Day 9, F: DISCOTECA

No school on Fridays is a huge plus. I slept in for a while, but then had to get up and go to the Colosseum. On the way there we always have to walk past the throngs of gypsys. One particularly creepy one had a white face mask, baby doll, and yellow dish gloves, and was covered completely head to toe in some black garb. Anyway the Colosseum or Colosseo was great. Unfortunately as soon as we got in and I reached for my camera I realized I left my memory card in my laptop. Joy. It was still an amazing visit and it was beautiful weather. I got some sketching done while I was there. We left and went and ate some food at Forno (bakery) in Campo dei Fiori. On the way home we wandered by some posters for shows and I grabbed a flyer for this one party. That night I decided to do something different. This whole time I've felt like I've been at bars in America with Scholar's Lounge. Great place, but I really want to experience some Italian nightlife in the few months that I'm here. So I did my own thing. I grabbed Cassidy, Blake, and Taylor and we headed out on a trek across town to the Rotor party with Beat Tank at the Galleria dei Serpenti. It was a bit of a walk past the Viktor Emmanuel monument but it wasn't too bad. When we finally made it the bouncer immediately stopped us. He let in some Italian guys, some girls, and then some more guys. I was very confused. I asked if he spoke English or Spanish when some other guy standing nearby said he spoke Spanish. I asked him why he wouldn't let me in to which the bouncer (I guess given then similarity of Spanish & Italian) seemed to understand and wasn't too happy about it. I apologized and then they laughed. I felt a wave of "what am I getting myself into". After a minute he finally let us in for no apparent reason. It turns out we were the ONLY native English speaking people there, it was a hip local crowd which made it all the more interesting and a great adventure. We got in and the cover was 10E and a free drink (I thought at the time that it was 10E and you had to BUY a drink). Blake got angry and I whisked him away from the entry people so as to try and make it seem like the Americans they actually let in should be here. After a minute they let us in for 5E (since it was 1oclock and closed at 5am) and we mozied to the bar. The 5E payed for itself with the free drink. As soon as I walked in I was greeted immediately with an ecstatic yell from the Italian girl I spoke Spanish with outside the bar near our apartment. I was equally surprised to see her and answered with a proud "Come va??" We talked and I met her friend who's photograph was on display at the party. It was all white because as he said "it's still a picture". Brilliantly simple. The music upstairs was nice but a little too chill and housey. However, once I went downstairs to the basement I immediately heard the siren call of some sick bass beats. It was a completely different scene: dark closed spaces with a lower ceiling vaulted on one side with a strobe light. Everyone was going nuts to the dubstep that the DJ was spinning. I scooted over and chatted with him a bit. Hearing this music really made my night and seemed to solidify that I am going to have fun in Italy- I just need to find the right people and the right things to do (like any new place I guess). We danced for a bit until we realized that Blake had disappeared. We looked all over the discoteca for him and then after a while we decided that he must have gone home. More on that later. So we went downstairs and danced some more. I chatted with some locals and reveled in moment with the music and the joy of finding such a great new place. After the DJ's set finished we went outside and talked with this guy who studied film in the US. Apparently the censor films in Italy which in no bene. Anyway he told us about some cool places to go which I will definitely have to check out ASAP. We drifted home and walked to Taylor and Blakes apartment. I went in to Blake room to find him lying in bed. I poked him with my key and woke him up. "Where the hell did you go?!?" He seemed confused at first and claimed that we left him. We stepped out of the room and he explained that he went outside, couldn't find us, and that he spent 3 hours walking around lost in Rome until he found someone to give him directions. Not good, but since we were in the club the whole time we really didn't know what to do about it. He conceded that he just must have been confused at the time. We all retired to our quarters for the evening feeling better knowing that everyone was OK and had a great time.