Some More Thoughts On The Metro

I prefer walking to my apartment over taking the metro or bus. The metro reminds me of my internship in New York City, of going to work, and the bus reminds me of the few times I was forced to take public transit in Los Angeles. When I’m at home, I drive. Do I need eggs and milk? I drive. Do I want to see a movie? Drive. I think the only time I don’t hop into a car is when I meet up with my friend Kaitlyn, and even then I only walk half a block so we can meet in the middle. But today I am in Rome, and tomorrow I will be too. Walking seems to be the best way to, for once, enjoy the city I am living in. When I strolled by the Coliseum yesterday, I was able to gaze at every crevice and crumbling piece of stone contained on it. I had time to imagine myself there, when it was built, wondering what I would see inside. When I was in a taxi, barreling down the road, away from the airport, I was able to glimpse at the Coliseum as we whisked by, but it didn’t seem real to me then, like an image on the TV, separated by glass. The only time I knew it was real was when I walked up to it and actually touched it.

A Week Has Passed

It hasn't quite hit me yet that I'll be spending an entire term here in Rome, a month maybe, but not over that. I'm finally getting the hang of things like navigating the streets, finding a real supermarket, and never understanding a single word anyone says to me when I'm on my own. I've studied the vast history of Rome through so many classes and perspectives that it's weird to be here finally. It's like it never really existed in real life, only in a book or on a slide, something that might have been real once, but has been lost to time, like the fabled Atlantis. So naturally the first few days here were spent convincing myself that the building out my window wasn't a fake model or a CGI still from a movie, but the insanely huge, insanely real Basilica di San Giovanni: the mother church of the whole catholic world, technically ranking higher than even St. Peters. And it is right there, outside my window, across the street.

My first week has been a blur, and it's weird to think about how much I've done. I've seen St. Peters and the Sistine Chapel, I've seen one of my favorite statues of all time, the Ecstasy of St Theresa (conveniently located a block from my school), been to countless landmarks, went to classes, and started sorting out my new life in this apartment. More than once I've found myself literally jumping up and down with delight as I stumble across something I learned about in AP Art History that no one else around me has ever heard of. Seeing as I'm still giddy whenever it snows, even after 3 years in Vermont, I don't think I'll ever calm down when I see something I know in Rome.