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Saturday, 22 August 2015
Saturday, 20 June 2015
Hic Sunt Leones: A year playing lacrosse for Rome
Playing for the Roma Leones Lacrosse team has been the highlight of my time in Italy. Moving to a big city can make you feel quite anonymous. Getting to know this great group of guys has provided some much needed glue as I settled here. My degree is a combination of language and culture. Culture is fundamentally based around people, their ideas and their imagination helping to form a collective identity for a country. It's impossible to fully understand this in a lecture in the UK which is why thousands of us get sent out on erasmus to experience something completely new.
Only through my time with the squad have I been able to start to understand these proud, interesting people. Most of the team are born and bred Roman with a few coming in from other parts of Italy. Roman slang is prevalent as well as a boisterous almost obstreperous attitude that they wear proudly on the pitch and while they are drinking off it too. Their chutzpah in how they conduct their lives could be misunderstood as arrogance but it is rather born out of a sense of mischievousness and curiosity.
I played my last lacrosse with them at the weekend in a joint community open day with Lazio. Lazio, the biggest sports club in Europe, have adopted lacrosse into their franchise this year so now the city proudly boasts both a Roma and Lazio team. We played our first derby in January which had more of a friendly vibe compared to what Roy and I saw at the Stadio Olimpico in May.
Hic Sunt Leones is the joint cry in how we start and end every game. It comes from the Latin roughly meaning 'here come the Lions'. Fabio, the coach, would gather everyone in a huddle, say a few parting words and would scream 'hic sunt' with us heartily responding with 'Leones'. I always enjoyed this pre-game huddle, it was a symbolic gesture of unity and too often we try and rationally dismiss and undermine how important a symbol or mantra such as this can be. In Philosophy For Life Jules Evans uses Socrates to argue the importance of mottos and mantras. Through repetition and reflection they become ingrained into our habits and attitudes. It's not enough to just have an idea of what you ought to do, you have to dedicate that behaviour as something central in your life.
Lacrosse is a fast, physical, team game. It therefore requires a huge amount of effort, underlined by a required harmony and understanding in the group. My favourite sports have always been on the water. Sailing catamarans or lasers provide a sense of freedom under the backdrop of the powerful ocean. As grass sports go though, lacrosse is hard to beat. The enjoyment of playing the game has always been in tandem with getting to know a great group of people off the field as well. This was one of the main reasons why I started at Edinburgh and was also true here.
Travelling with the team on tours and away games has provided some of the more surreal moments of the last ten months. Visiting Belgium as the only Englishman with 15 Romans to play a traditionally American game highlighted how far away I was from the life I had left behind. It's also a testament to the power of sport in bringing people together which I think is underestimated besides the various physical and mental health benefits.
The last competitive outing for the club was in Turin for the Italian Cup, the 'Coppa Italia'. Ultimately it was a disappointing end for the Roman team. A resolutely officious umpire from Bocconi called a series of dubious penalties in our quarter final meaning we were man down for over the half game resulting in a 4-2 loss to Milan Painkillers who we had beaten the previous month. I was a pretty useless player at Edinburgh and it was rewarding to see how 9 months of training have made a big difference. At Rome I switched to play in attack and under the perseverance of Fabio's coaching I started to rack up the goals, scoring in every game of the final weekend.
Any achievements on the pitch were outweighed by the holistic experience of spending time with the squad. It provided obligatory routine during some of the lows in January and February. Being relied on by other people was usefully empowering and gave a sense of purpose that I sometimes lacked in living here.
I want to thank everyone at the club for welcoming me as one of their own, it's been an experience that I will never forget.
TJP
Twitter - https://twitter.com/pembertont
Insta - https://instagram.com/timpemberton/
Only through my time with the squad have I been able to start to understand these proud, interesting people. Most of the team are born and bred Roman with a few coming in from other parts of Italy. Roman slang is prevalent as well as a boisterous almost obstreperous attitude that they wear proudly on the pitch and while they are drinking off it too. Their chutzpah in how they conduct their lives could be misunderstood as arrogance but it is rather born out of a sense of mischievousness and curiosity.
I played my last lacrosse with them at the weekend in a joint community open day with Lazio. Lazio, the biggest sports club in Europe, have adopted lacrosse into their franchise this year so now the city proudly boasts both a Roma and Lazio team. We played our first derby in January which had more of a friendly vibe compared to what Roy and I saw at the Stadio Olimpico in May.
