Sometimes working in Italy can test your patience. I already told you about my futile trip to Civita Castellana in order to draw some pottery. However, now I have managed to get these few diagnostic pieces drawn and I also found out that my study space was upgraded! I was not in a dark former jail room near entrance but in a room along the main court next to the conservation department. This room was lighter and had a lamp ready. In three hours and with an extra check I was done. If only the travel would have taken so many hours.
One can see that the winter was harsh since Via Flaminia was full off filled potholes and giving me a bumpy ride. Due to the hot weather I rushed towards Rome with the air conditioning on a full blast. I did not register where I was although I just had passed the S. Oreste junction. Thus, I apparently managed to earn three points to my driving licence – although a scholar in the institute suggested they were not added to Finnish driving licences that do not use point system. I have been contemplating the change to the British one so I was glad I had not got around to it just yet.
The weather is one of the number one discussion topics in Italy since after an unusual cold winter the summer started with the August temperatures already in June. I was in the city when the fourth afa-warning came into place. This one had a snazzy name with a dragon in its name and blew from the deserts of Algeria. The first part of my week was manageable with cool nights but the latter part was sweaty and boiling. In the afternoon the mind started to wonder in a small sweaty room. Unfortunately, the same space took the morning sun during the coolest time of the working day but with a certain finishing day one had to try to plough through even if the heat made everything slow.
Luckily, I had made my trip to the library – Biblioteca Nazionale, the only large library open in August in Rome – during a cooler day. The visits always take the same trajectory. You hurry in order to the library order the book you need and then linger around for an hour while waiting for your order. This time around there was something important also in the open collection so I could start my hectic note taking straight after having my morning coffee.
I can here apologize those colleagues I should have contacted but could not under the heavy workload and travelling with my young family. Pazienza – the things will happen when the weather is cooler and the mountains are not obscured by afa.
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