Late Sunday Afternoon

It’s Sunday afternoon and there’s a happy bustle going on in the courtyard garden below my window. The nuns are having a party, so we aren’t supposed to go in there right now. Last night we had our own party, since we have to find our own food on weekends, more than half the students pitched in and we had a garden bbq. It was pretty fun. We even had a ‘dance party’ after we ate.

Part of what I am enjoying most here is getting to know the little things. Today I’m going to hand wash some of my laundry. I’ve never done that before, to any extent. But apparently, Italian washing machines are beasts and cannot be trusted with clothing of any delicacy whatsoever. And I haven’t used the dryer because I’m a cheapskate and it costs like 1.50 euro to do so. Please. There are thousands of drying racks on the terrace. I’ll manage.. and I did. My socks required about sixty clothespins (again, I exaggerate). But hey, it’s Rome, and there’s something cool about taking the time to do things like that with your own hands.

I like that I’m starting to know what buses to take where, and how to get back again. I even set out on my own to track down Harry Potter 6 yesterday and not only found a bookstore in a sort of mall thing, but went to the information desk and asked “Where is the books in English?” in Italian! Yeah, not grammatically correct, but totally got my point across. So she pointed a direction and said a bunch of stuff in Italian I didn’t understand and I thanked her and just wandered in the right direction.

The European covers are awesome.

On this same trip I ordered a gelato cone with such success (and even whined that they didn’t have ciocollato.. yeah chocolate..) that the guy behind the counter spoke to me in all Italian (so I have no idea what he said, except that he offered me nutella gelato instead, which I had and it was delicious).. and I know most gelato counter guys speak English.. and this place was right next to the Trevi fountain, home of tourists apparently 24/7.

It's like this even at night.

Speaking of Nutella? They are absolutely obsessed. There are individual packets of it at breakfast which the students sometimes horde. Every bar (what we call a bar in the US is what they call a pub.. a bar is actually just any place that serves food, pastries, drinks (especially coffee), gelato, etc) has an enormous canister of it with a pump on top for mass-topping. Everywhere you go there is hazelnut this and chocolate-hazelnut that. It’s lovely.

Nectar. Of. The. Gods.

I really thought my friends were kidding when they said I would get hit on by random strangers, but this too has occurred. Three times now, I’ve been complimented, mostly on the basis of my extremely pale skin, I think. Yesterday when I was on my way into the park, the guy on the black scooter was like “I like white skinned girls.” He asked if I wanted to get a ride to wherever I was going on his scooter. No thanks! Just out for a stroll.. It happens more often when alone than when in groups.

Ciao.

Italy happens to sell a particular kind of cracker I had been looking for since my trip to Spain with Dean. It is apparently a British product, the digestive cracker. These things are freakin’ delicious. I might have to stock up and declare forty pounds of them on my way home. Coffee is extremely strong, and wine is extremely cheap, since a lot of it is so local. Some of the students have been having fun buying stuff like Cerveteri wine, since we passed vineyards in the bus on the way home from there.

Pizza is sold by weight and is pretty much both ubiquitous (though not as much as gelato!) and delicious everywhere. Italians love exact change and get cross when you try to pay them with a ten. Or a twenty. They stammer and stare if you hand over a fifty.

The only time I’ve seen a one or two cent piece euro was because I found them on the ground. Most things cost an even ten cent ending. And sales tax is always just included.. if it’s charged at all, I’m not really sure.

Italians all have dogs which they all love very much and take off the leash regularly. But since there are so many and they all do it, it seems like all the dogs are really well socialized and they don’t fight with other dogs or run off too far, or wander up to strangers. The only problem this causes at all is an abundance of dog crap in the park, so you have to watch your step.

I think the nuns got a live singer. They are really rockin’ it out there. There are nuns and monks around, too, you just see them hanging out in their full attire, on the bus and all over town. All kinds of nationalities, too.. I’ve seen Asian nuns and pale nuns as well as the possibly-Italian nuns. This city is kind of a big deal when it comes to Catholicism though.

Saints, especially Mary, are everywhere. And there are literally shrines to Mary in the sides of walls just along the street here and there. And like nine hundred or so churches in Rome. I went to church this morning, since one of the other students found an English mass. But of course the church is beautiful and every inch of the inside is painted, and apparently the remains of Saint Susanna are beneath the church. I’ve never been to a service in a church with that kind of history!

I think I want to go use the last few hours of daylight to walk around and stretch out my legs. They are legitimately pissed off that I spent so little of yesterday NOT forcing them into labor, but I figure if I go for a walk, maybe they won’t ache so much.

I’m kind of sleepy because I never go to bed as early as I hope to, and often wake up earlier than I would at home because the city really shuts down at noon on Sundays, if.. a place opens at all. Today it was to go to church, but even just in general. There is also a Sunday morning flea market which I want to attend next week. Bargaining is lots of fun.

I’ve begun the city-wide search for the best postcards for the cheapest price. When the search concludes.. you will know. You might have to leave a “comment” with your address though. I didn’t take my address box.