GL 350: How is Rome exhilarating yet oppressive?

While there are many things that come to my mind when I think of Rome. Having to pick which part of it goes with which word (exhilarating or oppressive)  can be a struggle. There are many beautiful things that Rome has to offer, there is also the "dark side" of Rome which i have been learning more and more about each day.

On the one hand Rome can be exhilarating for many different reasons. The first reason is all of the ancient ruins left behind by past Romans like the Roman Forum and and Colosseum and the history that goes along with it. It gives you chills to think about how you used to perceive it in pictures and how much different it is in real life. Another reason Rome/ all of Italy is exhilarating is how big it seems, yet there are all these little shops ran by local people who greet you (usually) with a warm smile that make you feel a small sense of home in this big place. This can be reflected back to Barzini when he says "it's the people who bring us back to Rome" and it can be seen all throughout Rome for example when we go to a cafe or a pizzeria and we tell them that we know Danilo or you see Danilo interacting with his friends it's like he's known them all his whole life or like they are his family. They also have such pride in this culture and lifestyle which I can relate to because of how proud I am to be an American.  You can see this by just seeing their faces light up with joy when they saw me with a Roma scarf for the soccer game, or how Danilo tries to get us as involved into the Italian culture as possible.

There is also oppressiveness about Rome as well. The city is beautiful, but there are bag things that go along with the beauty. For example, the Colosseum is so grant and breath taking, yet the area surrounding is also known as one of the most notorious for pick pockets in Rome. Another thing that kind of makes you not love Rome as much is all of the traffic and cars which is also mentioned in Smiles of Rome. And while there is always the subway, tram, or buses for other transportation, they are extremely crowded with people who push and show themselves up against you, especially when they are trying to pickpocket you or just be creepy on you.

There is one thing that i think can be related to being both oppressive and exhilarating and that is the people. People can be so nice, yet can also not give you even a second glance. While in some places it may seem that there are so many people around you that you can't breathe, you may also be grateful for that one person who does acknowledge you, like in my case when i was trying to get myself away from the creepy man on the bus, an Italian woman who had no idea who I was came to my rescue by yelling at the man n walking me safely off of the bus. had she not been there i have no idea what would of happened.

One thing we must remember is that every place has it's pros and cons and we can't just focus on only good or only bad. It's important to know the best and worse of everything so we don't go into it thinking it's perfect, because nothing is perfect no matter how good we think it is.