White Girls Survive Rogue Pigeon Attack and Other Adventures

White Girls Survive Rogue Pigeon Attack

At approximately 6:10 p.m. on Wednesday, a lone pigeon flew into an open window and directly into the bedroom of two white girls. The girls were surprised by the invasion but managed to keep their cool pretty well until the pigeon puffed up its feathers. This scared the ever-loving shit out of them. One of the girls then said, "We should call Lisa." Called to action by their roommates' screams, two other girls rushed in to help.

It was at this time that the pigeon broke further into the home and advanced to the kitchen, where it retreated into the corner behind the mops. Wanting to safely remove the pigeon, the girls attempted to capture the pigeon with an empty trash can and lid. The pigeon expertly engaged in evasive maneuvers to return to the bedroom, where two girls remained in the corners. It seemed like the pigeon would find its own way out when it made a move for the open window into which it had come, but it faked and squeezed between the wall and a nearby dresser. Eventually, after more screaming and the pigeon had gone under both beds, it was captured in the trash can. When release attempts were made by the window of entry, the pigeon did not appear to want to go, and thus shat its disapproval on the windowsill. The executive decision was made to put it on the balcony on the opposite side of the apartment.

The apprehension of the rogue pigeon.

After a successful transfer, the pigeon and trash can were placed outside and the balcony door closed. After several minutes, the pigeon was still outside, but was outside the trash can, and flew away when one of the residents went to remove the can.

After the incident, residents were quoted saying that it was the "most traumatic experience of my life." One of the girls who came to the rescue said, "I'm in the middle of a movie and all I hear from the next room is 'HEATHER!!!!!'" On a positive note, one of the residents said, "Let's just be thankful that Alexis and I are alive."

There were no injuries, although two of the girls may need to seek PTSD treatment. As of yet, it is unclear. A purse was shat on.

Today Steve, Severina, and I went on adventures around Rome on our day off. We had to go back to the Largo Argentina to spend some quality time with the Italian kitties. I think it's so useful that the Italians use that space to help homeless cats, especially since the space wouldn't be used otherwise.

Steve giving a cat some love and belly rubs. The cat definitely enjoyed it.

We also spent some good old quality time together and now we are all bonded. We even have bracelets to prove it.

Said friendship bracelets (Roman style).

        I also used my creative problem-solving skills again to fish Steve's shirt off of the balcony below his apartment. Add that to the job apps.

Got that sucker by a thread. A thread.

This entire trip has been a lesson in living in a completely different country. What has surprised me most about the culture is all of the small ways that Italian culture is different from what I'm used to. It's not like I have to dress in a completely different way than I'm used to or go about my day in a different order or timeline. For instance, the Italians switch the use of commas and periods in monetary amounts, so the American punctuation of $1.50 would be 1,50 euro. Another difference is that there's public dumpsters and recycling on nearly every street and on both sides in residential areas. The siesta in the middle of the day is a change, too. One of my favorite parts of the class reading was learning about how ancient Romans used to take a break for a couple of hours in the afternoon to break up the long work day. I read that and realized that that's probably why the siesta is a thing today, and that it's so neat that the practice dates all the way back to the Roman Empire. The last difference that I can think of (but I'm sure there's still many, many more) is that you only get one check at sit-down restaurants. I'm going to be very glad to get back to the United States so I won't have to deal with trying to pay for my food with a group of people. Although if there's anything I've learned, it's that pigeon crime is definitely not monitored here, if last night is anything to go by.

Only you can prevent pigeon crime.

Adventures in the Vatican Museum

Today we visited the Vatican Museum(s), which is such a huge place. Because of the way the museum is constructed, I couldn't tell just how big it was, just that it was big and there were a lot of people there. Since there are actually several museums in the Vatican, it had an interesting combination of collections. There was an Egyptian part that we passed through on our (looooong) way to the Sistine Chapel, and I would have loved to go back and check it out more closely, but it was closed when we went back. Such is life trying to learn things in Rome. Just ask Steve about the Prima Porta. Actually, don't. He's still pretty upset about it.

Inside the Vatican Museum on the way to the Sistine Chapel. This was the map room, you can see a little bit of some of the maps on the bottom left and right.

Outside in the gardens of the Vatican Museum. It kind of sticks out in an old building made with a ton of marble.

Like I said, there were a LOT of people at the Vatican, especially in the Sistine Chapel. I looked it up, and about 25,000 people visit the chapel every day, making a total of about five million visitors per year. No wonder it was so cramped. The chapel part was almost wall to wall full of people, which was an adventure. We weren't allowed to take pictures, although that didn't stop some people. Tourists, I tell ya. I also saw (only) a few selfie sticks, which weren't supposed to be there. Seeing the painted walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in person is unreal. The sheer size of area that's painted is remarkable, no wonder it took Michelangelo four years to paint it. It would be really neat to see the painting up close, and I imagine that the people in the painting are several times larger than a human being so that they can still be seen from the floor. Since there were so many people in the chapel, it was a bit harder to enjoy the painting, and we had to be careful of pickpockets, who apparently like to frequent the Vatican. Damn pickpockets, ruining artistic appreciation.

