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| view from the Aventine hill over the Tiber with a temporale brewing up. |
Ciao everyone! I'm deciding to buckle down & do some blogging tonight, probably to put off doing my Italian homework. We are working on combined pronouns right now & it is so confusing it gives me a headache. Fortunately I like a good challenge.
It was my birthday last week & I celebrated 34 in Roma! I bought myself a book & this new pair of sunglasses! Everyone complains that my photos are only of scenery & never of me. Well... here! It is because I am none too fond of photos of myself as I creep towards middle age. 34, ugh! I certainly like to think of myself as a young girl & am always somewhat offended here when people call me Senora, who the hell is SENORA? Ha ha. Well, don't mind me if I continue to deny aging. I simply do not like it & can't seem to fathom how it is that 34 years have passed. In my mind's eye I am forever 25 or 27. Back in the glory days, the "salad days" as I like to call them.
Also, I just ate an entire small loaf of bread with dinner... could not resist... So, now you know you know all of my weaknesses! Vanity & carbs! :)
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| having to camoflauge age face... looking too... 34. |
Anyway, my friends, I digress. My classmates wished me a happy bday at school, my teacher gave me some chocolates and I got an enormous gelato from my favorite place, Giolitti's, for lunch (mandorla, cocco & cioccolata fondente) YUM! It was about 70 degrees in the afternoon & I sat on the spanish steps reading this really good book... Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. My roomie gave me a plant for my room, which I love. In the evening I went out for an extended Italian style dinner with my Irish buddy. It was great. I am grateful for the friends I have made here, especially my kind roomie and my classmates who have become kind of like family. I have so many ups & downs lately that having a good old fashioned happy birthday was just what I needed.
Thanks also to everyone who sent fa-book greetings. It is amazing how that silly social network can brighten your day. (thank you mark zuckerburg for keeping me connected to my friends & all that other crap i need to know about everyone else)
I love walking around Rome. This fall season has been absolutely glorious & with all the leaves yellowing out it is truly "the golden city". I find myself walking about with a smile on my face just really enjoying the scene & the atmosphere. I mentioned the movie Vacanze Romana earlier, my favorite scene is where Audrey Hepburn (the principessa) is drugged with a sleeping pill & walking around Rome in a daze saying "sono felice" (i am happy) to everyone. She is so cute in that movie. So I walk around Rome with a smile on my face just being happy to be here thinking... "sono felice" getting in touch with my inner Audrey Hepburn. I really do feel lucky to be in such a gorgeous place.
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| storni (starlings) |
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| TINY black dots everywhere! |
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| a stormi of storni (swarm of starlings) |
Can you see all these millions of tiny black dots in the sky? In the fall, huge masses of starlings migrate through the area & camp out by the river in the sycamore trees. They fly in these incredible formations, all moving as one to confuse predators. There are literally bazillions! They are amazing to watch but unfortunately, there are so many of them that you have to really watch out not to get crapped on. People run through heavily infested areas or carry umbrellas. It is a hazard & they are really loud when a million are in a tree above you in the evening. I'm not even sure if they are migrating, they seem to have been here for quite some time.
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| a storm is brewing |
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| fresh olives & olive trees |
I have a friend who had to spend the weekend harvesting olives to make olive oil. I thought this sounded really fun but he told me it gets old after about an hour. You pick all the olives by hand & they fall to the ground onto a tarp or something & then you gather them up. Still sounded fun to me, I like rural activities like that.
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| Pantheon at night! |
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| many monuments are floodlit at night, making for some killer photos! |
Oh, man! I have a bunch more things to tell about... I may have to do another blog posting. I was quite the tourist this weekend. I did also manage to see the movie, PINA, I think it was out in the states last month. WOW, it was gorgeous. It was a tribute to the German choreographer, Pina Bausch. Mostly showing this amazingly powerful & emotional modern dance & then some of the dancers sharing what there experience was working with her. I thought it was riveting. The music was really good & it was visually striking! Consider it as a rental?
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| my fave fountain in piazza navona :) |
One last thing, despite being super enthused about singing some karaoke last week I didn't manage to sing. Unfortunately I just ended up talking to people all night & somewhat chickening out. I miss the Rock Box!
Ciao for now ragazzi! xo
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