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!