Third Week: Adventures and Adjustments

Rome; I love how it’s known for so many things- the ancient city that wasn’t built in a day, the empire that the sun never set on, the eternal city home to the Catholic Church and the contemporary city that seems to be a kaleidoscope of all the centuries of history its seen. And now despite everything it represents, I’m in the delicate process of making it my home for the next year. It’s not quite the dark artistic brooding but beautiful setting of Paris, but I’m trying not to compare the two. For starters, when I studied abroad my Junior year and now are two very different times of my life. I’ve enjoyed and traveled Europe and it’s time to learn the living aspect of being here. I always liked the saying that my Belgian friend told me when we were in Portugal, that Americans live to work whereas Europeans work to live. Holding steadfast to my American identity I’m trying to fit into a world that my grandparents came from and seems to really embrace a relaxed and carefree manta of squeezing the most pleasure out of life. If anything, that’s possibly the most important lesson in life that I need to learn while lucky enough with the opportunity to be here. And yes, these are the 'meaning of life' questions I ask myself during my Carrie from Sex and the City-like monologue when I dine alone at Rome restaurants. Living on 4 euro for the last week due to an accounting glitch was also extremely not fun, but my dad came to the rescue and things are getting fixed.

I was extremely homesick this week. Seeing my closest friends at home have rough days or the Marines who are deploying soon has been hard. Skype and emails make that connection constant but being present is something I don’t have an ability to do right now and it hurts. What I left in San Diego I hoped would be carefully packed emotional baggage that I didn’t carry to Rome, but it appears that some snuck onto my carry on and simultaneously arrived in the Eternal City with me. In spite of it all, I’m doing my best to fall in love with this city and absorb as much of la dolce vita as Rome will allow me to. I cherish having the time to do what’s most important to me here though; connect with people, learn, photograph, pray, and eat. Not necessarily in that order, but you get the idea.

Classes: St. John’s is on the quarter system which is a new thing for me, so I currently have 2 courses along with the rest of the 30 or so MA students. Monday/Wednesday 6:30-8:30pm I have US Foreign Policy and Tues/Thurs I have Global Politics. Both are taught by the same professor and I enjoy them both. I’m doing my best to not be shy and have more confidence, just trying to remember I’m no longer in law school. It did awful things to my academic self esteem and slowly but surely I’m recovering from that. Term papers and take home finals are quickly approaching; I’m excited to write about how art affects international relations and hoping that my new Roman residency will lend itself to more museum explorations.

Weekends: Last weekend was the first weekend to get to know everyone. It’s a small group of 60-80 graduate students here but you seem to get to know everyone well which is nice. The MA/MBA students had a mixer at a local pub on Thursday so I was able to meet some of the other students in addition to the ones I live with in the dorm. That Saturday I went with a couple MBA students to go bowling (photos courtesy of the Katy Perry lovers). Why yes, on the north outskirts of Rome is a place called Brunswick which has your typical American style bowling complete with corny lighting effects and music. I had a rough average of 70 but I concede that bowling is not my forte. The next day was Sunday Funday, where we went to Abbey’s Theatre for a delicious Irish breakfast, a little unconventional for Roman tastes but much appreciated by my American palette. Following that we were at Campo di Fiori, watching flame throwers from eastern Europe wow tourists with their skills for tips.

Metro: Similar to any other metropolitan city I’ve lived in, the Rome metro system is fairly easy to figure out. Unlike Paris, it is not ridden with the most foul people you’ve had the misfortune of smelling, but the Italians are a special breed. I was sitting on my own in an empty metro car when a Jersey Shore look-a-like comes to sit right next to me, sporting his fluffy jacket and designer sunglasses with finely manicured eyebrows peering over them. Mi scusa signor, but this is not a Corey Hart music video. Much less, there are plenty of empty seats around us. Other than that, I enjoy the televisions with funny commercials. No, I do not understand them, but they’re entertaining nonetheless.

Job: I interviewed well and got a call back with the international law firm! However, they would like me to come in February to do a trial run and my Italian is non bene. In addition, they’d require a 14 month contract which would set me back to working until April 2012. I’m weighing the benefits/disadvantages to this opportunity and will report back. I’d also LOVE to do an internship here, at the US embassy or a UN office so I’m continuing to apply for those.

Adventures: Sometimes it’s not about arriving at the destination but the journey. Well! Most of my outings have turned into pleasantly surprising adventures. I love getting lost, wandering through the cobble stone streets and stolen glances inside lavish inner courtyards. The scattered paintings of the Virgin Mary and Jesus on the street corners are perhaps my favorite though, centuries old and beautiful in the way that they seem to watch over and protect the bypassers of the city. My Ukranian friend Nataliya who is also an MA student and I set off for a lecture on US-Israeli relations last week. Needless to say somewhere around the Colosseo we got lost, and ended up at the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon enjoying some margherita pizza. We talked about how life changing it was coming to Rome; to leave the culture, country, family and friends that make life comfortable to come here. Our schedule is also extremely flexible here, so my goal of learning to relax and not stress is utterly possible here, if not forced upon me by cultural expectations. And in that life change I’m happy to say I’m excited for what the rest of the year holds. Also included in my adventures are my late night gelato runs, strolling through the quiet streets of Rome past the Spanish Steps and the fountains of La Boticello is deliciously perfect. Reminiscent of the Roman Holiday scenes, all that’s missing is the Italian scooter, but still quite perfect…

Next Week: Going to a lecture on eastern European politics, mass, birthday plans!

