05/08/07

Today was another great day. I decided to take Ruth’s advice and look for the shortcut to the Tram. I’m not convinced it’s much faster, but I went with it anyway. I suppose the change of scenery keeps me on my toes. In today’s class, we primarily covered the definite article, which can be quite challenging in Italian since there are so many radical changes.

After class I went to one of the main post offices in Rome at the Piramide station to pick up my MoneyGram wire transfer and buy some stamps. Talk about an ordeal! Not only did I get to practice my basic Italian, but I also was able to observe some of the measures the Italian government has put in place in order to create an “order to the madness” by instituting a ticket-numbering system – one of those take a number and wait to be called type of deals. I’m guessing it’s relatively new because many of the people were still unfamiliar with waiting for service without going right up to the counter to ask a question. In this regard, I think Italians have a long way to come.

In order to get to the Poste Italinane, I had to take a bus and then a metro. As a kid taking Denver’s RTD public transportation system, I never knew it would pay dividends. Just like Joel said in Mexico, “I have a BMW (bike, metro, walk!). Definitely on the top of my list of things to do while in Rome is to rent a “motorino” (scooter) and just cruise the city. I’ve begun to gauge just what is required to get around in this town. Although Rome is a huge city, it’s very manageable to just walk a good majority of it.Oh I forgot to mention that on my way to the Poste Italiane, I passed the ancient Coliseum. It was huge and simply amazing just to look at a piece of architecture that has so much history. Afterwards, I had pizza with some of my fellow students from Scuola at a pizzeria. Lo and behold, an NBA basketball star walked in with his entourage. I couldn’t tell who it was, but I believe he plays for the NY Nicks. This post is rather random, but maybe it’s because it’s 12:02 am.