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What's bugging me.

Take a born-and-raised New England girl and plop her in a Mediterranean city during the summertime and what's going to bother her the most?

Her skin.

I was brought up with brutal winters, skiing, and wearing jackets on cool summer evenings. It's now nearing July in Rome and I don't think I'll ever get used to the sun and the heat. Shovelling snow from the driveway is nothing but a pleasant memory. But aside from the sweating and burning and peeling that I constantly endure, I've got a new itch to scratch.

I was standing at the bus stop (a likely location for unwelcome happenings) when my legs began to itch. I looked down at my pasty pale skin and, to my horror, found that I was covered with huge, red bug bites! I hadn't noticed them before and began to wonder when I had time to get bit since I had been inside all day. To me, getting bug bites in the city is about as easy as, well, getting a slice of pizza.

Some, like myself, seem to forget that winding through the vast city of Rome there is an enormous river: the Tiber. Although charming to stroll along with a romantic Roman and a gelato in hand, this river seems to attract the scum of the city. The water is polluted, the homeless reside under the bridges, and it makes for a perfect habitat for the tiger mosquitoes.

This pest has Asian origins and a taste for both humans and animals. The City of Rome is constantly campaigning to combat this problem, but I am (painfully) walking proof that they have yet to swat that bug.

Ok...so maybe it wasn't a tiger mosquito that attacked me personally, but with this heat and humidity, the inflammations are not going down and wearing skirts or shorts is a cause for embarrassment.

Posted by Kelsea at 11:31 AM | Comments (3)

A summertime treat

It's official: Summer has hit Rome. Five minutes under the sun causes terrible sunburns, sweat constantly drips down backs, and no one has the energy or the apetite to eat during the day.

So how do we keep from wasting away?

Gelato (a.k.a. ice cream)! In this hot, Mediterranean weather, cold and creamy gelato is the only appealing thing to eat. Walk into any gelateria (ice cream shop) and pick from any of the numerous piles of delicious flavors. My personal picks include bacio (chocolate and hazelnut), biscotti (cookies), and Nutella.

You can find a gelateria just about anywhere - but they're not all the same. As a general rule, the places with a less colorful selection make their own gelato in-house...and therefore taste better. But I have to warn: Italian gelato is extremely tastey and addictive. My current average is two cones a day!

Posted by Kelsea at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)

What is he shopping for?

I was walking through Piazza Campo de' Fiori this afternoon when this man caught my eye. He was pushing a shopping cart through the square, taking his time and looking around -- as one normally does while checking out merchandise in a store. It was one of those moments that camera-phones are made for.

Posted by Kelsea at 3:18 PM | Comments (1)

Italy-Ghana, 10:00 p.m.

When my boyfriend told me that everyone is glued to the TV when Italy plays a game in the World Cup, I didn’t know that he literally meant everyone.

It’s 10:00 p.m. here in Rome – and half-time of the Italy-Ghana soccer game. As it stands at the moment, Italy has scored one goal to zero. When the game began at 9 , I had just gotten out of dance class near the city center. I noticed that the streets were particularly empty for such a beautiful evening. The few bars that I passed were packed and quiet, the only noise coming from the television. The flickering light of television sets sputtered from behind closed shutters. Even the street-vendors that usually beckon pedestrians to look at their merchandise had their backs turned to the potential customers and were fixated on the small black and white screens of portable televisions.

I rode a nearly vacant bus up the hill to my neighborhood. Once again, the streets were empty. The sound of my footsteps seemed loud against the dead air. As I approached my house, the was a sudden outburst of sound. Shouts and cheers poured from the windows and echoed through the bare streets. In the distance, car horns honked (the drivers had obviously been tuned into the game on the radio). All around me there was noise coming from hidden sources – and after 15 seconds, it was quiet again.

I chuckled to myself as I entered my building. With no television or radio or any source of media, I had experienced my first Italian World Cup goal.

Posted by Kelsea at 4:28 PM | Comments (3)

World Cup

I remember when the Red Sox played (and won) the Yankees in the 2004 World Series. Almost all of the American students crammed into pubs and cheered on their team until pretty early in the morning (due to the time difference). This phenomenon is commonly seen when it comes to baseball or football -- but soccer? From my experience growing up in New England, soccer was not very popular among Americans.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the 2006 World Cup -- a very important tournament not only for soccer fans but all of Europe. Friends make plans to watch matches together, money is being put down for bets, and everyone is eager to see who will win. Romans are especially excited to see their hero, Francesco Totti, finally play for the Italian team after breaking his ankle some months ago.

"I have to see every game that Italy plays," my boyfriend warned me the other day, "and Brazil. I can't miss a Brazil game." I have been told that when the Italian team has its matches, the streets are empty; and even those who never watch soccer are glued to the TV to root for their nation.

"So what do you think about the American team?" I have been getting asked recently. I respond with an ignorant shrug and say, "To be honest, I couldn't name a single player." My Italian friends gasp, and then proceed to inform me about my own country's team.

Posted by Kelsea at 4:44 AM | Comments (0)

...But rocks can't sing!

One of my favorite things to do while traveling is to get off the beaten track and discover those less-touristy attractions. In the town of Le Guildo, France, finding one of these spots requires following hand-painted signs and a walk along an isolated beach at low tide.

They are called the “Singing Rocks.” Unlike the modern jukebox, you need to do more than just pop in a coin to hear their song. Pick up one of the many smaller rocks on the beach and bang it against the larger ones to hear…

The result: A sound similar to what two pieces of metal being banged together would sound like. The tones also make it seem like the larger rocks are hollow, causing this sound resonance.

One might question why these strange rocks are here. As opposed to stabbing at a geological explanation, the locals say that these rocks were vomited up by the giant “Gargantua” when passing by the beach one day.

Posted by Kelsea at 7:32 AM | Comments (0)