Looking forward to the week-end...

this week has been long, very long, but I've finally managed to finish my paper in german for university! Let's see now what the professor has to say about it... As this took most of my time, I really haven't done much else, so now I'm looking forward to an exciting weekend: Ostia Antica excavations on Saturday followed by the beach, and the Vatican museums (including the Sixtine Chapel) on Sunday (as the entrance is for free that day).
Tonight on the menu: restaurant, walk in the Villa Borghese Park, and movie. The Casa del cinema is playing Chicago tonight, in english, for free!! Rare enough a combination to be mentioned...
Other random thoughts... with Italy mentioned as a target on internet for a London-type terrorist attack, the police presence in the metro stations has considerably increased, as well as general paranoia... tough though when there are so many people in there you cant even move...
Good luck to my brother Olivier, who just arrived in India for one year at the Delhi IIT university, crazy gora!
More pics tomorrow :)

Mexican and moonlight

Thursday evening, after work me and Mark went to Heathers place (one of the american interns) where she was organizing a mexican evening. Another intern, Cara, had gone to Naples over the week-end to see some relatives who live at the US military base there. She was saying that it was just amazing how it looked like any suburb of an american town. You really felt an ocean away from Italy, and not just a mile. The shops, the food, the people, newspapers, tv, everything just directly imported from America. You could live there for years without having any clue about Italy.
At the evening, everyone except the two of us was American, and everyone except Mark was a law student (yes, you can pity him ;)). We had a really fun evening and great burritos, but didnt stay late as we were planning to walk home, which meant crossing all the town from the Vatican area to SanGiovanni. It was really nice, the temperature ideal, the full moon shining on us, the tourists busy with going out and the monuments deserted.



The Colosseum with the full moon



Castel SanAngelo by night, and the Tiber river

At Work

I realized I haven't even really told about my work yet... My official title is Legal documentation intern, at the Distance Learning and Research center of IDLO. Proof that I'm working there: I'm on one of the pics of the homepage. Go to http://www.idlo.int, and there you click on the left on "read more" about the Course for Mauritanian judges happening now in Rome. I was there at the official opening of the course representing the library.
So what I do, is mainly research. I get asked by library users and staff members from the HQ to do research on many different topics (for ex. microcredit, Mauritanian laws, international labor law standards, etc...) as well as updating the library catalogue, online and offline. Through all of this I learn a lot mainly about researching and the main internet law tools for that, which is very useful, and also about international organizations and conventions in many areas. I also attend different seminars and meetings organized here, and in my free time can just read from the library as well.
All in all, depending on the request it can be quite challenging or plain boring, but research skills are essential for any lawyer, and I'm definitely getting aware of international matters specially in the area of development, where IDLO is mostly active. Well that's it, at least for now, my boss is on vacation for two weeks so I hope I have enough work to do till he comes back, otherwise I'll ask other interns if i can help them with their work.

Daily life

The week-end has been more than relaxed, some walking, some badminton, some shopping, but really nothing more... So I thought I would take some pics of things I come across daily and just make me smile...


One of the many places to eat around where I work... the new style Pizza Rustica, taken over by the Turks, Viva kebab!!



Over luncht time and in the evenings, the Tabacci (kiosks) close, but they put a cigarette vending machine behing the holes made for it, like this you'll never run out of cigarettes.



On my way to the metro, the unofficial Bocca della Verita, with much less tourists sticking their hand into it (according to the legend, if you're lying it will bite you) than at the real one.



