Tina my sweet housemate and I are both going through culture shock (see last posting for examples) but it is interesting to see it through her eyes as well as my own. Tina has never really been past the "honeymoon" phase of culture shock before: this is her first time to try to master a new language and live in a different culture. The other day I commented with an italian friend we were having lunch with about how much emphasis Italians put on the director of a movie: its the first thing they list in the paper after the title before the movie times! Tina tried to argue the American point of view that the actors are the big deal in a movie and one of those arguments that goes nowhere quickly ensued. Afterwards Tina commented that it is so hard when people don't understand you, and I agree. The worst part of culture shock isn't lack of understanding, its lack of being misunderstood, having people look at you like you're an idiot for expressing an idea that seems so normal to you!
That said: here are the five worst and best things about Rome so far.
Worst:
1. The constand smells of cigarettes and severe B.O. I've come to call these smells the perfume of Rome. You are always smelling at least one of them.
2. Scaffolding and graffitti. All the monuments seem to be being restored and surrounded by scaffolding, while every inch of public surface except importand historical monuments are lavishly slathered in ugly graffitti (I now understand why the word graffitti is Italian)
3. People will publicly and loudly scold you for making a mistake.
4. The thing Tina and I call "death by vespa": just when you think its clear to cross the street, a motorbike doing six billion killometers per hour comes from nowhere bent on killing you.
5.The cobblestone streets everywhere make my poor feet bleed!
But to compensate for all this there is:
1. Gelato. Nectar of the gods itself. You get two absolutely amazing flavors for very little money and are transported into heaven.
2. Ancient ruins just pop up out of nowhere, bearing constant witness to God's faithfulness to the ages. I calmly ride the bus past ancient ruins every day!
3. There are public water fountains with excellent cold water every half block, more frequent than street signs!
4. The cute little coffee bar Tina and I visit every morning where people are actually nice, and the neighborhood "salsamenteria" where I just go in and say yes to everything the man in the white labcoat says and end up with a superb dinner!
5. Endless opportunities for excellent people watching.
I am working on getting my visa for India, and it is as complicated as I thought it would be, so do keep that on your prayers.
