A Day in the Life

Daily life in Rome is quite an adventure, and I'd take a day of living the local life over a day as a tourist any time.

We have been slowly getting the hang of public transportation here. It is much better than in any US city I have visited. You really can get to within a few blocks of anywhere you want to go. I'm beginning to recognize the areas along the bus routes, and generally know where I am whenever we go out! One iconic mark along our rout into the city is Porta Pia, a stop just inside the old walls of Ancient Rome.


Being smushed to the front window of the bus does provide a great view.



Besides public transportation, another aspect of Rome that makes the city adventure-friendly is the fountains. All the fountains in Rome hold potable water. People can wash their hands, give their pets a drink, and refill their water bottles. Most of these fountains are made of beautiful marble figures, and in some of the biggest, you can take off your shoes and wade into the fountain for your drink.
For an aquaholic like me, this is the perfect city.

Rome is a city for cat lovers. There are an estimated 300,000 feral cats in Rome. The city has set up feeding stations for them: they'd rather have cats than rats. The cats have free range in the city and have learned how to schmooze the millions of tourists that come through Rome.


We found this guy roaming the Colosseum.

I've gotten a chance to dialogue with locals through an ESL ministry at our church. The English lessons are once a week, and most of us students go and assist the teachers. This past week was our first class, and I got the chance to meet a kind woman named Barbara, who works with African refugees and is learning to speak English so she can make them feel understood. There were about 15 people in the class. There were all sorts of people there, including children, a lawyer, a Russian/Italian translator, a member of the  Italian military, and a preschool teacher. I'm excited to deepen relationships as I help these same people throughout the semester. Hopefully they can help me with my Italian as well.

The small room where we hold class. (The woman in the floral shirt is helping teach. She is from Texas. The poor students.)

The view from the window. The church building is narrow and three stories tall. Churches circle the piazza and ring their bells throughout the day. Musicians play in the piazza for coins.

A greeting on the street.