Communists, Commitment, & Common Sense Part 2

I've forgotten what the commitment part of this blog was supposed to be so I'll just skip that for now and make up something else. Something like... shame.

As in something that doesn't seem to be a significant part of the Italian vocabulary. There are plenty of Americans that cheat on their taxes, but it's not something they'd really advertise. In Italy, successful tax evasion means bragging rights at the pub.

And the way they stare. Man, oh man. If eyes could burn holes, Rome would be a city of zombies. In the States, you always glance away quickly when someone catches you staring at them. Yeah, you know that they saw you staring, but you somehow convince yourself that they think you were just glancing. Not the Romans. They don't give a flying finocchio (Italian vocab. for the day: Finnochio = Fennel. Italian's eat the white bulbous root with olive oil; it's also slang for homosexual.) They just keep on staring. At first I found this fairly disconcerting. Now it makes me laugh. It's become a battle of the wills: who will look away first!

The best part is when they're sitting right next to you on the bus, staring at your face. You look over, and it takes them a moment to register that you're actually staring back. There's sort of a "humph," and they nonchalantly look away. It's great.

And the mendicants. Great gravy I've never seen such audacity! It seems like it's common sense that if you're homeless, you do what you can to make people empathize with you. Maybe you create a sign that inspires sympathy. Maybe you show an injury, disability, or hungry child. Maybe you bow your head to the ground in humility. These methods all exist but are not requisites for begging in Rome.

I've been approached by three panhandlers over the past few months that looked like they came out of a J. Crew catalog. The first was leaning against a brick wall and had to transfer his cigarette to his sandwich hand so he could reach out for some money. The second was wearing patent leather shoes, nice pants, button-up shirt, and a golfers cap. He was sporting a fancy cane and looked like he was about to dance a jig. The third (and my favorite) literally walked out of the supermarket with a bag full of groceries, saw me walking in, and held out his hand. Why rely on one income when you can work a normal job and beg while you're running errands? Priceless.

Alright, alright. I promised you I would talk about girls. So wouldn't it be funny if I came all the way to Italy to fall in love with a girl from Argentina? I just hope she doesn't google my blog and see me talking about her, but I'm tired of you people asking. Anyway, "falling in love" is a bit pre-mature. I have a crush. I have a crush on one of my students too, but I don't think that's going to go anywhere (and no, it isn't illegal in Italy. Besides, she's older than I am. That should be legal, right?). Anyway, my student is Italian, and, I hate to say it, Italian women seem to be completely unreliable. They say they'll meet you here or there at such-and-such a time, and they always cancel. This isn't just a Michael phenomenon. I checked. Girls here just play a lot of games, and I'm pretty much gamed out. So I don't know if this girl is like that or not, but I have a sneaking suspicion. Either way, I don't want to deal with the mess of having a love interest in class, so I'm just going to let that slide. I'm more interested in the Argentinian anyway...

She understands English perfectly, but seems unwilling to speak a word, which is better for me. We speak mostly in Italian, with a little Spanglish here and there, which is both funny and frustrating at the same time. All-in-all it's good. But really, I hardly know this girl, so we'll see. I'm not even going to bother with telling you her name at this point, because I don't want my parents asking me about her four months after it didn't work out. But I met her through my Italian church friends, and I really admire what I know about her. She's working on a Master's in Fine Arts and spends most of her spare time doing volunteer work for para-church organizations. Other than that, I'll keep you posted. We'll just have to see.

There, I gave you something. Sheesh, I feel like you guys care more about me finding a girl than finding a job! I guess both are important. But I'm not being lazy. I'm looking!

That's all for now, folks. I love and miss you guys. Ciao, ciao.