Mid-September Dispatch

Life at the Academy is in full swing and the weekly calendar is filling up fast with walks and talks, tours and receptions, Italian conversation and yoga classes and forays to local markets and out-of-the-way bakeries. Amazingly, I also find a way to manage to shoe-horn in getting the kids to school and back. It's been said that living at the AAR for a year is akin to receiving a graduate education. So far, it seems to hold true -- I would only add the qualifier that for parents, access to a reliable baby sitter is key. With that in mind, all the parents here in 5b held a meeting on the roof-top terrace this week to discuss setting up a babysitting collective so we can enjoy the occasional night out. Somehow, we successfully managed to work out a coupon-based system over vino rosso while the kids raided a family's fridge for popsicles and covered their bodies with washable magic markers.


Distinct highlights from last week include attending a birthday party on a terrace overlooking the Piazza Venezia where Gio and I danced to Euro-trash disco til midnight next to a 90-year-old reveler, and celebrating my birthday by spending five hours alone at the Vatican Museum where I believe I may have happened upon the inspiration for a wide variety of regional pasta shapes based on the hairstyles of noblewomen from late antiquity. (See image below) I'm currently considering fleshing out my thesis further for a Rome Prize fellowship in 2012.



While traversing the Museum's 3.5 miles of galleries I also made other observations:

1. The food at the bar located on the interior courtyard should be avoided. Shove a pizza bianca in your purse beforehand to eat on an outdoor bench instead and then head to the bar and indulge in an overpriced cold drink in the shade. My panino was abyssmal but the prosecco was lovely. In retrospect I didn't feel so bad about paying 12 Euros for the experience given that a good portion of the tab will doubtless go toward victim compensation. It certainly isn't funding the creation and printing of helpful handouts or expository pamphlets on the countless treasures contained within.

2. There is a wide range in quality concerning tour guides. (FYI - Those guys who authoritatively assert that "Jesus's gaze miraculously follows you as you pass by his likeness" still exist. I actually encountered one in the hallway of Renaissance tapestries.)

3. Don't try to avoid checking in your Swiss Army knife at the "Guardaroba" if the uomo at the metal detector instructs you to do so after passing by his station. I made the mistake of assuming that he wouldn't waste time watching me out of the corner of his eye while processing 250 more tourists' bagagli.

4. The Church is really missing out on a huge merchandising opportunity by not offering more pagan chotchkes for sale in the many gift shops. With all those Roman mosaics, sculptures, coins, paintings, etc., all I could find was a T-shirt of some gladiators. Very disappointing. On the other hand, those interested in basing their home's design scheme on Michelangelo's iconic "Creation" scene depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling will fare much better. The restrained, sophisticated simplicity of the Roman mosaics and paintings still move me more than all the writhing limbs and exaggerated musculature to be found in later periods, but they clearly don't sell as many keychains. (The mouse with walnut pictured was part of an elaborate mosaic on display that depicted a floor after a Roman banquet. It was stunning in detail.)

5. Many of the paintings from 14th-16th centuries could use a good professional scrubbing as they were almost too dark to see.

6. Most surprising was the presence of a battery recycling receptacle prominently placed next to a trash can on the cortille (see below). While the Church remains unrepentant in its embrace of the Dark Ages in many respects, this uncharacteristic recognition of environmental consequences did make me think that perhaps there is a sliver of hope behind those imposing ramparts after all.

By 3 pm I had had my fill of contemplating priceless treasures, and headed back to pick up the kids from school. Gio and I then decided to head out for sushi at the kids' insistance (a regrettable mistake) but salvaged the evening by strolling over to our favorite gelateria in Trastevere - which incidentally is popular enough that it doesn't see the need to have a name or display a sign.

For those of you eager hear more about how the bambini are adjusting, be assured that they are settling in better than we expected. Giulia has pronounced the food at school to be so delicious that it's "better than Daddy's" and is making new friends in class, and Giorgio is singing in Italian in bed before he nods off and ingratiating himself with two older boys in our building to gain access to their cache of Legos.

