World Food Week (part 2)

Ciao!

I know you all have been anxiously awaiting this moment, so without further ado, the exciting conclusion of Jim Allen’s two-part special on World Food Week. However, I find it necessary to point out that Saturday, chronologically the next day to report, ironically had nothing to do with World Food anything. Sorry for the misleading introduction.

Saturday was a day of escape for me. Not only did I manage to escape from anything World Food related, but I also escaped the city of Rome. This is not to say that I needed to escape, because I enjoy both of those things, but it was relaxing to experience something different. Aside from the uniqueness of the location, travelling with others was also a new experience since I have previously gone sightseeing alone. For the day, I travelled with Tanaz, my office partner, Jessica, another intern, and John, a guy I had never met before who works at the main embassy. Along with these three others from the Tri-Mission community, I travelled to nearby Tivoli, a small town atop of mountain famous for its surrounding Tibertine villas.

The first of these, Villa d’Este was constructed by a cardinal during the Renaissance. The house itself was filled with fine frescos (filled with many exposed breasts as John pointed out), but the villa’s main feature is its abundance of fountains in its gardens. Since I was the only one with a fully-charged camera, I ended up taking the most pictures. While posing as if I was about to jump into one of the fountains, I got yelled at for doing so. In another comical moment, I had finally gotten the timer on my camera to work and just before the shutter clicked, a little Italian lady with her headset walked directly in front of us. It was so funny that we could not be upset.

After this we had lunch and proceeded to wait for a public bus to take us to villa belonging to the great Emperor Hadrian. We were told to wait for either the “4” or the “4X.” Due to ticket complications (we did not have them), we missed both buses and so had to wait forty-five minutes for the next bus. Since the day never warmed up, we all got cold, especially Tanaz who was only donned in a light sweater. But it finally came; we got excited and signalled the driver with our hands. However, as we got on showing him the ticket to Hadrian’s Villa, he shook his head and pointed to his bus number: “4/”. Who has ever heard of a “4-backslash” bus? And why would the “4-backslash” not go where the “4” or the “4X” does? I suggested that it might be bowling terms, the “4,” the “4 spare” and the “4 strike.” When the correct bus came we were quite bitter, but we certainly found comic relief in our suffering.

Hadrian’s Villa was impressive, especially considering that he designed much of it himself. Knowing how big it was, I suggested that we get a map to orient ourselves. Everyone agreed and said they wanted one to, after mentioning that they like maps as souvenirs. Personally, I thought it was unnecessary, but I went to check. After discovering there was no English maps, I returned, but they told me just to get Italian or Spanish. Well, I was not going to pay for a non-English map, but if they wanted one, then whatever. Turns out that they did not think we had to pay for them (which shows how few monuments they have been to in Rome), and they all have yet to pay me back for their non-English maps. So in exchange for entertainment during arduous times, when I travel with others, I have to deal with miscommunication. All in all it was a nice day, though an expensive and exhaustive one.

I woke up on Sunday, not fully refreshed from my busy Saturday. The temperature was still chilly, and it pressed in on me from everywhere except under my covers. I reluctantly got up, knowing that I was obligated to do so. After weeks of preparation, today was the Run-for-Food, and I had to make sure that everything went smoothly.

Not wanting to have anyone carry anything for me, I only wore the clothes I wanted to run in, and not the clothes to keep me warm. Few others did the same, and we found ourselves in constant motion to keep our blood flowing. Unfortunately, though, the cold weather scared off many of the runners, including a few from the Tri-Mission Community.

By the time it was necessary to move to the start line, we had about three-quarters of those who had signed up. This was okay, but it was alarming that the Ambassador was among those ranks. We proceeded to the start anyways, where I moved up to the front. Though I never saw it, the Ambassador and his wife found my supervisor and put on their t-shirt with five seconds left until the start, thus completing our team.