Hic Sunt Leones is the joint cry in how we start and end every game. It comes from the Latin roughly meaning 'here come the Lions'. Fabio, the coach, would gather everyone in a huddle, say a few parting words and would scream 'hic sunt' with us heartily responding with 'Leones'. I always enjoyed this pre-game huddle, it was a symbolic gesture of unity and too often we try and rationally dismiss and undermine how important a symbol or mantra such as this can be. In Philosophy For Life Jules Evans uses Socrates to argue the importance of mottos and mantras. Through repetition and reflection they become ingrained into our habits and attitudes. It's not enough to just have an idea of what you ought to do, you have to dedicate that behaviour as something central in your life.
Lacrosse is a fast, physical, team game. It therefore requires a huge amount of effort, underlined by a required harmony and understanding in the group. My favourite sports have always been on the water. Sailing catamarans or lasers provide a sense of freedom under the backdrop of the powerful ocean. As grass sports go though, lacrosse is hard to beat. The enjoyment of playing the game has always been in tandem with getting to know a great group of people off the field as well. This was one of the main reasons why I started at Edinburgh and was also true here.
Travelling with the team on tours and away games has provided some of the more surreal moments of the last ten months. Visiting Belgium as the only Englishman with 15 Romans to play a traditionally American game highlighted how far away I was from the life I had left behind. It's also a testament to the power of sport in bringing people together which I think is underestimated besides the various physical and mental health benefits.
The last competitive outing for the club was in Turin for the Italian Cup, the 'Coppa Italia'. Ultimately it was a disappointing end for the Roman team. A resolutely officious umpire from Bocconi called a series of dubious penalties in our quarter final meaning we were man down for over the half game resulting in a 4-2 loss to Milan Painkillers who we had beaten the previous month. I was a pretty useless player at Edinburgh and it was rewarding to see how 9 months of training have made a big difference. At Rome I switched to play in attack and under the perseverance of Fabio's coaching I started to rack up the goals, scoring in every game of the final weekend.
Any achievements on the pitch were outweighed by the holistic experience of spending time with the squad. It provided obligatory routine during some of the lows in January and February. Being relied on by other people was usefully empowering and gave a sense of purpose that I sometimes lacked in living here.
I want to thank everyone at the club for welcoming me as one of their own, it's been an experience that I will never forget.
TJP
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Insta - https://instagram.com/timpemberton/
Monday, 25 May 2015
Palazzo Crawl
Dozens of hidden Roman palazzo's opened to the public for the weekend. Ella and I took an extended Sunday afternoon wander to explore 15 of them. Dotted around centro storico side streets, it was incredible how these sprawling homes are hidden amongst of the chaos of ancient Rome.
The two that stood out are the expansive Palazzo Taverna and the rustic, overgrowing Palazzo Capponi Antonelli. Both are on the property bucket list.
Aside from the imminent pressure of exams, I'm looking forward to being back in the UK in late June.
TJP
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| Taverna |
When I was in London last month I visited the Hermés exhibition at the Saatchi gallery. It was a beautiful, interactive space dedicated to the idea of flaneury and you, as the flaneur, were taken through a spontaneous wander through 19th century Paris. One of the thoughts I took away from the exhibition was how being a flaneur was being presented in some ways as a concept that is largely foreign from today's society. Instead of intrinsically enjoying a wander our walks tend to be aligned with a specific destination.
The event was set up by the Lazio cultural institute and amongst the courtyards were various craftsmen who specialised in creating wares and interior designs for the palazzos. The above focussed on molding bronze sculptures for imposing front doors.
Aside from the imminent pressure of exams, I'm looking forward to being back in the UK in late June.
TJP
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Progress?
Most people view growing up as some kind of linear curve where your experiences build upon each other and as such you steadily develop and progress. People forget this development and progression is rooted in context and only when you truly have a goal in mind can you begin to measure and assess this fluid idea of progress. One of the best books I've stumbled through this year is called Essentialism which explores these ideas.
Particularly in these last 7 months I've felt I've made a little progress in several small areas. My italian has improved, I play lacrosse at a competitive level, I've lived more independently than ever before, I've been able to get to know and understand this great city of Rome and I have new appreciation for art and more generally the role of the arts in the world. Despite the above, I feel it pales in comparison to what could be achieved with a clearer goal and direction.
I think my threshold for having a worthy purpose is too high that it can inhibit any kind of action at all. It's reminiscent of Sylvia Plath's haunting novel 'The Bell Jar' where Esther describes a vision of her being caught in a crook of a fig tree unable to choose mutually exclusive journey to take.
“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
While caught up in the relative structure of university, choice and direction are trammelled and so choices right now are less polarised. On one level, existential questioning is essential otherwise you will be purely a reflection of your environment with no sense of autonomy. Leaning too far the other way harms the prospects of a life rooted in reality. I value proactiveness, initiative and creativity and would want these to firmly accompany any period of thought and reflection.
