Month: October 2001
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Sempre Diritto Redux (2001)
Italy is beautiful, fabulous, and embraces a much different way of life. It is also a country most maddening, with its own share of quirks. Read on. Sempre Diritto, “straight ahead.” You may recall that in Calabria whenever I asked for directions, I was told sempre diritto. In Week eight, I got my revenge when…
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Rome, 2001: Bridging the Halfway Mark
In this city of many bridges, I realized that I had crossed a very important bridge. Week seven marked the latter half of my stay here in Rome, and that sharpened my experiences. My seventh week in Rome began with an excursion to the Roman flea market called Porta Portese. I went with my padrona a…
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Trip to the Villa 2001
One of my best friends here took me for an excursion outside of Rome. A Dane and former Lutheran minister, he is in Italy studying to be a Catholic priest. My friend Gregers is living in the English College in Rome, where he is staying while he studies for the priesthood. The college was built…
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Week Six 2001: Ballare sul Tavola
BALLARE SUL TAVOLO (Dancing on the Table) Starting Week Six, the U.S. started bombing. I realized that Bin Laden is really fighting his war with words of terror, not airplanes. I decided that I would not let him win by making me afraid. So, I went dancing. One of my best friends in Rome is a…
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Sempre Diritto: Week 5
Loosely translated: straight ahead. In my fifth week in Italy, 2001, I traveled to the village of Serra Pedace in Calabria, in search of my roots. My grandparents emigrated almost 100 years ago. Although they did not meet and marry until they arrived in America, they came from the same small town in Italy–Serra Pedace. For…
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Trip to Tivoli 2001
School is more than just studying, we also attend lectures and go on field trips. This one to a remarkable garden outside of Rome–in Tivoli. I would tell you more about it, but the tour was in Italian. For example, I understood so little that when I asked if the man who lived in the…