And soon we were off. The 1K had us run around the Coliseum, which was an awesome feeling, both because one can only imagine how long athletes had been running there, and secondly because I was not yet tired. The 2K, which took us by the Palatino, the great Roman palaces, filled me with a similar feeling. But having to run up and down a hill to complete the 3K was difficult, and the uneven and hard cobblestones started to strain my feet. Between the 3K and 4K, I entirely wanted to quit and start walking, but I persisted. I was further disheartened by my disillusioned understanding of how the race ended, which had me run around another street instead of just cutting into the stadium. I finished though, second out of our team, in almost exactly twenty-five minutes. For someone who hardly runs, I am very proud of this time, which is good, because I doubt I will ever run it again. While stretching out and gaspign for air, I signalled everyone over who finished the race. After everyone congregated, we went to his residence for some very anticipated post-run refreshments, which was an excellent way to end the successful event. I received many thanks for organizing my end of it, which was almost as rewarding as running that twenty-five.

The next day, and final day to World Food Week, I was immensely sore, from my abdomen all the way to the pads of my feet. It hurt to walk swiftly, which made my morning walk all the more tragic. But my mind was mostly distracted from the pain all day, because of the immensity of what I was experiencing instead. But that ties in within to the rest of this week, so I will write about it in a separate blog. If you need to know what it was though, simply search “WFP EB,” and it should come up.

Monday night was the conclusion to World Food Week though, with a candlelight vigil near the Coliseum, which was regrettably much less exciting than one would think. Because of the “cold” weather, only a handful of people showed up to the torch lighting celebration for the Run-for-Food winners. Coincidently, I met another Michigander who is working in Rome, and we had fun observe ring how cold everyone thinks they are. It was chilly, but the Italians use of fur-rimmed down jackets was entirely inappropriate and somewhat cute. Overall, though, it was an anticlimactic ending to a very educational week.

It definitely had its moments when it reminded me why I am here. It is odd that sometimes, in the midst of the presentations, event planning and meetings, I forget the pounding truth that is repeated in every form of media available, which is that 850 million people go to bed hungry and chronically malnourished every night. I think this is because, even for people that have given their careers to fighting hunger, the enormity of that number is difficult to grasp. So difficult to grasp, that not even a week dedicated to it can make it urgently apparent.

Say a prayer for the hungry, and if you have time, also to the internet in my room, which should be installed early next week, allowing me to catch up on these blogs. It will also allow me to figure out why I can not seem to put pictures in this entry. Sorry. Until then, thank you for reading. God bless!

World Food Week (part 1)

Buon giorno!

For all of you who didn’t Google search “FAO, food” after reading the last blog, last Tuesday was World Food Day. Well in fact, since the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN is headquartered here in Rome, it was more like World Food Week, since the festivities officially ended this Monday night. But it is only proper to start at the beginning…

Last Tuesday, officially recognized by over 150 countries as World Food Day, began with a celebration in the FAO’s plenary hall, the room where all the countries meet to discuss political matters. For me, attending the ceremony was like sitting on Santa’s lap. It was all I could do to not fidget and be giddy. Aside from seeing and hearing from FAO’s Director-General Jacques Diouf, German President Horst Köhler and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete addressed the assembly as well. Parts of me were aggravated by the latter’s speech, who strongly supported this year’s theme “The Right to Food” while he is kicking people out of his country and into Rwanda and Burundi, though I am sure only a few people in the room knew. And though I was aggravated, I was not surprised that he did not practice his own preaching (this is politics after all). I was surprised though by a delegate from Tanzania who sat next to me; he started snoring in the middle of his own president’s speech!
After the ceremony, my supervisor asked me to stay for another meeting addressing civil society’s role in “the Right to Food,” and being the nerd that I am, I excitedly obliged. When I finished taking notes there, I went into the FAO atrium, which was filled with free literature regarding “the Right to Food,” World Food Day and specific FAO issues and topics. So naturally I amassed my own mini-library and took it back to my room.

Nothing actually happened Wednesday, so for the sake of your time, I am just going to skip over it. Essentially, I caught up from all the work I missed the day before.

However, Thursday is a day to note. It began with the press conference of a new independent evaluation of the FAO, which will be the main debate in its upcoming bi-annual budgetary meeting in November. The controversy is that the report states that while the FAO is a necessary organization, it needs to undergo extreme reforms to make it sustainable. My supervisor and I, being in charge of Public Affairs, attended the press conference to hand out our initial response to the finalized report. As we should, we strongly support the evaluation and its recommendations and hope to work with other countries to make the evaluation’s recommendations a reality. Not all countries share our view though, so we were interested to see whether the press would put the new report and our response to it a positive or negative story. My supervisor put me in charge of checking that first thing Friday morning.