It's been a couple of months since I last posted on here and in that time I've been fortunate to explore some new parts of Italy and Rome. A little trip to the region of Veneto surpassed expectations and I can see myself returning to Lake Garda many times in the future. Tivoli is one of the most spectacular day trips from Rome with the beautiful Villa D'este, Villa Adriana and the waterfalls at Villa Gregoriana. There's still a couple of things I need to see particularly palazzo valentini and villa Borghese.
Since illness in January and February, I've recovered greatly during March and April and I've appreciated many of my friends coming out to visit during this time. Reflecting back on priorities, maintaining strong relationships with friends is something I always want to prioritise wherever I am in the world and I've enjoyed hosting many people in my little studio flat/
The UK election last week clogged up a lot of my news feed recently and politics is something I like to read about but would hesitantly openly discuss. One of the best articles spawned out of post election mayhem was actually found on The Tab by this years University Challenge hero Ted Loveday. It's natural for people to find difficulty in empathising with an opposing view when each side whips up hyperbole about each other's 'destructive' plans. Despite that difficulty, empathy is essential and tones of self-righteousness are not helpful, particularly in a political sphere
I have just over 6 weeks to go and both exams for uni and the Italian Cup finals for lacrosse are looming large.
A dopo, TJP
Elsewhere:
- A piece about my time in Pisco for a friends website
- A little review for The Italian Insider
- Twitter
- Instagram
Particularly in these last 7 months I've felt I've made a little progress in several small areas. My italian has improved, I play lacrosse at a competitive level, I've lived more independently than ever before, I've been able to get to know and understand this great city of Rome and I have new appreciation for art and more generally the role of the arts in the world. Despite the above, I feel it pales in comparison to what could be achieved with a clearer goal and direction.
I think my threshold for having a worthy purpose is too high that it can inhibit any kind of action at all. It's reminiscent of Sylvia Plath's haunting novel 'The Bell Jar' where Esther describes a vision of her being caught in a crook of a fig tree unable to choose mutually exclusive journey to take.
“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
While caught up in the relative structure of university, choice and direction are trammelled and so choices right now are less polarised. On one level, existential questioning is essential otherwise you will be purely a reflection of your environment with no sense of autonomy. Leaning too far the other way harms the prospects of a life rooted in reality. I value proactiveness, initiative and creativity and would want these to firmly accompany any period of thought and reflection.
It's been a couple of months since I last posted on here and in that time I've been fortunate to explore some new parts of Italy and Rome. A little trip to the region of Veneto surpassed expectations and I can see myself returning to Lake Garda many times in the future. Tivoli is one of the most spectacular day trips from Rome with the beautiful Villa D'este, Villa Adriana and the waterfalls at Villa Gregoriana. There's still a couple of things I need to see particularly palazzo valentini and villa Borghese.
Since illness in January and February, I've recovered greatly during March and April and I've appreciated many of my friends coming out to visit during this time. Reflecting back on priorities, maintaining strong relationships with friends is something I always want to prioritise wherever I am in the world and I've enjoyed hosting many people in my little studio flat/
The UK election last week clogged up a lot of my news feed recently and politics is something I like to read about but would hesitantly openly discuss. One of the best articles spawned out of post election mayhem was actually found on The Tab by this years University Challenge hero Ted Loveday. It's natural for people to find difficulty in empathising with an opposing view when each side whips up hyperbole about each other's 'destructive' plans. Despite that difficulty, empathy is essential and tones of self-righteousness are not helpful, particularly in a political sphere
I have just over 6 weeks to go and both exams for uni and the Italian Cup finals for lacrosse are looming large.
A dopo, TJP
Elsewhere:
- A piece about my time in Pisco for a friends website
- A little review for The Italian Insider
Thursday, 12 March 2015
Cycling, Pizza and Orvieto
In the past three months there were fleeting great moments that I will look back on, immortalised on a polaroid or remembered through the stories of people I have shared my life with here. I was ill for most of January and February, making it hard to write on here or really do anything creative. There were days where I felt like I was getting better before quickly regressing again.
Last Sunday I traveled to Orvieto with a close friend from home; it is beautiful little village set on a rock cliff looking out over the stretching planes of Umbria. There's a long circular path in the countryside surrounding the village. Walking along this path provided a rare moment of peace that I'm not able to get in the meandering mayhem of Rome. It reminded me of the Camino and I'm thinking of returning to Spain around Easter in a few weeks.
