Rome: Itrsquo;s beautiful and itrsquo;s not. Kinda like everything else in life.

ldquo;La prossima fermata è Roma Termini.rdquo;

I moved to Italy to live at the end of September last year. I lived in Brescia (a medium-sized city in Northern Italy) until March 1, when I moved to Siena.

(I am once again back in Brescia, but thatrsquo;s a story Irsquo;m going to save for another day.)

I picked up some vocabulary during those first five months in Italy, but it wasnrsquo;t until I started attending an Italian class for immigrants in Siena that I really started learning the language.

Now, finally!, I understand much of what is being said either to me or around me. The language no longer sounds foreign or like pretty sounds flowing forth from peoplersquo;s mouths. Although Irsquo;m more motivated to learn the languagendash;because it finally seems like an achievable goal to converse fluentlyndash;the glossy veneer of the nonsensical musical sounds has dulled. I donrsquo;t know, therersquo;s something about understanding when somebody complains about the weather (or conversely, the ease in which I can complain about it) that makes any language sound less romantic.

Shiny glossy veneers are so overrated. Donrsquo;t you think? I mean, a veneer is just a thin expensive sheet of wood (or metal) with layers upon layers of unusually toxic clear varnish. If it wasnrsquo;t for the common cheap material beneath (like pine or regular mild steel), the veneer would have nothing to attach itself to.

And Irsquo;ve always preferred the look of a dull, used or aged finish anywayhellip;and now that Irsquo;ve exhausted my analogy Irsquo;m finished with this post.

But one more thing before I go to bed on this hot summer night: it is nice to know that you can simply listen to the conductor to know when your next stop is and not have the nervous wondering of whether yoursquo;ve missed it or have yet to arrive.

Arrivederci a dopo.

~Janelle Renée

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copy; Janelle_Renee for Babel, 02:46 PM. |
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