GL350 Prompt 2: In what ways have you found Rome to be exhilarating and oppressive?

The history of Rome, according to the British journalist H.V.Morton, is both “exhilarating and oppressive for the traveler.”  In what ways have you found Rome to be exhilarating and oppressive?

                Before departing for Rome, thousands of thoughts of what it would be like would rush into my mind every night as the time grew nearer to leave. How different would it be from home? What experiences would be remembered forever? What things about the trip will stick out compared to other things? These questions and many more, were flooding my mind and consuming my thoughts before the trip. Two weeks into the trip, many of these questions have been answered. What I have experienced so far has been a whirlwind of exhilarating events mixed with a couple oppressing events.

                In chapter 4 of Barzini he states that “everything is displayed everywhere in dramatic and artistic disorder.”  In a nutshell, I think this statement describes Rome very well. Everything that you can imagine has its own place to be displayed even though it may be in the most disorganized manner. Upon getting to Rome, this was oppressing at first. This is because I had no idea how things were placed in Rome, where certain things were, and how they operated. After Being in Rome for 2 weeks, I think that this has turned into an exhilarating experience. It is fun to go find things that you haven’t found before, fun to explore the city, and helpful that anything you can imagine can be found somewhere within Rome.

                Another thing that Barzini says is that “the air is filled with so much noise that one must intentionally raise their voice to be heard, thus adding to the uproar.” This is another thing that has been oppressing in my opinion. Someone can only take so much noise in a day. After being in so much chaos for so long, it takes a toll on the body causing fatigue. On the bright side to this, it has been exhilarating to experience the different types of people in Rome. Even though there is so much “chaos”, it is still possible to shortly block out the noise and examine how life really operates in Rome. The different languages, different ethnicities, different goals for the day, etc. The diversity is something that really amazes me.

                Even though there are too many exhilarating and oppressing thing to discuss in one blog, one major thing that is both exhilarating and oppressing is the absolute mass of humanity within Rome. This oppressing yet exhilarating feeling is something that is difficult to describe. It is oppressing because it makes you feel like you are fairly insignificant due to the massive number of people trying to be successful in Rome, yet alone the whole world. Grasping the fact that you are one out of millions of people is difficult.  Jam packed on the subway with everyone, all going about their daily lives, going to different places, with different ultimate goals in life. It is exhilarating because once you grasp that you have to live the life you have been given, it makes you feel blessed for all that you have and the place that you call home. In Smiles on page 270 he says “And, strange to say, having grown old now, we maintain this particular pride in having sunk roots and habits from our childhood landscapes”  Coming to Rome and experiencing this mass of humanity has made me realize how big and diverse the world really is. Living in Ohio and never experiencing anywhere else outside of the United States can really shorten someone’s horizon of what really is out there in the world that we live in today.