Here's a parting shot of them showing off the gladiator outfits they made themselves out of our bedsheet and some old paper bags. "Two thumbs way, way up!"

For those of you eager to hear about how Gio is adjusting in the Academy kitchen, he's glad to be back in his element and has already picked up some new tricks (those of you who count yourselves as leek aficionadoes will be particularly pleased to see us return home). The fellows are clearly enjoying his handiwork. He's also had the benefit of being able to participate in a gnocchi-making demo in the town of Amatrice and may be heading down to one of Rome's most famous bakeries next week for a day of pizza making. I look forward to sampling the results!

Viva la Scuola! Morte per le Zanzare!

Giovanni and I join the legions of proud parents this week who dropped their children off at a new school and documented the event with umpteen jpeg files. Giulia clung to my leg for her customary 15 minutes when in the presence of a new teacher but took to Maestra Alice's arms/charms without much cajoling. When I returned to pick her up from her first day of Prima Elementaria (first grade) she ran into my arms and declared that she understood a lot of the Italian that was spoken and really liked it. Giorgio started "Terza Materna" (Kindergarten) last week and I spent a few hours with him the first two days to ease his anxiety. By day 3 he simply hung up his new backpack, sat down to paint and waved when I said ciao. Glory be to all those gods who may have been involved in the smooth transition.

Here's a shot of the kids waiting for the #44 bus in Monteverde to take us to la Scuola Arcobaleno.

Here's my parting shot of Giulia looking dubious in Maestra Alice's arms and one of Giorgio getting to work in Kindergarten with his nuova amica Allegra.

The most amazing thing by far is that the kids get served a hot three-course meal and stay until 5 pm every day (which must have something to do with residing in a siesta culture where businesses close for three hours in the afternoon and reopen at 4) so there's no "aftercare" as we Americani know it. It now appears that I'll have time to explore the neighborhood, visit local museums, bargain hunt, exercise, read, write and work while school is in session and be able to devote the customary hours required here to wait for repair people (our fridge is broken) and stand in line to affect any kind of official transaction.

Living at the Academy has been wonderful (excepting the aforementioned refrigeration issue) and we continue to meet interesting people and make new friends daily. Gio started in the kitchen and will work day shifts primarily so we'll get to see him for dinner every night. Here's a shot of us with Mona, head chef of the Rome Sustainable Food Project, and kitchen intern Francesca welcoming us last week in the garden where we enjoyed a preprandial prosecco and transcendental burrata cheese served with chestnut honey.

The kids love running in the grass, but we keep reminding them that the rapturous screaming in this particular garden (the one where Galileo reputedly first demonstrated his telescope before being consigned indefinitely to house arrest by Pope Urban VIII) has to come to an end this week when all the fellows are scheduled to arrive. Once they do manage to control themselves (the kids that is) we look forward to trying out the bocci court and grill. The ochre edifice pictured is the main administrative building which also houses the library, kitchen and some studio apartments. The stakes visible to the left are supporting the last of the summer pomodori.

Wildlife sightings thus far include a dozen feral cats in various states of health, multiple itinerant parrot colonies that swoop overhead at twilight preceded by garrulous squawking, and several plump bats that clearly cannot keep up with the great number of mosquitoes (zanzare) in the offing. The latter have been merciless, and continue to feast on us whenever we decide to allow fresh air into our quarters after 6 pm. Giorgio appears to be their preferred appetizer and Gio their main course. When Giulia and I are alone, they'll happily settle for our relatively meagre vital juices, but when the boys are also on the menu, we girls rank no higher than a so-so side dish.

The incessant (and quite historical) mosquito problem raises another big question in my mind: if Romans have been battling these blood suckers for millenia by draining swamps and reclaiming marshes, why hasn't it occurred to any enterprising soul since Caesar to design a retractable window screen for seasonal installation or at least sell mosquito nets at the local markets? I've declined more light-up paperweights and music-activated stuffed toys from street vendors than I can count, but would readily lighten someone's load if s/he offered citronella or a net for over the bed instead. Just sayin'.

