Its officially been one month since arriving to Rome and I’m feeling pretty comfortable about my ability to get through typical daily activities now. Markets, grocery stores, asking (and actually giving) directions, and restaurants are becoming pretty manageable at this point. Admittedly, I mostly know nouns and am still struggling to get comfortable with verbs and proper conjugation and such, but it’s a start.
There are still some other transactions that continue to be tricky though. For example, last week I had to purchase a wireless USB device in order to get internet at our new apartment. There is no way I could have made it through this process without a friend of mine that happened to be in town and speaks fluent Italian. Despite this help, I still screwed up and wound up spending 30 euro (~$45) for about an hour of internet the first night I hooked up the device. Apparently, I didn’t realize that I needed to sign up for a specific program before logging in, which zapped all of my credit pretty quickly. Live and learn.
I do have a helpful phrasebook that usually gets me through most daily interactions. Its broken down into helpful chapters like Eating, Shopping, Sleeping, etc. Upon reviewing the different chapters, I found the particular order of the following series of phrases pretty funny. Under the section, “Oh, Amore”, phrases listed in this exact order include:
What’s the best place to dance nearby? (C’e un bel locale da ballo qui vicino?)
Do you want to dance? (Vuole ballare?)
I have no diseases. (Non ho mallatie.)
I have many diseases. (Ho molto mallatie.)
A couple of lines later, the phrasebook continues with:
Let’s have a wild and crazy night! (Passiamo una notte di fuoco!)
Can I take you home? (Posso accompagnarti a casa?)
Why not? (Perche no?)
How can I change your mind? (Posso cambiare idea?)
From what I can gather, Rick Steves, famed author of this particular phrasebook, seems to think that upon dancing, one should immediately include disclose their health status, and one should also expect that their hopes of a wild and crazy night will be shut down immediately so here are some phrases that can help you sound desperate. This should help. ( I expect all visitors to try out these lines. I look forwa
rd to witnessing the results.)
Aside from my slowly improving Italian, I am still adjusting to the afternoon siestas that Italy continues to follow. From 1pm to 4pm, the city virtually shuts down. Sure, the tourist areas are still buzzing and some stores remain open, but for the most part, Rome is a ghost town. Its crazy. There’s no way possible that this could even happen at home. Its actually kind of nice, but working at home and hoping to take an afternoon break with a quick lunch or drink has proven to be a challenge. To magnify things even more is that August is basically a vacation for most Italians. In my neighborhood, Testaccio, about 30% of all stores are shut down for the month. I don’t know how they can afford to do this. The stores that are closed are usually the mom and pop restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, etc. Maybe they are backed by the infamous “waste management” money. Who knows.
Again, imagine this at home. The Mission in SF is closed for a month. The East Village only has 25% of its bars open. Hollywood swinging is limited to a handful of joints. Crazy. Yesterday, we had a lazy Saturday afternoon watching a marathon of Mad Men. As it was approaching evening, I went out to grab a bottle of wine for dinner. During my walk to the enoteca about three blocks away, I only saw four people, one scooter cruise by, and no cars. Again, this is in the middle of Rome, not a
remote hill town in Tuscany or a suburb. So crazy.
I’m told that things start to get a bit busier and hectic around these parts come September, which will be interesting, though I sense things will still be pretty mellow. I just hope I can stay clear of the dance-related diseases.
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