As school is coming to an end, I do not have much to talk about except my daily usual routine. When I first moved to Rome, one difference that I noticed immediately was how loud the city was outside my window. The numerous church bell towers ( ringing on the hour and half hour), the cars not driving but zooming by, honking, the conversations (and some arguments) of people walking by, and the sound of ambulance echoing all 24 hours of the day. At first, it was very loud especially when trying to sleep. Within weeks, however, the sounds disappeared. I do not hear anything! The mind is an interesting thing. Now, if I could only consciously control which sounds to block out!
I have lived in Italy for over 3 months now and I can come to a few conclusions about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Lets start with the good. Life in Italy is amazingly beautiful but many times you have to slow your pace to appreciate (or even see) it. Italy is filled with art and culture that dates back forever. Italians are not only friendly but are good friends. The Italian language is fun and beautiful. The bad….School for children is six days a week. The cost of living is expensive. Too many people smoke. The ugly consists of basically anything and everything that deals with the infrastructure of Italian life (government, schools, etx.). The government is extremely corrupt. Sometimes my roommates and I will go online to a website that has Italian news consisting of the local governmental issues, mainly focusing around the Italian prime minister, Berlusconi. We read the issues facing the government almost as if it was a comic book. He has been in and out of jail for bribery and is currently under another investigation. Last week on the FRONT page of the newspaper, the main article focused on how Berlusconi has requested that soap was now being made with his picture ingrained into it. However, this has caused great opposition because many Italians are opposed to Berlusconi and do not want to be cleansed by his corrupt way. A bill is currently being written to address and solve this issue. Haha o jeez.
Malia--We have all been very blessed to be apart of this amazing experience of living abroad in Rome for three months. The stories, experiences, adventures and your new life time friends. Like you, I do not know where the time has gone. I personally have lived through each wriiten word and your pictures are master pieces. Special thanks to your parents for this wonderful gift to all of us. On a baseball note, your dad's hat was mailed yesterday. Italy and Rome is very familiar to what you would see in the state of New York and Illinois. Just look at the headlines and the number of former governors in prison or Spitzer who now has a show on CNN! In California and Colorado you have the marijuana movement. We live in a global world for which I for one am quite proud!Enjoy your final days....and start planning your next trip back to Rome! Thank you for sharing....and yes safe travels please y'all.
ReplyDeleteHi Mimi, I can't wait to see you at home and hear even more stories. I went with Mom today to St. Isador's Christmas program. I could still see that cute red headed girl singing her heart out. Pat did a great job of opening the curtain. I've never seen it done better. Love you Gma JoAnne
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