The Rundown on Roma

I have left Roma and am presently sitting very comfortably in the city of Napoli. Before I get to the what/why/how of Napoli...let me give you the run down on Roma.

To say the least, throwing yourself in a different culture is a very interesting experience. While some people may worry about me crashing on the couches of strangers, especially when the majority of these strangers are men. What people really should be worried about it whether or not I'm getting in an Italian man's car!! I fear that the driving here is the only real danger I'm ever going to experience on this journey. LOL!

Friday evening, Piercarlo picked up from a McDonald's in downtown Roma. While I absolutely refuse to eat at a McDonald's while in Europe, McDonald's has come to serve two very important functions. One, McDonald's seems to be the common meeting place for couchsurfing...afterall, who doesn't recognize a McDonald's?? Two, McDonald's has free restrooms! Restrooms seem hard to come by, you don't always see them in cafe's and I don't understand signs well enough to know where the public ones (if any) may be.

Back to driving with Piercarlo though...apparently, Italians do not have any type of driving laws... and if they do, they are not used or enforced. I was absolutely stunned that someone can talk on the phone while driving 140 km an hour and swerving between cars as if it was a race to the hospital. After just 3 days of being here though, I've come to understand that nothing about Piercarlo's driving was unusual or unordinary---he is the norm!

Yes, I am a little bit of chicken. Ok, I'm a big chicken! But this is no exaggeration, the driving is really insane!

Of course, I did survive the car ride and made it to Piercarlo's very nice 3 bedroom apartment just outside the wall surrounding Roma's downtown. Just minutes after we arrived, Barry showed up to the apartment as well. Barry, the couch surfer from New Zealand turned out to be a really cute, fun, and sweet 21 year old man. I've never met anyone from New Zealand before...his accent sounded Australian to me (making him extra cute) and he had funny sayings for different things like chili-box (a cooler).

So Friday night's "business" dinner with Piercarlo was a celebration night for him and his co-teachers/students from a martial arts studio where he works part time. The dinner was at a nice pizza restaurant outside of town (Barry and I practically clutched each other and laughed the whole time in the car--as we felt the ride was going to result in a soon and impending death). Our group was given half the room and tables were set in a big U shape so we could watch videos of their marital arts competitions on a pull down screen. The meal was fantastic (my host graciously ordered me a steak, while everyone else's main course was pizza)! Although, by the time the entrees came out-- I felt as though I might explode! All of the appetizers and red wine were plenty for me!

Barry and I got a slight buzz from the red wine, made a game of swiping wine off other other tables, chatted just about everything (it was so nice to have someone to talk with as Piercarlo was busy with the 40 0ther people), and made plans to go explore more of Roma in the morning.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty convinced that someone had beat the crap out of me during the night. 12+ hours of carrying my pack around on Friday had certainly done a good job of making me sore and it hurt to even breathe. I hadn't been up more than 5 minutes when Piercarlo said he had to leave...somehow in the mix of language confusion, Barry and I thought we were able to leave his apartment later (after we got a chance to wake up) but Piercarlo wanted us out then. So I'm walking in my sweats drinking tea and he says "ok 2 minutes"....Barry said he'd never seen a woman get ready so fast in his life. I only had time to throw on jeans, pull a few things from my pack and we were out the door.

So day two began in hurry... I was still half asleep, sore, and completely disoriented in a foreign city---welcome to couchsurfing Jennifer! LOL

Barry and I spent the day walking, walking, walking...for about 8-9 hours in total. The pictures of myself from day two were all taken by him. We did get one of us together, but it was on his camera so I'm going to have to have him email it to me. Anyways, it was really fantastic...we saw The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain (again), The Spanish Steps, The Colosseo (again) and at least 7 different churches...

I had a several favorite moments during my day with Barry. However, I'll only share just a few for now. One memorable moment was watching the evening mass inside Santa Maria Maggiore. We stepped into this huge and very famous church for the sole reason of trying to find a place to sit out of the cold and the rain---if only for 5 minutes. It was about 6:00pm and mass was in service. We sat in the back, appreciating the beauty of the church and a service we didn't understand...of course, all while whispering about how heavy the statutes must be and how the angels looked beautiful. While attending a full Catholic Mass had been on my to-do list for Roma...I realized at this moment that my current experience was more than enough---it was an impromptu moment with the bonus of being shared with a new friend---goal accomplished! Plus, after listening for just 20 minutes...I also realized that I just could not bring myself to sit through an entire service again, I would be entirely too bored! LOL

After leaving the church, Barry and I were absolutely starved. Thus far, I'd spent another day in Italy without any food except 2 cappuccinos. But hey, another day of spending less than $10 Euro, YAY! We hadn't yet heard from Piercarlo so we decided to pick up some mozzarella de buffalo and wine so we could sit outside and eat. Selecting wine was a hysterical experience. You see Barry only has $20 Euro to last him until February 8th (crazy right?!?!) so we were absolutely trying to go as cheap as possible...we ended up selecting a $1 euro boxed wine. I couldn't believe that here I am in ITALY and buying crappy boxed wine, LOL...but hey, it works! :)

Saturday night we spent in at Piercarlo's place and he made us dinner. As I ate my gluten free penne pasta, I reflected on the fact on my surroundings. Just days prior I was in my apartment in Beaverton, Oregon and now I was in Roma. I was sitting in an Italian's man's living room having dinner with him and a guy my age from New Zealand. I couldn't dream up this scenario! Dinner's discussion was interesting and slightly unpleasant. Piercarlo, like many Italians I am hearing, believe 9-11 was planned by the American government. I have a hard time fathoming that, especially when George Bush just really isn't all that intelligent. I tried to keep an open mind though and just appreciate his arguments. After dinner, Piercarlo wanted to get to bed early (and he doesn't drink alcohol) so Barry and I drank our liters of terrible boxed wine, watched The Dark Knight, and passed out.

Yesterday, I woke up expecting to go to Vatican city but felt too sick from the wine. I also just felt done with Roma. I know it sounds funny, sick of Roma in just 2 days! But I had seen everything I wanted to in the city, plus more. I literally walked the entire thing a couple times after my 12 & 8 hour journeys. Going to more churches or paying to get in a museum that I'll never remember, didn't sound appealing. Also, I have to fly out of Roma when I leave in March and I'm going to want to have a few things to do then.

This trip is about me following whatever path I feel...whenever I feel it. I've spent too much time doing things in life for other people or because I just felt I should. I didn't want to be Roma, so I left! Barry was sad to see me go, we'd had two really fun nights together and we had planned to do more stuff during the week. While I would have loved to spent more time with him, it was time for me to go...I called Spence (my host in Napoli) and asked to come 5 days early. It was fine with him...I paid $20 euros and hopped on a train down here.

Well I've written a lot. This week I will have the opportunity to write again to tell you all about my great adventures in Napoli (Naples)!

Ciao!

PS, a few quick notes:

1. I'm not able to use the spell check tool in internet cafes, so in future blogs---I apologize for being a terrible speller...I will update as I can.

2. The @ and the ' symbols do not exist on Italian computers...well I'm sure they do, I don't know how to get them. So I can't email you unless I already have your email saved.

3. For those that worry...."Male strangers" can be trust worthy, kind, and generous gentlemen! :) Piercarlo actually gave me his room and he slept in a pull out in his office.