The Temple Site in Rome!

I had the opportunity to go and visit the temple sight in Rome this past week! Framing for the temple, visitor’s center, stake center, and housing centers are complete. It was quite the interesting trip to the area, but beyond exciting to see! My friend, Ben, and I took a bus from Termini (the main train station in Rome where the metro lines meet) to a new shopping center in the Northeast part of Rome. Let’s just say that everything about the temple being built in Rome is a miracle. For starters, just finding the land in itself is a miracle. Rome only has two metro lines (as opposed to a city like Paris, which has at least 16) because it is nearly impossible to find a route to dig a metro that does not—at some point—run into some sort of an ancient structure. Every time the city starts to make plans for another metro line, they find themselves halted by a 300 year old house or an ancient underground city. I’m telling you, everywhere you look in Rome, there is history and—according to law—you don’t knock down that history to make way for the future (I could extract so many analogies, lessons and things about Italian culture from that fact). So, when the Church bought the land in the early 1990’s—according to code—trenches were dug every ten to fifteen feet to ensure that no ancient ruins were found anywhere in the 14.8 acres of land. None were. But just 100 yards past the temple sight, an underground city was discovered. Luck? I think not.

When the church actually bought the land, it was in a very remote area in Rome where there was really nothing but freeways. Recently, however, a huge shopping center was built there and, because of it, buses to that area of Rome have gotten more numerous, and there is talk of a new metro line or train track to that area—which will simplify the travel tenfold for those members of the Church coming from all over Italy to do sessions.  While the public transportation decent, the buses don’t bring you directly to the temple, and without Moroni and his trump shining in gold, it wasn’t the easiest place to find. We asked several people if they knew where the temple or temple road was. Several people knew the road, but most hadn’t heard about the temple. There was one man, who seemed excited for the ‘Mormon temple’ to be built. He said that it would be great, and then asked if I was from the ‘Mormon University in Utah.’ Haha I think that people in Italy who actually know about the Church, just assume that all Mormons go to BYU, which I suppose isn’t too far off the mark.

The Rome Temple Site

So, after asking at least seven people for directions, we walked less than 10 minutes and found the temple. I was bummed that we couldn’t go in and look around the site; apparently that is not allowed…don’t worry though; I have two more months here and a lot of determination. Instead, we climbed up 8 flights of stairs between a couple of buildings that were nearby and got to look down and see the temple building in progress. It’s really exciting here; you can tell that the members of the Church are more anxious and excited than ever. And they should be. Did you know the Rome temple is only the 14^th temple built in Europe? I think there are that many in Utah alone! It really does make me grateful to live in a place where I can so easily live and practice my beliefs. It seems that every aspect of the Gospel takes more effort here. I am repeatedly reminded that the Church is new in Italy; I love that I get to be a part of it for the few months that I’m here.

The temple being built is definitely the most exciting part of being here, but the everyday things are still fun. I've learned a lot, but one talent I do not hold: Bartering Prices. When you walk around any city in Italy of significant, or even decent, size, you are bound to see dozens of street venders. I always have my eye on the shops and street vendors that sell purses. Since was in desperate need (Need…? Want…? Need.) of a new purse, I stopped with Mara—as we were chowing down on some gelato—to look at some beautiful purses. I felt EXTREMELY proud of myself for talking the street vendor down to half the cost; and by talking, I definitely mean standing there looking unsure, until he offered me consistently lower prices :). My pride, however, was short lived when Mara, ten minutes after me, managed to get two purses for the price of my one. She rationalized it to me by telling me she was poor which 1) is untrue, 2) extremely untrue compared to a college student who just bought a $1400 plane ticket and is living in Rome for the summer, and 3) irrelevant to the fact that she managed to get two designer purses for the price of my one. Turns out that I have a lot to learn, beyond my research on dating and courting practices, during my summer in Italy.

Having just been jipped, I was open to the idea of bartering. As was my friend, Emma Harper, who decided she wanted to try to get these ridiculous and fabulous, Italian-genie-looking pants that we had decided to try on for fun at a local shop. I thought the prices were fair, but thought the price for my purse was fair, until I realized I could have gotten two for the price of one. So, when she wanted to try to barter down a price for the pants (that she was already set on buying), who was I to stop her? The owner asked us how we liked the pants. Emma told him that they were great, but that she had seen similar ones at a nearby store for half the price. BIG MISTAKE. It was like we had unleashed the hulk! The owner started yelling at Emma, telling her that there was no way you could find Italian-made pants for that price, and that she could go get her Made-In-China knocks offs if she pleased. He was heated—arms folded when they weren’t waving in the air demonstrating his disgust; he was red faced, his head was shaking and he starting to mutter Italian too quickly to understand. While it probably would have been smart to walk out of the store before steam actually started coming out of his ears, we still wanted the pants. I tried to act as if nothing had happened and purchased a pair for myself, while Emma tried to make comments, loud enough for the owner to hear, about how the other pair she had seen (which were nonexistent) must have been made in China, and how she preferred Italian-made clothing anyway. We bought the pants, and basically ran out of the store. Bartering definitely works some places, but I’d probably not test your luck everywhere you go. That said, it made for an experience, and you never do know. 

Rome, probably like any big city, has its share of extremely high end fashion. There are certain parts of the city that you can travel to and see women dressed in Prada from head to toe—it’s a sight. But at the same time, you still have the everyday, middle class stores. I almost laughed when I saw H&M (which was four stories, but very narrow), on the street. I guess it makes sense, Italian Vogue fashion is not real life for the masses. And while I can appreciate a designer item as much as the next girl, my favorite part about Italy is the everyday things. Ya know, as different as the culture seems sometimes, at the end of the day, we're a lot more similar than different. That's what I love.