Monday, February 18th, 2019
The Roma Effect
I am still blown away about how awesome it was visiting the city of Rome. There is nothing better than actually stepping foot in the city and taking a stroll around to see all of the iconic Roman ruins and monuments tourists pay to see. Since the beginning of this trip, it has been a culture shock for me. It all started when I left the Madrid Barajas airport and boarded my flight for the Rome Ciampino airport through RyanAir.
I arrived in Rome around 8PM more or less. As I got off the plane, I noticed that the airport was very slow paced and small. Small like a local airport you would find in Provo, Utah. Even the local airport located in Orange County, John Wayne Airport, was sort of bigger. And, I walked through baggage claim. I remember hearing in the speaker phone that the airport was going to close from 11PM to 4AM. I was shocked and wondered “How weird that a big city like Rome has to close their airport down.” I get outside and I could not find any train signs. I was under the impression that just like the airport in Madrid, Spain that I would be able to catch a Metro or Train. Nope, that wasn’t the case in Ciampino airport. I asked an Italian lady who didn’t speak English and preferred to speak in broken Spanish/Italian. I understood everything and was told that I needed to take a shuttle from Ciampino to some train station. I didn’t know which one. So, I was lost and again, culture shocked.
Since I am very good with my instincts, I decided to ask and figure out which bus goes to the Termini stop. Ciampino was another stop that buses went to. I chose Termini and the shuttle driver told me that it would be 5 euros. So, I got on that shuttle and waited there for about 30 minutes before the bus took off. During that time, my friend Alessandra called me and sounded a little nervous. She was like “Sal, I just found out that you are not in the right airport. There is going to be a big change of plans.” She then said, “Find a shuttle and take it to Termini. Does that make sense?” I then explained to her that I figured everything out and would be there in no time. She was still nervous and kept pushing on wanting to talk to the driver so she can get an exact location of where I would be. I then explained to her that, it’s all good. On the bus ride there, I met a group of Irish guys and they explained to me that Rome has 2 airports. The Fuichino airport and the Ciampino one. The Ciampino one is what RyanAir always uses. Either way, it was all good. The other airport had access to a train and the Ciampino just had the option for taking a shuttle. Either one was fine. So, on the bus ride there I was scared inside and still culture shocked. I could not believe that I was taken out of my comfort zone. It was nerve-racking. I realized in that very moment that Spain is my home base.
Finally, I get to Termini station. It is such a big facility and close to the center of town. I was impressed. It is like the Atocha station in Madrid. Pretty much all the train and metro lines go through that center point. Definitely a good thing to know since I may be coming back to Rome again. At the Termini station I found my friend Alessandra who introduced me to her friend Ester (a very attractive Italian gal). Then, two other friends showed up who were Mattias and Francesca (she was also pretty.) From then on, we tried to catch a metro that would take us to a train line which would take us up north to Alessandra’s house, where I was staying. On the way over there, we missed the 10PM train so we had to wait for the 11PM train. We got to her home by midnight. I got to know everyone in the group. Ester was coming from Florence, Francesca and Mattias were both from Milan. So, it was a cool melting pot of Italians. They were all planning on going to the last open house visit for the Rome, Italy LDS temple on Saturday, February 16th, 2019.
When we got to Alessandra’s home, it was pretty far away from Rome. She lived in an actual house in the outskirts of Rome, near like a forest area. It was cool nonetheless. The weather was chilly in Rome, similar to the cold in Madrid. I met Alessandra’s mother who is named Ana Maria. She only spoke Italian, so I actually did my best to use my Spanish and turn them into Italian words. It was a big sleepover party to be honest. Ester immediately invited me to watch a movie with the group. It was the best set up ever. There was a girl to guy ratio where there were more girls than guys. And, I have been looking forward to having a movie night with young good-looking girls. I was already picturing it already, me chilling side by side with new friends. However, I was tired because the night before on Thursday, Feb 15th, I went to bed late and slept 4 hours., So, on Friday I was wanting to sleep. I rejected the offer that Ester gave to me about watching a movie. I regret it to this day. I wish I would have sucked it up and went to watch that movie with them. They even had it set up in English specially for me since I didn’t speak Italian. But there is this saying, “The spirit is willing, and the flesh is weak.” I went to sleep like a baby and slept really good at the cost of not watching a movie with some cool friends late at night.
