Attacking ATAC.

For those of you who are unaware, ATAC is basically the Roman equivalent of TFL (Transport for London), they are responsible for all of the public transport here in Rome. A system which, when working well, is rather good- considering that as a student I can buy a monthly pass for only €18. However, it never works flawlessly! For one thing, the buses don't come anywhere near regularly enough for a capital city and more often than not I, in my impatience, end up taking the imaginary bus instead of waiting! Just so you know, most Italians do not view this waiting as a problem, they'll happily just stand there for half an hour in order to take the bus for only 2 stops. It's madness! I realise this is probably how they feel about me walking almost everywhere.

Another common feature of the ATAC system, and all transport in Italy (as I gather from the grumblings of my fellow Warwick students) is lo sciopero. Translation: the strike. About once a month it seems the good unionised workers of ATAC decide 'nope, not today' and the whole city stands still, just like the empty trains and buses. As grand scale standstills go, it's not nearly as much fun as a city-wide game of musical statues would be, but there you go, such is life. No one ever listens to my brilliant, albeit barmy, ideas! As a native Londoner I feel obliged to insert a mini rant about how this would NEVER happen in London. Yes, the tube drivers strike occasionally, but everyone still gets to work and it's mostly just something to talk about.

However, it's not the infrequent buses or the monthly train strike that's got me all riled up. That would be silly, for annoying as these things may be they are fundamental to transport in Rome and anyone dwelling in this historic hub of society must accept them as normal and part of the city's eccentric charm. No, today I'm ranting because without giving ANY reason whatsoever this evening I had to walk home- across the whole city- because there was no Metro B Line during the RUSH HOUR.

Yes, in an hour when every bus and train carriage in the city is packed tighter than a can of sardines, and probably not smelling much better either, no explanation was offered as to why there were no trains. There was a bus replacement service though, with buses being half the size of a railway carriage. Madness! My 25 minute commute took two hours. Two hours from Testaccio, past the Colosseum, through Domus Aurea, past Santa Maria Maggiore, to Termini, all the way to uni and then my normal walk home. Thank you very much.

It's not all doom and gloom though. As I mentioned before I often end up walking most places, and quite like it. I was mostly upset about not getting my Kindle time on the train. I'd so been looking forward to playing with my new toy and getting lost in 'Wuthering Heights'. I'm such a geek!

So, sorry for the pointless rant, but now you know how transport works in Rome. Basically, not quite as it should and sometimes not at all!

p.s. TFL is much better than ATAC, but here's proof that not everyone loves them.

Taking The Plunge.

Yesterday I was talking to a good friend from home. And when I was 'talking' I evidently mean tapping words to electronically, as I live in Rome whilst she's still in England. I was thrilled when she popped up on screen because (a) I love my friends and like to keep up to date with all the news and (b) because she opened the dialogue with a nice, big and bold question:

Do you want to work abroad?

Quite simply, yes. Yes, I flipping well do! She was pleased with my response and seemed surprised that I'd already looked into a couple of ideas similar to her's, such as spending a summer working as a holiday rep somewhere in Europe, which is massively popular and you have to apply for nice and early (apparently). I've actually been considering this, and much longer contracts as well as destinations much farther afield, since I first arrived in Rome. That is to say I've been seriously wondering about what opportunities are available to a British  graduate in this vast world and how difficult they may or may not be to stumble upon.  I'll be honest, I've pondered it a lot, I haven't gotten round to much actual research yet and most of the people I know who've lived all over the world, when asked say that things just happened. Opportunity knocked.

What really strikes me as interesting though is how many people want to learn a new language, live in a different country (whether temporarily or permanently) and basically get a bigger taste of life. Before moving to Rome in September I'd talk about my degree  in the way that you naturally do when making polite small talk, 'I'm a student... I'm a Warwick... studying English and Italian Literature'. However, I always noticed how interested many people were when I spoke about the language component and the compulsory Year Abroad. It seemed as though almost everyone had wanted to do something similar at one time or another. When I asked what had prevented them most people answered quite honestly: fear of the gamble and of challenges unforeseen and the question of timing, that is to say 'the timing was never right'.

