My eyes groggily opened to the sound of pounding water on the streets and my immediate reaction was to find as many reasons to stay home as possible yesterday. Somewhere in my mind the opening cords to Maroon 5's all-too-familiar song were playing, reminding me of how calm and peaceful rainy Sunday mornings could be. However, upon two hours of moping around the house I decided that I couldn't waste this free day and had to do something. Despite the rain, I decided to pull on my new boots to put them to the test and explore at least my neighborhood of Trastevere, which guidebooks and websites say is a great part of Rome but I've only been around the main road enough to liken it to south side Berkeley. I chose to make the Museo di Roma in Trastevere my final destination so I could just spend the afternoon indoors but out of the house and walk around the smaller streets in that general direction. However, upon arrival I realized that I had left my cash at home... fail. Oh well, the afternoon was not to be wasted! I decided to make use of my efforts not to be a couch potato and ventured back out under my umbrella. My quick walk ended up turning into a camera-happy stroll in the torrential downpour.

In the midst of trying to stay out of as many puddles as possible I came across this sewage drain. I didn't think much of it, embossed with the typical SPQR mark that is found all over the city, but then I realized that instead of the normal sludge of trash and fallen leaves this drain was filled with wine corks. How very Italian! I find it funny that I spend so much time fumbling around with my umbrella or trying to zip up my jacket to keep warm or unzip it because i'm overheating I often lose a lot of my surroundings, but this time looking down at the ground while making my way through the cramped streets led me to discover the charming little details in this foreign wonderland. Anyway, when I finally got situated with my umbrella and jacket situation and started peeking around street corners to see what was around I began to noticed that Trastevere, where many local traditions are honored to keep in touch with the "proper" Italian way of life, is infused with many modern, urban elements. In particular (I'm not sure if it's because of my internship and appreciation found through studying Exit Through the Gift Shop) I noticed that around every few corners was a piece of interesting art on the walls. I started to use these images as landmarks as I realized that I was circling through the same few streets over and over, and began orienting myself using the bright painted butterfly and the artist's revolution piece to guide my way from point A to point B and back again without the use of GoogleMaps on my iPhone. Intrigued by the names that I saw several times over I tried to look up Lux, or Luxnova as I think is signed on the two colorful pieces photographed above to see if I could find out more about some local artists and their work in Trastevere, but nothing really came up. I guess it is still a pretty underground movement, so it's not too common to be plastered all over the internet. However, I did find that many others have walked through the same streets as I did and taken similar photos to the ones I captured, as I recognized some of the places and artwork found on blogs and sites such as this one (click through to the site).

While I do somewhat regret staying out to the point of being soaked (regardless of umbrella usage), it is somewhat satisfying to come home with damp hair and jeans drenched in patches below a crisp line where my jacket ends, knowing that I tried to see more than just my bedroom ceiling and insides of my eyelids today. As much as I dreaded being wet and uncomfortable, I did enjoy my walk around Trastevere and making my own discoveries unwritten in any guidebooks or travel sites. I must say, the bad weather can't really dampen my spirits anymore because this weekend summed up the famous lyrics: quanto sei bella Roma quando piove.

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最近は雨降ってばっかりだけど、せっかくの休みだから天気など気にせずとりあえずアパートの近所だけでも見に行こうと外に出たらやっぱりびしょぬれになって帰ってきちゃった。博物館にでも行って何時間かつぶそうと思ったら現金を家に忘れてしまったことに気づいて結局大量の雨の中散歩をする事に。ずっと傘の下だと周りが見にくいけど、結構面白い道を通ったりばったり有名な協会が前に現れたりで雨なんか気にせず思った以上にぐるぐるまわっちゃった。今住んでいる「トラステヴェレ」っていう近所は最近ちょっとローマの中でも人気が上昇してる若者の集まるエリアらしい。ローマ・アメリカ大学など外国語大学がここら辺にいくつかあるから外国人も増えて来たらしいけど、検索してみると結構伝統的なイタリア人の暮らし方が保たれてる近所だとか。その線で不思議だけどとても「イタリアっぽい！」って思えたのが地下溝の下をよく見れば、普通のゴミや葉っぱなどではなく、ワインのコルクで埋まってたこと。

若者の近所だからか、サピエンザ大学があるサン・ロレンゾほどではないが歴史であふれている建物の壁にはストリートアートもいっぱい。インターンシップのおかげで特に町の周りにある落書きなどを気づくようになったのか、トラステヴェレのどの道をまがっても面白い作品が良く見れる場所である。ストリートアートはただの落書きなんかじゃなく、だれでもが喜楽に美術とふれあう事ができ、その瞬間に個人のリアクションをとり、そのリアクションによっていろんな考えや思いが浮かぶ瞬間を作ることをストリートアーティストは誇りに持っているとか。自分の考えを大人数に届けたり、どうにか人に影響を与えることができるようにと、ちゃんとアーティストは理由を持ってこう町の隅々にマークをつけているということを理解するのはとても大事だと思う。こんなに歴史を大事に守って有名なローマの中でこういう新しいジャンルの芸術、そして文化が生まれ・受け止められるのは難しいが、目の前でこの発達とスピードの速い上達を見れるのはすごく興味深く、興奮高い。

気づけば今日私はこのアートを目安に近所をまわっていて、何本か先の道を右に曲がったり左の道をちょこっと探ってみると来た道と行きの道が重なり、同じ絵を発見した上方向を判断していたのがとても不思議だった。町をこういう風に知って行くのも新しくて楽しいじゃないか！