After the press conference and another day of Run-for-Food preparations, including a memo to the Ambassador, I was honored with an invitation to our Deputy Chief of Mission’s (DCM) residence for dinner. By the way, in the common tongue, a DCM is second to an ambassador, but whereas an ambassador is politically appointed, the DCM is a high-level Foreign Service officer in the State Department. Anyways, it was a beautiful house overlooking Rome. The meal itself was high-class, more than I would afford elsewhere, and the conversation with the hosts and other guests was refreshingly laid-back. The best part of the evening though, was none of the above, but an amazing spectacle brought to us by swallows. Over one of Rome’s tallest monuments, literally thousands of swallows formed moving shapes in the sky. Some were dark clusters, like tornados, and others were wide and abstract, like the northern lights. All of us agreed in a moment of communal astonishment that it was truly one of the miracles of nature.
I was the first USUN employee to arrive at the office Friday morning, which surprised the guards that waited outside. Because there is a series a security locks and codes that neither of us knew, we had to wait for someone to arrive. As soon as I got in I was looking for new articles on the FAO report. Sure enough, there were five, four by the Associated Press and one in Reuters. All five were positive, and the three in the most popular sources (Reuters, International Herald Tribune and USA Today) even quoted the US initial response that we handed out. Before my supervisor arrived, I had emailed all the articles with a short summary to all USUN employees and printed out copies with highlights for her. The DCM (remember from above) was especially pleased, telling us that when someone asked him at a meeting what our position was, he would answer “look it up in the paper.” Pat on the back; job well done.

The rest of the day though was rough as I finished up preparations for the Run-for-Food. This included traveling across town by Metro to pick up thirty-five t-shirts and then go about distributed them. To make matters more irritating, I had about five people ask me if they could sign-up then, even though I had been advertising this for three weeks. Of course, I would politely tell them “no” and advise them to sign-up on the day of the race, which was Sunday. I started my weekend at work once again, making sure everything was in order, knowing that once I left, I would have no control over the Run-for-Food until Sunday morning. And in the Foreign Service world, that one day can make all of the difference.

I have written enough for the today though. As you title states, this is only Part 1. But do not worry, all of your questions and concerns will be answered in the next exciting edition of my blog, appropriately titled “World Food Week (part 2)”.

By the way, please leave comments on my blog. It's easy to do and you can even be anonymous. Either write me a note, comment on something in the blog, or give me some constructive criticism for how to make it better. Without any of this, I never know if people find my blog interesting. My guess is that it is not, and so people stopped reading. : )

Thank you for reading. God bless.

Out and About

Dearest readers,

For those of you traveling to Rome sometime, this blog may be of particular interest to you as I highlight some of Rome’s lesser known attractions. Strange as it may be, I have been in Rome for almost a month now and have yet to visit the Coliseum, the Roman Forum and the Roman Palatine (ancient Rome’s famous attractions) as well as anywhere inside the Vatican (Rome’s other must-see). Perhaps this because these sites cost the most, or maybe because I know that the longer I wait the smaller the crowds will be. Either way, I am glad that I have missed out thus far, since it is given me time to enjoy less popular, but equally stunning, locations within and out of the city.

After work Friday, I started my weekend with vigorous work-out, attempting to run from Piazza del Popolo down past the Coliseum and Piramade Metro stop for the purpose of turning in the Run-for-Food registration forms at the sport’s center there. I should have taken the Metro, but since I plan to run the 10K, I figured the work-out was in order. However, I quickly noticed upon departure the running with a full backpack is extremely difficult. I made it the Victor Emmanuel II Monument (about half-way) before slow to a speed walk. An hour and a half from when I left work, I made it with fifteen minutes to spare. This humorous conversation followed:

“Ciao! Are you here to register Run-for-Food?”
“Si, signore.”
“Only one?”
“No.”
“Two?”
“No.”
“How many?”
“Thirty-five.”