A picture of Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel, provided by Google. Much safer than looking at it in person, although not nearly as awesome.

Christianity and the Preservation of Ancient Rome

Over the space of this trip, we have seen several buildings and places that have been preserved as well as they have because of Christianity. In one of my first blog posts, I talked about how the Romans tend to reuse and repurpose buildings instead of tearing them down and building new ones. This is good news for history buffs because often the use of the building by Christians ensures better preservation.

One example of buildings that have been repurposed by Christianity include old Roman temples. San Nicola in Carcere was one of the first temples we saw that is currently used as a church. In many buildings like this one, you can see parts of the old temple. In the case of San Nicola in Carcere, you can easily see the old columns on the outside walls from its time as a temple. It's interesting that this former temple is now used as a church; its purpose, for religious rituals, is still the same, but the religion has changed.

The inside of San Nicola in Carcere. The columns from its time as a Roman temple still stand inside the church today.

On the outside of San Nicola in Carcere, you can easily see how the walls of the church were built around the ancient columns.

The other day we visited the Pantheon, which is still in a remarkable state of preservation. It is probably one of the best preserved buildings from ancient Roman times. Nowadays, like San Nicola in Carcere, the Pantheon is the home of a church.

The outside of the Pantheon, which is now used as a church where mass is held.

Today we visited the Basilica of Saint Clement, which is built over a Mithraic temple. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures, so I have one from good old Google. We got to visit the old lower level of the building and see the paintings on the walls. On some of them it was clear where the building of the church above started because the top parts of the paintings were cut off.

The inside of the Basilica of Saint Clement looks much different from the remains of the Mithraic temple beneath it. It's also less damp and smelly.

Christianity is not something that comes to my mind when I think about the ancient Roman Empire. However, by visiting these ancient temples, it's clear to see that the religion had some significance in the preservation of ancient Roman buildings so that we can still study and visit them in part today.

Experiencing Food in Italy

The Italians certainly go hard when it comes to food. Eating here in Italy is a bit different than what the norm is in America. On our first night here in Rome, we went out and had a welcome dinner at a restaurant. We ordered our food and then immediately we were swamped with tons of appetizers. We would be working on one set of appetizers when another was brought out. By the time the food came that I ordered, I wasn't that hungry anymore. That first night was the only time where there were loads of appetizers, as the rest I've gone to haven't done that. However, I've never had that experience back in the United States, so I'm guessing it isn't an American thing.

Just a few of the appetizers we had at the restaurant. It was a great way to break into Italian food, since I'd never had any of the appetizers before.

The Italians are also pretty serious about their pizza. There are little lunch places where you can get a slice (which is actually usually cut straight across the pizza in a fat strip). At sit-down restaurants, ordering pizza means you get an entire pizza. To compare it to American pizzas, I'm guessing the size would be comparable to a small pizza, although I can't remember the last time I actually saw a small pizza in the United States. Another unique part of the Italian dining experience is that you don't get a doggy bag. So when you go to one of these restaurants and get an entire pizza to yourself, you either eat it all, or you leave what you didn't eat. Another difference is that the server won't bring the check until you ask for it, and, unless you specified when you ordered, everything will be on one check. This makes paying up interesting when a big group of us goes out to eat, which is often.

This is all that remained from my (whole) pizza. I don't think I would have been able to eat the whole thing if I hadn't spent a very long day in Pompeii and Naples.

Italians also have a different cultural experience around drinking alcohol. None of us have ever been carded at restaurants when we order alcohol because there isn't a set drinking age in Italy. Italians view drinking as something that's done with your meal, so they usually have one drink or a glass of wine at a restaurant. There is an age requirement for buying alcohol, but teenagers can drink if someone else buys the alcohol if they are too young to buy it themselves. Italians also drink in moderation, and they look down upon drinking in excess and getting drunk. This part is especially nice because I don't think I've ever seen a drunk Italian during the last two weeks. Eating is a big part of many cultures, and I find it interesting how much the Italian ideas surrounding food differ from American ones.

My pina colada from the Hard Rock Cafe. In Italian fashion, I had one drink with my meal.

The Prevalence of the She-Wolf and Romulus and Remus

Since I did my presentation on the casa Romuli/hut of Romulus, I'm familiar with how significant the story was to Romans many centuries ago. For those of you who aren't familiar with the legend, Romulus and Remus were twin sons of Mars that were sentenced to drown via the Tiber River. A servant took pity and put them in a basket, which washed ashore, where a she-wolf found them and suckled the twins until a shepherd discovered them and raised them. When they were adults, Romulus and Remus disagreed on where to found their city. The quarrel eventually led to Romulus killing Remus, and then founding his city, which was later named Rome after him.