Clothes shop close to work, with very angry looking "ladies" in the showcase



And last but not least, one small portion of the crowd waiting everyday to get into the Sixtine Chapel. Isn't it fun to be a tourist ;)

At the French embassy

Thursday evening was the big evening, the party at the French embassy. We dressed all nice, took the bus in order to get there early, and had to wait almost an hour outside the palace to watch all the real important people get out after the official ceremony. We definitely felt out of place, better dressed than tourists, but not allowed to get inside. The crowd was getting bigger and bigger, and you could start feeling the impatience and empty stomachs all around us. When it became clear that we could soon enter, everyone started pushing towards the entrance for the security check, and it really felt again like trying to get on the overcrowded metro in the morning.
Once inside, we again had to wait in the courtyard, where a band was playing, and all the French chitchat was filling the air. So much so, that it went on even during the official speech of the embassador, who had to ask repeatedly for a bit of silence. Poeple were getting thirsty, and some old ladies managed to find some water and orange juice from underneath tables used earlier for the apero. Finally the speech was over, and the little passage towards the garden, where the buffet was, opened up. You really would have thought it was like opening Ali Babas cave, the way all these people just rushed inside. Luckily we were quite at the beginning of the crowd, so we could get a first round of food without getting tramped on by everyone else. Unluckily, we never got to a second round or to the grill: the elegant and all so refined french crowd had turned into what seemed like an enraged crowd of very hungry vultures, fighting for the food with the moto: first come first serve, and forget about anything you ever learnt about politeness.
We soon had enough of all of that, and walked back home with all our ideals of a fancy night at the embassy completely shattered.

Here a picture of the Palais Farnèse where the party took place.





The palace from the back




The beautiful flower i got for namesday



The one and only swiss guard at the Vatican

Namesday

Yesterday was my namesday. Everyone of us has a namesday, or at least should. For sure every Hungarian does. It's a tradition that many families keep to celebrate not only your birthday, but also your namesday. The importance is a bit less, but you still get presents which is always a good thing ;) I got a beautiful flower from my one and only Hungarian love :) Thank you!
Tonight's the big party night: the 14th July party at the embassy. We'll have to dress nice and queue a bit to enter the building, but I'm sure it's worth the effort.

14th July, Allons enfants de la patrie...

This morning, full of good will and energy, I woke up early and left home at 8:10 to walk all the way to the french embassy to try and convince them to give me an invitation to the 14th July french National Day Party, organized by the embassador in the Farnese Palace, residence of the french embassy. Luckily Mark came along and it was a nice walk through Rome. The bus lines are just too complicated an unfrequent to be trusted, it's just as fast to walk. We arrived at the consulate just at 9am for the opening, and had to wait for two other people to first get their invitations. But it all went well, I had all the necessary papers and could my my invitation (plus guest) for Thursday's party. Of course Tenue correcte exigée, it will be fancy with music and a nice big buffet.
From the Consulate we walked then to IDLO, so all in all it took us 1h30 to do the trip, plus the 15mn spent at the Consulate. At least I've earnt myself a gelato today :)

Monday...

Typical Monday, somehow the day when all the small things seem to be against you. It started with the overcrowded old metro, giving you the impression that you're on your way back from work all tired and sweaty already. Then, getting out of the metro just to notice it started raining heavily in the meantime and of course you didn'd take your umbrella along. But what are a few drops of rain, right? Well it seems to just paralyse everybody entirely. No matter how much in a hurry you are, you just freeze wherever you find shelter and wait. The only people walking in the rain were italians with umbrellas and tourists making sure they wouldnt lose their spot in the waiting line to the Sixtine Chapel, even if it means getting drenched.
After the cold unexpected shower, I thought it was time for a hot chocolate. You prepare these with a super machine we have in the office, and I put the chocolate powder somehow wrong, so it made all the milk overflow, and my nice boss wanting to help managed to get himself covered in hot chocolate. Quite embarrassing. For me.
Oh and did I mention that I read in the newspaper that a strike is planned for Friday? Bus, metro and trams will be totally paralyzed. Except before 8:30 and between 5 and 8pm. Let's see what the Italians do on major strike days, I hope they take it as a day off ;)
The rest of the day managed to go by much smoother, just to prove me that Mondays arent all that bad i guess :)

