quite figure out what it was about. The first day our class took a little tour of il centro of Rome, all in Italian. I couldn't really understand any of it, so basically I was just staring at buildings, trying to look interested. Plus by the afternoon the jet lag was really starting to kick in and everything felt like it was coming through a painful layer of fog. We struggled to stay awake by eating pizza, which was really amazing pizza, and then finally stumbled home. I got halfway undressed and fell asleep in my sweater, mid-sentence.

We both slept about 12 hours and woke up feeling a lot better. I had my first real day of language school. I'm definitely behind where I should be for the level I'm at in class, but I'm a nerd so I like it anyway. I'm learning a lot already and am feeling a lot more comfortable telling, for example, the guy at the gelato counter that he should pick the best flavors for me.

After class Yvette and I went to do a little errand-running with a Spanish girl named Maria, whose voice was so high and squeaky I thought she was kidding at first. (Yvette says she now has veto power over who we bring along with us from class.) I finally found a shop where I could buy a SIM card, so I now have my own Italian phone number! (Mom and Dad, I will be emailing this to you momentarily.) I even made a phone call, to the Villa Borghese Galleria for reservations.

After that, the three of us walked through the park to get to the Borghese Galleria. It's like Rome's Central Park, very beautiful, with a few different museums and many rows of scupltures. The rain and the statues gave it a melancholy feel. I'd like to go back to write there. Brie, I think you might like to run.

The museum was like nothing I've seen before. Every inch of every single room was covered by art. Every ceiling was a fresco, and there were niches with sculptures along many of the walls. It was really beautiful and a lot to absorb. My favorite sculpture was Bernini's Rape of Persephone. I thought they looked like they could have started breathing.

I do have a lot of thoughts and impressions but Yvette's sitting next to me waiting for me to finish so I'm going to end here. A più tardi! (Brie and Heidi, it's amazing, I can't wait for you to come. Bring something very warm to sleep in... in fact, bring something warm for me to sleep in. Also, all the women are wearing high boots with skirts or pants tucked into boots, if you want to look Italian.)