The Jewish Ghetto is directly across the river from where we live in Trestevere. It's about 100 yards long, and it was the first place we passed through on our first day here, and it's possible to walk through it everyday on our way to class. At some point in Rome's history, the Jews were getting too lofty and out of control, so there was a segregation between the Romans and the Jews. All the Jews migrated to one spot, and their businesses are still there today.
Jews get a stigma in America, or at least among my age group, because they are morally pure, devout to God, and are willing to follow a strict legalistic code which is something a lot of 20 year-olds don't understand. Plus, they are always the businessmen; the richest and yet most frugal; the bankers; the lawyers; basically the people that help keep America running. All that to say that it was interesting to be submerged in a "Little Israel" in the middle of Rome- two things a lot of us knew very little about.
In America, if I heard of a place on a map called "Jewish Ghetto" I would expect a lot of banks, law/accounting offices, and some food places. Well, in true Italian form, the Jewish Ghetto here has no banks, no offices of any sort, but a whole lot of eateries. For the past few weeks, my friends and I have stopped at a little cafe, Caffe del Portico, for some awesome paninis, great cafe americano, and delicious espresso (it helps that they have a sugar/coffee/cream mixture that they put on top- DELICIOUS!!) They people there recognize us, and we give them pretty decent business.
But today a few of us decided to branch out. We went to one of the two Jewish Kosher restaurants, and it was pretty pricey. But in true Alisha form, I got two small dishes that were filling and totaled less than one entree. The first dish I got was rice balls, which is a traditional Roman dish. They mix rice, a tomato sauce, and some cheese, mush it into a ball, bread it and deep fry it. Now, I'm not usually into deep frying, but this was tasty. Props! The second dish I got was grilled vegetables. It came with a side salad of bitter Italian greens, which I have developed a taste for since arriving. They put the grilled vegetables on a skewer, and it included a huge chunk of onion (which I didn't eat because of their awesome allyl compounds), red pepper slices, a huge chunk of egg plant, a little mushroom, and two zucchini slices with kosher salt for seasoning. Wonderful!
I was definitely impressed. We then went to our little cafe and had cafe americano, which is still kickin' in my blood stream. Since I had a lot of energy, Jill and I went shopping to knock off some of the things on my list, although I only knocked off one: decent sandals. I found a pair of Birkenstocks that look feminine for 45 Euro. On the websites they are usually 90 Euro. Regardless, I think spending a comparably larger portion of money on a decent pair of shoes is okay. Shoes need to be comfortable, well made, and long lasting. I know Birks are, so that swayed me. I also found an amazing perfume scent that I love, but I couldn't justify buying that. I'll sleep on it.
Today we switched teachers for my architecture class from Rambling Romolo Martamucci to David Sabatello. Romolo was very abstract and philosophical and diverged a lot from his intended point- very hard to follow. David is completely different. Instead of lecturing, he engages the students. Maybe it was because I was flying on caffeine, but I found him thoroughly interesting. It was also in a learning style I was accustomed to: powerpoint of buildings in Rome, intermixing history, architecture, and nutrition. Very hard to do, but he was great at it. I can imagine my dad sitting in it, rolling his eyes at the ridiculous things people think up. In fact, I made a few comments that I could hear coming out of my dad's mouth, as well as eye rolls I've seen him do. I could see Steven sitting there just being confused at the logic of it all, and eventually poo-pooing it all. Both are very entertaining scenarios.
On our way back from class, we went to the Jewish Ghetto again because they have the BEST bread in the city there. I have had a lot of pizza bianca (flatbread with olive oil and salt) since I have been here, and the Arte de Pane has the best around. It was closed for "siesta" (yes, they do that in Italy, too!), so we headed home slightly downtrodden. But we saw a bakery that was open, so we let our sweet-tooths (sweet-teeth?) lead and we went it. Good decision! They have homemade gelato (by the way, coconut gelato is by far the best flavor ever), cheesecakes, mini cheesecakes, streudel, bread, pies, and muffins. Jill got a muffin, Annie got streudel, and I got sunflower seed bread which is INCREDIBLE. Hello, dinner! It was 6 Euros which is extremely steep, but if I can feed my for dinner, breakfast, lunch, and maybe dinner the next day, I would say that's a well spent 6 Euros. We found out this place is an Austrian Jewish bakery in Rome. Crazy! And the bags were in German :)
A lot of people in my program are crazy and like to have a lot of fun all the time. But we almost got into a serious conversation at lunch. There were 6 of us- Jill (my fellow Christian) and I, and 4 others who weren't really religious in any capacity which is common at Penn State. We started talking about agnosticism, which lasted about 60 seconds, but it just goes to show that what I revolve my life around (Jesus) and not even on their radar, and thus our conversations are so different. It's hard for me.
Another thing that's hard is all the gossiping and mocking other people- complete strangers that they know nothing about. Like, what gives them the right to do that? Nothing! I guess because I grew up in a "non-conventional" family- parents with physical differences- I empathize a lot more with people. I'm like Anne Frank in that way- I believe everyone is good underneath because it has been proven to me time and time again throughout my life. It just makes me want to cry when they make fun of people they don't even know. But I have learned that I need to stick up for the other person because the conversation stops, which is the way it should be.
Also, since I am ranting/relaying information/getting it all out, there's a common thought among my age group that America stinks and it needs changed. Um, WRONG. There are very few countries in the world that are based upon freedoms, thus giving the chance to excel even in bad circumstances. There are also very few countries that are as functional as the American government and economy. I am not saying America is perfect because we live in a fallen world, so just like people aren't perfect neither are countries or governments (i.e. Rahm Emmanuel and Bill Clinton). But going places like Mexico, Peru, Haiti, and Italy has strengthened my patriotism and opinions that America is the best country in the world. It is a blessed country, which is undeniable. Maybe my generation needs to read a little more in the newspaper or just get out a little more, but America does not stink, and America does not need drastic changes. Period. I believe that because of what America was founded upon- Christian principles- God is favorable toward us, hence all of our blessings. But sin always creeps in...
This got a lot longer than I was intending, but this is where my thoughts are at. It's hard for me to live with my fellow students because I live on a completely different wavelength. It's something I'm not used to, but it's a good challenge and a good practice in empathy on the flip side of the coin. Maybe, just maybe, things can change before we leave...
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