A romantic evening

A true romantic evening in Rome: what more could you want? Oh yes, a true romantic evening in Rome with a nice youg man with whom you're in love. And that's what I got. We started with a nice indian restaurant close to where we live, and the food really was delicious and just like in India, where we both met one year ago. Eating with our hands again some delicious naans with chicken tikka masala, anyone who's been to India will understand :) And the fun part was listening to the waiter trying to explain to the italian customers what exactly all those dishes are and how come you mix this with that and what is spicy and how spicy and all.
After the dinner, we went to the Villa Celimontana, a very nice park close to the Colosseo, where there is a jazz festival all summer long. A long alley of pots of fans that blow your hair and skirts bring you to the arena where the concert takes place. you can either sit on chairs or at one of the tables and get a nice drink, which we did. The concert itself was very nice, brazilian jazz under the stars.
Looking forward to the next evening like this one...

The drunken ship

Snoopy typical work week
Originally uploaded by joellekueng.

I'm torn between a Wednesday type Snoopy and a Friday one, specially knowing that today I finish work already at 3!! Don't ask, it's the rules for the summer time in the office... I won't complain ;) Yesterday Mark and me went to the Campo de Fiori, a very touristic square with lots of bars and restaurant, and had a drink (or two) with Heather and Ciara (the american interns working with me) and some of their friends. It was really really nice, and we took the long way home walking through all of Rome, which took us over an hour. But it's hard rushing when you pass such great sights as the Capitol, the Colosseo and the roman forums at night. When telling our flatmates we were going to that bar, they said it's the typical bar where all the american tourists go (which is true), specially the young girls who dress very... hmm.. lightly, and all the horny young italians go there as well in the hope of catching a drunk girl willing to follow him. All of this we could witness, it's really not the nicest company, but well the square is nice.

The sad story of the depressed tree

This morning, arriving at work there was a big chaos going on around the corner. Coming from the other direction, I didnt know what was going on, but the other interns were able to tell me. Apparently, a tree fell on the street this morning, and since then it's a non stop whistle contest going on between the different police guys present to try and manage the traffic. Even from here with windows closed we can here it go on and on. Zach, one of the other interns here, had his theory that the tree probably committed suicide, being so depressed by the many tourists passing by and not paying attention to him, being so focused on getting into the Sixtine Chapel. A minute of silence please.

Some more pictures

For the fans of Angels and Demons from Dan Brown



In front of the Pantheon



The Vittorio Emanuelle II monument

(new) metro, (new) boulot, and dodo

Already Wednesday, my third day at work, and the routine is getting into place... waking up at 7:30, breakfast, going for the metro at 8:25, arriving (so far always as first) at the library, boot my computer (and that does take enough time to go to the toilet), and start the day. Lunch break at 1 for an hour (there's a GREAT bakery close-by, with good sandwiches for 1 Euro and all sorts of sweets), and work again till 5.
Today there was a noticeable change, which is the introduction of the new metro. The metro system in Rome isnt the best, there are only two lines (the third one is being built but because of the many ruins they come across every 10 meters or so, it makes the progres really slow), and those two existing lines are quite old. This morning arrived the big surprise when in a light swoosh arrived a brand new shiny white metro, without graffitis and with air conditioning, that being the very best change. For the first time, metro didnt equal sauna and there was a privcy area of about 40 cm around you, which is a great improvement and a big help when you're trying to read the newspaper without falling and getting your wallet stolen. The metro is done in one big block, without inside doors to separate compartments. There are many street musicians in the metro, who play for two stops in your compartment, collect money and then rush to the next compartment. This will make their life easier :)
I should get back to some more serious work, have a nice day!