The original statue of the she-wolf in the Capitoline Museum.
The twins weren't actually added to the statue until much later.

During my research on the hut of Romulus, where the famous founder was said to have lived, I found that Romans in the past found the tiny hut to be important to their history, as it reminded them of their ancestors' lives as shepherds. I've been seeing how important the story of Romulus and Remus was to the Romans, because I have seen several places with the image of the she-wolf suckling the twins. The image comes from a famous statue that now resides in the Capitoline Museum. When we were at another museum, I saw a picture of the she-wolf and twins on a coin, but I wasn't able to find the coin myself, unfortunately (there were a LOT of coins in that exhibit). There are little statues of the she-wolf at souvenir shops, so the story is well-known enough to be appealing to tourists. Today I even saw the image of the she-wolf on the side of a sarcophagus in the museum in Ostia.

The carving of the she-wolf on the side of a sarcophagus. The
image is set in the center of the relief and definitely stands
 out when you look at this side of the sarcophagus.

We're only about halfway into the trip. so I'm keeping an eye out for other places where the she-wolf and twins are depicted. I'm excited to see where else they are preserved in this city.

The replica of the she-wolf outside of the Capitoline Museum.

Shopping in Rome

The metal door over a shop that's closed for the day.
Someone clearly had a lot of time to graffiti all
over the lovely door.

Shopping is different in Italy in several ways. The shops are pretty small by American standards and you won't find any huge department stores like Target or Walmart here. The shops usually have a metal garage-type door that comes down when the store is closed. This makes it pretty easy to see when a store is closed, but it can be inconvenient if you want to know the store's hours and they are posted on the entrance door that you can no longer see. Because most shops only have the small entrance door, there usually aren't window displays for shops. Instead, you have to peek in through the door to figure out what's inside if you can't tell by the shop name.

The basket-cart things at the grocery stores. It's
 nice because it can be carried and also pulled.

Grocery shopping is also different than in the United States. There is a grocery store one block away from our apartment and it is tiny compared to the Coborn's in my hometown. The one closest to us happens to have a lower level for more space, but the other ones I've been in didn't have another level. The baskets/carts are combined into one compact basket-cart. They're handy because they can be pulled or carried. At the grocery stores, whenever something is priced by weight, the customer needs to weigh the item before going to checkout. Most produce is priced this way and I even saw the same style of shopping with bread. You take the food, for instance, I bought a head of lettuce today, and you put it on the scale. Then you press the item number, mine was 23, and a sticker prints out with a barcode and price tag that you stick onto the produce for the cashier to ring up. Also, at grocery stores you are usually are expected to bring your own bag to carry your groceries in; otherwise you are charged for the plastic bags they have at the store. The store closest to our apartment charges eight centimes (essentially ten cents) for a bag. The grocery store nearest to the apartment doesn't have a lot of processed food. There's a lot of fresh ingredients that you can buy, and the frozen food section is very small.

We see a lot of dogs everyday. The grocery store has hooks outside
 for people to leave their dogs while they shop.

The Definition of Modern Living in Rome

The architectural style is different here in Italy
than in the United States. One example of an interior
 difference is the ceiling height. This is good news for
Steve, who is 6'7".

Even though Rome is a city in the modern world, not all parts of the city are as modern as other countries like the United States. On the drive from the airport, I didn't see any of the skyscrapers that Americans typically associate with cities. One of the other people on the trip, Morgan, mentioned that she hadn't seen any houses in Rome yet. Running with that thought, I'm pretty sure that everyone in the city lives in apartments.

Living in a Roman apartment is different from living in one in America. The apartment looks different, first of all. The ceilings are way higher than what I've seen in the United States. This also makes taking the stairs more of a challenge since you need to go up more stairs to go up one level. The elevator in our building is one of the older ones where you can actually see the cable, so for the most part, I still take the stairs.

I mean, come on, this old elevator would seem a little
sketchy to anyone used to closed, metal elevators that
hold more than two people at a time.

The people in my apartment today figured out how taking out the garbage works in Rome. There are public trash disposals everywhere, and people bring their garbage and recycling there. The trash disposal basically looks like a kind of dumpster with a bar you step on to raise the lid to put your trash bag in. This is part of why I think that there are only apartments in the city, so that garbage collectors only need to stop at least public spots. Also, the traffic and streets are way too chaotic for people to put trash cans out on the street.

Doing laundry is also different in Rome. Our apartment has a small washer, and our dryer is the clothesline out on the balcony outside of one of the bathrooms. The washer itself seems like it takes longer to run a load of laundry than an American washer, and the dry time is certainly longer.

Waiting longer for the clothes to dry means I definitely have to plan
ahead when doing my laundry here so I don't end up wearing damp clothes.

From what I've seen so far, living inside a city like Rome is in several aspects way different than living in the United States.