Enjoying the everyday

Why my Roman neighborhood feels like a village

graffiti on terracotta walls, a white cinquento car and cobblestone or sampietrini - must be Rome! Trastevere, Roma, May 2024

I had a free morning yesterday and took advantage of the time to run a few errands before returning home for late afternoon meetings. Some errands I don’t like, like going to sort things out at the bank or at the municipio, but others I find immensely enjoyable because they are opportunities to interact with regular Rome, and that is mostly still fun for me. While it’s not fun to be squashed between people in the metro between the Colosseo and Termini stops - that is a part of regular life I don’t love - walking through my neighborhood getting things done is really fun. I get fresh air, exercise, and interact with people. The latter is super important for me because as an introvert who works from home I really do need to make myself see actual people beyond a Zoom screen. 

Here is a list of fun things that are built into my errands: 

• Rummaging through a pile of old clothes at the nearby weekly street mercatino 

• Swinging by the tailor’s to pick up hemmed pants and watch him sew

• Shopping at the mercato for seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables - yesterday I bought plump and fleshy nespole (medlar) 

• Stopping in for a slice of pizza bianca at the panificio to snack on as I walk home 

• Hearing my name prounounced in Italian by store keepers who now know me Ciao Michelle-uh! Emphasis on the last “e” because every letter is pronounced in Italian. E tu come stai? How are you? (Side note: My great-uncle Michele became Uncle Mike in the States and I was given the anglicised version of his name. My sisters, however, were given Italian names and I’m still upset about it.) 

In these little moments I tap into a sense of community; I become part of something, of a bigger story that is infused with traditions and ways of being. In these moments I feel allowed - invited even - to ride a wave of togetherness. Later, when I walk home alone, away from the hustle and bustle, I’ll feel lonely, separate from it all, aware that I have only scratched the surface of living here. And still, it’s fun.

Yesterday, rummaging through the tables of discounted and second-hand clothing and house linens at the street mercatino I found a new Made in Italy silk and wool undershirt with the tag still on it. It cost €1. Those are so cozy and warm for damp Roman winter days. A few weeks ago I found a vintage Italian linen table cloth with matching napkins for €3. All sorts of things are sold at these rag-tag street markets, from kitchenware to underwear. Sometimes the provenance of these wares is dubious, but oh the thrill of the quest to find treasure! 

As I rifled through items, Roman singer Claudio Baglioni’s scratchy voice emerged from a vendor’s van “…e tu come stai…” . I love his 1978 hit song titled like the chorus that runs through it E tu come stai. Before I knew it I was humming along. The first time I heard it I was living in Mexico City. Recently arrived we had been trying for weeks to get internet and cable television installed in our rental and the technician consistently didn’t show up when scheduled. On a severely rainy afternoon, the kind that can flood the streets of the Distrito Federal and leave stranded vehicles floating down tree-lined avenues, the technician arrived unannounced. He wrangled with cables and antennae unsuccessfully until lightening caused a power outage. The house was as dark as the skies and even though it was rainy season and he was used to this kind of weather he did accept our offer to huddle in the dark kitchen with us waiting for the thick of the storm to pass. Much later, when night time merged with the storm, and the technician was long gone, the lights came back on and as if by magic we also had cable. One of the first channels that came online was RAI TV. It was a soap-opera about a circle of friends living and loving somewhere in Italy and after five minutes I was hooked. I don’t remember the name of the show or who was in it, but I do remember that during the very romantic scenes Baglioni’s song would fade in and I felt my chest might explode if I didn’t go to Italy.

As I caught myself humming along to the song, the woman next to me began singing as she meticulously selected kids t-shirts from a pile: e tu come stai… Unlike me she wasn’t at all embarrassed to be singing aloud. I finally joined her with the back up chorus na-na-na-na-na-na … In that moment, I was fine, I was benissimo, feeling part of a very small moment somewhere in Italy that took years in becoming. 

I don’t remember what that Italian TV show was called. I keep searching for it to no avail on RaiPlay. If you happen to know which one it is then do tell me.

PS: by tapping on the heart icon or leaving a comment you support my writing - grazie di cuore!

---