Sunday, August 31, 2008

I skip breakfast on account of sleeping in (so I guess it wasn’t actually a choice) and Jennifer wakes me up just before ten because Paola has invited us to go to the pool with her. I throw on my swimsuit and we head out, driving the itty-bitty car to the Flaminio Sport Club.

It’s quite a fancy place, this Sport Club. The pool is outdoor and I notice everyone in the water is wearing a swim cap. I make Jennifer ask, since she speaks Italian, if that is a rule. Yes, it is, everyone in the pool must wear a swim cap. Of course, Jennifer and I did not think to pack swim caps when we were getting ready for our European adventure, so Paola has to go borrow some from the lifeguard so we can go for a dip.

I’m amazed, as is Jennifer, that I can fit all of my hair under this little swim cap! We have to take a photo:

It’s already insanely hot at the pool and it’s not yet eleven in the morning! The pool is unheated, which means that the water is perfect. It’s totally refreshing and despite feeling self-conscious in the swim cap, I hop in the pool regularly to cool down. I do notice that the Italians seem to be more conservative than the Spaniards. For instance, the swimsuits cover up a lot more of the body, and all the women are wearing tops. However, like the Spanish, the Italians are clearly very serious about their tanning and I feel pale once again, despite the very dark tan I achieved in Cádiz. Well, until I notice a few fair-skinned girls and suddenly I’m convinced that there’s hope for me to blend in with these Mediterraneans after all!

We spend hours melting by the side of the pool then dipping in the pool to cool off. We leave at about three and I’m starving since I didn’t get anything to eat for breakfast. Paola whips up a zucchini omelet for us, while she sits down and eats only a buffolo mozzarella, perhaps that’s how she stays so thin…

Jennifer and I are both ready to head into the city, so we take the bus into Rome… well, kind of. We knew on which street we were supposed to catch the bus, and as we come up to it, there’s the number 80—the bus we need—stopped at the light right in front of us. We wave at the driver, who opens the door and shouts at us in rapid fire Italian. I look and Jennifer, she shrugs, he collapses his shoulders and lets us on. We pull out money to pay, but there’s nowhere to pay… the other passengers look at us incredulously before some guy sort of gestures at me to just sit down. So we do.

I notice that everything is totally closed and comment out loud to Jennifer. A young man in front of us turns and asks if we’re trying to go to the city center. Yes… We’re going the wrong way on the bus. We get off at the next stop, which happens to be the end of the line, and wait for the driver to do a little loop and let us back on the very same bus. He grins at us as we board, but now we know!

The ride isn’t too bad, about twenty minutes or so. We decide to go to the Trevi Fountain and it’s super easy to find because there are tourist-friendly signs directing you to all the sights.

It’s crowded with tourists and the odd pair of nuns eating gelato. The fountain is immense and so intricately detailed. We sit and stare, trying to take it all in. I share my little mythology trivia with Jennifer: The center piece of the fountain is Poseidon (in Greek) or Neptune (Roman), the god of the sea. He is flanked by two tritons (mermen) wrangling winged horses. Poseidon (I’m using the Greek name only because I’m more familiar with it) created the horse as a gift for a girlfriend. He wanted to give her the most beautiful animal in the world and so he started from scratch. The hippo, the camel, the donkey, those are all his rough-drafts before he finally created the horse, credited as being the most beautiful animal on earth. I particularly love this myth because it ties the movement of waves and the ocean with the movement of horses’ gaits. And the two sculpted horses do seem to surge forth just as the water does. Actually, the horses are probably my favorite detail in the fountain because their hooves and legs are made of seaweeds, as if they are still forming from the detritus of the ocean. They’re really beautiful.

Jennifer and I fish out our coins to go make wishes. We watch the other tourists closely to learn the proper protocol: you stand with your back to the fountain and throw the coins high over your shoulder to land in the fountain behind you. I throw two pennies, one for me and one for my grandmother. Later Jennifer and I learn that tradition states that you throw in one penny to return to Rome, two to find true love, and three to return to Rome with your true love.

We see the Pantheon, but just from the outside, it’s closed for the day, and wander over to the Piazza Navona where there are still a few street performers left. This is the great tourist trap, and with good reason, it’s absolutely gorgeous! We walk to Campo de’ Fiori, the piazza where we will be meeting with the rest of the group for class. It seems quiet and is actually much smaller than I imagined. We wander back to Via del Corso, one of the main drags and pass Trajan’s Column, which happens to be in the plaza right across from Zara, so I immediately rename it the Column of Zara and mark it on my map.

We catch the bus home to get back in time for dinner, but we haven’t quite perfected the system and miss our stop. We get off at the next one, which is a ways away and walk back. The evening is nice and we cross a river—perhaps the Tiber? Another American student, Dave, from Chicago, arrives. He will be living with Paola for four months while he studies here. He’s just a kid at twenty and reminds me of my cousin Johnny. We all sit down to eat together; delicious pasta with grilled radicchio, accompanied by bread and cheese. I’m falling in love with Italian cheese!

I’m able to understand a fair amount of Italian, but Romans speak a different dialect, so it will be more of a challenge for me. I’m determined to learn a little, or as much as I can, because Jennifer is only staying here with me for a few days before her husband comes to travel with her. Then I’ll be on my own and Spanish doesn’t get me very far here.