One of the people I meet for Italian tandem said that there is an atmosphere in Rome that is unlike any city in the world and I'd have to agree. It's not been an easy time here but Rome can surprise you with its intrigue and hidden places of beauty. Galleria Colonna is one of the most spectacular palazzos I've seen. Green spaces are rarely found in the centre but the ones that do exist are worth visiting, in particular the gardens of Villa Medici and the open panoramic view from Giardino degli Aranci.
Having friends visit is a welcome prod to find new places as well as show off the collection of hidden regulars that I go to every week. My list, all within 4 minutes of my flat/pantheon include: 'ciao checca' for a tasty, simple Italian lunch in a vibrant modern setting, 'Fandango Incontro' - a quiet cafe hidden in a little piazza accessed through an innocuous bookshop, Lindt for gelato - guiltily commercial but genuinely the best, 'Caffe Doria' - for a solid afternoon cake choice and 'Alice' - the best Pizza al taglio in Rome.
I watched the lengthy documentary of the National Gallery yesterday and it was a spectacular insight into a place of incredible inspiration and beauty. It was interesting to see how they remove the barriers to entry to their work, whether that be providing interactive seminars for blind people or engaging storytelling for the younger audience. Empathy was encouraged and this allows a subjective appreciation or emotional impact for everybody whether you have a scholastic background in art or not.
After 6 months of living here I'm starting to appreciate and enjoy the Italian way of cinema which is very different to most of the UK. I have been to 7 of the small cinemas dotted around the centro storico. Most are independently owned and usually have only one or two screens. My current favourite is the Alcazar in Trastevere, its one screen is draped top to bottom in a deep rouge. I watched Whiplash there, brilliant film, brilliant setting.
It's strange how a few little things added together can have a big impact on how you view the world and how you feel. I spent a few days in Hamburg in February and there's this viewpoint that looks like a vast, smokey Isengard alla Lord of the Rings. Just sitting there with a couple of friends from Edinburgh was simply quite life affirming. Spending time with good friends in a strange, interesting place reminiscing on tales from the previous years. Similarly, a few of my friends and I cycled down the Appian Way a couple of weeks ago. The combination of good company, beautiful scenery and great weather made everything seem a little more vibrant and alive.
A dopo, TJP
Monday, 22 December 2014
Update
It's been over a month since I published anything here, I have several unfinished drafts in my dashboard but never quite managed to complete any of them; Probably because they weren't unanimously positive and I maybe haven't got my head around describing something negative unless in a more abstract or nuanced way.
I wrote something for the university paper - The Student - that was a general recap of the last few months and I'm now back in the rolling green countryside of Chester, a world away from the jostling heart of Rome. There's a beautiful walk on the sandstone trail from Beeston Castle to The Pheasant Inn that we went on Sunday afternoon. It was the shortest day of the year so despite our relatively early start the sun was disappearing as we approached the car on the way back.
I've lived in Rome for 15 weeks now and I think I only started to finally feel comfortable in my surroundings at the start of December. It has been a long slog till then. I read a quote yesterday that said "The opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality" it came from a brilliant Ted talk which is the best I have seen on the subject. I felt sapped of a lot of energy in October/November which makes being proactive particularly difficult. I started reading again in earnest a few weeks ago making up for a slack couple of months with an eclectic selection of modern day fiction 'Any Human Heart' by William Boyd, business/productivity book 'Essentialism', sports strategy focussed 'Pep Confidential' and I've just started 'Brideshead Revisited' by Waugh.
The cinemas in Rome usually churn out one or two hollywood based films a week which is a welcome addition to puerile Italian comedies but is still lacking strong British dramas which they have in abundance in Edinburgh. I can't imagine a city in the world that has a stronger selection of film to Edinburgh. The triangle of Filmhouse, Cameo and Cineworld means just about everything is on show. The Imitation Game lived up to expectations, sad but incredibly inspiring at the same time.
There are some small signs of hope that I might be able to pass university this year. I've started to do several tandems throughout the week which have been a big help and I have a few allies in my various classes. One of my local friends pointed out the senate library which was hidden in a piazza 30 seconds from my flat. To the right of this is my favourite church in Rome - Basilica Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Unlike the majority of churches which have a range of frescoes littering the ceiling, Sopra Minerva has a midnight blue ceiling covered in stars. There was a Christmas service here last week, the church was lit up with hundreds of candles, the choir filled the building with Italian hymns and as you looked up it reflected the night sky outside.
Christmas in Chester, New Year in Edinburgh and back to Rome in early January.
TJP
I wrote something for the university paper - The Student - that was a general recap of the last few months and I'm now back in the rolling green countryside of Chester, a world away from the jostling heart of Rome. There's a beautiful walk on the sandstone trail from Beeston Castle to The Pheasant Inn that we went on Sunday afternoon. It was the shortest day of the year so despite our relatively early start the sun was disappearing as we approached the car on the way back.
