Un Giorno Piovoso!

DIARIO DI ROMA VI – Il Bambino!
Sunday December 15, 2019
Cloudy 58°F/14°C in Roma, Lazio, Italia
Buonagiornata,

Sta piovendo! It’s raining!  Back in Texas, this would just be another gully washer, but here in Rome

Snow in Roma - 2016

the citizens take things more seriously. I’ve experienced this first-hand several times now. This storm rolled in on Friday the thirteenth… or, in Italian, Venerdi tredicesimo! The first time was the snowstorm that paralyzed the city two years ago.  My son called me to check up on me. It snowed, Pop! He told me. When did it last snow in Rome? I asked the pride of my loins. About fourteen years ago. He told me. I wasn’t here for that one. We were in Bologna. But Rome is shut down. Schools are closed. The buses are not running, and the Metro is not running. Dad, the CITY is shut down! I knew instinctively what I had to do. I ran to the balcony and snapped a few photos with my IPhone. Then, I looked down the street. The activity on the street indicated to me that the Coop Mercato was still open. I grabbed my coat and my walking stick and headed down the street to pick up some survival supplies. As I entered the store, one of the clerks greeted me with a friendly Buongiorno! Dove il sale?  I replied. Where is the salt? He pointed to the back of the store. I headed there with my basket and picked up three boxes of rock salt. In a snowstorm, you can never have too much rock salt!  I used it liberally on my way back to the apartment to salt down the entry steps.

Last Spring, it was a record heat wave that paralyzed the city. One evening we even had a moderate earthquake. Now, we have a rain emergency. What next – locusts? Visigoths? American Tourists? But now, it’s raining … and Rome is paralyzed! Rome is built on seven hills. It has a fabulous sewer system, parts of which are two thousand years old. The rain will run off… but povera Venezia!  Venice has more to lose than Rome in this era of climate change. The summer rains have been bad…up to four feet of water flooded Piazza San Marco recently, portending the future date when Venice will be completely under water.

Sofia and Alexander

But the primary reason for this visit is my new grandson, Alexander.  Like my daughter’s five kids, Alexander is a joy to his Nonno in his dotage. It’s amazing how fast newborns GROW! Alexander Came home from the hospital with a tiny knit cap on his tiny head. He was a peanut! Now after just a few weeks, he has grown considerably. I don’t have the relevant statistics at my fingertips, but he sees the pediatrician every week, and his parents keep track of every weight gain – meticulously. Michael took off from work for a full month to help in the parenting chores and to bond with his new son. Laura has several more months of maternity leave remaining. Fortunately, her work enables her to work from home much of the time, and that’s how she will gradually return to her job.

On Wednesday, I rode the Metro to Circo Massimo, where the ancient chariot races were held; at the invitation of my friend Amina. She works at F.A.O. the massive United Nations Food Organization. The FAO building was constructed during the 1930s by Benito Mussolini, during the height of his conquests in Africa to house his colonial offices. The view of the Circus Maximus from the FAO

Amina

rooftop is nothing short of spectacular! The Coliseum and the Forum are just one Metro stop away. During our luncheon of Couscous (for her) and Pasta Napolitano (for me) Amina suggested that our next lunch date be the following day near the Basilica San Paolo, at a little neighborhood restaurant that she knew. After that, she would be traveling to Paris to spend Christmas with her family. It meant that I might not see her again on this trip to Rome, because she would be leaving after that for three weeks hiking in Vietnam.  Sure enough, she rang my apartment the following day to catch the bus to the Laurentina Metro. As I met her in front of my building, the skies opened up, and it started raining – hard. We were rained out of our excursion to Basilica San Paolo. We scurried into a nearby bistro, had lunch and waited for the rain to stop.

The next day, Friday the Thirteenth, I awoke to another storm that had rolled in during the night. THAT was the storm that closed schools and created such havoc. I had been expecting Delia – my landlord’s wife to clean the apartment, but sure enough – at the appointed hour I received a text from Christian saying that Delia would not be coming until the afternoon. Even then I had my doubts, because I felt that the storm would be with us all day. Sure enough, word reached me that afternoon that Delia would be unable to come over until the following day.

If it were not for my teacher at Austin Community College – Patrizia Papi – I would be totally lost in the language department! Each time I come to Rome, my well-meaning son tries to find one of his students for me to practice with in a language exchange or scambio di lingua. That has had mixed results for me. For instance, three years ago, Monica and I had molti gelati together, but didn’t practice much English OR Italian. I have decided to take matters into my own hands with Delia. The arrangement is that she comes in to clean the apartment weekly. (And, I suspect, to keep an eye on the place for her husband, Christian). So, I have introduced Delia to the wonders of Duolingo. We both have our Google Translators on our Smartphones. So, we are able to communicate. Where there’s a will there’s a way! Now, every week when she comes to clean, we sit down at the table, beve caffѐ, and practice our languages. I usually spend at least an hour a day practicing with Duolingo.

Next time, more adventures with Alexander the Great, conquering hearts everywhere he travels through the known world.

Ciao,
MikeBo

[Mike Botula, the author of LST 920: Charlie Botula’s Long, Slow Target! is a former broadcast journalist, government agency spokesperson and media consultant.   Mike’s book is available from Amazon Books. You can read more about Mike Botula at www.mikebotula.com]

© By Mike Botula 2020