It’s the people

As much as I love seeing and feeling the history of Rome, it’s really the people, and not the buildings, that bring this city to life.

While riding home on the tram today, our group had the pleasure of meeting this curious old man. His small frame easily fit in between Jessica and Professor Mac. He carried a small, proper briefcase and wore a hat to cover his grayed hair. After I snapped a picture of the three, the man smiled and began to ramble to us in Italian, none of which we understood, but all of which we smiled at. Although I couldn’t translate any of what he was saying, it was one of the most engaging conversations I have had on this trip. Two minutes later, we exited the tram and left the elderly man just as we had met him, with a smile. 

It’s exchanges like these that make my day.

Triumph

This is the best photo of myself that I’ve taken in a while. I’m posting it in triumph.

Also, the slideshow from Days 9-11 is now up on the main site. Visit sjbstudentmedia.com.

Ideas and integrity

I value ideas.

They are the first thing that attracts me to people. Intellect is above all else. That’s why I can’t stand to see ideas stolen.

Today, at the open air flea market at Port Portese I passed a t-shirt stand, that at first glance had great merit above the endless piles of secondhand clothes and random junk. But, upon closer inspection I found that many of the shirts were identical to shirts designed and printed by threadless.com. Complete rip-offs.

Just as much as I value ideas, I value integrity. Being a journalist fits.

Cats now reign

“Visit the place where emperors once ruled and cats now reign.”

Josh and I visited the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary today. It’s a modest space tucked into a nook of one of Rome’s most notable archealogical sites, which is fitting since our feline friends often inhabit nooks and crannies. We were greeted by curious eyes, twitching tails and mostly friendly paws… minus those of the large black cat they lovingly call “Bloody Mary,” and with good reason.

The completely volunteer and completely non-profit cat sanctuary cares for about 200 cats at a time. The shelter spays, neuters, vaccinates, feeds and houses Rome’s abandoned cats. A truly heartfelt operation. I’ve always thought that cats and I have a some sort of connection. 

Much like cats, journalists are hungry for the world around them. We investigate, explore and sometimes don’t play well with others. But, we’re always honest. This is the kind of story that you love to hear and love to tell. It’s an added bonus when your interests and your word collide. 

And, as much as it might go against journalistic ethics, before we left the underground shelter, I donated 50 Euros. I had planned on bring both my mom and my dad back something from my trip, but I instead decided to leave a piece of our family here. 

For more information on the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary visit http://www.romancats.com.

Day 11: Recap

I can feel my heartbeat in my toes.

Circumnavigating the city on foot is not an easy task. After a few days of catching up on work and running long overdue errands (laundry and getting Josh’s hair cut), about half the group decided that it was about time to do something Rome-related again. Professor Mac, Barrett, Jessica, Josh and I took off to explore the north end of the city, which included stops at Piazza della Repubblica, Fontana dei Tritone and Piazza del Popolo.

Each landmark put us closer to another landmark, and another and another, and about four hours later we were standing in front of Vatican City and Saint Peter’s Basilica. Although I’m not Catholic, walking down the Vatican corridor felt somewhat like a pilgrimage. But, perhaps it was just the eager photographer with a wide angle lens in me. (Note: The photo in this post was taken during the day. I got a little happy changing aperture and shutter speeds. All in camera, no photoshop, for all the technologically challenged out there.)

As for the work side of the trip, Josh and I have a couple of leads for multimedia pieces:

1. We want to cover the Jewish community in Rome. What is in like living in the capital of Catholicism? There’s some intriguing history here, but uncovering it is the challenge. We visited Rome’s main synagogue yesterday, but were disappointed to find that no pictures or video was allowed inside. We did manage to get a few contacts though, including the Office of the Rabbi and the Jewish Cultural Center. Hopefully, after a few phone calls tomorrow we’ll be much closer to a story.

2. My mom also gave me another idea for an interesting story. She read that there has been a tradition of women caring for stray cats in Rome’s streets and even found a sanctuary for cats with contacts. We’re planning on visiting the sanctuary, which is at the corner of the Area Sacra where Caesar was murdered, sometime early this week. Josh and I are both cat lovers, so this story already has a special place in our hearts.

3. Professor Mac wants to do a story about horse racing in Rome. It’s good link back to one of Kentucky’s claims to fame. And, once he gets some more information and contacts for that, we’re heading to the tracks.

We have no problem coming up with story ideas, it’s just the logistics that make things complicated. But, I’m up for the challenge. I just hope that our in-depth work doesn’t go unnoticed.

Technical difficulties

I’m panicking a little.

My external hard drive is not appearing on my desktop. I can tell it’s getting power, but I can’t see any of the files. I’m pretty sure that all my photos and video will be able to be recovered; it’s just frustrating and I feel like I’m reliving a bad dream since I lost all of my photos from my last European adventure. I just need to find a computer store over here or wait until I get back to the states. 

I hate when machine wins over man.

In pictures

All my slideshows are up. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

http://www.sjbstudentmedia.com