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| Candlelight service, Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere |
Titled “The people you meet,” this paper was written as my midterm for the travel writing course. The prompt for the essay was left open ended so I decided to write about personal accounts shared with me. Avoiding names and incorporating the reader into the story, individual accounts are given a day of the week and introduced by a personal account of mine.
Wednesday
You’re not sure why but you’ve walked around the same 3 blocks, not once but twice. The slap of tired feet against paving is a reminder of how far you’ve come in the last 20 hours. Engine maintenance in O’Hare, the fight against sleep in Heathrow and a long quiet ride from Fiumicino, all bringing you here. Trying not to appear exhausted you stumble along, in this exact moment you don’t know what you want, but you know you want to go. A metropolis awaits, with it a new culture and language. You’ve caught yourself staring, not at a person but at a sign. Oblivious of the symbols meanings you decide to peek through the window. This would’ve been your third pass.
I’m from Syracuse, but not the University in New York all the Americans talk about with their football. My Syracuse is in Sicily, on the coast, at the bottom. It’s beautiful, my home is. My mother is still there, I visit when I can. Either I’ll drive or take a bus. She prefers I drive because the buses can be dangerous. If I drive, I take friends. The drive is beautiful along the coast, but it takes a long time. When it’s just me, I’ll take the bus. When my friends come, they help me stay awake. We dance and play music. I love my home, but women are seen as less, like that they must stay home and cook.
I moved to Rome to learn how to write for cartoons, I had a piece published last month nationally, thanks to the help of a professor. That was great but I had to change my script a lot from what it was at the beginning. I still have a year left of school and I turn 29 next month. I hear it’s really hard after school because there aren’t many jobs. Sometimes I think I should stop. I have a friend who gives tours, I’ve talked to her about being a translator, it would be pretty easy and after all, I do know English well.
Friday
Cabinets slamming closed, energy from a recently moved body propels a chair into the side of a desk, feet patter on their way to the door, two hinges squeal, gravity slams the heavy door, the lock chunks. It’s Friday, the day before the day you don’t have class. It’s Friday, today was a final review of 3 weeks’ worth of work. It’s Friday and you’re headed home. Setting down your stone heavy bags, you feel a slight twinge. It’s an urge, an urge to listen to music, to converse and to meet people. It’s Friday, you and your roommates head out the door.
I was born in Costa Rica, my mom's from Rome. She grew up here, my dad too. I can’t remember why they were in Costa Rica or why we stayed for so long. It wasn’t until I was about 16 that they decided to move back here. I’d been in an American school in Costa Rica learning English, history and all that. I stayed here in Rome until I finished secondary school, High School or whatever. I didn’t want to stay here after I graduated, it was dirty and loud where we lived. I had a cousin who we lived with in Costa Rica. He moved to Texas when we moved to Rome – Greenville Texas, actually. They have really fast internet there. So, when I graduated, I decided I’d move to Greenville. I wasn’t there for a super long time but while I was there, I started working on computers with my cousin. It started out just being video games, but I’ve got a cryptocurrency now. It’s like actually mine, I made it. Its name is Liracoin, like the Italian currency before the Euro. When I was making Liracoin I started listening to music and after a couple months I started making it. It’s electric but not like EDM. I take a sound sample and make a song out of it. One song from one sound sample but I use the sample to make different sounds. I once stood by the beach for like two and a half hours recording just so I could get the sound right. I know, crazy. That’s just what I do in my free time.
I just started working here about 2 weeks ago. Before this I worked at a bar up in Prati. I like Rome enough. Since I moved back to the City, I’ve made food and drinks. Half the time I have no idea how they will taste. I’m working on my own recipes so when something tastes good, I write it down. One day I’ll sell them.
Saturday
Gravel crunches underfoot as you quickly turn, energized by a disgruntled stomach. ”Guys, let’s go grab a bite in Trastevere, we haven’t been over there yet.” A “Yeah sure” floats through the air until sliced by a sharp “yes”. Taking the opportunity, you grab the lead before the decision is called into question. Through the tight streets you wind, amidst familiar faces, churches and bars until you’ve finally come to the river.
So y’all are at the Arkansas campus here? I never see any of y’all down here. I speak Italian but it’s street Italian, I learn it here in the bar. I speak it to lawyers, bankers, even my girlfriend’s mother. This one time she asked me where I wanted to eat and I thought I was saying, “I don’t care” but what I actually said was, “I don’t give a …”. She was like, “Excuse me!?” I said, “I’m sorry, how do you say – I don’t care, in Italian.” That was funny, she’s chill though. My girlfriend is half black, like me, but she’s also half Italian. I’m half German. I grew up mostly in Little Rock and Munich. When I was younger my Mom and I would visit my Dad in Germany and on the way we would always stop somewhere: Paris, London, Madrid a couple times. I’ve been here for a couple years now. Traveling when I was younger made the move easier for me. Y’all play basketball?
Monday
You message her, a few days go by until you realize you’ve forgotten about the +39. Cautiously adding it to the number you send the message, again. “Hey! It’s me,” 30 minutes later there’s a reply, relief washes over you. Asking if she’s working tonight, you would like to see her again. On your way out you stop, one spritz of cologne – okay, well maybe two.
My coworkers were like, “Oh, don’t do that, it’s so unprofessional!” But, I am glad you came. Are you in Rome long? I graduated from Modena, last year – chemistry school. I work here and at the lab down the street. I want to spend all my time in the lab as chemist, like what I went to school for. They pay more here; enough for my bills. I could move back in with my parents. They live here in Rome, but ever since I started living on my own for school I don’t think I would like that.
I wish I didn’t work so much. I’m so tired after I get done and the express routes take awhile too. Last night we closed at 2. I left at 2:30 and got home about 3:45 – if I missed the express, I would have to wait for another 30 minutes. I don’t know when, but I’ll quit working here and use my degree someday.
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| Ear of Dionysius Cave, Siracusa, Sicily |
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Bryan spent the the summer 2018 term in Mexico with our
U of A Faculty-Led: Latin America Urban Studio program, and the spring 2019 term in Rome studying Architecture & Design at the
U of A Rome Center.
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at
http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
