Post-Rome blog

Post-Rome.

I’m back in the U.S. where the bombardment of American culture has begun.

I guess it is nice coming back to a place where nothing has changed--a stasis or foundation which I call home. The United States has always been my home, but Rome itself has been my home-away-from-home for the past three months. I can’t help but think that Rome will call me back. It IS calling me back. I know I will go back someday. Although it won’t be the same story as my most recent experience, it will still be the Rome I love.

The last couple of days in Rome saw me walking my favorite streets for the last time. I savored every last moment, not knowing when I would be back to visit my beloved Roma. Roma, from the beginning, has been close to my heart. Immediately, I felt connected, I felt like I could call it mine, for some reason. In a sense, it’s true: Rome invites everyone to be a part of it because it can be said to be the foundation for culture. Everyone can be “Roman”, as the historian Remi Brague says. We all have a certain “Roman-ness” in us, in so far as we are affected by Rome’s history, which has an impact on European history, and Western Civilization.

Having lived in Rome for three months really drew me into Rome as whole. I was able to experience its culture. I was able to immerse myself in the deeper reality of what it means to be Roman! Rome calls everyone back, especially if one throw coins into the Trevi Fountain, or drink from the fountain, as The Marble Faun so superstitiously reminds us!

Post-Rome depression has started to sink in, but just when I thought I couldn’t handle the thought of leaving, I realized that as great as my experience was in Rome, I must move on. I must continue to live what I learned through my experience. I have to take it with me in the next step of life. Knowing I’ll go back is propelling me to go forward. My experience in Rome will always be a lasting memory. As my professor, Dr. Connell said, “I’ve learned to be happy no matter where I am, not matter what I’m doing.” There is so much truth in that statement. We cannot dwell on the past, or live in the future; if so, we pass the present, paying no attention to the fleeting moment. I must learn, hopefully over time, to be happy in my present state, no matter where life takes me.

It has been weird being back. It is so not what I expected. I have definitely experienced culture shock. It wasn't until I went out shopping with my sister a couple of days ago that I experienced the overwhelming differences. Apart from the foreign concept of "courtesy" that I witnessed almost everyone I went, I have found Americans to be more down to earth, friendlier people. And, I don't know how to react. I have caught myself on numerous occasions cutting lines, driving recklessly, and saying "grazie" or "scussi". NO JOKE. My sister couldn't believe when I cute a family to get on the train at the airport. I have to practice more patience and courtesy.

Adjusting to being back has been hard, not gonna lie. The first couple of days weren't bad because of the hustle and bustle of everything and settling in. I think it hit me yesterday that it hasn't been too hard because I'm forcing myself not to think about it. Once I do, I get really "home-sick" for Rome. Yet, I've come to a conclusion: life must go on. And, if life must go on, then we must take what these three beautiful months have taught us and live them! The memory of the past three months is something I will cherish forever; it's beautiful that it was a part of my life. It exists as just that: a memory. Yes, I have tangible elements that I have brought with me, but only to remind me of the great adventures we had. Never again will I experience the opportunity to spend three months in Rome with the people I did, but it was wonderful while it lasted. I guess the struggle now, at least for me, is to take what I've learned as a step in the direction of where God's leading me next!

Despite the minor difficulties adjusting, I’m settling back into the American life-style with as much ease as is expected, I suppose. It has been most difficult finding a place that even feels or reminds me of European living. I’m currently at a coffee house where I at least can drink my cappuccino in a mug. It, in some way, reminds me of the many Italian cappuccinos I drank, although the taste comes nowhere near the ones I savored on a daily basis. I miss the clanking of dishes whiles passing the countless bars on the Roman streets. I miss the Italian bartenders asking in Italian what I would like to order, and my reply (in the best Italian I could): “Vorrei un cappuccino per favore! Caldo! Grazie.”

What a struggle it is to maintain a joyful spirit, when I know my heart was left in Rome. I may seem over-dramatic, but being the emotional person (or, at least, deeply touched person) that I am, I can’t help but feel emotionally attached to such a romantic city as Rome. As I said before, I know somehow, I will go back to my beloved Rome, to see again the sights and hear again the sounds that I so dearly miss. How am I to find a comparison? How am I to see life in the same way? I’m not. I must live Rome in spirit, allowing it to penetrate my soul so as to touch others.

