IT - San Giovanni

Via Sannio in Rome is close to the Basilic of San Giovanni in Laterano. I call this place "le Souk de Rome" as for me it looks like the bazaar in Marocco. Alleys covered by plastic sheets, 10 sqm stands, heaps of clothes, everything from 50 cts to 40eur, brands - second hand and imitations, FORZA FORZA!!! or guys telling you they have surely something right for you...
I could just not determine if all this was legal or not.

- The "entrance" on the street, San Giovanni in Laterano in the background -

- Saturday end of the day, plastic sheets protection from rain and sun -

- My favorite angle, the costume shop -

- To be compared, Marrakech -

Le JT italien par les Inconnus

smile it's the week-end :)
Ehh è la vita che posso fare...

IT - L'Aquila

Rome, 18.01.2010

Late Saturday - Sunday we went off to L'Aquila. You probably remember this name from the 2009 earthquake. L'Aquila is not really far from Rome, about 1h30 by car. As a church and youth group we have connections with the local church in l'Aquila and it was planned that we go there to help them. However... the plans changed... the week-end was cancelled at the last minute. But in the same call that informed me that the we were not going, they told me we were still going (informally) :) You'd better be flexible! And so am I! Eight of us kept the schedule and distributed about 300 books in a commercial center in l'Aquila. You can download it here (libri >> R.I.P riposono in pace) or ask me if you want to have a copy (we still have dozens of them in Dragona :) I was amazed how quickly they went away!

So many things in l'Aquila recall you the earthquake. Work in progress everywhere, ruins, tents on the streets, entire buildings closed waiting for rehabilitation, brand new buildings, cracks, wooden huts...

Then for dinner we couldn't miss the arrosticini these sheep meat brochette typical from the Abbruzzo region. At the end of the dinner everyone is counting its sticks to know how much he is going to pay :) and plates look like a giant mikado as in total we ate 180 arrosticini in 8.



Finally we slept well but short in Isola del Gran Sasso, the village we were staying overnight. 50 years ago at this place was build the house what was going to be the centre of many camps and activities focusing on the Scriptures (the Bible). http://www.ibeisola.com/storia.htm.


On Sunday we went back to l'Aquila for the Sunday worship in a wooden hut on a supermarket parking. Yes, the church's building was in the city center and was damaged during the earthquake so the municipality is lending this room for association use. And ultimately before coming back in Rome we had an iceskating session... I was so happy :D as I was not expecting anymore to go iceskating this winter!

all in all a really nice week-end!
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Luca Salzarulo

In Rome I'm hanging out a lot with artists :D don't ask me why?! I don't know... well maybe I know but can't tell you :x ... they just are great friends! So I wanted to start a post series with artist interviews and presentations but I'm not ready yet. However there is someone who cannot wait I push myself to do the exercise...

Luca is participating for the first time in an exhibition from Jan 23 to Feb 5, it is exactly the right opportunity to start helping him a little bit. So the interview might be published later and in the meantime spread the word:

Luca Salzarulo is having one of his paintings displayed in an art gallery located close to the Colosseo.

Obama. Uno sguardo al futuro
Via Ostilia 41, 00184 Rome
from Jan 23 to Feb 5

As it would be encouraging for him to show up, I was thinking to after work one these evenings. I asked him to brief me on Sunday so I can tell you the whole story behind this painting and the series it belongs to. And if you are curious check the following links:

link to the event: http://57.exibart.com/profilo/eventiV2.asp?idelemento=85428
link to his profile (Luca Salzarulo) on an online gallery: http://www.semisolid.net/a235-d1-LucaSalzarulo.php

How did I know there were playing calcio tonight?

1. At 7pm people too many people were rushing at the station to go home
2. I can hear men screaming in my building
3. It is enough to understand some important soccer game is going on!
   

ps: calcio = soccer in italian

Haïti some interesting links

News feed on the Haïti operation by WFP on the public website, including relevant links to other sources of information:
http://www.wfp.org/stories/latest-haiti-operation

"Clusters can be activated in response to "sudden major new emergency requiring a multi sectoral response with the participation of a wide range of humanitarian actors" as well as during ongoing emergencies." Nine Clusters were agreed with a lead agency for each. WFP is the lead agency for Logistics Cluster. And this is the link of the Haïti webpage of the cluster, centralizing all important documents for the ongoing operation (maps, pictures, templates, contact lists, updates, minutes, schedules...):

http://www.logisticscluster.org/ops/hti10a

Logistics daily update of situation on the ground, mainly AIR/ROAD/PORT situation (by WFP Logistics):
http://wfplogistics.org/haiti-earthquake-2010

Haïti Earthquake Flash Appeal 2010 (comparable to a "business plan", defining the needs - the solutions - the funds required - the work repartition between organizations ...)
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SODA-7ZQPUC?OpenDocument

IT - I am the one

Picture taken by AC on our way to Perugia.

:D

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