TWENTY-FOURTH
DAY
WET
AND WONDERFUL
October
7 and 8
It
has been raining in Rome for the last four or five days. We are apparently in the middle of some kind
of low-pressure zone. It is like being
in a constant thunderstorm with both lightening and thunder at all times of the
day and night. We had weeks of beautiful
weather previous to this so it is some kind of catch up. One of the things you never have to do when
you have a car is wait for the bus in the rain or get on the scooter to make an
appointment in the rain. We have no
car. My new friend who teaches at Temple
U in Rome takes the bus everywhere. He
doesn’t drive and won’t ride a scooter.
The other day I had to meet him at Temple to prepare for the class in
papermaking that I will co teach with him.
We figured out our demo and schedule then met the dean, an American
expat, Kim Strommer. He is nice guy and
took some time with me to tell me how CCA should be sending their students to
Temple Rome for a semester. It would be
great if CCA had a possible semester abroad.
I was then forced into the uncomfortable
situation of riding the motor back home in the rain and sort of not knowing
where I was going. Around the Vatican
there are series of tunnels, terminals and roadways that discreetly crisscross,
and that is where it got complicated. I
go on the wrong road and into a long tunnel that ended up far from my intended
destination, the Academy. The sky kept
getting darker, the clouds more ominous, and the rains came. Standing on the motorino in the rain and
trying to read a map is not my idea of fun.
It will make you concentrate. I
have this book that has section maps of Rome.
You find the street you are on and then look it up, the index tells you
what section of the map to consult and then gives you the coordinates inside
that section. After you find out where
you are then you have to find out how to get from that section back to the
section you want to go to. That might
not be too bad in your warm and dry car but it seems to take longer when you
are in a raging rainstorm. It all seems
so crazy but some part of me likes figuring it out. Well, I was only five miles or so off the
course and made my way back to the home turf.
After
I dried off I tried to get Kim to ride down our hill to look at our next
apartment not far from the center in the ghetto. Still raining. She lasted long enough to get to the bus stop
before her tour took over, and she promptly decamped for the tram. We met on Pesheria, street of the Fisherman
(really an alley) where our agent said there was a funky but larger space. It is in the Ghetto, which I talked about
earlier. It is steps from the Tiber, feet from the Temple of Apollo, blocks
from the Palatine, 10 minutes from the Pantheon, in other words in the center. It’s also on a cobbled street with many shops
nearby. It is funky and poorly furnished, has no charm and is not cheap; we
immediately decide to take it. The truth
is that with all our looking, we never got close to what we wanted and so have
decided to give it in and get on with Rome and everything else we want to
do. So while not disappointed we could
have wished for more. I did get Kimberly
to ride all the way back from the Ghetto to the Academy, still in the rain. We
stayed in for the rest of the night.
I
had a banking appointment yesterday. JP
Morgan has managed to do the impossible, and I will have a non-resident bank
account. They have a relationship with
the Bank of Lovorno and the closest branch is in another segment of Rome. I was told to be there early, as it gets very
busy. So I plunged out into the rain
again, this time at early rush hour. I
almost got there without help but no, a wrong turn into the Pope’s Latin
American Seminary where a young Mexican priest spoke some English. My bank appointment was OK, it only took an hour
but one of managers helped. As I was
riding home a guy went off his scooter while making a 40 MPH cut on slick
roads. Boom and then 30 seconds later 300 yards further another guy did the
same thing. Slowing down does not seem to be an option. I am getting beeped a lot but so what. I want to stay on the bike.
It
was raining so hard that Kimberly made me take the bus to the Borghese Gallery
all the way across Rome. We had a 5PM
appointment and left our place at 3:30.
We took the little electric bus across the Centro. It was jammed and sweaty, smelled like wet
clothes and went really slow. We got off
at the right stop and promptly turned the wrong way. When we finally got to the gallery it was
after 5. Over l 1/2 hours on the buses -
never again. The gallery is still and
always will be spectacular with Bernini and Caravaggio dominating the guilded
rooms. There is so much, too much and it
will take more than one visit. We should
have the time to get back. We were there
for about an hour and could be there for a couple of years.
When
we returned to the street and out of the park, a guy with a private car offered
us a ride back to the place for 20E, which was an easy decision. Part of what is going on for me has to do
with my age, inflexibility, and general crankiness. Change is not easy and this change in our
living style has been difficult for me.
Still, it feels right to be here.
I am committed to no more buses no matter what. The scooter makes Rome so much more
accessible for me. In addition, I have
added a gym component and am lifting again.
They have some sort of elliptical that I am learning. I think that will help too. Kim remains a jewel and is on board for this
experience not minding the hassles. Our
friends from Sonoma, Bob and Donald come today for dinner, and we look forward
to their arrival.
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