Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Rome: DAY 85 USA BLUES

EIGHTY-FIFTH DAY
USA BLUES
December 7, 2005

It is hard to believe I am remembering Pearl Harbor Day in Rome.  Not one American today mentioned it to me.  Could I be the only American outside of the US Embassy to be either in touch enough or old enough to remember December 7?  In lots of ways it was just like 9/11, a real wake-up call for our country.  We were a lot more united as a people fighting that war.  Everybody was in support and for the entire time of the conflict.  Maybe it was because we were late in joining a host of allies as opposed to our current virtually solo aggressive posture.  I was a little young, but I do not remember our guys being accused of torturing prisoners of war even though our opposition was notoriously cruel.  Whatever happened to our standards, our innate civility?  Frankly, I am shocked by our behavior.  It could be that I just don’t understand.  But bad guys are bad guys no matter what they look like and while we don’t have to wear white hats, our conduct should be better than theirs.  Still, I am proud to be an American and hope that we will eventually put our ethics and standards back where they belong. 

Both of us are nursing little bugs, Kim with her stomach and me with another lousy cold.  I stayed low today but tomorrow we journey out of the land of Aqueducts and Colosseo for a trip down the west coast of Italy to the small seaport of Gaeta and then come back up the coast to Castel Gondolfo where the Pope has his summer home.  We will once again rent a car, not very hard to do and always fun.  The weather promises to be ok i.e. no rain. 

Tonight the lady who gave the monoprint press to Temple U is taking us to dinner.  It’s kind of her to reciprocate and we go to one of our favorites in Monteverde.  My buddy, Mario, will come too.  He is amusing and smart.  He understands and speaks perfect English, probably the reason that I like him.  It makes it so much easier. 


Italy has a national holiday tomorrow and everything will be closed up tight. Because it is on a Thursday like Thanksgiving, people are squeezing another day out of it.  Who wants to go to work on Friday?  Even we Americans understand the long weekend. Allora, Domani.   

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