One Month in Rome

Hey kids, it's been exactly one month since I got here, and it really doesn't feel like it at all. I'll be leaving in just under 3 months or in 82 days. Every day I feel like I'm reminded of how much more exploring and general touristing I want to do, like going inside the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and the church that has layers underground. But that will have to wait, because I'm going to Milan this weekend to see some UPS kids.

Last weekend was Florence or Firenze, with my High Renaissance Art History Class. In Florence, I was constantly attacked with a case of Stendhal syndrome due to constant exposure to amazing art. We stayed in a ridiculous place - "Hotel California" - by the Duomo and had a lot of free time. The main events were the Medici Chapel, Brunellschi's Duomo, the David and the Academia, the Uffizi Gallery, and the Borgello. My favorite spot we came upon in Florence was the Ponte Vecchio - "Old Bridge" - lined with shops that at night were closed in little wooden boxes like pirate treasure chests. It was also pretty great to sneak about 40 pictures of the David in the Academia with my giant camera.

The first night the entire class ate dinner together with the professor, Paolo. He and another student got into a yelling match about Israel and Palestine, which eventually turned into a comparsion of horrible things that have been committed against innocent people. My professor's argument was that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were equivalent to the damage done during the Holocaust. I'd never considered comparing the two before, and while I think that it's not necessary to place atrocities in juxtaposition, it was refreshing to actually hear a professor's opinion that was much different from the students', and to feel engaged in this debate with someone with a completely different world view about such major events in history.

On the art side of things, the light meter on my film camera broke and I took it to the repair shop, which had two huge closed wooden doors. I buzzed, and a very stereotypical little old man with glasses opened the door about 4 inches and asked me what I wanted (in Italian of course). I pointed to the camera and said "broken" and he looked at it for less than 30 seconds before telling me that it was a terrible camera and he couldn't fix it. I ended up finding another place and it is being fixed, but it's taking 2 weeks. In Italy that might mean a month or more. As for sculpture, I'm making a periscope/kaledioscope/something with colored wax and pvc pipe, inspired somewhat by the work of Judy Pfaff. The wax/string thing didn't work out too well, but hopefully another time. Definitely missing Home Depot a little bit right now, something I didn't think I was going to ever say.

Right now I've got to leave about 3 hours early to catch the plane to Milan because there is a "general workers' strike" which means that the buses and Metro might not be running at all, and I will be forced to take a very expensive taxi or shuttle, if that is even running. While strikes happen often here, I wonder at how they operate. The strikes are well publicized and with set hours, usually in the afternoon. If I was going to go on strike, I would at least sleep in.