25 May 2011
So this evening was full of transportation errors! Jackie took us to meet two of her artist friends and have them discuss being contemporary artists in Rome. Their gallery wasn't too far away, just a few bus stops. However, while we were on our way, the bus decided it was a good idea to break down. The bus driver, for whatever reason, only let around 2/3 of the passengers off the bus. Guess who was part of that 1/3 that was left on while the bus driver attempted to restart? Me! And Dan. And a bunch of other RomeKids. Having never been stuck on a bus in Rome before, we really had no idea, but Dan kept reassuring us that this was a common occurrence. Great, that's given me faith in the public transportation system. The RomeKids that had gotten off the bus already stood and laughed while Dan and the rest of us made funny faces. We even got a couple of Romans to laugh along with us. Finally, the bus driver gave up and let us off the bus. As Dan exited, he screamed "Libera!" (means free). He got a few weird looks, but mostly laughs.
Both of Jackie's friends are contemporary artists that have their own gallery, which is pretty rare. They are both absolutely amazing artists! She makes jewelry by hand that is absolutely phenomenal. Even Carolyn looked at a few pieces and had no idea how she made them. He is an incredible painter who uses so many different styles and techniques. He had landscapes, cartoon-like paintings, life-like portraits of people (including a very... interesting one of Jackie).
They told us about the difficulties being contemporary artists in a city known for it's ancientness. Everyone, especially tourists, want classical looking art to associate it with Rome. Neither of them had any classical looking work at all.
After we finished talking to them, we took Francesca (the jeweler) out to dinner. Francesca, being a Roman and not a tourist like the rest of us, wove in and out of the roads like a pro, and we hastened to keep up with her. She brought us to a nice little restaurant, and we all sat in the back.
I had my first real Italian lasagna! It was absolutely amazing! It wasn't that cheesy (which surprises me that I still liked it as much, because I love cheese), and the tomato sauce was very light and creamy. Francesca got a kick out of my excitement. To her, this is everyday life, but we don't really have real Italian food like this America.
After we finished, we said our thank yous and goodbyes to Francesca and started our way back to the university. Jackie and a group chose to take the long, scenic way back so they could bet a view of the city at night. The rest of us went with Dan to take the tram back. If you don't know what a tram is, it's similar to a subway, only it's above ground on tracks.
The way back to the university is fairly simple: head towards the Tiber River. Most of us weren't paying that much attention while on the tram - we broke out another game of Bobby's World to those RomeKids who didn't know the trick (did you figure it out yet?). All of a sudden, while at a stop, Dan yells"get off the tram!" We all rush off and try to figure out what is going on. He begins rushing down the road with the RomeKids right behind him, trying to catch the tram going in the opposite direction. The thing nearly runs me over as it leaves without us. Dan then explains that he got disoriented and got us on the wrong train. We should have hit the Tiber in less than three minutes from where we were. Ten minutes later, when we still didn't reach the river, it dawned on him that we were going the wrong way. Good thing he was paying attention... the rest of us would have gotten lost way on the other side of the city.
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