Aug 2006

Everybody here talks in their own language full of acronyms and jargon all the time.

I met a man today who worked at an unfortunate centre within the Food and Agriculture organisation called

OFAL

Hmmmm

Otherwise, great weekend, but blisteringly hot.

Can I really work the miracles they seem to expect of me?

At the end of the my time here I get the feeling I'm either going to have gained a lot of amazing positive experience and knowledge and ability or I'm going to be a complete flop.

But I'll enjoy it regardless!

The FAO building is vast and I keep getting lost. I have, however, found the quickest route from my office (on the 7th floor of C wing) to the cafeteria (on the 8th floor), which has great but cheap food and a good view of the city.

Getting lost in the building doesn't worry me to much because all the corridors are lined with heartening pictures of grains and fields and poor people eating. A less heartening thing about the corridor is all the intimidatingly closed doors, behind which there may or may not be friendly people sat in air conditioned rooms.

So my kunundrum is whether to leave my door open and welcome would-be callers to build my personal network, or whether to close my door and save the energy of my air conditioner.

Do you like them?

The duck and I in Michael Angelo's famous square

St Peters Basillica

Roman Forum

The Duck imagining what it was like in the Roman Forum as Marc Anthony gave his famous speech about Brutus being an honourable man

I hadn't realised that Romulus and Remus from Star Trek were based on these ancient Roman legends. The twins who were suckled by a She-Wolf went on to found Rome

My flat

5 minute walk from my house

Throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain and you'll return to Rome. Throw two and you'll return and fall in Love. Throw three and you'll return, fall in love and get married

After a lovely few days wondering around Rome, I started work at the Food and Agriculture Organisation today.

The city is amazing! Everywhere I look there are ancient monuments, beautiful sculptures and sexy Italians. Been to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, St Peter’s Square and Basillica, many stunning Piazzas. Eaten lots of Pizza.

Had a few interesting conversations too. One person told me that in Rome you’ll be ok as long as you have style, good shoes and are beautiful. I was a little shocked at this since at the time I was walking around in travellers shorts, vest-top and unbranded trainers. Although, I suppose being blonde may make me different enough to pass for exotic, in local eyes.

After that conversation I was running around last night looking for an iron to straighten my new shirts and trousers before work… alas, my female flatmates (who are all away on holiday) do not own such a thing… so I went to work this morning with a pair of shoes from Next (I doubt the epitomy of style that Italians look for) a shirt that was crinkled after being transported in my backpack, but also still had the fold marks from the box it came in.

Fortunately most of the people at the FAO are not Italian, and also tended more casually dressed than me…. And were all very friendly. Also, being the middle of August, almost everybody is on holiday. So I was put in an office, and given some reports to read and told that nobody there could answer any questions about my project… but they could take me for some strong Italian coffee.