Viva Rome!

One of the statements that I have been saying for quite a while is that “Rome is not really Italian” and this has caused a lot of confusion with many of my friends.

What you have to realize is that if you ask any Italian where they are from they will not immediately say their country but rather their city is how they relate where they are from.

Why is this? Well I believe this has to do with some deeply ingrained cultural idocryncacy that can only be understood if you are from that country. Now typically italians are warm, welcoming and very friendly but this is really not the case for those living in Rome. I do not consider Rome to be really Italian but rather Roman.

There is a distinction here that many will not realize until you have spent more then two weeks in the city. Romans are a gruff bunch who are not unfriendly but not particularly warm either. They are a seperate breed from most Italians.

Yes the Romans speak Italian and they are at the seat of the Italian government but I do not see the same cultural practices of many of the other Italian cities such as Florence, Naples and even Sicily. Is this a bad thing? Well that is up to your interepetation.

After spending four weeks in this city I began to realize this distinction as many others in my class. Would I move to Rome? I doubt it. I did not find myself particularly drawn to the noise and other unseemly parts of the city.

Many people have asked me to describe Rome in one word. Noisy. There is a constant noise or soundtrack to the city. While some have mistakenly compared it to New York City in America I disagree somewhat. You see there is a lull in the noise level in New York. There does not ever seem to be any lull in noise in Rome however. This can be quite upsetting to someone who lives in a quiet neighborhood. In fact I could not get much sleep while i was living there because there was a constant noise of car alarms, garbage trucks, people arguing outside and the ever present ambulance sirens that seem to pervade every corner of the city.

Now some students could easily adapt to the noise level. I found it kind of hard to do so. I guess even though I grew up in a suburb in America I was not ready for the drone of the city noise.  I am sure after time i would have adapted to the noise after more time in the city but just one month was not enough.

So if you are going to Rome and are going to actually live in an apartment then I would highly recommend buying ear plugs or some sort of white noise machine to make it easier for you to sleep. Some found that using their iPods with speakers a great way to fall asleep. I would recommend using this technique as you can more easily fall asleep to something that you are familiar with then these other distractions.

As I said I like Rome but it is not all wonderful. There are points of contention i have with the  city and the noise level is by far the biggest one.

I have been away from this blog for far too long. Quite honestly trying to get stories published in newspapers today is quite a hassle. The reason behind this is because many newspapers are going out of business and do not have a budget for any freelance writers. So I have been changing up my tactic and writing for the online publications which seem to be somewhat immune to this downturn.

However, I did want to put up a review of my experience at TorrediBabele in Rome, Italy. This was the language immersion school I attended while I was there and it was the reason I went to Rome in the first place. Now to be honest it was not always a pleasant experience but that is to be expected when you are in a foreign country for one month. You have to realize that not everything is going to go your way.

The best word that would describe the first week in Torredibabele would be stressful. But this is honestly what you want when trying to learn a language. If you go with the apartments that the school will set you up with then you are going to learn Italian much faster. This is because they choose to put you in apartments in non-tourist areas of Rome where very little to no English is spoken. I was put in Piazza Bologna area which is very near to the school. This area is extremely Italian and extremely Roman as well. This means that you better start talking Italian very fast otherwise you will have a very hard time.

The first task is just learning to survive when you can not speak the language fluently. This means finding and learning all you can about shopping for food and going out to eat. These are by far the two most important subjects in Italian you should learn first. If you do not know how to get food you will starve. Being a single guy in Rome is also a disadvantage. Most Italians seem very helpful to all the single girls but guys not so much. I am not sure why but I did notice a difference when ever I went out in a group.

Now as far as the lessons were concerned the school teachers will only speak to you in Italian. You can not speak a word of English, Spanish, or any other language while you are in class in this school. It is a forced language immersion school. But this is okay as the first day of class they do teach you how to ask questions in Italian so that you can try to understand what they are talking about. Some people found this forced immersion technique to be a bit stressful and either quit or broke down. I actually found this technique stressful as well but was lucky to find a friend in the school to help me out.

The very first day of class you are given your textbooks and a list of cultural events sponsored by the school. I would highly recommend that you attend these during your first week as that is one great way to make friends while you are away. Without some sort of friends your stay is going to be miserable.

The first week was a stressful one but I learned more Italian in this week then I ever would if I had studied it on my own. This is because of the classes and the environment as well. Rome is one hectic and noisy city and you best have your game face on if you want to learn the language. Italians do not like to speak English and would prefer to speak their own language. That is one great motivator in learning the language so that you can get along with more people while you are away.

Many of the students in Rome have complained about the graffiti on all the buildings. You see many of those that complain are usually Americans or from other countries outside of Europe. In America, Canada and even Australia and New Zealand graffiti is a symbol of gang activity and a run down neighborhood. In Italy, Greece and some of the other European countries these sprayed on symbols are just simply one neighborhood communicating with another one. Or in other cases these are just one sports team fan club dissing or making fun of another sport team fan club. These are quite common and do not mean anything bad or a symbol of a run down neighborhood.

However, with this being said I do not like the graffiti on the buildings like my other American counterparts I think it is a blight on the city and makes the city look really ugly and bad. I wish they would clean it up because it does not convey a good image for Italy. Now I know we are just visiting and when in Rome you should be like the Romans but I can not help to want to clean up the city a bit more.

This is the conflict you will experience in a foreign land. You will want to impose your believes and attitudes on the others who actually live there. This is not a good thing to do by any means. In fact it is quite wise to try to assimilate as much as possible in the community as you can. How you can do this is sometimes difficult but possible if you make the effort. My point with this post is to convey a sense of conformity that you will have to adopt when in a new land. You will have to suppress your biases and beliefs as much as possible in order to fit in. Enough said about that. Ciao.

There is a definite struggle to learning Italian or any other new language. This is of course obvious to many of us. But when you mix in the opportunity to be in a city with so much to do and see such as Rome it can be extremely difficult. This is my struggle at the moment. First I was trying to be a good student and not see much but now I want to see as much as I can.

When you are abroad and trying to learn another language this is osmething you are also going to experience as well. You really have to learn how to perform good time management. Many of my fellow students are adults so they are very good at managing themselves and how they practice their Italian.

I know I have improved but I have to ask myself if I have improved as much as I could have with the opportunities of seeing all of these great monuments and sights.  What I am saying is take advantage of the city but do not forget your purpose in being here. My purpose was to learn Italian and that is what I am doing. I guess it has all to do with how you spend your free time as well as your time in class. If you can spend your free time also learning Italian I am sure you are going to be get the most out of this experience. Well that is what I for today. Back to studying. Ciao.