Close, but no cigar

I give ATAC props for installing these digital countdown clocks at some of the major bus stops... BUT (you knew that was coming, didn't you?) they still need to tweak the system a bit. I always dread reading "A Capolinea" (at the end of the line) beside a bus number because it gives you no indication at all of when the bus will in fact come by- it could be in 2 minutes, it could be in 20 minutes... I've waiting as long as 25 minutes. Not even my beloved iPhone 4 and its ATAC mobile app can save me because it feeds from the same source as these countdown clocks.

I know, I know, beggars can't be choosers but still, it would make life a tad easier to actually know how long the bus will sit at the end of the line (read: how long of a cigarette/coffee break the driver intends to take) so I can plan accordingly. Maybe I'll write to ATAC about this... cue hysterical laughter.

Sephora

I know people are always grumbling about globalization and the demise of mom & pop shops, but I have to say I am thrilled that Rome now has several Sephora stores. For years we've been at the mercy of overly priced & overly rude profumerie where pushy & impatient salespeople were up in your grill the second you set foot in the shop, where you could barely touch a product let alone look its the label, where asking questions about a product or its ingredients was frowned upon (I recall once asking if a product contained parabens, the salesperson basically laughed at my concern saying it was nonsense), where merely mentioning the word "sample" caused jaws to drop and attitudes to flare up (I'm convinced the owners of these profumerie have stockpiles of samples at home though), where prices were never clearly marked so you could get jacked depending on your accent or what the salesperson imagined you could spend. Trips to these profumerie always ended with me leaving empty-handed or me buying a 50 euro product I used once and tossed out.

Enter Sephora.

Pure bliss: tons of products in various price ranges, where you can actually touch the products, look at their labels, and GASP... get samples! Seriously, for all I care all the other profumerie can go out of business. I finally have a place in Italy where I can buy products and not feel annoyed, abused, or ripped off. Hooray for Sephora!

Espresso not expresso

One of my biggest gripes when I'm in the good ol' US of A is the lack of good espresso, even in my beloved NYC (which is where I am now)... mind you there are plenty of decent espresso places in NYC but when I'm being charged $2-$3 for it, I want it to be really good, not just decent. For the past three months I've tried many places and haven't found anything exceptional until I discovered (drum roll please).... KAVA. I strolled by there yesterday and had a very good macchiato, it cost me $3 + change but I enjoyed every sip of it and I enjoyed the decor.

Well done, Kava, well done...

slowly but surely

I realize that Rome is an ancient city but it does need to start getting with the times. Today, while running some errands in Prati, I finally had the chance to test out a new eatery that popped up in June. It's called VERO- FOOD TO MOVE and it kicks ass. It reminds me of Pret a Manger or Eat: a nice variety of quick, healthy food. Of course we'd all like to have the time and luxury to sit around and eat a leisurely one-hour lunch but that's not always an option, so being able to grab soup (I love me some soup) and a sandwich or salad TO GO, is a real necessity nowadays in Rome. Their desserts are pretty tasty as well.

I'm liking this place and hoping they open up a few more shops around town!

Ignorance

I just witnessed a hideous display of ignorance and racism while riding on a bus in central Rome, one of the most disturbing I've seen in a while.

I head toward the exit doors as the bus nears my stop and notice a large, young Roman guy (a mix between a coatto & hooligan) who is close-talking with an older Filipino man. At first, I didn't pay attention to the words being exchanged because I assumed they were together based on how close the coatto was to the man's face, but when I actually tuned in I heard this: "You think you have the right to pass ahead of me. This is my country, you should keep your head bowed and shut up. How arrogant of you to think you can ask me to step aside, this isn't your country. You expect me to step aside for you, you immigrant. This is my country, go home..." and on and on. My first reaction, once I processed what he was saying, was to butt in and tell the racist asshole to knock it off BUT I quickly bit my tongue because I couldn't help but think: "What if this crazy mofo punches me in the face?". I have a tendency to mouth off in this city but there are times when it's crystal clear that the person on the receiving end is highly unstable and could possibly hurt me. So I stood there, staring at him with disgust in my eyes hoping he would notice but he was too focused on insulting, humiliating, and belittling a totally innocent man who just happened to be foreign. It was so immensely frustrating and upsetting to just stand there, impotent, not being able to say a word- I can only image how much worse it felt for the man who was being verbally attacked but he too, did not say a word and just tried to avert his eyes. I'm sure he also realized that this asshole was a loose cannon and things could get ugly really fast. My blood was boiling, my body was actually shaking from having to witness this hideous scene and not be able to intervene. The only thing I could do, once we got off the bus, was to say to the Filipino man: "Forget about him, he was just an ignorant jerk", in hopes of making him feel less alone.

It's really frightening and disturbing to see how young people think it's okay to treat someone like this IN public, this asshole clearly thought he was speaking for everyone else and that everyone agreed with him. If a group of people had confronted him and had told him to stop, he would've been forced to shut up. People need to gather together and stand up to ignorant racists and bullies, this kind of behavior should not be tolerated in public.

If only I'd had a Taser on me...

Happy thoughts

If you're feeling overwhelmed, disgusted, and frustrated by Italian politics and the never-ending mud slinging which, if you ask me, is out of control (see above*), here's a happy thought for you, or for you Romans at least: Cinema Reale (Piazza Sidney Sonnino #7, Trastevere) is now showing films in V.O. So far they've shown "Animal Kingdom" and now "Everybody's fine" is playing. Yay!

*note: I am not defending Berlusconi in any way, shape, or form. I just think it's ridiculous and inappropriate for a political party to actually spend money on a poster of this sort. Gimme a fucking break, don't stoop to their level.

Big Mamma's Boy

This is the trailer for my Italo-Australian friend's film. I'm fascinated by how the experiences of first generation kids are very similar no matter what nationality the parents are. We're not 100% American or Australian (etc.) but we're certainly not 100% Italian. We're in between and always will be.