when bush is in rome...

i knew studying abroad this semester would provide me with many new experiences and stories to tell. but oh the stories i have to tell.

its been a busy week running around through ancient roman ruins, exploring cryptaporticos/underground dark tunnels (and being frightened by "bats") and seeing temples that were converted to churches, and so on. so after a week of this, we get the weekend off to enjoy all to ourselves. of course, we want to shop after wearing the same clothes over and over. plus, i was in desparate need of a pair of jeans...they'd be perfect for cool nights and going out.

first thing in the morning, becca and i woke up to head up to her church that she has to research for her presentation. there are typically a lot of cops, but this was just insane. i mean, there was quite an assortment of different branches of police, from the swat team, to army looking officials, to the snazzily dressed cops that always roam the streets. the streets were lined with armored vehicles parked one after the other, huge charter buses all in a row with cops on board, and guys standing in the street. basically, we were overwhelmed with it all and i don't think a description could quite describe it well enough. so anyway, we're walking along, knowing that president bush is in town and figuring that was the reason behind the madness. we soon ran into a photojournalist who chatted with us for a bit after offering us help when we looked like the confused tourists we are. he pointed us further up the road..."where bush is coming from". so indeed, it was confirmed, we were following the same route that bush would be coming down in a few minutes.

we continued on our mile and a half walk, in disbelief of the crowds and cops and protestors. anyway, long story short, we got to becca's building to find the walk was all in vain. we had stupidly worn shorts and tank tops which is a sure way to be denied to a church here. we sat around the gorgeous fountain out front waiting to see if bush would go by with no success. becca grew weary of waiting and we were anxious to get to shopping. we arrived back to the hotel around lunch time and reported to everyone how intense the atmosphere was out there.

we went out for our afternoon spree and soon we came to a road lined with pedestrians and cops yelling at anyone who dared to step off the curb. no one could pass. we knew something was about to happen, so i whipped out my camera and turned it to video mode. within a minute or so, motercycles and black suburbans with tinted windows and flashing lights were speeding by. we were trying to figure out which one he would have been in when we saw a black limo go by and a shadow in the window waving to those he passed by. everyone's conclusion as it went by was that it was indeed, president bush! we were all pretty excited about the casual run-in.



the shopping continued, though dampered a bit by the HIGHLY expensive shopping district by the spanish steps. on our way back, we thought we might get another chance to see bush. waiting again, we gave up and headed back. becca and i headed out again together nearby our hotel and i finally purchased a pair of jeans for a great deal of 15 euros. we continued around, and decided it was time to head back. we stepped out of the last store to hear tons of music and crowds yelling and saw flags marching by that consisted of communist red flags, cuban flags, italian flags, anti-bush banners, and a man on a megaphone yelling something about america quite often. needless to say, becca and i felt a little uneasy about the hostility towards our president and americans in general.

"if something goes wrong, jeannnine, we're speaking in french" were the words of becca as we walked on the sidewalk next to the chaos. i felt like we stuck out like blond hair, blue eye,d american twins amongst the punk, dred locked, baggy clothed, haven't bathed in a few days protestors. we are a block away from the hotel when becca squeezes my hand to tell me its time to move off the main road with all the protestors. then i see the group of girls we're always with sitting no more than 30 feet from the road just sitting down for dinner. we ran over to them and questioned their coolness about the atmosphere.

"these are just peaceful protestors!" carina reassures us. "plus we have front row seats!" we should have listened to our gut instict, but we did need to eat dinner and it would be interesting to watch. so we had a seat and placed an order. as i always do for security measures while eating out, i wrap the straps of my purse around my leg so it doesn't get stolen. not so good in light of what happened next.

within five minutes of sitting down, i suddenly see a look of fear on carina's face and jump up in a split second, and then i turned around to see literally a stampede of people pouring into the alleyway towards us. it all happened so fast. i try to grab my purse, but its tangled around my leg, caught on the chair, i'm reaching for my shopping bag, i'm hopping on one leg trying to get my purse, pushing through chairs to get to the restaurant doors, people are screaming, i'm shoving chairs into other people, i see carina standing at the door, the owners trying to shut the doors and roll down screens, i finally get inside and the doors close. i looked around and didnt' see becca anywhere, so i was freaking out yelling "where's becca??" over and over and very emotionally shaken at this point that i started tearing up and so forth.

then i see becca, sarah, and katie come bursting through the doors. apparently they had hit the ground when they saw us jump up, thinking there was gunfire or something and were hiding under the table laying on the cobblestone for a good minute. we were all scared and the waiters were telling us we're fine and seated us inside to have our meals. our apetite had left and we were ready to go within 15 minutes, but still worried about what was happening outside.

we try to walk casually back to the hotel, which was literally around the corner. it concerned me that protestors had made their way off the main road, but we hurried as much as possible. we reached the hotel doors when we heard loud banging, realizing it was the police on the next street lined up with their sheilds and banging on them with their batons. we ran upstairs to our room to see what was going on. we could see the protestors on the main road marching, the cops through the two buildings in front of the plaza lined up with their blue helments and sheilds, things were exploding, and sirens wailing. it was really scary. then we'd see people run up our alley from the main road. becca and i spotted our photojournalist friend from our window...he was right below us with his cameras and all. there were suspicious individuals who we tried to keep an eye on...of course, i got the majority of this on film.

after about an hour back in the hotel room, the police broke up the protest and things slowly went back to normal. the sun had set, people were sitting down to eat a candlight dinner, couples strolled by holding hands, and a man played a clarinet for change just below our window.