Lazy week-end

This week-end was officially a lazy week-end, spent mostly between sleeping, watching tv, shopping a bit for food, and just walking as usual. Saturday started with all of our flatmates leaving one after another saying they were going to the beach, leaving us all alone there. It was as usual a hot day, so we ended up watching a movie in the afternoon and getting out only around 5 to go to the Live8 concert taking place at the Circus Maximus. There wasn’t as huge a crowd as could have been expected, specially knowing that the concerts were for free, but the sun and heat really were killing. At least we were part of eradicating poverty in the world, well at least that’s what our bracelets said, and although the only thing I did was stand in the sun and get free water, it feels good no? I wonder how much impact this series of concerts really did have. On Sunday, again the same scheme, late waking up, late big breakfast, late lunch, some working a bit on serious stuff, and in the evening we went to the train station to pick two friends of Mark from Malaysia. These two girls came to Paris for some interuniversity competition, and decided to stay some 3 weeks longer and travel through Italy and then Spain, all on 500 Euros. Which means they’ve been mostly sleeping in train stations, where one of their bags got stolen, and just find their cheap way around, as most money went into trains and flights. So it ended up having them staying in our room (they got used to sleeping on the floor by now) for 3 days, luckily they are really nice. The first evening we did the big Rome package for them: pizza, walk to the Colosseo by night, and finally great gelato (ice-cream), for 1 Euro each (and believe me, the piccolo cono is HUGE).

The flying pizza

So yesterday was my first official day of work. I took the metro to get to the headquarters, and while the weather wasnt too hot outside, the metro was a real sauna experience. At least it wasn't all too crowded, but i can't really say I'm happy to travel one hour on it every day starting from Monday. As the boss wasnt there, I was just informaly introduced to the workplace and an other intern working there Simona, and having some chitchat and the first office gossips with her. I hope my superviser will be flexible enough to let me work in other departments as well if needed, but somehow it seemed a bit rigid structure, we'll see. I work in the street parallel to the Vatican, can see the Pope's living quarters, and the huge line of people waiting to buy their ticket for the Sixtine Chapel. We had a reasonably nice lunch close-by, one of those tourist menus 8 Euros for a salad, a pizza, a coke and ice-cream. So rather a good deal in such a touristic place, but the plate being slippery and me being me, I managed to have a big slice just flying right towards the wall and land flat on the street. After that I was more careful cutting my pizza ;)
The swiss guards really do look... hmm.. artistic in their nice Michelangelo colourful suits, and seeing all this nuns and monks around just reminds me of my good old university building (where the only catholic theology faculty of Switzerland is).
Today I'm working on a university paper which i have to finish, and this afternoon we'll go to the Live 8 concert happening at the Circus Maximus for free with lots of italian stars I have no clue about, but I'm sure it will be fun.

Some pictures in Rome

Me and Mark in front of St Peter's square



My nice room :)



Some church, I have to find out the name



Mark in front of the Palatinum

First news from Rome

Day 2 in the eternal city, dying from the heat here, and trying to compensate eating many gelati . I arrived on Tuesday evening late at the small airport from Rome, of course the plane was late and the luggage took forever to arrive, luckily I had Mark waiting for me there, as he had arrived earlier in the afternoon, and bring me “home”. It is in a very nice area, in a very nice building, and has 4 bedrooms and many Italians living in it (between the people living here, the boyfriends and the friends, it’s a bit tough to get who is who). Not speaking Italian, and them not speaking English makes it a bit difficult, but we just manage with the universal sign language . So far I did all the italian cliché things: had pizza and pasta on the first day as well as ice-cream, and a walk to the Colosseo, which is only 15mn walk from were I live. And of course a siesta in the afternoon. Except being very hot and full of tourists and mosquitoes (hard to believe that so far I got bitten worse than during Monsoon in India), so far I’m having a great time. I’m trying very hard not to get run over by a car at every crossing as I have the bad tendency of trusting the people to stop to let me pass. I know I know, after India I should know better than that, but somehow old habits die hard ;) Tomorrow is my first day at work, I guess it will be rather short and just an introduction of the work place and some paperwork to fill out. For the moment I still very much feel like a misplaced tourist here, knowing that I have the whole summer to see everything, and at the same time just wanting to see it all, the older the rocks the nicer to me . Here are some of the pictures we took in the first two day, mainly the Colosseo and churches and others on the way to the Colosseo.