I'm thrilled to report that we are happily ensconced atop the Janiculum Hill behind the Aurelian walls and enjoying the fresh breezes, green space, extra square footage, shared terrace and, perhaps more importantly (now that I'm no longer 25 and have two small children in tow), a second bathroom at our new apartment at the American Academy. Two months in a small Trastevere apartment in 90+ degree heat was more than enough for an intensive introduction to Italian urban life. We certainly enjoyed having everything within walking distance, but I was starting to think that at least the last dozen or so of the famed layers that make up the Eternal City are composed soley of gelato spoons, cigarette butts, empty wine boxes and dog excrement.

Alas, our fortunes have changed for the better. According to our housing contract, we have been officially designated as "Visiting Artists and Scholars" which means we have 4th dibs on tickets for any AAR-organized tours or events, but presumably the same priority as everyone else when the freshly baked cornetti come out of the Academy ovens. The illustrous fellows (those with higher priority) start moving in this weekend so we have a few days to ourselves in the family housing building, poetically named "5B". We just hope we can get the kids to stop screaming while jumping on their beds by then so that we aren't asked to vacate. If pressed, I am prepared to assert that jumping from beds while screaming is their preferred art form and that their seemingly chaotic outbursts are actually an elaborate, pre-structuralist reenactment of the Roman incursion of the Visigoths under Alaric the First. Or, to put it in terms more easily understood here at the Academy, "It (the kids' screaming/jumping on installations more commonly used for nocturnal repose) also illustrates the contingency of construals of particular situations/events/persons. This arises from different framings tied to different-use contexts, but that diversity can then be harnessed rhetorically to negotiate agents' desired outcomes." (This text was copied directly from a fellow's project summary on the website -- I have absolutely no idea what it means, but am hopeful that I can repeat it with confidence if/when the time arises to keep us in fresh linens.)

Here's a photo of the kids settling in and deciding where to post a photo of Jim, our beloved tabby cat back in Napa.

I took the next shot a few hours ago on the communal terrace where we dined on take-away pizza and enjoyed a view of the city below.

We're planning to spend the next few days locating the nearest markets, getting acquainted with the resident feline population and learning the new bus routes. Giulia continues to love drawing the Roman skyline, Giorgio seems most content when building trattorias and ancient monuments out of Legos and Gio is chomping at the bit to get into the Academy kitchen next week. In the meantime we all continue to benefit from his culinary artistry.

School starts for the kids in two days and we're all looking forward to starting a more regular routine.

Ferragosto

We're back in Rome after a two week trip to la campagna and I admit I was savoring the lack of traffic congestion and clean air afforded by the small towns of Puglia, Molise and Umbria. Happily, we were greeted by a very pleasant surprise in that the city has disgorged itself of at least half its residents -- all of whom are doubtless smoking on one of the many crowded beaches or looking for a parking place nearby -- and the temperature has dipped below 90 degrees. It's actually perfect except for the fact that our corner store and some of our favorite cheese shops, enotecas and pizzerias are closed until September when we move to our more permanent digs at the American Academy.

The kids continue to keep us on our toes and have made the very important discovery that the color of the gelato is not a good indicator of yummyness. Clearly another developmental milestone.

We started our country foray catching up with Giovanni's relatives in Carlantino, the Pugliese hill town where his parents grew up, and were able to partake in the fest of San Donato - the local patron saint. The celebration was officially kicked off by a traditional procession with decorative icons held aloft, brass band, dignatories, priests, nuns, countless dour old ladies in black walking arm in arm, and led by a small child holding a crucifix twice his size. It definitely felt like being on the set of a Fellini film. Afterward, the festivities continued with more food, fireworks, street vendors and, oddly enough, a Pink Floyd cover band. While admittedly incongruent, I presumed the latter was previously vetted by an obscure Vatican council that specializes in such matters.

