Nothing like almost getting abducted in Rome! (And other Roman adventures!)

March 4th, 2011: Looking back on the end of my semester abroad.

After some time on the train and much waiting in the cold we made it to Rome! (Yunha took an earlier train than us so it was just Abe, Julian, Amanda and me left.) Julian, Abe and Amanda were staying at a hostel together near the train station and I was headed to the Convent guest house that Maggie, Phil and I were staying at. Maggie and Phil were scheduled to arrive the next morning. We stood around in the train station trying to figure out what exactly our gameplan was. It was early afternoon and we wanted to meet up later for supper so that I didn't have to spend all night alone. :) We decided that we would all get in a cab together (which, reflecting upon it, was kind of a crazy idea since we have so much luggage!).

We walked outside to find the taxi stand and were immediately approached by a gentleman claiming to be a taxi driver. We thought, "alright, let's go load up his cab." Only, we walked right by the taxi stand and kept walking to a parking lot that was probably a hundred meters or so from the train station. Anyway, the nice gentleman took one of my giant 50+ lbs. bags and started walking fast toward that parking lot. Julian, Amanda, and Abe were a little behind looking at a map debating if they could just walk to their hostel. (I knew a cab was necessary since I had no clue where my convent was!) Abe, like the smart man he is, saw the guy take off with one of my bags and me jog after him with my other bag and followed us. He said that he thought, "I don't know what's going on really, but I'm not going to let Jane go alone." (Praise the Lord for that!) Anyway, we arrive at his "cab" and it's a decentely sketchy unmarked white, small SUV/delievery truck-esk thing. Anyway, no where did it say "Taxi" or "City of Rome" or ANYTHING indicating this guy wasn't scamming us and wanting to kill us. He loaded my bag in the truck of his car and starts grabbing for my other one. At this point Abe has almost caught up to us, but not quite yet. I start (sass-ily) asking the guy if his car was a taxi and he was a legit cab driver. He started pointing to this little plastic trinket near his licesnse plate claiming that meant he was legit. (I like to compare the little plastic thing to something a child might find in his happy meal.) At that point, I got really sassy and grabbed my bag out of his car and started telling him, "I'm not riding with you, you are not a real taxi driver." I grabbed my bag out of his car, turned around, flipped my hair at him, and walked back to the (actual) taxi stand--I was pretty proud of myself for not getting in a situation that could potentially end in death!

Well, we found a real taxi (whew!). The man dropped the other three at their hotel and then was going to take me to mine in Vatican City. My friends and I made plans to meet up at 6:30pm at the Pantheon. I think it was about 3:30 when I bid them farewell with hopes to see them a few hours later. The nice man drove me to Vatican City and pointed out some of the landmarks of Rome as we drove past them. He dropped my off on the main road right in front of St. Peter's and told me he wasn't going to go down the road but pointed me in the right direction. I was full of confidence--you know, since I didn't get killed and all--so I strapped on my backpack, put my other bag on, and started dragging my 100 lbs of luggage in two suitcases. (I'm going to go ahead and estimate I had a solid 125-150 pounds of luggage...that get's important later...)

I confidentely walk towards the street and start looking for 43 Whatever Name Street. I found the street and it was kind of at a weird angle so I wasn't quite sure which way the street went. I began walking back and forth, consulting my mapquest directions and comparing it to landmarks. It looked as though it was right next to this church that I found so I walked in to see if anyone there knew about it. They had no clue what I was talking about. I found a nice family and asked if they could point me in the right direction; they, too, had no clue where it was. So, I walked back and forth, and back, and forth again. I found where 43 Whatever Name Street should have been but it wasn't actually there, or maybe it was, but on the wrong side of the road. It's really hard to explain unless you can see this building that I was walking in front of--it had lots of addresses on it?! Nevermind, the important thing is that I walked back and forth (with 125-150 pounds of luggage) for an hour. The family that I originally asked for directions ended up coming back from wherever they went and looked at me with such sympathetic eyes and I could tell they wanted to help me so badly--but couldn't.

I was ridiculously close to finding a cab and having them take me to the Pantheon where I would sit until 6:30 when my friends came and then go back to their hotel--but that option seemed so horrible since I was super sweaty and tired from carrying my bags.

I had seen this sign that talked about PJPII calling for a revival of the youth of the world or something. Anyway, they had this club? hangout? for youth and I walked around trying to find that instead. I figured: I was a youth, it was around where I was supposed to be, maybe there would be a nice person there that could help me. Thanks to God, there was a gate that was unlocked but probably supposed to be locked. I found this club thing and rang the doorbell. A nice Indian priest came to the door and helped me. I asked if he knew where the convent was and he called a priest friend of his from upstairs. They decided maybe it was this convent that they had a meeting at the month before. The first priest grabbed one of my bags for me and we started toward this place they met. IT WAS THE RIGHT CONVENT!!!! I had never been so relieved in my life. It was 4:30/5:00 at this point and I was sweating and tired so I hopped in the shower and got ready to meet my friends for supper.

Yet another adventure awaited me as I had to walk from Vatican City to the Pantheon. This ended up being a ridulously easy endeavour and I arrived at the Pantheon a half hour early. (I left early so I made sure I got there on time...) Anyway, I walked into the Pantheon and strolled around for a while. And then a while longer. It was really cold outside and kind of cold inside, but I toughed it out. Then, I sat down for a while and rested. Then, it was 7 o'clock and the Pantheon closed (remember, they were supposed to be ther by 6:30!) I proceeded to sit around for a long time outside (in the freezing cold) and wait longer.

I had some spare time so I took a bunch of pictures f the Pantheon,
here's one for your enjoyment.

Well, it was about 7:30 and I had to eat and be back at the convent before 9 (or 10?) when the sisters locked the convent doors for the night. I was so cold and hungry that I found a pizze joint and got some yummy broccoli pizza. Then I started walking towards the convent only to, yes, run into my friends! They got super lost and ended up revising their plans and trying to find a cab to take them to the Pantheon. I was so excited to find them and have human contact after all of my adventures that I didn't even care that they were over an hour late! :) But, I went with them and watched them eat supper. Then, they wanted to stop for gelato before heading home. I was going to just go with them since I'm pretty sure I had hypothermia, but then I saw Kiwi gelato and couldn't pass that up so I got some gelato!! Then, I said bye and wished good travels to Julian and Amanda, made plans with Abe to meet him at the Vatican museums on the 22nd-ish and headed toward the convent. I was so excited to lay down for bed that night...thinking back I can still feel myself fall into my bed in a mix of feelings and emotions: utter exhaustion, relief, excitement to see Maggie and Phil, saddness about leaving the villa, anticipation for Christmas, and on-and-on the list goes.

Here I'll end my account of adventures with the Villains, the Villa Corsi-Salviati, a semester in Italy, traveling to whatever country I please on the weekend, free passes to Florence's finest museums, my private Italian Chef, and so much more. Next, I'll reccount my Roman Christmas--or what I remember from it.