First impressions

After a few days in Rome I’ve done a little bit of exploring, though I’ve only seen the very tip of “the sights” on the lists of most short-stay tourists. I’ve spent most of my time in Trastevere, which is on the opposite side of the Tiber (Tevere) River from the main part of Rome. The area is full of winding streets, sidewalk sellers, small restaurants, pizzerias, coffee bars and shops. I live 15-20 minutes from the John Cabot campus (depending on how many stops I make for gelato and browsing). I’ll take pictures of the cooler parts of the route at some point soon.

I’ve already gone to a few restaurants, gelateria’s and stores. I saw the outside of the Pantheon and walked along the Tevere River. Based on what I’ve seen the last five days, I thought I’d share some first impressions of Roma:

Italians: Everyone was right, nearly all Romans speak English. I shouldn’t have worried so much about the language barrier. Usually, if someone doesn’t know English, someone standing nearby starts translating for you. I usually try to make up for it by saying “grazie” (thank you) a lot. So far so good. Two nights ago some friends and I stopped in a pizzeria at 2am on our way back from Campo dei Fiore, where there are a lot of bars. The man behind the counter didn’t speak English, nor did the two other girls in the pizzeria. One of the girls went outside to grab her friend, who came in and said to us, “I’m sorry if I don’t do this well, I’m pretty drunk.” He did a great job, and I was glad he was so nice about it.

Transportation: Italians are insane drivers. Insane. I’m used to bad city drivers in New York City and Boston, but the Romans take the cake. They go whenever they want, with no regard for traffic lights or pedestrians. And they all have tiny cars! It’s funny to see these smart cars speeding down the street and parked every which way, but it’s a smarter and more efficient way to drive through Rome’s winding streets and alleys. Also, Vespa scooters are EVERYWHERE! It really is just like the Mary-Kate & Ashley/Lizzie Maguire movies. I saw a woman on Friday morning driving to work on her Vespa in a skirt suit. Scooters are the norm, people walk around the bars at night holding their helmets, it’s pretty cool.

Heat: Rome is insanely hot in July. A/C is not the norm, though we do have it in a few areas at school. We keep our windows open all day and have fans in our bedrooms. I’ve been sweating from 10:30 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. every day. My hair is a wreck, and I’ve had no choice but to come to terms with it.

Food: Italian food is amazing, and Trastevere, the neighborhood I live in, is known for having the best food at the cheapest prices. I haven’t had a bad restaurant meal yet. I’ve been trying to be less picky about what I eat. I’ve had a bunch of mystery meat, including a late night slice of pizza topped with tunafish, olives and tomato sauce. It actually tasted great. Please don’t judge me. Most of the restaurants have outdoor seating, which I love. I was walking around the second day here, thinking that it looked a lot like Little Italy in NYC and Boston. It took me a second to snap out of it, and realize that I was wandering around the real thing, though being here still doesn’t seem real.

Supermarkets: There aren’t many big stores in Rome, the supermarkets I’ve found have everything, just without as many brands as you would find in the US’s superstores. Food shopping hasn’t been an easy task, since I can’t read labels. I’ve copped out a little bit and got Special K cereal, but I made a decision to start trying new Italian foods. I bought candy today called Kinder Beueno, it’s basically a way better kit kat. If I keep trying food and I don’t like something, it’s easy enough to pass things off on other people. The closest supermarket is in the basement of Italy’s version of H&M. It’s something you would never find in America, but the set up is normal here.

Graffitti: Rome is FULL of graffiti. There’s graffiti on the outside of my apartment building, which bothered me at first, until I realized Romand have graffitied nearly every wall of buildings in this city. It’s not the graffiti culture of the US, with tags sprayed over others to show dominance over other artists, it’s just seemingly random tags everywhere. It’s upsetting to see the spray paint on some of the really old and beautiful buildings. I’d like to learn more about why graffiti is so dominant in this city. Below is a picture of my apartment building.

Music: There is none. Concerts aren’t a big deal here, which is the weirdest thing for me. I haven’t seen a single Italian walk around the city with headphones on, whereas in NYC and Boston, white ipod headphones are the norm. I haven’t used my ipod at all, and it’s sort of liberating, definitely a change of pace. At home I take my ipod out for a milk and eggs run at Wollaston’s, and usually I’m back before even one song is over. It’s a completely different culture that will take some getting used to, but it’s sort of freeing (and much safer) to walk with other people and take in the sights around me with all five senses.

Nutella: Italians love Nutella! (Shout out to Amanda!) They eat it all the time, Nutella croissants are everywhere, but I haven’t tried one yet. They sound phenomenal.

In general, I’m doing what I can to blend in. I don’t quite have the wardrobe of an Italian 20-something, but today a man on the street started asking me questions in Italian (he seemed like the people in the mall who beg you to take surveys). I shook my head and kept walking, so I think I at least treated him like an Italian girl would. :-)

Hopefully my Italian class will increase my vocabulary past grazie, scusi, ciao and boungiourno. Let’s cross our fingers, since I’m already signed up for Italian II at Notheastern.

The picture below is from my beach trip to Sperlonga, much prettier graffiti than in Rome.