Culture Shock
Many people have asked me why no updates have been made since February 1st. I think the short answer is: culture shock. when all of a sudden every little thing that was 'different' seemed to be annoying and frustrating, despite the great wine and many many dinners and lunches at 'Taverna dei Briganti'!, I figured it had to be culture shock.
So rather than nagging about all sort of details and be angry about it I decided to let it go for a while and come back to these details when I had a chance of being objective about them. Not sure if that time has come yet but I'll try to explain some of the striking moments in the last 40 days: the application for the permit of stay (permesso di soggiorno) and the romanian family with their 2 kids who has spent the night in fron of the office, the 4 times that I was almost run over by some idiots when trying to cross the street, the old ladies at the super market who would intentionally ignore me in the line at the cashier to my greatest amusement!, the overcrowded buses in the morning , the oma fans during the Roma-Juve soccer match at Stadio Olimpico, the incredible welcome party at fontana di Trevi, and finally the breathtaking view at the intersection of Via XX Settembre e Via delle 4 Fontane.
When I think about it though it's funny that I actually suffered from culture shock. after allI had spent 11 years here in Rome and I had grown up here before going to the US. Many friends in the US called me the 'italian due' because of my way of doing things. So 7 years later it was pretty funny and perhaps emblematic when in more than one place here in Rome people called me the 'american guy'.
A few years ago there was this line in a U2 song that I loved because it resepected very well my state of mind: Home, Hard to know what it is if you have never had one.
I recall how much I missed Rome after moving to San Diego. And now I seriously miss the Pacific Ocean and its view in the morning. Somehow the last 7 years have offset the previous 11. So while I'm enjoying the beautiul city of Rome with the eyes of an adult I can't stop being critical of the things that I don't like and maybe I'll never accept anymore. There is only one thing that makes all this worthwhile. And that's my brother and knowing that now I get to see him and share a few hours a day with him for a while.