Field Work in Rome: Van Gogh Exhibit at Museo Central Del Risorcimento

On a lovely Friday morning, I ventured out to Museo Centrale Del Risorcimento, located near Piazza Venezia. The building itself lies behind Palazzo Venezio, which makes it hard to find for one who might not know where it’s at. It was built “to gather the testimonies of the political, economical, and social transformation of Italy during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. These testimonies consist of papers (letters, journals, work manuscripts), paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings, prints, arms, which recall the events and chief protagonists of this important period of the history of our Country, thus forming a vast memorial archive of the Risorgimento.” The Museum itself stands as a significant building which houses much of Italy’s history, including much of Victor Emmanuele’s contributions, the man whose statue rests at the base of the National monument, in the middle of the Piazza.

Although I did not have the fortune of seeing much of Museo Centrale del Risorcimento, I did get the chance to see the Van Gogh exhibit, entitled Vincent Van Gogh “Timeless Country--Modern City”. The title of this exhibit is very pertinent to Van Gogh’s vision and his artwork. After viewing the exhibit, I was able to understand how Van Gogh’s art developed from casual observation, to a unique articulation of a new vision grounded on his development toward the Neo-Impressionist and Impressionist period. The result of being a man living in a period when art was changing from the pre-Impressionist era can be seen through his art. I noticed a development throughout his works, seeing ones from when he first began in 1881 to 1888, when his works seemed to evolve into what we know him to be famous for, an impressionist artist whose unique talent awarded him fame, not only in his time, but as remaining relevant forever. A quote I wrote down from one of the exhibit’s descriptions describes his ability and or desire to “create an oeuvre that was radically modern, but would nevertheless withstand the changes of time in order to remain relevant forever.”

Vincent Van Gogh’s art exhibits two fundamental aspects: his love for the countryside--unchanging and stable, and his attachment to the city as a place of progress. This was quite apparent through the artwork displayed in this exhibit. I felt like the pieces of art--one’s less known--that were in this particular exhibit at Museo Centrale del Risorcimento were important for understanding Van Gogh’s love for both the country and the city. His earlier sketches, at the beginning of the exhibit, were very distinctly inspired from some of his favorite artists: Jean Francois Millet, Honore’ Daumier, Camille Pissarro, and Paul Cezanne. The sketches were simplistic, depicting everyday life. He focused on the figures themselves, paying little attention to detailed faces. His landscapes are like a portrait into reality--the reality of the simplistic, unchanging life of peasants. The very thing he wanted to portray through his art, can be seen quite apparently through such paintings as The Swamp (1881), The Ditch (1884), Field with Storm Clouds Overhead (1881), and Young Man with a Broom (1882). He catches moments, unimportant, yet realistic. His works from 1883 through 1885 focused on the countryside. It was not until Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886, that he was introduced to Impressionistic painting and met such artists as Seurat, Signac, and Gauguin. He responded to the trend in Paris to stray from the norm, of what had, up until this point, been unthinkable: Impressionism--“a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects.”

The art that followed his initiation or cultivation into this new era of paint were demonstrated in many of the art pieces in Museo Centrale del Risorcimento including Two Ladies at the Gate of a Park at Asnieres (1887). In this painting the brush strokes are different than from what I noticed in his prior paintings. The use of large strokes and “dotting” were obvious. Other paintings such as Kitchen Gardens on Montmartre (1887) showed this use of unique style in comparison to earlier works. The museum also showed a series of his self portraits. His change in style could also be seen from his 1886 self portrait when compared to his later self-portraits.

What I liked in particular about this Museum is that the exhibit not only displayed Van Gogh’s paintings but those of Millet and Gauguin, among others. The purpose for putting these in Van Gogh’s exhibit were to show where Van Gogh drew inspiration from and to contrast his paintings to those who were also painters in his own period--ones who had followed him in his converging with the neo-impressionist trend, and those who did not. I liked that the museum gave a lot of background history in addition, and alongside, the paintings. Each description was followed by a series of the paintings pertinent to the period of his life, whether pre-impression or post-impressionist.

The exhibit ended with his later paintings, after he moved to Arles in 1888. This last series of paintings, down the stairs below the other paintings, articulated his own vision, beyond is usual casual observation. The paintings themselves described a change from what he saw before in nature and countryside to a progression of his work, which “was now changed by his vast knowledge of art and specific ideas.” He was no longer concerned with timelessness, but with modern life, as seen in The Sower (1888). This painting showed a vast difference in its use of color (purples and yellows) and its brush strokes from his former works, and even from Gauguin, his friend and fellow artist. I noticed that his sketches from 1888 depicted, more so than before, industrialization.

Overall, Museo Centrale del Risorcimento held a beautiful exhibit of Van Gogh. I was able to appreciate one of my favorite artists in one of my favorite cities. The museum itself stood in a location that is filled with history, near the Roman Forum and with the Colloseum in the distance. As I walked out of the Museum to Piazza Venezia, I could not help but take what I had seen, and what had inspired me in the Museum with me.