For the first time in nearly a month, it rained in Rome.
I awoke this morning to a cool breeze and the smell that could only follow a rainstorm and was instantly reminded of childhood summers spent in India, where a day of rain brought a whole new sense to the world.
And so it was with Rome this Friday. In the living room around noon, I sat with my roommates as a cool breeze flowed through the apartment, each of us concerned with a separate activity (checking email, catching up on the news, and so on) and yet all of us enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. Headed to Italian class a bit later, I remarked how wonderful it was to not feel the Italian sun beating down on us.
Rome felt different today, as though the rain had cooled down everything, not just the weather. At four, headed back home from an appointment, I found myself lost in a park after taking a shortcut. And I chose just to wander, to get lost, as a (seemingly) gentle sun lit up the entire park and a light breeze followed me around. I sat for an hour under a palm tree, writing for no particular reason, lost in the calmness of the moment.
Arriving home, I found a roommate taking a nap on the couch as the day waned and I thought about how, even with Rome’s metropolitan nature, it was so easy to find serenity in the city.
