The night before I left Sorrento, I went out to Raro Food, this great little trendy deli where the owner is friends with the Maresca's. With his help, I picked out a bottle of wine that he assured me that they would love. When I brought it back to the house with a card, written in Italian, thanking them for their hospitality they were more then thankful! We took pictures, joked about my Italian, and exchanged information. Regardless of the whole weird food and laundry thing, I really lucked out to be able to stay with this family. Not only are they nice and accomidating, they are a real family and whenever I am back in Sorrento, I know I have people who will take care of me.
In the early morning, Peppe took me to the train station where I took a bus to the Naples airport. My flight started in Naples to Rome, Rome to JFK, and finally LAX. The trip in total of 15 hours, just the thought of it makes me exhausted. On my way here I was lucky enough to be able to have an overnight flight in business class. This time it’s straight couch. While waiting in the Naples airport, this flashy woman decides to take the seat right next to me eventhough I have my stuff spread out and there are plenty of seats other places. She starts to ask me about the flight departure time and then we start having a conversation on where we are going. Interesting enough, this woman who speaks fluent Italian doesn’t know where Sorrento is in Italy. Strange… then she tells me she is Tunisian and going back home but she leaves with her husband and her kids in Naples. Although, I can pretty much converse in Italian, Im not perfect so of course I can’t figure out how this woman is going home but lives in Naples… whatever. She's pretty crazy but sweet and tells me how she hates working and is thankful that her husband makes enough money that she doesn’t have to work. We exchange pictures and talk about our families. Then we bond over being African women. I did all this for about an hour in Italian!! I don’t care what anyone says, the fact that I can carry a conversation in Italian after only four weeks is pretty great.
Slowly the flight is delayed 15 minutes, then 30 minutes, and then an hour. Not until we are about to board that I actually start to question the time my flght in Rome leaves and sure enough the flight is scheduled to leave the exact same time that I am suppose to arrive! At first I’m not shaken cause I figure I will just take the next flight and arrive in New York and have to spend the night in New York. The idea of spending the night in Ny was soothing because I knew I could get a really early flight and it would literally be just the night. But when I arrive in Rome I find out that my scheduled flight was the last flight to the United States!! So, it’s 1 o clock in the afternoon and I wont get a flight until 9 am the next morning! I’m pissed, I’m tired, I’m frustrated. The woman at the kiosk can really care less about how I feel and shoves me off to an airport hotel. She laughs constantly as she reroutes my ticket… I know she’s talking about me, I can see it but she talking too fast I can’t figure out what the hell she is saying. I so want to catch her ass, haha!! I speak Italian bitch!! But she’s too good…
Once I get over my tantrum and realize my ass is in Rome for the day, I walk over to the hotel shuttle area and wait. Three of four drivers are hanging out but none of them are going to my hotel. The talkative Aireka, who is always able to make a friend, joins the group of five drivers and finds out that my hotel is 30 minutes outside of Rome. Oh Joy… One of them jokes with me and tells me for 50 euros an hour he will take me through Rome, I tell him in Italian, for 5 euros he’s hired, he’s not getting 50 euros from me, I’m not a rich lady. They laugh and again they are all amazed that I have been only studying for four weeks ( hahaha Anna! I can parlo italiano!) . Finally, my shuttle comes and I am the only person going to this wonderful Airport Palace Hotel. And the hotel is just that… an airport palace.. just like any airport hotel is like in the states. Lucky enough the metro is just across the street and I decide to turn my distaster into a blessing… I am in Rome for the day!! Free of charge!! I wanted more time in Italy, now I got it!!
So I hop on the metro and it drops me off in the middle of somewhere. I have no idea where I am and I don’t recollect anything from the last time I was in Rome 7 years ago. I buy a map but it’s so huge I have no idea where I am currently. So I just start to walk…
As I am walking I start to really like Rome… I hated Rome the last time I was here but there was something about being in a city that I liked! I was walking aimlessly and thousands of others walked with me. I passed Chinese people, African people, Spanish people, Muslim people. No one stared at me, some people assumed I was Italian and didn’t even try to speak to me in English. I even saw a Chinese restaurant! I felt like I had missed so much by not wanting to come back to Rome, just the energy of being in a place with thousands of people and thousands of things to do each day excited me! Being in Rome actually gave me a little bit to be excited about going home!
After studying my huge map I decided to just hop on a bus towards the area where most of the momuments seem to be. Just like in Ny thousands of people hopped on the bus at once and there is no way for the driver to tell who has paid or not.
I come to some gorgeaous place which I again don’t remember seeing the last time I was here or really know what I am looking about but it looks like some time of offical building, and behind it is The Forum. The great thing about traveling alone is that you can take as much or as little time that you need to absord a place. Twenty minutes was more then enough time get in and out and feel like I saw enough. As I’m studying my map to figure out where to go next, I see the driver who was trying to get me to pay 50 euros! He tells me is about to pick up his girlfriend around the corner and if I want a ride, he will take me!! So I hoop into this great Mercedes truck and we pick up his lovely girlfriend and her friend and they take me to the Fountana Di Trivi! So fantastic! I’m literally in Rome for a couple of hours, I’ve already met a friend and I get a driver!! Moments like this is why I love traveling.
I take my photos of the fountain and quickly leave because there are just too many damn tourists. I am a tourist myself but I just can't stand tourist... you will never find me on a tour bus or traveling with more then one or two people. Instead of immediately finding the bus I just walk through the city. Rome is such a gorgeaous place because it is metropolitian but surrounded by ruins! There is nothing like this place. I can actually see myself happily living here and start to wonder why did I study exclusively in Sorrento.
It starts to get dark and I get tired so I hop on the bus back to the metro and successfully make it back to the hotel like a pro. Today was the perfect ending to my Italian excusion. I felt complete. I saw something different, I got to spend time by myself exploring and I really connected to Rome which in someway gave me the completion I was looking for. The fact that I felt a little bit Italian and that I could really communicate in language showed me that I really have accomplished a lot in this trip. I started to think about how I was the first week in Sorrento and lonely and here I was in a much more bigger city and I was runnin it without any fear and getting around easily. I have mastered being alone. I have really learned what it means to be on my own. I’ve been out of my parents home for years but the solace of traveling by yourself builds true independence. That itself is probably the greatest gift that I can bring home with me in Los Angeles… Aireka Muse can stand on her own….happily!!
