The Pope, for example...

Yes, the title of this post is supposed to be hinting at something... People in Rome REALLY love the pope, and I love that they love him.  It is such a bizarre experience to be sitting in my media discussion, speaking English, and discussing the partisan issues surrounding FOX news only to have my professor launch into an explanation of the concept of gatekeeping, and suddenly chose the pope as his authority figure.  Outside of history classes, and the occasional discussion about Catholicism, the pope has never really had a place in my life.  But is wasn't just that one example, I am fairly certain all of my professors have used the Pope as an example more than once in class.  And I am just expected to know that there are more police officers on Wednesday mornings because that is when the Pope addresses the people.  I am also supposed to cease needing anything to get done between one and four pm, because that is nap time (duh, what was I thinking trying to get groceries at 2 yesterday?), and I am supposed to be able to ask for wine by my favorite valley when I go into a store. ... ?  I probably could have labeled this post, "Yup, I'm American!"  

The flip side to all of my cultural mishaps is that people are starting to actually think I'm Roman, before I open my mouth of course, and yesterday someone asked me for directions in Italian, and I ACTUALLY HELPED (... using large arm motions and possibly even jumping a couple times...) 

On a more serious note, I know that Rome, and southern Italy in general has a lot to teach me.  Italians value people, relaxation, and great food above all else.  Stopping your moped in the middle of the street to say hi to the cafe owner, while blocking four lanes of traffic is simply a part of life in this country, and I am continuously through off by it.  Being raised to constantly do my best in school, sports, activities, volunteering, and even to do the most for my friends, I never learned how to breath, and enjoy a slower lifestyle.  And no, that was not a dig at my parents, Eden Prairie, Madison, my teachers, coaches, or friends.  100 miles an hour is simply the speed at which most Americans move, and it's exhausting.  While I am nowhere close to fully adopting this slow-paced Italian way of life, I did keep the person behind me in line at the cafe waiting for a good three minutes today as I talked to the shop owner, which is an improvement!

Keeping on the theme of a slower-paced life, I went to Cinque Terre this weekend with my friend Olivia.  Cinque Terre are five tiny towns on the coast of Italy that you can hike between, and just explore the quaintness, ocean, and of course amazing churches!  Olivia and I had so much fun just wandering around these little towns, and getting about five days worth of stair excersizes in as we hiked up and down admiring the different views.  At one point we even climbed out onto rocks along the shore of the ocean, and of course a huge wave came and soaked me (Olivia wants it known that she stayed far enough back not to get sprayed.... I'm just more adventurous?) as I was admiring the view.  And yes, it was very VERY cold, but I dried off pretty quickly, and we where onto the next town.

In case you couldn't guess, I LOVE Italy, and I am enjoying every bit of it that I get to see in the short time that I'm here!

This is Venice

That's right friends, it has been raining here in Rome pretty much nonstop for the past 5 or so days, and the streets are basically a series of puddles with a couple cobble stones still visible here and there.  Today I was able to run outside because the sun came out for the first time in what seemed like years, and it was amazing!  But for the most part the rain has not been slowing down the adventures!  My school in Rome is about a two minute walk from the Tiber river, and with all the rain this past week it has risen somewhere around 15 feet, completely covering the bike path next to it, and threatening to carry what appears to be all the garbage in Rome down stream (it was pretty gross).

Since Switzerland I have been enjoying feeling much more at home in Rome, and a lot less like a travelor, which is really fun!  Having to catch up on homework, planning a couple other trips, and many different gelato runs pretty much filled my week.

On friday I was supposed to volunteer at a refuge center in Rome, but it was canceled due to the rain, meaning I did not need to wake up at 8 am on a friday when I didn't have class...  But this did give me a good two hours to read my bible, a book for fun, make coffee, and enjoy some me time before my roommates woke up.

The real adventure this week, however, began on Saturday.  A couple girls on my floor and I took a train about an hour away to a town called Orvieto.  Orvieto is a cute little town out in Italian wine country, built on top of a hill.  After we took the part train-part gondola contraption up the hill we spent a couple hours looking over the cliff, and wandering around the cute little town.  All the while it was raining, and we arrived in Orvieto during the afternoon nap time, meaning we where basically stuck out in the rain because all of the shop owners where sleeping...  Learning how to navigate train travel with a small group of people was definately an experience, and I am very grateful I did it with other people before I have to take a train to Flourence by myself in two weeks!

On sunday I woke up very excited for a long awaited day of sports!  With big plans to go to a Roma soccer game, and then an Irish pub to watch the Super Bowl, I chose to ignore the downpour and get ready for an exciting day!  The first 8 minutes of the Roma game was a ton of fun, the stadium wasn't that full, however we learned quickly that when people tell you Europeans take their soccer seriously, they where NOT exaggerating.  While I couldn't understand all of the cheers going on around me, the hand motions, and 20 plus security guards surrounding the one, tiny, visitor fan section helped me decipher that they where not saying nice things to the Parma fans.

Unfortunately the game was postponed 8 minutes in because the field was so flooded the ball wouldn't move... leaving my friends and I to navigate our trip home much earlier than expected.  We had forgotten to look up information on the bus that would get us home, and so after about an hour wandering around, asking people that did not speak english for help, and waiting for a bus that I am convinced was never going to come, we gave in and called a cab.  While our Roma game experience was not ideal, it's one of those days that helps put other travel problems in perspective, and it made the cheese burger, fries, and beer that we had at the pub for the Super Bowl taste even better!

This week was not quite as eventful as last, but it helped me feel much more like a local!  I have now been asked for directions (in over four languages) more times than I remember, and while I have only sucessfully helped once, I consider that a huge accomplishment.