I'm currently half way done with my one-month study abroad trip to Rome, and it has probably been the busiest but also the most enriching two and a half weeks of my life so far. I've walked way more than I have ever wanted to walk in one day, but I've also seen so much amazing art that I really can't complain.
As magical as Rome has been, there have been a few things that have happened that make some pretty good stories, so I thought I'd share a couple.
The first strange story includes a homeless man who was pretending to hold an imaginary gun and was "shooting" it at random people as they walked by. It started when he came up to two of my classmates and tried to talk to them about what they were doing while peering over their shoulders at their sketchbooks. At that point, I was far away enough that I couldn't hear what was being said, but I could see everything. After a while of him trying to talk to them, our professor noticed and stepped in, and then the man reluctantly walked away. It wasn't until after we all got up to leave that our professor told us what he had been doing beforehand. It was one of those things that really wasn't a big deal, but it was kind of unsettling at the time.
On a brighter note, there's the story of our amazing neighbors. In our apartment we have a terrace that comes right next to their window, even though they're technically in a different building then ours. We'd occasionally see a woman pop her head out and watch us from the window, and sometimes she would even start laughing. To be honest, we weren't sure if we were being too loud, or if they just thought that we were a bunch of silly Americans. Regardless, one evening we were eating dinner outside on the terrace when she popped her head out smiling and said, "Bon Appetit!" To which of course, we said "Grazie!" and continued eating.
About two minutes later, another woman popped her head out with a chunk of watermelon and said, "You like?" to which we all answered with a resounding "Yes", and then she invited us over to her apartment. Once we got there, we met the two of them and they were the sweetest ladies I've ever encountered. They both spoke some English, and one of them had even been to North Carolina before. Most of the time when Italians ask where we're from, they want to know what specific state we live in. Beside from our neighbors, I don't think I've had one person who recognized North Carolina. Now when people ask, I usually just say "the east coast" and leave it at that.
Anyway, they gave us the watermelon, an amazing bottle of wine, and invited us over to dinner at some point because apparently the pasta we bought from the local grocery store isn't real Italian food.
A few days later we ran into one of them (unfortunately we never learned their names) and thanked them again for the wine and told them that they were right; it was very good wine. Unfortunately, with only a week left of our trip, we still haven't had dinner with them.
Another thing that has happened a lot to me in Italy is being followed around in grocery/retail stores by employees. Apparently I look very suspicious. I will admit that most of the time I'm wearing a backpack, so I'm sure that they're just concerned about me trying to steal something, but it still feels weird to me. Just today I was walking around a lingerie store with a middle-aged man following me around every turn, watching me browse through the underwear. Weird stuff.
Still in love with Italy though.