I raced home when I was finished, taking a quick shower before heading out again. I planned to meet two other interns and my office partner for dinner downtown. It was difficult place to find, and I warned the others to use Google Maps. I was fifteen minutes late but did not see them down there. After forty minutes, I asked for my own table, at which point they said there was a short wait. I left, walked about, and when I returned, the others had arrived. We then had to wait even longer for the table of four. The meal was delicious though, and afterward we walked around to experience Roman nightlife. I found it funny that some piazzas were geared toward young Northern Europeans and Americans, filled with wild pubs that Italian did not go to. I had much more fun walking down the cobblestone streets with my gelato.

Saturday morning, I slept in, even though I had a busy day planned. At first I visited San Giovanni Laterano church, which was originally built by Constantine and was Rome’s most important medieval church. It was well decorated and had a lovely cloister featuring historical relics, one of which was a slab elevated at the height of Jesus (I didn’t quite make it). Next door, was the Sanctuario Pointificio Scala Santa (the Pope’s Sanctuary and Holy Steps). The actually sanctuary itself was once considered the holiest place in existence, containing an ancient alter from the 5th century. Centered in the church was the Holy Steps, a set of 28 stairs brought in by Constantine’s mother from the palace of Pontius Pilate. Since Christ was to have walked on this flight multiple times during his Passion, revenant pilgrims now climb these steps on their knees. I did not quite buy it, but I appreciated the symbolism anyways.


From here, I walked to the Basilica di San Clemente, which was my favorite church visit so far. Not only was the basilica itself impressive, with a golden mosaic and an impressive chapel, but what was underneath the church was far more interesting. For a small fee, one can descend into the lower church, built around the 8th century. It contained many early frescos, which told captivating stories (explained in English nearby). After exploring this old church, one can then descend even lower, into an old aristocratic residence of the 1st century that contained a temple to the pagan god of Mithras used through the 4th century. One does not have to appreciate history much to feel an eerie chills that one receives in such a place. The best part about this site was that it was well-kept and self-guided, so I never felt rushed as I explored every detail.

Admittedly, I tried to visit the Coliseum or the Roman Forum after this, but I knew that I did not have much time. I spent to long enjoying San Clemente. But to make matters worst, a gigantic political party rally had poised itself directly in front of the Coliseum, blocking an entire street. By the time I squeezed my through the crowd, everything was closed and there was no way to get around it all. So I retired back to room vowing to visit those sights the following morn. On the way, I stopped at San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains), which supposedly houses the chains that bound St. Peter in Rome as well as Michelangelo’s famous statue Moses.

When I woke up on Sunday though, I did not want to go. Instead, I wanted to go to the beach and visit the ruins of an old city that I had read about it my guidebook. I took the Metro to the Piramade stop, catching another tram that goes out into the suburbs. These other trains are used for commuters and do not cost any more, since you only pay once to get into the station. I got off at Ostia Antica, or Ancient Ostia, and made my way to the ruins.

Ostia Antica was at one time Rome’s port city. Since Rome is inland, it relied on much on Ostia to ship and receive its trade from the Mediterranean Sea. However, since Ostia was completely dependant on Rome, when the Empire fell, Ostia fell with it and was never restored. Today the ruins are a few miles inland and are spectacular.

Both guidebooks gave Ostia Antica a one-star, but I think it deserves much more. I went thinking I would spend a hour, but I spent at least four. The ruins make up the entire city. You have a theatre, baths, forum and a political center, which are all very nice, but then you also see residences, places of worships, meat markets, bars, stables and warehouses. A visit really opens one’s eyes to the everyday life of a bustling ancient town. The best part about these ruins is that you can explore them. There are very few places where barriers prevent one from going. I enjoyed getting lost in the deserted houses, walking from one to the next through collapse doorways or forgotten streets. Other highlights included located another underground temple dedicated to Mithras, descending into the cisterns and waterways of the Forum Baths and finding myself in the deepest part underneath a wealthy residence. I also located a mass burial site tucked away in the necropolis, which would have been riveting, had I not had a flashback from Rwanda. Its odd how the older history gets, the less emotionally-attached to it we become.

