This week I am busy catching up on all of the schoolwork that I missed last week. School is starting to catch up with me as I have three 10 page papers that I need to turn in before the end of the semester. Yesterday, I was extremely excited to go the grocery store and begin to start cooking my own meals again because I have been eating out for the past two weeks! When I buy fruit at the grocery store I have to weigh it on my own by selecting a corresponding number on a scale before I can go through the check through. I got hamburger beef, bun, tomatoes, onions, eggs, milk, cereal, grapes, apples, and the biggest bottle of Gatorade I have ever seen. Even though the Gatorade tastes different here (a little bit more sweet).
On my way home from school I looked up in the air I saw thousands upon thousands of birds in the air all moving together encompassing a big black mass moving together. I wish I had my camera to video tape it but I have a YouTube link to click on and you can see what I am talking about. The video is a good description of what the birds look like but does not make clear just how many birds are in that mass.
It turns our these birds are called Starlings. They appear in Rome to sleep during the fall season. During the day they fly out to the countryside for food, then after they fill the skyline of Rome and it almost looks as if they are performing a dance. One thing I learned about them is that they poop everywhere- on the sidewalk, on cars, and on many lucky pedestrians. In fact these birds are becoming a real problem in the city of Rome. Hundred of thousands of dollars are spent cleaning the ancient beautiful Roman architecture that becomes covered in bird poop during the fall. Last year, a mass of the birds collided with a Ryanair plane that was landing at the airport. Several birds got stuck in the engines, and the plane had an emergency landing during which several passengers were injured. The city has responded by trying to get rid of the birds. One strategy is to use a megaphone to project starling distress calls at a mass of birds. The birds react by fleeing into the sky to find another place to stay for the night. Supposedly this strategy is working, since the number of starlings decreases every year. But starlings are still extremely present, darkening the sky at 5pm every night. If your traveling through Rome remember to take cover!
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