Rome left our hearts romanticized tonight as we walked around with our new friends, Frederico and Tizziano. Speaking Italish (Italian and English) all night, we shared stories about culture, friends, and life.
It wasn't all whimsical as the night began, however. It took Lisa and I about 2 and a half hours to get from our apartment to Trastevere, the area of Rome we were planning on going for dinner. What we learned through the experience: never trust an Italian's sense of time OR direction. About 4 miles walking and 8 people giving us different directions, we were cranky and hungry. Saying that Italians do not have accuracy in giving directions is an understatement. Having lived in Rome before, I thought that I could navigate us throughout the city without a map. False...
But the constant love affair with Rome (and Italy) in general, is the frustration that comes with the disorganization battling with the aesthetic beauty and incredible food. For an American, it can be very irritating to be given directions from people that say "walk 5 minutes straight ahead", to find that it really means "walk 30 minutes and make a right and left turn". We value time so much that a simple task like waiting 20 minutes for a bus seems like eternity.
Once Lisa and I sat down for dinner (finally), and slowly sipped our white wine and savored the unique texture and flavor of mozzarella di buffalo...we were just fine. Half way through our dinner I asked Lisa, "umm..is it too soon to talk about our ridiculous trek over?". We agreed that now that we had food in front of us we could try to process the whole thing. We agreed that we experience culture shock coming to Italy from New York. Every person who gave us directions offered their time so generously, and seemed like they genuinely wanted to help us get to where we needed to go. They were wrong each time...but the point is that they did show concern person to person. We were not "shrugged off" by any person that we spoke to...which as we all know would be the common response from a New Yorker.
The past few days have reminded me how very different the Italian lifestyle is. Talking with our new friends (the conquistadoras), Federico and Tizziano, reminded me how crazy it is that as Americans we live our life constantly battling for time/money/work. For example, the fact that most American students are in debt because of college loans and feel pressured to make lots of money to pay off those loans, seems like a mouse running in a wheel. At first Fede and Tizziano said that Americans have a good way of life...that Americans have a better economy and people work and life is better for us. We explained that there are pros and cons about living in America. When we talked about the importance people place on work and money, Frederico said, "hai una vita sola, e pazzo abitare cosi"---translated, "you only have one life..it's crazy to live that way".
So, let this post be a reminder...that we only have one life. And while it's important to be smart and practical, it's also just as important to live each day to the fullest and remember that you only have one life. :)
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