Roman Interactions

For someone who loves small talk, communication is hard. Not everyone speaks English and although I'm starting to pick up alcune parole (a few words), I can't be my chatty Callie self. However, I have had some interactions.

Things Italians Have Said To Me:

"Sono Solo" is something that I say a lot here. I understood it to mean "I'm alone" and I would say it when I was getting my table for one. Apparently it means, "I'm single." So every time the waiters ask how many people I will be dining with, I've just been telling them my relationship status.

At the restaurant Insalata Ricca one Friday night, I am sat at a table directly next to two older women dining. (They do this a lot in Rome, have you sit with strangers-it never bothers me.) These woman were cute and friendly as we talked about Rome. They told me about the contemporary events of the weekend, giving me their free press passes. When I said, "Sono solo," one of them answered assuringly with her thick Italian accent....
"Better to be single, than to be with someone NOT GOOD!"
Thank you for making me feel more confident about dining alone!

If you are a girl or anything slightly resembling a girl, you are catcalled on the street. For the first month I was here, I kept telling everyone that no Italian men were saying anything to me on the street. I thought it was because I looked like a crazy American tourist. Then, I lost my Ipod. When you are pumping the sounds of "Don't Stop Believing! Hold onto that Feeeeeeling!" by Journey into your ears, of course you can't hear the sounds that are ACTUALLY being heard while walking down the city streets....
"OHHHHHH! It's Goooooood!"
It's good? I turned around and politely told this younger group of Italian men to check their English!

Everyday I wake up and I don't know exactly where my day is going to take me. Leaving my apartment starving in search of a good lunch, the next thing I know I'm on the back of Mario's motorino flying through the streets of Rome. Mario runs the M&J Hostel and I had met him once before when I almost accepted a job working with him. What are the chances that he happens to be walking out the door on his way to lunch at the precise moment that I am wandering in desparate search of food. Being from Rome, he is quite the popular fellow. He KNOWS the places and the people. He brings me into a book store and we do an experiment. He opens one travel book and I open another one from a different company. We both turn the pages to the restaurants near Piazza Navona. Not a single restaurant is the same. "No real Romans go to any of these places." An enlightening conversation over a delicious Japanese meal ensued. He doesn't sugarcoat things. He tells me what I don't want to hear but what I need to hear. He looks at my black flipflops and tells me that I am living in Italy. I need to be wearing nicer shoes. We talk about my "life" situation and he gives me advice. Too often I use the excuse, "I'm too tired." (Sono Cinderella. I turn into a pumpkin after midnight.) When I say this, Mario answered with...
"You're not tired. You're bored."
And I think he's right. So, I take out my pen and my giant crumbled-up map. After Mario circles the city center and draws a giant X through it, he circles the places that I REALLY need to go to.

You never know who you're going to meet or who is going to say what to affect you in what way.