Roma: La città di Echi - Rome: The City of Echoes!

Rome Diary IV:
Il Mio Ritorno a Roma!
Wednesday February 7, 2018
Partly Cloudy 53°F/12°C in Roma
Cloudy 43°F/6°C in Cedar Park, Texas
Buona giornata amici miei!
     I’m frustrated as I glance at my calendar and see that I am nearing the end of my Roman holiday. Be that as it may, I am already plotting my return. I’m meeting new friends and re-connecting with

Michael Bo and Crew

friends I’ve made on previous trips since my first adventure in Rome back in 2005.  While most first-time visitors to Italy come here as a traveler with a pre-packaged tour group and must deal with a dazzling array of activities and destinations, my pace has been more leisurely. Michael showed me around Rome for the entire two weeks of my first visit. Since he is a professional, licensed tour guide with City Wonders Tours, I’ve enjoyed an advantage most tourists don’t have – I just tag along with my son as he does his job. Along with my son and daughter-in-law, Laura, I’ve now travelled to Florence, Naples, Venice, and most recently to Milan where we spent the first week of my vacation. I’ve also travelled to Amsterdam to reminisce about the good old days with a dear lady friend. And, in the future, I hope to hop over to the Czech Republic to visit with some of the relatives my grandparents left behind when they emigrated to America back in 1903.
     I’ve come back to the same apartment I rented last year, which is close to Mike and Laura. And while it’s closer to Fiumicino Airport than Roma Centro and the Coliseum, it’s a short walk to the Laurentina Metro Station and closer still to major bus lines. So, it’s easy for me to get downtown. 

Amina, My Landlady

My landlady, Amina, is originally from Morocco, and speaks at least three languages that I recognize. (I’m quite sensitive to the language thing, because of my own efforts to learn Italian). Like many Romans, Amina usually rents her place through Airbnb, usually for short stays. I seem to be one of her few customers who stays for a month or longer.  I’ve already told her that I’d like to come back on my next trip. Since I’m now one of her regular renters, she is agreeable to adding some of the amenities that would make my stays more enjoyable. Like another table for my laptop, so I don’t have to use my tiny kitchen as an office.
      One noticeable difference about housekeeping in Rome is that while Italian homes have washing machines, they don’t have clothes driers! Mamma hangs the wet clothes either on clotheslines in the yard or on portable folding drying racks on the porch, balcony or patio. Last year, I bought one of those racks and left it with Amina when I returned to Texas. This time she has done several loads of laundry for me, which I greatly appreciated. When I told her that I had a washer and a drier in my apartment, she was flabbergasted!
     On Monday, I had caffѐ with my partner from mio cambio linguistico-my language exchange.  Monica is an attorney-in-waiting, who has taken her written exam and is waiting for the results, so she can take the oral exam. Michael arranged through the school he teaches at to bring Monica and

Il Cambio Linguistico con Gelato!

I together last spring to practice our language skills. She is learning English and I am trying to learn Italian. In our 30 minutes together, our entire conversation was a zany mixture of broken English and broken Italian. Nobody but the two of us could have known what the conversation was all about.  Regretfully, that was the only opportunity we would have to meet. She would be traveling around Italy on her company’s business for the next week. Then, off to Lisbon. By the time she returns, I will be back in Texas. She goes to English class every week and practices on line with DuoLingo, like I do, every day. I will resume my class at Austin Community College with Patrizia when I return to Texas, and of course, keep polishing my language skills with DuoLingo.
     I have a line of dialogue that I use whenever I get into trouble with communicating. A few days ago, as I was checking out at my neighborhood Elite Supermercato, I found myself fumbling with my Euro coins. The cashier who is a very friendly, helpful person, tried to direct me to the proper change in a stream of Italian that left me even more confused. That’s when I uttered my rescue speech. Taking a deep breath, I spoke out! Sono Americano! Sto appena iniziando a parlare italiano.... I’m American! I am just beginning to speak Italian! My cashier responded in a voice loud

Michael and Laura e Venditore

enough to be heard in the growing line behind me, Aha! Sono Americano! She smiled and began to applaud. The others in the line also cheered my linguistic effort. Now, when I go grocery shopping Laura will frequently ask me to pick up a few items for dinner. She will give me the Italian words: panѐ, pommodori, finocchi, or caffѐ o tѐ. Bread. Tomatoes, fennel or coffee or tea. Even shopping can be a vocabulary lesson for me, thanks to my daughter-in-law. The translator app on my IPhone even has a camera feature that I use to translate product labels.
      One of the highlights of this trip for me was going to listen to Michael’s band, No Funny Stuff in the company of two delightful ladies from my home town. What were the odds that I would meet Adriana and Claudia Nataloni thousands of miles away from our home town of Riverhead, New York? And, it all came about when my son checked into a Rome hospital for

Adriana, MikeBo and Claudia Nataloni

shoulder surgery and Adriana recognized our family’s name from her growing-up days back in Riverhead. When I posted the picture on Facebook, I got a big response from old friends and school classmates. The world is, indeed, smaller than we think.
    Next time, I have dinner with a lady ex-pat with a great story. And, after that, a visit to an ancient Greek city with a fascinating history.
I’ll keep you posted along the way.

Ciao,
MikeBo

[Mike Botula is the author of LST 920: Charlie Botula’s Long, Slow Target! He is a retired broadcast journalist, government spokesperson and media consultant.   Mike’s book is available from Amazon or Barnes and Noble Books. You can follow his blog at: mikebotula.blogspot.com, or visit Mike Botula at www.mikebotula.com]