We spent the remainder of our stay partaking in the hospitality of many families, overeating, meeting up with more cousins, walking the main street between meals, and (at least in my case) trying to understand the local dialect. I am now entertaining creating a board game based on our experience. The goal is to get through town in five days without gaining weight or offending anyone. Clearly it's a matter of succeeding in one respect or the other as refusing a course at someone's table is not condoned. This go round I'm certain we managed to fail on both counts.

Oh yes, and lest I forget, we spent a very memorable final evening at a farm where watermelon was served for desert after being ceremoniously cut by a chainsaw. Clearly not the kind of thing you will see anytime soon in Gourmet or Sunset magazines as part of "An Authentic Italian Picnic" spread.

Our next out-of-town outing will be to Viterbo for a few days and the country home of Renato and Christina, good friends of ours from years ago, and their two boys. I met Renato one summer while traveling through Italy working as a volunteer and he still runs "Brancaleone", the alternative social center that started as a communist-run squatter collective in an abandoned school -- and which I helped build the patio and garden area for with a dozen other well-meaning stranieri. The Italian government continues to leave them alone because they've improved the neighborhood by reclaiming a derelict building and, more importantly, pay the utility bills on time (and most likley turn down the screaming techno pop after 11 pm on weekdays). He's a club producer and a farmer/beekeeper and says their rural retreat has Etruscan ruins nearby as well as cats, turkeys, chickens and dogs so it promises to be a kid-pleaser.

Graffiti!

I admit it, I enjoy graffiti. And context is at least half the fun. Some of the most inspired work I've seen in the eternal city continues to be the unsanctioned/illegal street art to be found on buildings, walls, signs and benches (much more so than the sanctioned visual pollution known as advertising). And it's just the latest manifestation of a cultural practice going back thousands of years here.

Naturally, as a card-carrying preservationist, I don't espouse going so far as to tag ancient obelisks, but an argument can be made that a long line of pontiffs did just that when they decided to crown each one left standing in this town with a crucifix or saint (I'll save that rant for another time). At its creative best, graffiti urges otherwise dazed urban denizens out of their haze by way of surprise and can intrigue, inform and entertain us along the way.

I myself prefer wit to snit and each time I visit I'm impressed by the inventiveness of the stencils in particular. I enjoy this series of wild animals -- harkening back to the iconic she-wolf and the bloody contests held in the Colloseum -- when on my morning jogs along the eastern bank of the Tiber. There are at least 20 of them running along the retaining walls in various poses and to great effect.

Another amusing series consists of variants of these "glam-rocker" happy faces which appear to be the favorite of a local apostate -- they're emblazoned on a neighboring church as well as above restaurants and bars along our street. I like how they temporarily break up the monotony of cherub- and laurel wreath-encrusted facades. Lest anyone get too upset, they are simply screen prints attached with poster adhesive.

And I especially enjoy this more subtle stencil of fellow (and

now former) Ohioan Lebron James emblazoned on a park bench just off the Piazza San Cosimato. The caption reads: "Cleveland bred". I may just add "...and to Miami fled" if I can remember to find a black Sharpie.

To be continued...

L'Inferno Romano

Rome continues to be a particularly enervating inferno at 37 degrees centigrade and 90% humidity. The apartment is small and stuffy but we've been planning some strategic escapes from the urban heat wave, including forays to air conditioned museums and grocery stores. We took a 35-min. train to the beach at Ostia yesterday and had a full day of sun, surf, and sandy swim trunks. Giulia is determined to learn how to swim and is really making progress. Both she and Giorgio inherited the "I don't like getting me face wet" gene from my side of the family so her newly aquired dog paddle is significant progress! Giorgio fades rapidly in the sweltering heat but unfortunately becomes somewhat overly enlivened (i.e. running in museums regardless of the stern warnings of the guards) in the presence of air conditioning so we've got a bit of a Catch 22 on our hands.

It was nice having Shari and the girls as visitors last weekend. The kids really enjoyed seeing some familiar faces - despite the cramped quarters - so it was a welcome change of pace. Here's a shot of the kids outside the Pantheon where we were accosted by some picture-proffering gladiators.
Thankfully, Ostia wasn't as dirty as we were expecting (or as everyone we know warned). It was also a Tuesday so the beaches weren't as crowded. Much to our delight we also stumbled upon a particularly friendly, non-mangy feline on our way back to the station (see below).

