Adaptability
Last night i again found myself around the Pantheon, but this time it was early enough that the doors were open. There was a sign outside asking that during special events tourists stay outside and let the devoted pray in peace. Yeah, inside the Pantheon, the building built a couple millennia ago to worship the gods, not the God. Same thing found in Cambodia, where the former Hindu temples have been dutifully converted into Buddhist temples.
In a largish restaurant off of Piazza Navona, with a nice view of the various street artists, sampled penne alla rabbiata for the first time in a while. Just picante enough, just salty enough, and the sauce perfect consistency. The plate would have been a half portion in the States, but the States is wrong. The Chinese food i had the other day was also a tiny portion in comparison to States mentality, but was plenty for me. Most other countries serve small portions, but the States likes it big. Coffee here comes in a shot glass sized cup, and then is only half full, but packs a punch like a case of red bull (not that i'd know). The only place i've had small portions that really were too small is in Cambodia, and there it felt right to always be hungry.
I'm 2/4 in directions asked and 2/3 in places found. Not bad, i suppose. The places people asked me about, i didn't know when i lived here either, and i think the place i couldn't find closed a while ago. If i don't talk too much, i can pass for Italian (similar story in the States, if i don't talk too much i pass for an American); this morning when i ordered some pizza the woman asked me if i was on my way to school. Am i that young looking? How kind, a day away. By the way - sometimes, more important than your vocabulary in a language is how well you can pronounce the few words you know - it seems this might be key to why i pass.
A couple more notes on the differences between Europe and the States, as relayed from Dunia, the Serbian bartender at a decent Irish pub in Rome, through me, to you. She studies at La Sapienza, the largest University in Europe (200000+ students), and her classes are all 3-400 students in a lecture hall. However, no need to go to class - you only have to pass an exam in the subject matter at the end of the semester. Fail that one test and you're fucked.
Before Italy joined the EU, everything was substantially cheaper than it is now. The introduction of the Euro leveled the various countries off, with stuff in England and the like becoming cheaper and stuff in Italy becoming much more expensive, in some cases 3x more so. Dunia relates that her rent used to cost around 250,000 lire before the change and now costs around 300 euro (from roughly $200 to $350).
The logo for that Irish pub is two swans, necks intertwined and forming a heart-shape. I wonder where that stylized heart shape comes from - would be nice to be able to click on that shirt and find out more about the symbol. After 3 pints of Guinness, clickable shirts always sound good.
Sheridan's coffee layered liqueur, from Dublin, comes in a nice split bottle, one side for the liqueur and one side for the cream. I asked the bartender that i might see the bottle, which points out a difference from me in my youth versus me in my Old Age: i never used to ask such things, was always content to observe. I believe there are anthropological arguments for both sides.
One more note on expenses: those pints of Guinness cost 5.20 Euro a piece, that's about US$6.75. Luckily i was only charged for two of them - must be the pre-birthday special.
In a largish restaurant off of Piazza Navona, with a nice view of the various street artists, sampled penne alla rabbiata for the first time in a while. Just picante enough, just salty enough, and the sauce perfect consistency. The plate would have been a half portion in the States, but the States is wrong. The Chinese food i had the other day was also a tiny portion in comparison to States mentality, but was plenty for me. Most other countries serve small portions, but the States likes it big. Coffee here comes in a shot glass sized cup, and then is only half full, but packs a punch like a case of red bull (not that i'd know). The only place i've had small portions that really were too small is in Cambodia, and there it felt right to always be hungry.
I'm 2/4 in directions asked and 2/3 in places found. Not bad, i suppose. The places people asked me about, i didn't know when i lived here either, and i think the place i couldn't find closed a while ago. If i don't talk too much, i can pass for Italian (similar story in the States, if i don't talk too much i pass for an American); this morning when i ordered some pizza the woman asked me if i was on my way to school. Am i that young looking? How kind, a day away. By the way - sometimes, more important than your vocabulary in a language is how well you can pronounce the few words you know - it seems this might be key to why i pass.
A couple more notes on the differences between Europe and the States, as relayed from Dunia, the Serbian bartender at a decent Irish pub in Rome, through me, to you. She studies at La Sapienza, the largest University in Europe (200000+ students), and her classes are all 3-400 students in a lecture hall. However, no need to go to class - you only have to pass an exam in the subject matter at the end of the semester. Fail that one test and you're fucked.
Before Italy joined the EU, everything was substantially cheaper than it is now. The introduction of the Euro leveled the various countries off, with stuff in England and the like becoming cheaper and stuff in Italy becoming much more expensive, in some cases 3x more so. Dunia relates that her rent used to cost around 250,000 lire before the change and now costs around 300 euro (from roughly $200 to $350).
The logo for that Irish pub is two swans, necks intertwined and forming a heart-shape. I wonder where that stylized heart shape comes from - would be nice to be able to click on that shirt and find out more about the symbol. After 3 pints of Guinness, clickable shirts always sound good.
Sheridan's coffee layered liqueur, from Dublin, comes in a nice split bottle, one side for the liqueur and one side for the cream. I asked the bartender that i might see the bottle, which points out a difference from me in my youth versus me in my Old Age: i never used to ask such things, was always content to observe. I believe there are anthropological arguments for both sides.
One more note on expenses: those pints of Guinness cost 5.20 Euro a piece, that's about US$6.75. Luckily i was only charged for two of them - must be the pre-birthday special.
posted by francisco at 11/22/2004 04:16:00 AM
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