stranger in this town: January 2011

This past week we were given some freedom to do whatever we pleased. Some people took the opportunity to travel around Israel or go back home for the week. I chose to go to Rome. As some of you may know my family emigrated from Russia, and through a series of events ended up in Rome for a short while. The people that I stayed with were those that helped my family out and continue to be very close friends of my grandparents until this day. So, I have to give props (I know they won't know what that means) to my Dedulya Yasha and Babulya Ella for always keeping everyone connected and allowing me this opportunity. On top of having me over for dinner almost every night, they also gave me my own apartment. Their daughter, Sasha is often out of town on business so she was kind enough to let me stay at her place for the week.

The week I spent in Rome was so much different from my life here in Israel in many ways. In Israel I am constantly surrounded by other people whether it's at my school, in the apartment, or always going out together. I have become super close with everyone in my apartment, but it was cool doing my own thing in a new city I had never been to. During the day I spent most of my time wandering around alone exploring the city. I had no set schedule and I was able to cover a large portion of the city mostly on foot. Often times I would just take some random streets to get to my destination and discover new things on the way. At night I would usually go over to Irina and Tony's (family friends) apartment for dinner and futbol. Throughout the week I ate a lot of pizza and gelato. Whatever I had been missing by keeping kosher in Israel I made up for with all the pork and cheese consumption that week. The food was ridiculously good. I also caught up with my roommates Margaux and Sarah on two of the nights. One of those nights was a successful and the other not so much. SARAH had the bright idea of signing up for a bar crawl, although I won't hold her accountable for the nights events. Wait, I just did. I just want to say first that I love America and many people in America, but goddamn there were some stupid fucking Americans on this bar crawl. It was like they airlifted the most retarded 20 somethings from the states and dropped them off in Rome to kill all potential possibility of us having a good time. Furthermore, the term bar crawl would indicate that the bars are in close proximity to one another, so close in fact that if you were drunk enough you could crawl from one to the other. This was not the case. They were spread out all over Rome. By the end of the night we just wanted to get the hell out and I jumped on the first bus I saw, not knowing where it was headed. Marguax and Sarah foolishly trusted me and we ended up in the middle of some cornfields on the outskirts of Rome. It would have been a good scenario for a Roman-style slasher film. Anyways, eventually the right bus came and I navigated our way back to Rome while they slept on the bus. It was a small price to pay for a week in Rome.

Rome is probably the most beautiful city that I have ever been to. The churches are are not only beautifully designed, but just so unbelievably massive. It's really hard to wrap my mind around all the work that went into creating them. You can't be inside one and not be in awe. My favorite places were definitely the ancient Roman sites, such as the Forum and the Coliseum. Even a simple side street can become something interesting. There is literally something to see at every turn. Even a month in Rome might not be enough to see everything, but I'll take a week over nothing. Hope I make it back there again someday.

Piazza del Popolo-a beautiful square which leads to Via Del Corso, a popular street for shopping. In the past it was used for public executions

Italian zombies

Piazza di Spagna

Roman Forum

Signifying the Roman conquest of Jerusalem. Who steals a menorah? Not cool.

inside the Coliseum

salty pork products- delicious

Anubis

JP2 with a koala- part of an exhibit in the Vatican about the culture of the Aboriginals.
"Your culture, which shows the lasting genius and dignity of your race, must not be allowed to disappear."