Rome as performance art

May 10, 2009

I’ve just moved to my third and final apartment. It’s the biggest yet and the most orange (it's called the orange apartment for that reason.) While it’s very quiet inside, outside the city is a carnival. Today’s entertainment included a 14-year old artist creating “original” art with spraypaint. By using stencils, handwork and a blowtorch, he rendered some pretty interesting 3D paintings (which could be yours for only 10 Euros.) Down the block, next to a church, a group of break-dancers mesmerized the crowd. And endless street musicians added to the rich cacophony of city life. This is Rome: life as full as you can imagine, energizing and exhausting at the same time.

Today I walked my new neighborhood on Via del Corso although I’ve been here many times before. I made the climb up to the Borghese Gardens and back down to the Pantheon. At dinner I sat next to a couple on their honeymoon from Ohio. It was fun to trade stories and observations. So I’ll leave you with just a few excerpts from my daily life:

It’s been getting warm in Rome and I stopped near a bus stop to take off my jacket. A man came out of a store and asked me something, but I didn’t understand him so I said “Eo non so” (I don’t know.) He laughed. Only later did I figure out that he had asked me if I was waiting for the bus. My reply of “I don’t know” must have seemed funny – since you really should know whether you are waiting for the bus…or not.

As you know, I am constantly getting lost and today I was trying to find a street named Campo di Marzo. I stopped for a coffee and asked the bartender for directions. He looked at me funny and said, you mean PIAZZA Campo di Marzo? It’s around the corner.” As I left the bar I looked up and saw I was already on the street I wanted.

But my favorite moment was when an Italian man stopped me on the street to ask ME for directions: this means I am finally starting to look and behave as an Italian.

Tomorrow is my last day here and I have specifically planned to have no plans. We’ll see what Rome offers up.