When in Rome…

On the Trastevere village in Rome:

Trastevere has a smooth romantic feel. The hazy lights of the lamp posts cast golden glints upon the dark cobblestone streets. The piazzas hum with locals and vendors selling an array of jewelry and trinkets, and everyone in Rome seems to be out late, enjoying the cool air of the evening. In the central piazza next to the Santa Maria church, a gypsy performer twirls fire amid the fountain’s trickling water. The sounds of accordians and opera singers echo down the side streets that meader vein-like throughout the village. An old man, tanned deep like dark leather sits selling lavender. He hands me a twig as I pass, and the soothing smeel seethes about the breeze. The men hang off the arms and waists of beautiful women like hand-bags, and couples coo over candle light and wine. Yes, this is a village of locals and lovers. 

Some observations and thoughts while sitting in St. Peter’s Square, just outside the Vatican:

I. nuns in heels stroll down cobblestone cautiously

II. birds toss flippant wings of feathers over fountains

III. vendors sell souvenir rossaries and heart-shaped lockets of popes

IV. tourists “que” in mile-long lines, sticky and spiritual

V. lord jesus christ, son of god, have mercy on me a sinner

Coming home

For the past week, I have been in Rome and Tuscany and Florence. I have so so much to say, but only 5 more minutes before the internet cafe closes. In an hour, I catch a train from Florence to Pisa. I will spend the night at the airport and then fly to Stansted in London where I will catch a bus to Heathrow airport and fly to Chicago and then Atlanta. Whew. 5 airports and a train station in a day… it will be interesting…

Time is almost up… while I am not ready to leave, I am so ready to see everyone.

Peace.

Art and theatre…

Last week was a big week for art and theatre.

Everyone should look into an artist by the name of Damien Hirst. He creates sculptures, paintings, drawings, and “installations” that challenge the very nature of art and push its boundaries. He explores connections between religion, science, and pop culture and does things that are unimaginably creative, disturbing, and powerful. Basically he blew my mind. (He was the artist featured at the White Cube.)

Also, I finally ventured out in search of some Banksy artwork (Richard, you should be proud!). Banksy is an anonymous graffiti artist whose street art is widespread and usually political in nature. Here are the 2 works that I found: the cash machine and thugs for life.

  

We also saw Les Mis (an instant favorite), Wicked, and La Vie en Rose… so good!

Working abroad for lobbyists

Over the past 6 weeks, I have been working… a lot. I work at the Local Government Association (LGA) and the best way to describe this organization is that it is a breathing forum. It is hard to compare the LGA to an organization in the states because the structure of the gov’t in the UK is very different from that of the US. Here, central government reserves powers over local government. The central government is responsible for issues such as health, social security, universities, arts and culture, however, the local authorities are responsible for issues such as education, social services, housing, local planning, roads, waste disposal, environment, and leisure. This is where the LGA comes in: the LGA functions as a lobbyist group for local authorities across England and Wales. They consider themselves decentralists. Because there are over 410 local councils and over 11,000 towns, parishes and community councils in England and Wales, each individual local authority has a very small voice when they have issues to bring to the central government. The function of the LGA is to offer these councils and boroughs a membership, and through their membership, they join forces with hundreds of others, thus magnifying the volume of their voices.  The LGA has a staff of over 200 and they have a membership of almost 500 local authorities, representing over 50 million people, collectively. The mission of the LGA is to promote the betterment of local government by working with and for their members. They strive to give more power to the people by devolving centralized powers. They transcend party politics and cultivate discussion on how to improve communities. The LGA works with (and if necessary, lobbies for) the central government to make sure that its policies, legislation, and finances support and fulfill the needs of local governments and authorities. They are c o o l .

A typical Monday-Thursday:

(for Russell, Richard, Sarah Kate and those of you who have asked…)I climb out of the stiff res-hall bed at roughly 7:30am, try to dress somewhat “casual smart” for work, and pack a PB&J and raincoat in my bag. At 8:30am, I leave the res hall. The weather outside is typically cool and fickle (hence the raincoat).  I catch the number 11 or 19 or 22 bus to the tube @ Sloane Square and catch the Circle or District line to Westminster. The tube is overly crowded and most people look angry. I exit from the tube just under Big Ben and walk past the Houses of Parliament, dodging oblivious tourists taking pictures. It quickly becomes my goal to find a large person to walk behind; commuters are fierce in the mornings. By 9:30am, give or take, I arrive at the Local Government Association, go through security, and take an elevator lined with mirrors to the Conferences and Events Department on the 5th floor.  Work is typical… sometimes interesting, sometimes not, but everyone says “cheers,” and offers you “biscuits” with your tea. 

There are 8 conferences alone in July that we are managing. The conferences deal with controversial issues on social, environmental, or policy-related topics. The biggest one is going on now in Birmingham and is the Annual Conference where David Cameron (the leader of the Tories) is speaking. This is a 3-day event with over 50 speakers and 2,000 delegates from across Britain. I am going up to help tomorrow. The delegates who come to our events are usually MP’s, councilors, or local authorities. Needless to say, we have been busy making sure everything happens and happens well.

As for lunch breaks, I typically spend them one of three places: at my desk (if we are extremely busy, which is a lot), on the 7th floor terrace (that overlooks St. John’s cathedral with a view of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey), or Strutton Grounds Market (which is just down the road). I leave work around 17:30, and as I walk past Parliament Square, there is usually someone shouting anti-war messages through a loud-speaker. (This is what I heard yesterday: “Wake up, Britain! As you sleep, your government is killing children! When will this genocide end?”) I head to the Westminster tube station, and on a good day, there is a musician playing jazz or the blues; techno or classical. I catch the tube and then the bus and arrive at the res-hall around 18:30. I eat, ice my ankle, and then we head to the theatre or a gallery… or I crash. On Tuesdays, I don’t get back from work until 20:30 because we have tutorials… Tuesdays are l o n g . All in all, I’ve loved work. The people are “brilliant,” as is the organization as a whole. I’ll be sad to leave the LGA, but it will be nice to get paid the next time I work somewhere…