Leaving Ostia Antica thoroughly satisfied, I had one more goal to accomplish for the day: swim in the Mediterranean Sea. I continued on the train to Stella Polare, where I managed to find an opening on to the beach. Used to the beautiful and scenic beaches of home, I was slightly disappointed by the commercialized and uncharacteristic stretch of sand. All of this was okay though because of the sparkling sea in front of me. I thought of the last body of water I swam in: Lake Michigan at 9:30pm with my family on the eve of my departure. I rushed into the water, only to find that it was just a salty Lake Michigan, just as cold as the water was the night. I guess I expected something warmer. It was refreshing nonetheless. I walked up and down the beach until sunset, which exceeded my expectations. I spent the time thanking God for my restful and adventurous weekend, which was only possible now that I was not worrying about shelter or food. I prayed for those who could not say the same.

After being out and about all weekend, Monday was rather dull. Upon hearing about my weekend, everyone at the Mission seems impressed with how I utilize my free time. Hopefully I do the same during the weekday too, though all of my paperwork today did add up to much excitement. That changed today however. I will not tell you why, but if you Google News Search any of the topics I have discussed here, you should find the answer. Keywords: FAO and Food.

Thank you for reading another long one! God Bless!

Daydreaming

“These are the parking lots located in the embassy. To get to this one, you can enter here, which is the short way, or here, which is the long way. You can not go this way now though because of construction. To get to this parking lot, you can enter here, which is the short way, or here, which is the long. However, you can not go this way now, because of construction.”

The USUN staff had warned about this, and rightfully so. The embassy’s mandatory Security Briefing was notorious for being tedious, pointless and drawn-out. Being that it was on Friday, I found it to be an anticlimactic end to an exciting week. Granted there was some information that it was critical I received, but the bulk of it either had to do with vehicle logistics (I have no car) and US housing security (I have my own room). So, just like in high school, I spent most of my time daydreaming of positive recent events.

Monday was Columbus Day, and though all US embassy’s technically have the day off, I still put in a few hours. I was glad to though, because it consisted of going to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and meeting Dr. Robert Thompson, renown agricultural policy expert and sponsored US speaker. We shared lunch, along with my supervisor, and I was able to learn much from simply talking to him, not only about his topic of expertise, but also about potential career options in the field. Afterward, I had the afternoon off, so I went back out to the catacombs on the Appian Way. I finally visited the “good” catacombs, which were great, though I liked the other better. I trotted home and set myself to making my first batch of pasta. Mmmmm.

“When you see the guard wave for you to pull up you vehicle, pull up your vehicle. We used to have a light that did that, but than people would get distracted and hit and barrier, so now we just have the guards do it.”

Tuesday sent me out to the World Food Program (WFP) for the first time, where I brought hand-outs for Dr. Thompson’s lecture the new US Farm Bill. I will not bore you with the details, but the House Farm Bill 2007 is horrible and makes no progress from its predecessor. It sets us back in terms of the Doha Trade Agreement, international food aid, and subsidies to specialty crop farmers, among other things. So, I learned all of that, and that the WFP headquarters was unfortunately design and built in the retro-style 70s. Anyways, later that evening, I went for a run (training for the Run-for-Food) from Piazza della Repubblica to Piazza del Popolo and back, grabbing a well-earned Panini on the way home.

“In an emergency situation, you want to duck and cover, find something solid, away from an outside wall, and get underneath it. You may have fractions of a second, or may have fifteen minutes, but always treat it like you have fractions of a second, or may get blown up.”

Wednesday started out in the panic, scrambling to make hundreds of copies for Dr. Thompson’s presentation “10 Myths about International Agricultural Markets” at the FAO. Once I arrived, I made sure everything was in place, and ten set up a table with the Xeroxed literature. It was a good thing that I made all of those copies, though, because the presentation was packed, standing-room only. I spent the entire time pressing a recorder into a head phone set so that the Mission will have a digital recording of it all. Afterward, I made a quick sign-up sheet for the Powerpoint presentation, and then dashed up to the cafeteria, which has an amazing panoramic view, to save seats for everyone in the Mission. It was a good lunch with enjoyable conversation. I feel like Dr. Thompson and the people at the USUN have really started to warm up to me.

“Now sometimes people call me saying that they have had a break-in at their house. So I ask them, “did you lock your door,” and sure enough, they answer “no.” That is not a break-in, that’s a walk-in. Some people have woken up to find someone in their house. Potentially more disturbing are the people that have woken up to find that their wallet, which was on their nightstand, is gone. So, lock your doors.”

