Month: November 2001

  • Festa del Ringraziamento 2001

    Festa del Ringraziamento 2001

    During the week of Thanksgiving, folks back home were having their Festa del Ringraziamento.  Back here in Rome, we were having our own festival, an international party of foods from our home countries. The international festival at school was a party to which we are all asked to share typical dishes from our own countries.…

  • Sempre Diritto Part Three 2001

    Sempre Diritto Part Three 2001

    During this week, sempre diritto reared its head once again. Literally, it means “always straight” or, straight ahead. Italians often say this when you ask for directions. It signifies to me that I am lost. I had a revelation: getting lost is una metafora per la vita. It is not so much that we have…

  • Florence Trip with Friends 2001

    Florence Trip with Friends 2001

    OUR VISIT TO FLORENCE This week it was clearly time for me to visit this Tuscan city of Michelangelo, Dante, and leather jackets.  And so, my friends and I hopped onto the Eurostar and headed to the sepia city of Firenze. We didn’t need our tour books for this visit, because one of my favorite…

  • Due Ragazze from Marion Street

    Due Ragazze from Marion Street

    Two girls from Marion Street in Albany, Oregon, together in Rome. My best friend from childhood visited me with her family during my tenth week. It was, without doubt, my best week in Italy. I have known this woman since I was three years old. When Sandy found out I was coming to Rome, she decided, on…

  • Venice through My Eyes (2001)

    Venice through My Eyes (2001)

    I am not the first person to write about this magical, mysterious, and dark city which I visited in my ninth week.  And though I was bowed by my own audacity, I still gave it a try. You remember that scene in “Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy steps out of the house? That is exactly…