Day 19

Day 19 September 2, 2010


This morning I had an early start, waking up at 7.00 in the morning to prepare for the day and have some time to do my walking before meeting with Tamara at Termini. We decided that it was a shopping day today. We headed for Via del Corso to see what goodies we could find there.

We took the Metro there (I will talk about my feelings about the subway later…) and found that we were a little bit early. All of the stores open around 10.00. So, we stopped at a café where I had a delicious espresso and chocolate croissant (cornetto ciocolato). As we were sitting there we noticed a movie theater next door and thought that it would be an interesting experience to go see a movie in Italian.

By the time we were finished with our breakfast and chatting and goofing around, the stores were ready for us. We meandered down the street and stopped at any store that caught our fancy. There are many specialty boutiques one after the other. All of them displaying their own line of clothing in the most artful ways. It is an experience to just walk past all of them, like walking through a clothing museum. I didn’t think that I would find anything since I am a few sizes larger than the average Italian woman. However, I did end up finding a shirt dress that actually fit and looked nice! So, yes, even though I am on a tight budget I did end up buying it. How can I be in Rome and not leave without a single article of clothing?!

Oh, I also bought a pair of sandals the other day. It is impossible to be here without a nice pair of sandals that you can walk all day with. And you just can’t “blend in with the natives” in your sneakers!! I mean, it screams tourist, no? Hahaha, I like pretending that I am Italian now. I think that sometimes I can actually get away with it too….as long as no one expects me to say more than 5 words in Italian…

After our shopping trip, we headed to school and met a group of our friends. We asked them what they thought about going to see a movie and several of them liked the idea. So, a plan was set. We would meet after class, in the lobby at 17.00 (5pm) and head to the movie theater. After some debating we all agreed that we would go see “Shrek 3”.

The movie didn’t start until 20.30 (8:30pm) so we walked around the neighborhood until we found a small place to have dinner. This place ended up being a little bit creepy because it was totally silent and we were the only people there. We still had our own fun laughing and joking around and on the most part we enjoyed our food. Well, except for Marianna who we think had something rotten in her pasta dish….she ended up getting a pizza.

We still had some time between dinner and the movie so we sat at the fountain in the middle of Piazza Bernini, again talking, laughing, and also taking pictures. It was really beautiful. In the middle of all of the chaos of the cars and people is this square and fountain, almost like an island…but I guess in reverse because the fountain is water….nevermind….Anyway, it was really nice to sit there in good company (Tamara, Marianna, Tomas, Diego, and me) and just sit peacefully, watching life bustling around us while day turned into night.

Then it was time to see the movie. The funny thing is that I saw this movie one and a half times on the flight into Rome. But really it helped to have seen it in English first because I could really follow what was happening and could concentrate on the Italian words. Another learning experience.

After the show we were all pretty tired and went our separate ways home.

I just now realized that this was what I would have thought of as a “typical” day out with friends back home: girlie shopping followed by a group dinner and a movie. Somehow the experience was still so different.

Oh! I forgot to mention this church that Tamara and I came across in the middle of all of the shops. It was really beautiful. Some of the churches here are a little bit on the dismal, dark, dreary side. But this one just hit both of us with its majesty and reverence. I took several pictures to share. I don’t even know how to describe it and will have to share these pictures to give you a sense of the experience and atmosphere.