Thursday, Dr. Thomspon had left and in the morning I met two biotech scientists who the US had flown in for an FAO seminar. My supervisor and I took them to the FAO to show them around, which I am still wary at, despite the fact I have been there a few times and can usually orient myself. Once they had toured, I left and visited the Baths of Catacalla, the second largest public baths of Roman times (the first being the Bath of Diocletian, which had been transformed into a basilica a block from where I love). The baths were magnificent, and I actually found myself jealous of the Romans for having such a wonderful free and public place to relax.
“Something that may be of concern is seismic activity. Now, if Mt. Versuvius were to erupt, Rome would not covered in ash, but the influx of refugees from Naples and the southern cities would be outrageous. Crime would skyrocket because there would not be enough resources for everyone, and traffic would be terrible. Just something to be aware of.”

Thursday night was a new experience. I had the opportunity to attend a reception with our biotech scientists and others from the FAO at a residence that overlooked the city. The view was magnificent, the food was delicious, and the conversation was extremely educational. To avoid annoying the socializing technical scientists, I went around asking each one only one or two questions about the topic. However, as I went around the room, my questions became more advanced as I began to understand the ways that biotechnology both contributes to and affects food aid and hunger-related issues. More than often, the scientists were delighted to talk with me, flattered that someone, especially a twenty year-old, found their field of study interesting.

“Stay away from protests and demonstrations. In all my years here I have only seen three pro-American demonstrations, and the largest of them had three people. Protests are also good targets for terrorism. Even if is not targeted at you, it can still hurt you. Which reminds me, if you someone deliver a package to a government building, do not go near it. Government buildings do not receive mail; you are witnessing a terrorist attack.”

I exchanged “Jim Halpert” glances with my fellow interns. Man, this guy was serious. I suppose it was all good to know. Admittedly, part of my grudge was that in order to come to the security briefing, I was missing the biotech seminar, which was designed to educate the uneducated about the topic. Sigh. What can you do? Since the presentation was only half over, I decided to start planning for the weekend.

Oh, by the way, I still do not have internet in my room... long story. Anyways, once I do, be assured to you will have a video tour of my place. The internet cafes are not letting me do it.

Thank you for reading. God Bless!

a "Jim Halpert" from The Office

Settlement

If you were to see me now, I would, again, be writing this blog from my bed, and, again, it would be an entirely new bed from before. However, this happens to be the bed where I will be writing countless other blogs, for it is the bed in the room that I plan to stay in for the next two months. I have finally settled in to a place.

My room is very nice indeed. It is near Piazza de Repubblica, not far from Termini train station, and very close a Metro line that will take me to work in fifteen minutes. Though it is a busy and lively area, it is conveniently tucked away to one its quieter streets. The room itself is spacious, complete with a single bed, sofa chair, a new dresser and wardrobe, a mini-fridge, satellite TV (in Italian), a table with two chairs and a window looking out into the street. Outside of my room, in a common area, I share a bathroom and kitchen with a guy who has a similar set-up. His name is Jose, and he is a Spanish translator, speaking great English, who is trying to learn Italian. Though I doubt we will see each other much, because of our mixed schedules, he seems like a genuinely nice guy, at least nice enough to share a few things with. All in all, I could not have asked for a better place, especially at the reasonable rate I am paying per month.

The transition of settlement was a surprisingly smooth one. I came to look at the place after finding it in the Porta Portese, and immediately told the son Danilo, who gave me the tour, that I wanted the room. Thursday I met my landlord Franco, who also seems like a genuinely nice guy, and Danilo helped translate the room’s features and requirements of the contract. Understanding that I could not read Italian, Franco told me to come back Friday after I had it translated. I did, and after paying my security deposit, we signed the contract. Franco handed over the keys, and I gave him the rent for October. This transaction was certainly more official than the last. Franco was very well organized and clear about prices from the beginning. He made sure to give me a photocopy of the signed contract and receipts for the payments before I even had to ask for them. He took me around the apartment thoroughly, explaining everything I could or could not do. Knock on wood, but I am very happy that he is my landlord.

