Around the world in less than 31 days - 100th post!

Birthday flowers = birthday smiles

Birthday dinner in the Jewish Ghetto, at

the fittingly named Nonna Betta (Grandma Elizabeth)

It is only fitting that my 100th post for '100 days of Beall' falls on my birthday. I had planned a hallmark video upload for you for this occasion, but best laid plans - just talk to Aerolineas Argentinas about that....

Given my lack of any permanent status (job/house, etc.) AND the fact that my former flatmates are getting married, I decided it was high time to take a journey back (or rather forward) to the capital for which this blog began. I can remember packing for NZ and thinking how am I ever going to get all this stuff around the world, and now with my transient status I get to move my stuff very often. Since I have no current residence, I needed to pack up my vacation rental (tear, goodbye Monti) and felt that I couldn't rely on the kindness of many Italians to fling my belongings around Rome AGAIN, so I found a storage unit (a rarity in Italy since they have a thing called families) and managed to fit all my worldly belongings (except for you know those ones still in NZed I'm going back for, and those other ones in the Monroe basement, and those others in some storage unit near Seattle...anyway) into a ONE square meter unit. Just looking at this little box made me smile. There's just something soothing about all (ok, most) of my stuff being in one little space that is all mine - I realize this sounds a bit sad and you may start to worry about me getting so excited about a 1 sq. meter box, but this might be what a transient lifestyle does to you - makes you grin at a box with a lock on it.

You may remember my flight here and that it's not exactly easy to get from Europe to NZ. Work decided they would throw an added challenge in by asking me to go to another capital in Peru for a few days, which just happen to be the days I should be on my way zipping through time. If you think it's easier to get to NZed from Peru because, well you know, it's closer - think again.

To fast forward this story, and many hours of time spent with a very nervous and stressed looking travel agent when I told her what we needed to pull off, I finally managed an itinerary to get me around the world with a short stop in Peru to deliver a presentation and to arrive in Wellington in time for the nuptials (I arrive 3 hours before they start). It will no doubt be a whirlwind, and I'm off to a good start with my first flight delayed out of Rome over 12 hours. They set me up in a hotel for the night, gave us dinner which I enjoyed with an Argentine priest, and assigned me Room 1234, which must be a sign - that FINALLY we're ready to go!

I will try to keep you updated along the way around the world, here's my route -

Rome - Argentina - Peru - El Salvador - Los Angeles - New Zealand - Melbourne -Dubai - Rome

I then get back to Rome for a week and head to Tanzania, more on that to come....

With Love, From Rome

Happy Valentine's Day from

Fontana di Trevi

Snowmergenza!!!

Whoever built this guy must have

had the patience I've been searching for,

because they definitely had to collect snow

from a 1km radius to build this thing

Foreign University entrance,

now famous for all the wrong

reasons

The University of Foxy Knoxie,

I know you may have wanted photos

of the house, but visiting murder scenes

sort of creeped me out, and frankly

the house is out of the center so not

on my tourist agenda. Did I mention

we were in a state of emergency?

This is after 24 hours of snowfall -

state of emergency

Ancient Etruscan gates

The hills of Umbria

I mentioned in my last post that snow was on its way to Rome and that in advance of a single flake, schools and the government were shut down. I smiled in glee as I thought about the fresh powder on the mountain and what a great weekend I picked to ski, until my phone rang (to the tune of only-in-Italy strikes again) and my hotel for the weekend told me not to come because there would be TOO MUCH SNOW - on a mountain/at a ski resort. I was so dumbfounded that I begged to come via train instead of driving- nope, the ski resort still held strong with telling me not to come skiing when it was snowing.

With Roman hysteria mounting, a new capital district version of snowpocolypse on the horizon, and a suitcase packed in my office, I made a gametime decision to flee the mania and head for tranquil Perugia (at least tranquil now that the Knoxie media crews are gone). The train to Perugia is 2.5 hours. Upon arriving at Termini, I was greeted with ALL TRAINS at least an hour delay - that includes trains going south, the EuroStar, you name it, and this was all with less than an inch of snow. I decided to hang in there and the end result was a four hour delay in departure, followed by a six hour train ride. I'm pretty sure I could have walked to Perugia quicker - especially since I was all dressed in my mountain gear since I thought I would be SKIING.

Perugia is famous for being "a wonderful little world where cultures and countries collide and coexist in an enchanting city whose roots go back to Etruscan times", the Perugina chocolate factory who make my favorite Baci, and let's get real - Amanda Knox (which basically takes the first reason and throws it right on its head). Considering how close it is to Rome you may wonder why I hadn't visited already, but given that people already say I look like Knoxie (you know all Americans look alike with our undid hair and honest angel eyes), it fell a bit lower on the list. Now that ol Angel Eyes is back home in Seattle and the press have finally packed up from Perugia, I figured I could pay a visit. (To be honest, this whole paragraph is a bit of a farce, I just didn't get around to visiting).

So once I finally arrived at 2am, the two saving graces were 1) I got the last of three taxis; 2) my hotel actually still had someone at the reception desk - unheard of in Italy, most of the time you get yelled at if you're not there by 8pm. So I slept in at my cute little hotel La Rosetta in the historical center for only 50 euro a night/bfast included, and couldn't wait to frolic in the mountains of snow that I was sure had accumulated given Perugia's higher altitude than Rome. See photos above of the 5 cm of icy glaze. I spent the days visiting the ancient Etruscan churches, and then visiting the not so holy ground of Knoxie's stomping grounds - the foreign University, the bars and cafes of party/college town, and eating as many Umbrian specialties as I could - tortellini with mushrooms and creme sauce, wild boar, arugula pesto, and tens of Baci. Side note - I joke that I've learned Italian 'one Baci at a time' because each chocolate candy has a saying in it about love in Italian (baci means kisses), and I eat at least two a day in Rome and practice these phrases as my dedication to Italian each day. Perugia is a charming little capital city, and I can see why so many people would study abroad there. The taint of murder and drama don't seem visible (at least on a weekend visit) but I can't imagine what it must have been like inundated with journalists and protesters, considering how small it is.

As I write this, we are in another state of emergency. Schools and government were again canceled today, and my FAO email box was flooded with staff complaints for why we were not also shut down - BEFORE A FLAKE HAD FALLEN. I walked home from work at 7 without a single flake of accumulation or slippery ice to deal with. Italians are angry that everyone is making fun of them for their panic, saying "People don't understand, we haven't had snow like this in 27 years". Ummm, snow like what? I understand it doesn't snow here, but how are you hampered by 5cm, and actually NO accumulation in the streets and both times on a Friday/Saturday?

I will do my best to deliver you some pics of the Colosseum COVERED in snow tomorrow, if this snowmergenza delivers this time. And I might even try to sled in Circo Massimo - I mean why not join the mania and get crazy - When in Rome