How it's going

It's going pretty well. It's awesome to be back in Rome. I love it and it loves me. No where else can you go and eat pizza and gelato all day and lose a kilo (~2 pounds). I think it's because their food isn't processed, like ours is in the States. Actually, there is another place -- Brazil, where I ate steak and fried pastels every day and lost about 10 pounds on the trip.

Anyway - So what do I do all day? Usually I am woken up by the mechanic under my apartment at about 8:30am. I fight getting up until about 9. Then I have breakfast and watch Le Vite degli Altri on tv. It's on at 9:15 and everyday the host selects a famous person to discuss (alive or dead), and has an "expert" on that person there to talk about him or her. So far I've watched them on Jody Foster, Frida Kahlo and Marlena Dietrich. I write down words I hear that I don't know so I can look them up later.


After I'm done I usually flutter around doing this and that - checking email, reading, etc - for about and hour. Then I finally shower and get ready and everything. Sometimes I eat lunch at home, sometimes no. I have also taken to taking out the dog for a walk -- the woman I live with has trouble walking to I do it voluntieri (gladly). Sometimes she cooks me lunch in return. The other day she made fresh fried calamari, and tomatoes stuffed with rice, a Roman specialty.



In the afternoon I go out and see friends and go around the city. I already know a bunch of people and many are disgraziati disoccupati (unemployed punks - loose translation) like me.

Around 4 or 5 I return home to do some work. Then I usually go out again to eat something and maybe see some people around 8. I return a few hours later and do a little more work. Then I go to bed (try to go to bed). There is also a pub under my apartment, next to the mechanic, and there are people there til 2am every day. Thank god for my earplugs.

These pictures are the view from my window. Also, one of my friends, Emiliano.