The next day, it was Saturday, February 16th, 2019. To summarize that whole day, we all got up and took off in the car to the temple. It was an amazing experience to be in Italy visiting one of their very own temples. I met more Italian people, I even reunited with friends that I met in Madrid when Alessandra was visiting the city with them. It was a big day for me. I pretty much spend hours there and walked around. I had the temple tour, the inside and out of the temple. I loved the pictures that I took. It was great. The end of that day, Ester and the rest of the gang went back home. Alessandra and I stayed in Rome. I had a chance to see the city later that night. Then, I went home, and Alessandra’s mother cooked for us friend pizza and it was delicious. It was so good. For the first time in my life, it was awesome to just hang out and talk with my friend. It literally brought back childhood memories of when I used to have sleepovers with my friends, and we would have so much fun. That was pretty much the experience with Alessandra.
The next morning, I went to church with Alessandra and her mother. I met other members there and also saw familiar faces of people who were volunteering at the open house. I again was culture shocked at church again. I was reminded about how I do not speak, nor do I understand Italian. It brought me back to when I was newly 21 years old in the missionary training center of Spain, July 2014. Back then I was humbled and became a new man. Being in Italy reminded me about how even though I may have conquered the Spanish language in Spain along with its culture, that was not the case for Italy. It was great to feel that again. I never thought that I would find myself in an uncomfortable situation again. Pretty much throughout that day I was able to pick up on Italian and even learn some phrases. If I was honestly given another opportunity to learn a new language and culture, I would select Italy.
During church I also took pictures and chatted with some people. It was great. Then we went home, ate some more of Alessandra’s mom’s famous cooking. Then, we went to a birthday party. After that, Alessandra and I toured more of Rome together. We saw a lot of cool things. We even went to see this famous fountain called the Trevini Fountain. The legend behind the fountain is that when having your back facing the fountain and tossing a coin over you into the fountain, the first coin brings luck that the person who through it will return to Rome. I through a coin and had Alessandra record. The other cool thing about that legend is that, a second coin guarantees a new romance and a third coin thrown in there brings the luck of marriage. So, I already feel that I am going to come back to Rome, Italy. I definitely will remember to throw in 2 more coins into the fountain so more good luck will come to pass for me. After that, I went home with Alessandra and we ate her mom’s famous pasta. It is unbelievable how good that woman cooks her food. It was better than anything in the whole wide world. Better than any restaurant and I wish I could eat that every day.
Monday was my last day in Rome. I had to catch my plan in Ciampino airport around 4:30PM. So, Alessandra and I woke up super early and got dropped off by her mother around 8PM near the temple grounds. From there on we toured the Vatican and more of Rome. It last about 4 hours. Then, it was time to go back to the airport for me. Again, that was an awesome day. I didn’t realize how lucky of a guy I was to have such a good friend like my friend Alessandra. She did good and pretty much shared her culture with me. I wish I could repeat the whole Italy trip again. It was so far my favorite I have ever taken.
The reason I named this blog, “The Roma Effect,” is because there has been a cultural trend happening lately in the world revolved around the word “Roma.” First, the whole world has been talking about the Mexican film directed by Alfonso Curron which is found on Netflix. And, there has been international talk about how the LDS church finished building the Rome Italy temple and had a 2-week open house to the public for the viewing. So, my trip to Rome was surreal and hit me on the face just like the film did. To summarize the whole trip, I pretty much flew into an airport that I did not anticipate landing in (it was scary), I met beautiful Italian girls, I saw a majestic temple, I saw a majestic city, I learned a little bit of Italian, I fell in love with the country and at the end of everything I told myself that this is called, “The Roma Effect.”
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