Rome

Wow I cannot believe that it’s been over a month, and I am celebrating Valentines Day here in the Eternal City of Rome. So much has occurred in the last several weeks with me trying to adjust to this new lifestyle. Rome is one of those one in a million cities. It has its uniqueness, beauty, and awe inspiring feel, but at the same time it has so many flaws. Being that I have been placed in a new culture, I am now apart of the bustling lifestyle that over four million Romans experience each and every day.

Well let’s start out with some of the basic fun things I do consider an important part of my day…as you may have heard traffic in Rome is absolutely insane. People don’t obey traffic laws for the most part, and sometimes I think there aren’t any..? Public Transportation isn’t fun and it is not reliable at all. I unfortunately depend on the bus and Metro to get from point A to point B. It has taken me between 20 minutes to almost 2 ½ hours to get from one point of the city to another…even if it is only 20 minutes by car or even on foot. On foot to get to school it takes me 45 minutes, by bus…who knows? And the metro doesn’t even go close to my school. The way the metro goes in Rome is weird. They keep trying to build more lines, but unfortunately they can’t and it takes a long process. Archeologists make tons of money here because every time a Metro project gets stopped, its because they have hit an early Roman archeological find. Being that Rome is very old, and it is the first city that pretty much established a huge Empire that took over most of the world, there are tons of histories even under the city roads. The metro is much faster to get around, but there are days where they go on strike and every metro gets stopped for the day. It is definitely not a fun thing to have to go through.

When it comes to traffic and cars again…People honk their horns every 10 seconds…sometimes I consider it a symphony orchestra of cars singing to each other as people articulate and yell at each other in Italian…which I have seen a lot especially when people drive. I have close encounters with cars, motorini’s (small motorcycles that people drive and they are all over the city), and trucks. Driving in Rome and being on a bus even can be an adventure for itself. ;-) It’s pretty interesting I must say. I suggest you see the youtube video Italy vs. Europe. It’s a funny cartoon that pretty much explains the general bureaucracy and uniqueness that Italy has.

The food here in Italy speaks for itself, AMAZING. I love every factor of the cuisine here in Italy. I love going out to eat with friends because I get to go to restaurants where they cook me typical Roman cuisine and of course, I have wine everytime. I have gotten used to having red wine almost every night with my dinner. Being that I am 21 and in Europe I am far enough legal to drink, I always have a glass of wine at dinner J

Italy is so famous for its olive oil, spaghetti, Gnocchi, Tortellini, Steak, different qualities of meats, etc. I love it…LOVE IT…This factor is definitely going to be missed when I return to Florida.

Italy has so much to offer and I love every single aspect of it, even though transportation can sometimes be a damper to things. I still Love Italy, and being that everything was a culture shock to me when I arrived, I have learned to be a Global person: a person who embraces cultures and different social practices throughout the world.

I am heading to Florence in a week…more to come from my experiences in Firenze!! ;-)

Ciao a tutti! Arrividerci!

-Daniel