Timing is something I've considered a lot recently. When is the best time to take a risk, to plan a long and expensive trip, to get married, to make an investment, to have a baby or flip your whole world upside down?  My findings are as follows.... never. There's a never a good time. There's always a reason to say no, or chicken out. This is my new mantra, my motivation to say 'yes' to more. The time will never be 'right', but it may well be pretty good and as for the fear, I've already moved abroad. Yes, in a controlled setting, with lots of support and for a fairly set amount of time... but I've done it. I took the plunge, booked my tickets, read foreign papers and found a flat. I've explored this beautiful city of mine, met some fantastic people from all over (need to blog about some of them soon) and yes, I got robbed. But life's made up of both the good and the bad. My point is, I've done it once and it's made me braver. I think I could do it again. I could probably handle sorting it out for myself. I'd like to see what and where else the world has to offer

...once I finish my degree, of course. 

Not Nineteen Forever

“You’re not nineteen forever, pull yourself together. I know it seems strange but things, they change.”
-The Courteeners.

I’ve just been struck by a most peculiar feeling and realised that my room seems very quiet and oddly tidy. The reason for this is that I am completely alone in here, for the first time in five days. This weekend I celebrated my twentieth birthday and to mark the occasion my best friend flew over from England to join in the revelries... and clutter my room with some cracking sartorial choices. Therefore, I obviously spent the weekend being outrageous: getting my fill of Gavin & Stacey quotes, talking in ridiculous voices with words and phrases that only make sense to the two of us and giving a full Roman tour- complete with basic history and personal anecdotes, such as ‘My friend once vommed there’.  

As the daughter of teachers I get a real satisfaction simply from learning. I like finding out what things are, and as a little swot I like already knowing so that I can show off! For this reason, amongst many, Rome is probably ideal for me- it’s saturated with history and almost every piazza has something worth finding out about, or at least taking note of. Furthermore, who can help but be a little awestruck at sights such as the Colosseum, the Vittoriano or the Trevi Fountain? It doesn’t matter that I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen them- to quote John Keats, 

‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever.’

Following all my big resolutions and my determination to not let these new beginnings go to waste I am doing much better at saying ‘yes’ and I think my brain is already getting the message; less bed and more dancing.

This week I heard ‘Not Nineteen Forever’, by The Courteeners, for the first time in ages and didn’t pay attention as I considered the refrain. Things do change, often for the better. Fingers crossed that’s mostly the case here as I embrace this pretence of adulthood.

...I’m going to get some squash now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC8FET-EGVM&ob=av2e

(In case you're not familiar with the song.)

You have to start somewhere

After months of consideration and envy at how some of my friends blog away, confident that someone will care, genuinely enthralling me with all their adventures and musings I've finally decided (on a whim) to enter the big bad world of the internet and find an opinion or a story worth sharing... and maybe one day I'll have one! So here's hoping that some friend, family member, or obscure acquaintance might just happen to be vaguely interested and potentially amused.

All this has stemmed from a new desire to be bold. The new year marked a new beginning and I seized it by booking a very exciting girls holiday to IBIZA, where hopefully many a good story will unfold. However, that's not until September, so I now I need something  to do in the meantime. I've now been back in Rome for a week and have re-resolved to make life happen... having admittedly slipped into something of a Roma Coma. Thank God for it too, as I realise that half of my time here is almost gone and I've barely done a thing.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION (Part II): Stop chickening out!!

Here it's so easy to just sit up all night and lay in all day.... stream a few episodes of something hilarious, pop out for a cappuccino and that's a day gone. But there's so much more to it all! Everyone I know who's done it looks back on it their ERASMUS year as the highlight of university, maybe even life. I can see why, when you completely get into it it's brilliant- you meet people from all over Europe, party loads and have heaps of opportunities to travel around. So why have I been so half-arsed about it so far?!

On top of all that- this is Rome! It's beautiful, historic and full of a so many interesting people, from all over the world. Yes... I will be better. And this will help me be motivated. You can't write a blog without adventures to report...