old city

               Cold, striking, semi-winter wind blowing in through the open window. I listen to the mellow, slow songs playing loud on the computer, and to the car engines running outside on the street, feeding the nostalgic breeze inside the room. Earlier I went to Piramide (a place here in Rome), and I was alone. It wasn't my first time to travel alone nor to the ride the metro bus by myself, I've been doing that for quite some time now ever since I got here, but it was my first time to go to this particular place without someone to accompany me. Usually I travel alone when I'm just going from the apartment to the agency, which is near Termini, the major public transport capital in central Rome. When traveling to places aside from Termini and the agency I need to have someone with me and earlier seemed a bit courageous for a scaredy-cat like myself. I guess it's totally different from when I was in the Philippines, I always had someone to go with me, and I could always ask people around for directions or help-- here it seems difficult especially with the language barrier and all. I only know of a few Italian words and I couldn't even finish a statement much less ask for directions to anywhere. But it's been better though, better than the feeling when I first came here. I could say I have accepted the reality that would take years to accept and I managed within days of my arrival.

my mom

                  Rome is so beautiful when I look at it from an artist's perspective, an old city coming to life right in front of your very eyes, who wouldn't marvel at such beauty? Chapping paint, rusty metal marks, old-but-sturdy-walls, and exquisite relief on nearly every building and every column. It's heaven for every architecture enthusiast. If only I could have lived then, when private vehicles didn't crowd the sides of the streets, when people never feared of thieves and pick pockets roaming everywhere, back to the time when the old city had old life. Now it seems that the old is colliding with the new, and the new is trying to fit in the old. Regardless, it still is an amazing mix-up of both worlds, and it still is magical. Above are pictures from my first encounter with Rome, from the moment I stepped outside the apartment to the trip to Colosseum, Fontana di Trevi, Repubblica and my first night in Rome. I'll post more decent photos when I get the chance, I've been so busy with my documents again-- when will this cycle of paper-processing ever end?