I've started a new morning regimen of running along the Tiber before 7 am when the sidewalks begin to sizzle so that I can continue the daily regimen of pizza and pasta. Gio's culinary creativity hasn't suffered in our piccola home kitchen -- we've enjoyed rabbit cacciatore, pasta amatriciana and con vongole, among other memorable repasts. It's amazing what a pro can do with a fickle burner, two marginal pans and 3 square feet of work space.

The afternoon siestas afford us time to recuperate, plan the next outing, and improve our Italian while watching the latest TV commercials promising

weight loss "senza sacrifici!". Apparently all you need to do is stand on a vibrating podium for a few minutes every day to shed the pounds. A few years ago, attaching low-voltage electrodes to one's midsection was all the rage. It's also apparent that Italy doesn't see the need for a consumer protection agency.

The Imposters

It's been an interesting week. On Monday we visited the American Academy as a family and met up with Giovanni's future boss chef Mona Talbot who gave us a quick tour of the building where he will be slinging sustainable hash for Rome Prize winners and faculty come September. She said that our chances look very good for a 3 BR apartment in the family housing complex -- we just need sign off by the capo who is vacationing in California and won't be back until next week.

We of course feel incredibly fortunate at the prospect of living here for a year and I left the hallowed hallways (which were strewn hapharzardly with pieces of Roman columns, frescoes, mozaics, funerary monuments and the like) feeling a little like those people who waltzed past security to crash Obama's first state dinner. The "AAR" extends over 11 acres at the top of the Janiculum Hill and includes an assortment of imposing palazzos within the ancient Aurelian walls as well as gardens, orchards, bocci courts, library, and seven cats who patrol the grounds bequethed by Carnegie, Frick, JP Morgan, Rockefeller, and an assortment of other monocled industrialists who lived back in the days before there were symposiums on the value of a Liberal Arts education. Gio and I have agreed that the best way to get used to the idea of residing in such a rarefied atmosphere is to ask ourselves "Why not us?" whenever the imposter feeling becomes overwhelming.

The efficacy of this approach proved itself on Wednesday when we visited Maxxi, Rome's 21st Century Art Museum and newest monument. Designed by Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in architecture, the building is all curves and light created by ribbons of cement and resulting in a variety of interior spaces from intimate and intriguing to elaborately imposing. I especially liked the suspended staircases lit from below. Unfortunately, the most impressive interior installation by far was the air conditioning after we negotiated two stifling bus rides to get there. The various art exhibits were distinctly underwhelming - excepting the huge prone skeleton of a giant bird man outside the main entrance which thrilled the kids.

Video art predominated over other mediums, much to my chagrin. Yet the presence of several tents decorated with flags and rubber gloves and a sun hat suspended in a corner over a pair of espadrilles passing as sculpture served to remind us that the artists presumably didn't consider themselves to be imposters when they submitted these works for consideration before Maxxi's illustrous board .

Later that afternoon Gio brought my attention to an ad posted on the "Wanted in Rome" website for an Online Marketing Coordinator for the United Nations World Food Programme located here. They're the first responders every time there's a major disaster (i.e. the earthquake in Haiti last January) and also work with a variety of governments and NGOs to address malnutrition worldwide (in Gaza, Somalia, Tanzania, etc.). I shot off an email that night with a link to my LinkedIn profile online and they requested an interview this morning. I wasn't really expecting to hear back so quickly (or to put on eyeliner so soon in the 100-degree heat) but made my way to their high security building on the outskirts of town and had a pleasant chat with Abby, their communications coordinator. She said the position was somewhat flexible and that she wanted to keep me in mind for their publications division as well if this opportunity doesn't pan out. We shall see. It's quite an impressive operation and it would be great if I could assist them on a part time basis.

Tomorrow we look forward to hosting Shari Duscenne and her girls Giada and Valentina and their cugina for the weekend.