This is a Post Entirely About Snow

Last Monday was a truly exciting day. For the past month and a half, I have been mourning the complete lack of snow in my life. For those of you who wish to remind me that I am in Rome and shouldn't be concerned about such trivial things, I would have to say that you are very much correct; however, it is hard for a girl who grew up through multiple Wisconsin blizzards to be in a climate where the only precipitation she experiences is of the rainy variety. Non mi piace. I am not pleased.

But I digress. So there it was, fifteen minutes before my 8 am Philosophy class, and I woke up not only serenaded by We the Kings' "Check Yes Juliet," but also to what sounded like the heavy, rhythmic, and mourful fall of rain. Seeing as I dislike Monday mornings, having to be up before 9 am in any circumstance, rain, and Philosophy class, I was not thinking happy thoughts towards my current life situation. After hauling myself out of bed and quickly stumbling through my morning routine, I grabbed my umbrella (not so much to protect me from the rain as to protect me from the umbrella-wielding salesmen lurking behind every corner) and made my way downstairs. After greeting the front desk workers with a weary "buon giorno," I turned the corner and BAM. There is was. Beautiful, white, ethereal snowfall. It literally stopped me in my tracks. I may or may not have squealed a bit, which incited lots of laughter from the hotel staff. After informing them of my deep and unwavering love for snow in sleepily befuddled Italian, I all but ran out the front doors.



My 2-minute walk to class had never been so enjoyable. I had never been so pleased to have to wait 5 minutes for the stoplights to change, and then another minute or so in order to let a few bold automobiles speed through the red lights so I wouldn't get run down by a Vespa. It was snowing, and that was all I cared about. The fat white flakes (the largest I have ever seen, and trust me - that's saying a lot) were quickly covering everything in a thick blanket of snow, which was sending the Italians into a frenzy. They didn't know what to do with themselves. I saw young people try (unsuccessfully, I might add) to operate their motorinos in the slushy streets. I saw grown men in suits scoop handfuls of snow off car windshields and hurl it at each other in the middle of the street. It was semi-organized chaos, and it was glorious.

I'm going to wrap this up by informing you that last Monday was the first time it has snowed in Rome in 25 years. That's right. The Eternal City has been snowless for a quarter of a century. What a bleak existence these people lead. Well, at least as bleak of an existence as one can lead while, you know, living in Rome.