The Protest:
Romans love to protest things. In the time Ive spent here so far I have probably seen some sort of protest every other day. This need to protest likely comes from the extremely dynamic political history of Italy, going from a republic, to a empire, to getting invaded a lot, to becoming city states, to being feudal, to being a kingdom, to a monarchy, to a democracy... basically anything goes in Italy for politics so its all fair game. Add on top of this Italians passion for being loud and supporting ideas and you have a fun situation. Usually when there is a protest someone starts it and then anyone who wants to join up does with their respective flag or banner of choice, even if they are supporting different, or sometimes opposite causes. Then the Carabinieri (police) show up in their police buses to watch over and make sure it doesnt get to rowdy. Usually people blow whistles a lot and listen to loud (usually american) music.
The biggest one I saw so far was a pretty unified protest about the Gaza Liberation, I would say there were over 3,000 people in it marching down Via Nazionale to the Coliseum. With trucks blaring music and people yelling over intercoms, it was a fun thing to see. They close down the roads when the protests get that big and take the opportunity to clean the streets!
The Market:
one of the best things about Rome is the food. Not necessarily how good it is (which it is very good) but how it is sold. The biggest place to by food is at the supermarket. However this is no Hyvee, its a pretty small store that has a variety of goods and they are all over the place, I can walk to 4 different supermarkets within 5-10 mins. So immediatly the goods are spread out across the city. And then there is the market. I wouldnt be able to even guess how many markets Roma has, but you can usually get to one of various size with a quick 15 min. walk. The Roman market is quite similar to a market you would find in places like Seattle. Its usually decent sized (40-120 vendors) and there you can find any sort of vegetable, fruit, fish, meat, cheese, bread, or cheap clothing you could ever want. Many of the Roman markets are very temporary structures which have a long history, though the city is trying relatively unsuccessfully to clean them up. Food is amazingly cheap, and definetly the best quality that you can find. The fish vendors get the fish fresh from the sea that morning, likewise the vegetable/fruit vendors get it from the country. The vendors are the nicest people I have talked to yet! they are all characters, and I have heard many stories about traveling to Australia and getting engaged to all the girls there..... Its a great place.
*picture of market to come*
The close this one off, Ill give a short sample conversation that I have when I try to buy food.
me trying to buy bread:
Me: buongiorno! vorrei pizza rosso e due etti (point to something that Im not sure what its called) hello, I would like a pizza rosso and two hundred grams of...
Them: (looks at me confused for a moment) due etti? (point to what I pointed at)
Me: si!
Them: (gets food) basta? enough?
Me: basta.
Them: (going to pizza, quick side note on pizza here, you either get a entire pizza which is usually at a resturant/pizzarie or you order by weight) tutta? whole?
Me: (looks confused) scusi?
Them: tutta pizza rossa?
Me: Si (when in doubt always say yes)
Them: (after weighting it) poi? then?
Me: Basta.
Them: tre cinquanta E3.50
Me: (after thinking for a moment about how much that is, gives them E3.70
Them: (gives me 20 cents back and looks at me like I dont know math) grazie
Me: ciao, grazie
oh yes, I am good at markets....
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