Snow plight

This picture is an optical illusion. You see with the mountains, the hat, the ski jacket and the red ‘snow bunny’ cheeks you might think that I went skiing. I didn’t. I've only lived in Canada and Switzerland and I've still never skied in my life.

That’s why it’s an illusion.
I did however go on a fantastic winter retreat with my Young Adults Group (YAGS).

I don't have issues. I have subscriptions.

I've developed super human hearing since coming here. I don't know why. But I am so easily irritated by tiny noises. I'm in my office one day and when you work in an open office (one GIANT room) you become aware of all of your coworkers habits (ie. throat clearing, loud phone conversations that no one else needs to hear, typing so hard it’s as if you are punishing the keys).
On this particular day, I suddenly heard someone breathing UNNECESSARILY loudly. Like over and over again. I just ignored it. But it kept going. I couldn't very well turn around and yell "STOP BREATHING" (although I seriously considered it). So maturely, I just sat there and got angrier and angrier.
Finally, for some reason I went to the other side of the office and out the window about 100 yards away, there was a man raking leaves. That raking noise is what I thought was the breathing. So I turned around and yelled:

"MIKE!" (Mike is our webmaster)

"I have been MAD AT YOU for 45 minutes!!!"....

Shell shocked Mike goes "What did I do?"

"You were breathing too loudly."

"I'm.... I'm sorry"

"But then I realized that it was that dude over there raking leaves. So I'm not mad at you anymore!!"

"Oh okay. I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore for something I never actually did......."

"Me too. I’m glad we had this talk."

What's your sign?

Okay, I took this picture in the subway in Rome. Maybe it’s my graphic artist bent, but I love seeing how people communicate visually. This sign to me is just incredibly bizarre. Let’s rock this clockwise and start in the top left corner.

Picture one: I get it, don’t lean against the door. You might fall through. Fair enough.

Picture two: Don’t pry open the door. Again, a perfectly reasonable request illustrated in a perfectly reasonable way.

Picture three: Who would ever voluntarily put themselves in this position? According to my trusty (and NEVER inaccurate) word for word online translator the message is “not to go up or to come down during the closing”. I think a better caption would be “Don’t be a friggin’ idiot” which may or may not translate to: “Non sia ‘friggin’ stupido”

Picture four: Do not, EVER back into the subway car whilst doing the running man.

A glimpse of Rome.

When in Roma!

After fours days of a severe carbohydrate assault on my body, I return to Geneva from Rome. I was fortunate to be able to go with my good friends Nicki, Melissa, Caroline, Megan, and Dave.
Rome is incredible, it’s like stepping into a time machine not only because of the historical monuments and ruins, but because Italy very much seems to run on a time zone of it’s very own. We almost missed the scheduled bus back to the airport yesterday because we sat for lunch in a beautiful restaurant where there is a GIANT clock on the wall that was 40 minutes slow. So my last memories of Rome are sprinting through the street dodging Gypsies and tripod salesmen. Megan at one point turns around and poignantly addressed “You guys realize we’re running on the assumption that the BUS is going to be on time….” Which it wasn’t. We made it. Crisis averted.
We made the most of the 4 days and saw The Vatican, St. Paul’s, The Sistene Chapel, the Collosseum, Palitine Hill, Capital Hill, The Jewish Ghetto, The Mouth of Truth, Circus Maximus, The Pantheon, Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps), Trevi Fountain, The Roman Forum, and the Cemetery of the Capuchins.
You know the phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day"? well that's a terrible cliche and I hope you never actually use it in real life. Rome clearly can't be explained in one blog post. As always if you want the unadulterated “Natalie experience” I’d happily explain it in person, over coffee, with extravagant hand gestures. Here are a few stories:


Americans are funny:
While taking this picture at the Spanish Steps amidst throngs of people, I was approached by two young American girls.
American Girl: “Would you mind taking our picture?”
Natalie: “Of course not! Now would you like just the steps in the background or would you like me to get the church in there two?”
America Girl: “Huh? Oh… I meant in front of Christian Dior” (Girl points across the street).
Natalie: “Hahahahaha! Oh. Oh my goodness. You’re serious. I-I- I’m so sorry- this is awkward. Smile! *click*”

We stayed in a great little hostel which featured a free pasta party every weeknight. The girls (Nicki, Caroline, Melissa, Megan and I) stayed in a 6 person bed and the 6th bed was occupied by Gary. Gary is an Australian traveling artist who spends his days creating magnificent paintings on the streets of Rome and spends his night drinking magnificent beer on the streets of Rome. Despite the initial creepy factor of sleeping 6 feet from a stranger Gary turned out to be a really nice guy who even took us around the city and showed us how to get to the view where this picture was taken overlooking the Roman Forum. ***One morning in my quest to get the first (hottest) shower I had set my alarm the night before and for some reason put the clock about half a foot farther than I should have. The alarm went off and I didn’t want to wake anyone so I lunged at the alarm and completely fell off the bed, blankets and all. I stayed down there for a second hoping that no one saw me and heard a low Aussie accent:
“I give that a 7.4”
“Shut up Gary”.

I like Rome.

Rome.