Friday night at ten, after going to a quiz night at the Marines dorm, the two USUN hosts kindly took me and my luggage over to my new room at. They checked it out as I pushed my luggage in and agreed that it was a good deal. When they left, I got right to work, unpacking and organizing until about one in the morning. I slept in the next morning, for the first time in a while, and then went shopping for food. Now fully equipped with edibles for next weeks, I decided to go and explore. So for the past two days, I have traveled around Rome, not as a homeless vagabond, but as a camera-happy tourist, and I have enjoyed it thus far. I found that a curious and adventuresome mind can take you many places you never expected to be.

Saturday afternoon I went to the historic center of Rome with only one goal in mind, see this old library that I noticed two weeks earlier. But once I got down there, I found myself wonderfully distracted. I visited at least four different churches, each adorned in its own unique style of frescos and architecture. I also entered the Pantheon while it was raining, and sure enough, the rain splattered on the floor, falling through the hole in its ceiling known as the oculus. Though it was built in the 1st century, the free-standing dome was the largest of its kind until the Louisiana Superdome was built. It was packed with people, but still a magnificent sight to behold.

So after all of this, when I finally reached the library, it was already closed. In fact, it had been closed only ten minutes after I had arrived downtown. I went into its nearby church to study it, and when I came out an hour later, I noticed people standing at the library entrance. Hoping it was a tourist group I could sneak in with, I went over, but soon felt that it was not a tour. I asked an Italian named Massimo, who told me that it was a four-hands piano concert in the library, featuring some classical music, followed by Scott Joplin rags and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Piano + early jazz + old library = where I can sign-up. I got in for only five Euros and took a seat in the middle of a high-roofed haven of books. I found out later that the library was built in the 17th century and contains over 100,000 encyclopedic volumes from the 16th century, including books written about the Renaissance and the Reformation, as well as the literature, astronomy, mathematics and art of that time. And in the center of all of it was a piano, which for the next hour, provided me splendid entertainment. As I left, I asked Massimo for a good place to eat, and he told me of a Mozzarella Bar nearby. Interested, I checked it out and had a delightful block of cheese with sides for dinner. And then I walked home, observing a host of famous fountains on my route.

This morning I slept in again, and made my way south toward the catacombs on the Appian Way. There was one in particular, the Catacombe di San Domitilla, that I wanted to see. It was highly recommended and not in the main line of tourists. However, all of the catacombs have weird hours, taking off between noon and 2:30pm. I arrived later than I hoped at 11:30pm, and after walking briskly, only managed to reach the most popular Catacombe di San Callisto. Figuring I would do the other after the extended lunch break, I bought a ticket and went down right away. It was quite possibly the coolest thing ever. And in the middle of the tour, as I stayed back for a half second to copy an ancient fresco into my book, my dream came true as I got separated and lost in the catacombs. Now do not freak out, the exit was well-labeled and everything well-lit, but still, to be alone in massive crypt that is two millennia old is an energizing feeling. I met up with a German group soon afterward and resumed on with them as if I understood every word of it. In the end, I was glad that I got separated, as it allowed me an extra fifteen minutes in the catacombs at least.

For lunch, I ate a homemade sandwich near some “open-aired” ruins that I spotted from the Via Appia Antica. Afterward, I figured I had more time to kill, so I decided to explore some more. Long story short, I never made it my prized catacombs, but instead at Villa dei Quintila. Incidentally, I had already purchased a multi-visit ticket for it when visiting a mausoleum that lay on the ancient Appian Way. Determined to get my money’s worth, I took two buses a good five miles from the catacombs area. On my way there, I cursed myself for being so stubborn, since it seemed unlikely that I would make it back. However, after getting to the Villa, I no longer regretted my decision. Unlike the mausoleum, which was sort of a rip-off, the Villa was an expansive and rich piece of history that I thoroughly enjoyed. Built by brothers in the early 2nd century, it had been used since by emperors of the 3rd century and various landowners up through the Renaissance. The architecture and design was marvelous, especially for its time, and the excavation work, which began in 2002, allows the Villa’s visitors to literally explore the ruins from on top of them. But best of all, because it was so far out of the way, there were very few tourists. Unlike the catacomb group of at least fifty people, I saw a maximum of ten people during my entire two-hour visit at the site.

