Retake Rome

We were back in Rome and ready to "Retake Rome." Retake Rome; speak up and clean up is a community service project started by some AWAR members with the sponsorship of the Giuseppe Garibaldi Foundation. The idea is to recruit volunteers (primarily youth), to raise awareness of how Rome's degraded condition can be remedied, and to participate in neighborhood clean-ups. The clean-ups are designed to alleviate unsightly "tags." There is a delicate balance around these parts as to what is considered "graffiti art" versus vandals tagging walls and monuments with spray paint ie. marking their spots like a dog.

The effort has received much publicity and subsequently the support and involvement of the Comune di Roma. Today, we were to dress in green and meet in the Villa Borghese to do some cleaning and raise awareness. Again, the idea is to enlist as much of the city's youth in this effort as possible. As such, the flyer went out to many universities and international primary schools so there were really a lot of people who showed up to clean up.

In typical fashion, we were late in getting out of the house. We were supposed to meet at the rally point at 10am and then clean until 1pm before having a picnic lunch. By the time Charlotte got up and had breakfast, and I packed a picnic and everyone was dressed, it was almost 11am. Josh was on a ride was going to meet us in the Villa Borghese later, but because we left so late, we literally ran into him on his bike just as we were leaving.

In the end, the rally was successful and much of the tagging in the park was cleaned. At the same time, the organization could have been better. With their face masks and gloves on, the kids brushed a noxious detergent onto the taggings, and then the employees from the Comune came by and washed it off with a high-pressure water hose.

Unfortunately, when it came time for the picnic, the sun disappeared making it feel quite chilly. When we came home, Avery and I cleaned ourselves up and took a nap while Josh took the girls to see Alice in Wonderland.

We went to La Pariolina for a pizza dinner.