First Week in Roma

To see all my photos during my Italian stay, visit my Flickr page:

Hi Everyone! I've been here a couple days and decided its time to test drive the new blog for Italy. The grad program doesn't start for another week so I'm the first grad student to arrive. In the meantime, I've gotten situated in the dorm room (see attached video and keep in mind I am no Spielberg here haha) and doing short day trips to get myself reacquainted with the Eternal City. Traveling on Tuesday-Wednesday was quite the adventure, JFK had a grand ole time delaying our flights due to engine problems and ice that accumulated on the plane.. I mean the nerve of air traffic control, sheesh. Anyhow, eventually I landed quite exhausted into Rome Fiumicino and took a taxi into the city central and checked into my new home at the St. John's University Rome Campus. Once I got my spiffy electronic keys I scoured the streets for food and landed on an easy target of pizza to go. This was unlike Italian ristorante pizza in that it was actually pretty thick and was folded to be more of a grilled sandwich than what we conventionally think of as pizza. Afterwards, I tracked down the internet IT guy to make sure I had an instant connection to home. Skype and Facebook ensued til my weary eyes were finally shut.

The next few days were quite a blur in my jetlagged stupor but I did my best to get out and do something each day. The first full day I had was quite an adventure, especially figuring out the shower system. People often don’t realize that when you move to a foreign country you’re entire way of life changes, not simply cultural and language differences. Part of why I enjoy living abroad is the challenge of confronting the daily doings that I take for granted at home. Showering with warm water for unlimited amount of time should be a right, not a privilege, but here I am confronted with limited hot water. Hey, at least it’s not frigidly cold Costa Rica water. I also realized that I don’t need to, as they say, only do as the Romans do. I got ready that morning listening to country music radio. Why? Just because I’m in Italy doesn’t mean I can’t listen to country music or change what I like. No, not everything is going to be available (cough, online tv from Hulu, cough) but what resources and comforts I do have, well I may as well enjoy them. I grabbed my camera and found my way to the Spanish Steps (where my favorite scene from Roman Holiday was filmed) and the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain). Although I got ridiculously lost on the way, my advice is to not find your way merely by trying to listen for sounds of water. No, ladies and gentleman, that will surely make you look like a tourist floundering on the streets. I treated myself to my first lunch at a ristorante nearby. I try to steer clear of commercialized tourist places with pictures of the meals and English translations, but I was so tired I gave in and got a nice plate of al dente thick linguine with meat sauce. I sat and journaled for a bit, very Elizabeth Gilbert from Eat Pray Love. A little self reflection on the side while I ate my pasta and pondered the meaning of life.

The second day I went to the Vaticano which is maybe a 10 minute walk from where I am. It’s pretty strange to think that the Sistine Chapel is about 10 minutes from where I live now, odd. I also finally found the local grocery store, part of a department store Coin/Billa, similar to our Macy’s. Music is comparable to our elevator music, complimentary for your Italian grocery shopping experience. The following day I figure out the fun Metro system here, which like all metropolitan cities is pretty easy, just need a map and that game face that you know where you’re going and what you’re doing. No signor, I am not a tourist, do not attempt to pick pocket me. I see you out of the corner of my eye… Anyhow, went to the Colosseo and retraced some steps I’d taken the first time I was here with my friend Antonio. Sunday I went to the American parish church Santa Susanna. Some may ask why I went to the American church rather than the next door Vatican Catholic extravaganza; however I want to emphasize that I am trying to adjust semi-permanently here and not just be a tourist. Worshipping here is quite an experience as the mother ship of the Catholic faith; I would just like to connect in my native language rather than having more time where I’m struggling with my Italian.

Monday was my most exciting outing yet. I took a regional Trenitalia train from Rome to Tivoli. A small town located on a mountain, it is particularly known for its gardens and villas that were the home to Roman emperors. When the train rounded the mountaintop to reach the train station, my jaw dropped when I saw a huge 200 ft. waterfall just casually situated on the edge of town. It was a pleasant surprise and I knew I found some place really special. Of course, said gardens and villas were closed when I went because it was the dead of an Italian winter, but it was a perfect town to explore. Almost no one was around the hilly cobblestone covered village, so I spent my time wandering up and down the narrow streets, in quiet solitude with my quieted thoughts and time to just take pictures. I ended up having lunch at a small restaurant where I interrupted the family eating lunch to be seated, and watched the waiter slice prosciutto from the cured ham chunk at my table for the Four Seasons pizza I was about to eat. Overall, the little breathtaking town of Tivoli reminded me the joys of traveling and I felt like I reconnected with the self that I had abandoned in Paris, but not forgotten.

Upcoming: Orientation for my graduate international relations courses, class, and oh yeah, starting a new life and identity in Roma…

First Look at My Room in Rome