Rome - Saturday, August 28, 2010

I feel like I’ve been in town much longer than I really have, simply because of all that I’ve seen and done. Cheri Ure, the other graphic design professor from Iowa, has been my own personal tour guide and it’s been great.  This is her 9^th semester to teach in Rome, so she knows her way around. Ferro, one of the art history professors who taught in Ames for a while, lives here in Rome. He has taken Cheri and I on “walks” to places that Cheri has never even been too. I think there are three art history instructors, but I asked Ferro if I could tag along when he takes his students out on “walks” around the city, and he said, “of course!” He is a really good storyteller. I think he grew up In Rome, so he has lived the history of Rome.

I haven’t had any problems with mosquitoes, as I had been told, and there are no flies! Everyone has shutters over their windows, and glass windows that open like a shutter opens, but no screens. When I open my shutters, there is nothing between me and the open air. I kind of like having the shutters open, but Pia, one of the interior design instructors and who keeps tabs on all of ISU properties, told me that Rome is a very dusty city and that they even get sand in the air from the Sahara Desert. She suggested that I keep the glass windows closed in the second bedroom unless I am using it to cut down on the dust in the apartment. I haven’t noticed any dust in my apartment yet, but you can see the pollution on the buildings. Their justice building is in the process of being cleaned right now. In fact, I think that must be what they are doing to the Pantheon with all of the scaffolding around it.

I just had two pigeons land on my ‘open’ windowsill! I really haven’t seen too many pigeons either, except at one park. There is a ‘park’ for cats here in Rome! It’s a sanctuary for all the abandoned cats in the city and it’s in the ruins where Julius Caesar was murdered! Crazy. On occasion, they open it up and let people go down it to pet the cats. No thank you! Even if I wasn’t allergic to cats, I wouldn’t want to pet any of these cats. I don’t imagine they get vet care.

I was using my $10 duel voltage travel hair dryer the other day and it got so hot I think it could have given me third degree burns! That’s when I realized I had forgot to switch it from 110 voltage to 250. It took forever to cool down, but once it did I tried turning it back on and it was dead. I tried the reset button but no luck. So, it became the mission of the day to find me a new hair dryer. Late August is the time when businesses go on vacation over here, and when they go on vacation, they just close up shop! It’s going to be interesting walking down all of these narrow streets around my apartment that have nothing open right now to see how many open back up in the next week or two. The store Cheri affectionately refers to as the ‘Dollar Store’ is closed until the 30^th. The Dollar Store probable sells hair dryers, but I found one at a different store. It’s a travel dryer, like my old one, but it cost €20, so about $27! Oh well, I now own an Italian hair dryer, but it is only good in Italy, or anywhere else they have the same kind of plug.

If you look at a map of Rome, you will see a bend in the Tiber River where there is an island, Tiber Island, in the middle of the river. Tiber Island has been associated with healing from way back. It is connected to the city of Rome with two bridges, one on each side, one for pedestrians and one for cars. Before Christianity spread through Rome, criminals and the contagiously ill were condemned to the island. Around 293 BC, a temple to Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine and healing was built. Those people, who were ill, recovered. Now this island is the home of a hospital. In fact if any of the students need emergency care while here, this is where we will take them. Getting back to the bend in the river. Once you find the island and the bend in the river on a map, you should see an area on the north side of the river referred to as the Ghetto or as the Jewish Ghetto. I know this doesn’t sound like an area anyone would want to hang out it, but it is actually the “happening” place to live, and one of the more expensive areas of Rome to live in. This is where the studio is and where I live! I had been walking around my neighborhood for two days before I even realized I lived right next to the river! I had been on one side of the street and on the other side of the street was this wall… I had no reason to cross the street. Yesterday, Ferro, Cheri and I walked crossed a bridge to the other side of the river for lunch.  Cheri and I were working on the curriculum for our classes. We didn’t leave the studio until 7 pm and we had arrived at 10 am. Then we walked around, Cheri showing me new places, ate supper and figured out our weekend plans. I was so tired when I got home, mainly because I was so wide awake the night before I only got about 4 hours sleep at the most, so I never even opened my computer when I got home. Cheri had the same ‘no’ sleep problem. I guess it takes at least a week to get over the jet lag. I was told it takes 1 day for every hour of time change… and everyone agrees it is much harder when you travel to the east than when you travel to the west.

So, today is Saturday. Cheri keeps telling me of all these places we should go visit, and I just say, “let’s go!” We are taking the train to a city on the ocean today. Well, she said ocean, but looking at the map, I’d say it is the Tyrrhenian Sea. We’re going to Sperlonga. Cheri says it is a beautiful town. It’s about an hour away by train.