It seems odd how wonderful things turn up at unexpected times. Perhaps they are so wonderful because they are unexpected: catching a piano concert in a 17th century library, getting lost in a vast necropolis, eating lunch by some ignored ruins, finding your way to a 2nd century Villa or finally renting the perfect two-month room after two and a half weeks of mishaps. But despite this evidence, now that I am settled, I have already begun to create expectations for what I plan to accomplish here. I can only hope that when I leave I will say to myself that I did not accomplish what I wanted, but a whole lot more, experiencing that little bit of wonderful that finds me when I least expect it.

Again, sorry for the longest blog posts in the world. I really need to write more frequently. However, since my new room does not have internet yet, I find it a hassle to have to go post these at a nearby internet café. Rest assured though, the internet will come. Jose and I both have it in our contracts and Jose needs it for his translating job. When I do have it, I expect to write more… but we’ll see.

Thank you for reading. God bless.

Note: The villa also had a theatre in it, once used by an emperor for gladiators. I could feel it.

SAGA-sitting

The two highlights to my week were enjoying lunch with a group of Americans who work at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and enjoying lunch with the employees of the USUN mission at the Ambassador’s residence. The first was on Thursday afternoon. I ended up sitting next to a fascinating woman who writes a yearly report that I read regularly for Model UN. In fact, once during our conversation, I recalled an article, which is rare considering my memory, and it turns out that she was its writer. I was compelled to get her autograph, but I painfully restrained myself.

The barbecue at the Ambassador’s residence was great not only for its conversation, but for its delicious edibles as well. The food was thoroughly Mexi-American: chili hotdogs and hamburgers along with chips and fresh guacamole and salsa. Though it was challenging to find, it was certainly worth the experience and hopefully I have a few more chances to spend time there for various social events.

With those two experiences as exceptions, though, I would describe my last few days here in Rome as an extended period of SAGA-sitting. For those unlearned in Alma jargon, allow me to elaborate. To SAGA-sit is to sit at a table in our main dining facility in an attempt to gain attention to your message, cause, event or organization. I have done so a few times myself, and it is not always a pleasant experience. People walk by ignoring you even though they know you are calling for them. Or even worse, people take interest, look at what you are offering, and then express dislike and leave. This is what I have been going through lately.

And quite literally since my supervisor put me in charge of sign-up for the Run-for-Food, a large fund raiser for the FAO on the 21st of October. Therefore, I went over during the main embassy’s coffee hour and SAGA-sat with my Run-for-Food paperwork. Two hours of sitting, and I got one person to sign-up and a few maybes. But overall, the level of interest was low. This may have also been the case because I was a bad salesman. There were two ladies, one significantly heavier than the other. Trying to appeal to a particular audience, I asked thinner one if she was interested in the Run-for-Food. She said, “Does it look like I run?” just as the other stated, “I’m interested. Why didn’t you ask me?” Ooo, awkward. After that I asked EVERYONE if they were interested, and all of the heavier and elderly mostly gave me stares of disdain.

I have also felt like SAGA-sitting as I continue my apartment search. I lay my offer on the table, criteria and such, and simply wait for a place to pick me up. Now do not misinterpret this, I am doing my work, calling out to people as they walk by ignoring, but because I am a male and am only staying for two months, there are not many mini-apartments or rooms that will take me. I almost considered giving my last landlady a call after an unsuccessfully room visit Sunday afternoon. But tonight I had one that was successful, so (cross my fingers) if it is still available Wednesday, I am taking it.

Until then, though, the receptionist at USUN has been gracious enough to let me stay in her guestroom. It actually worked out since her and her husband went for Oktoberfest this weekend, allowing me to make use of their phone and internet to continue the room search. Additionally, this also allowed me to relax a bit, catching up on some Scrubs and watching an amazing Season 4 premiere of The Office. I am truly grateful for their continued invitation and am debating how to make it up to them.

Since the apartment is moderately close to Villa Borghese, the 2nd largest park in Rome, I also spent a bit of Saturday afternoon going for a refreshing run. However, it is difficult to stay running when there are so many distractions, including ancient monuments, marble statues, a uniformed band riding on the backs of white horses… etc. So, I am not sure that I actually did much working out, but it at least allowed me to escape the dreaded horror of SAGA-sitting. But hey, I got one person to sign-up Friday, so I am sure that one person will sign-up in housing department soon too.

Thank you reading! God Bless!