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| Beeston - Cheshire |
The cinemas in Rome usually churn out one or two hollywood based films a week which is a welcome addition to puerile Italian comedies but is still lacking strong British dramas which they have in abundance in Edinburgh. I can't imagine a city in the world that has a stronger selection of film to Edinburgh. The triangle of Filmhouse, Cameo and Cineworld means just about everything is on show. The Imitation Game lived up to expectations, sad but incredibly inspiring at the same time.
There are some small signs of hope that I might be able to pass university this year. I've started to do several tandems throughout the week which have been a big help and I have a few allies in my various classes. One of my local friends pointed out the senate library which was hidden in a piazza 30 seconds from my flat. To the right of this is my favourite church in Rome - Basilica Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Unlike the majority of churches which have a range of frescoes littering the ceiling, Sopra Minerva has a midnight blue ceiling covered in stars. There was a Christmas service here last week, the church was lit up with hundreds of candles, the choir filled the building with Italian hymns and as you looked up it reflected the night sky outside.
Christmas in Chester, New Year in Edinburgh and back to Rome in early January.
TJP
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| View of the Vatican |
Saturday, 15 November 2014
Interstellar
I watched Interstellar last week, a film that takes you away for 3 hours on a journey that combines the epic with the intimate. It's easily one of my favourite films I've seen all year, it leaves you with a raw, invasive feeling of the vast world we live in. It had rained while I was in the cinema as I walked out into the Roman streets at 1am, the cobbles were glistening with the orange glow of the street lamps.
Rome is great to walk around, you have a labyrinth of winding, tiny streets all cramped up in the centre. Enclosed footbridges crossing the street above you, ostentatious sculptures, innocuous entrances leading to hidden, spectacular interiors. Piazza Venezia is more or less the centre of the city. At one end of the square you have the imposing Altare della Patria (Vittorio Emanuele Monument) and at the other Via Del Corso which dissects the city in two with a straight 2 km run all the way to Piazza del Popolo in the northern tip of ancient Rome. The west side of the Corso is where my little flat is, a short walk from the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori.Through walking in and out of these winding streets for the past month, this ancient jigsaw is roughly in place while leaving enough room for daily discoveries.
The cinema is a 8 minute zig zag north from my flat. I only recently found out that I had been walking past the prime ministers residence (Palazzo Chigi) and parliament which are both fairly indiscreet judging by Roman standards. My life and current world seemed very small on the walk back. The intensity and importance on screen contrasting with the casual comfort and drifting I seem to be doing right now. It was a reminder that life is best lived when chasing the things you are truly passionate about.
I mentioned the above to one of my friends here, about surviving/thriving. Maybe I put too much pressure on doing the latter when in many ways survival here is a big step and something that you would take a lot from, even if from your current perspective it seems like you are running just to stand still. She mentioned how being a tortoise and not a hare is what's needed here. Little steps, building a routine, keeping yourself busy with the daily things.
Lacrosse is one of the things that keeps me going here. Training 3 times a week with a group of 15-20 Italians. It's intense but worth the effort. We are travelling to Belgium in 2 weeks to play a team out there. Then in mid December we travel to Turin for the first game of the Italian Championship.
TJP
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Rome is great to walk around, you have a labyrinth of winding, tiny streets all cramped up in the centre. Enclosed footbridges crossing the street above you, ostentatious sculptures, innocuous entrances leading to hidden, spectacular interiors. Piazza Venezia is more or less the centre of the city. At one end of the square you have the imposing Altare della Patria (Vittorio Emanuele Monument) and at the other Via Del Corso which dissects the city in two with a straight 2 km run all the way to Piazza del Popolo in the northern tip of ancient Rome. The west side of the Corso is where my little flat is, a short walk from the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori.Through walking in and out of these winding streets for the past month, this ancient jigsaw is roughly in place while leaving enough room for daily discoveries.
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| Altare Della Patria - aka the bus stop for lacrosse |
I mentioned the above to one of my friends here, about surviving/thriving. Maybe I put too much pressure on doing the latter when in many ways survival here is a big step and something that you would take a lot from, even if from your current perspective it seems like you are running just to stand still. She mentioned how being a tortoise and not a hare is what's needed here. Little steps, building a routine, keeping yourself busy with the daily things.
Lacrosse is one of the things that keeps me going here. Training 3 times a week with a group of 15-20 Italians. It's intense but worth the effort. We are travelling to Belgium in 2 weeks to play a team out there. Then in mid December we travel to Turin for the first game of the Italian Championship.
TJP
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