Viva Rome!

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.

Yes I know eating out in McDonalds is probably one of the last things you want to do when visiting Rome. But there is one specific McDonalds I wanted to find and eat at. You see the Travel Channel did a special on the top ten most unusual McD’s to eat at and number one on their list was at Piazza di Spagna.

For those that really want to know exactly where it is at it is Piazza di Spagna 46/47 or right in front of a nest of white taxis. This is something I have noticed quite a lot while here. The position of every McD’s is always in nearby a tourist attraction. I guess the executives at the headquarters realise the need for a Big Mac for every American.

Now for those that are really curious I actually did eat there. I ordered a Big Mac value meal or meal number one, or for those Italians meal number uno. Was it any different then in the United States? Just ever so slightly. The salt on the french fries was rock salt and not that fine salt we use in our chain stores back home. Did it make a whole lot of difference? Not really. But since this is something I really wanted to do since watching the show it was something I made a point of doing.

That was probably the one and only time I will eat in McD’s while here. I am a big believer in the slow travel movement and eating in that particular restaurant kind of goes against my grain. But at least I can say that I have been there. It is just another story to tell.

Well that is it for now, Ciao.