First impressions and the unreliability of a tired mind

     Wow! Transcontinental flights are long and incredibly uncomfortable! I'm quite accustomed to long haul drives numbering north of 12-14 hour long stretches. But the lack of any adequate gas stations 36,000 feet in the air makes a flight of the same duration 20x worse. By the time I arrived in Italy I hadn't slept for 24 hours and by the time I had reached my accommodations I had been awake for over 28 hours, and hadn't eaten for the last 15 hours or so. It would be a gross understatement to say i felt like the icy touch of death was caressing my neck. 

    So in as few words as possible, I was in a terrible mood. Which then lead to me being very angry at everything Id seen since landing in Napoli. The streets were full of moped drivers who seemed to not realize that they are in fact flesh and blood and very squishy compared to asphalt. The best way to put it is that in Texas the chaos forms out of order, everybody pushes the limits of what's legal to make things more efficient but usually staying true to the law. In Italy its the opposite, order seems to come forth from chaos, all the drivers acting on self interest and then instinct so that collisions don't occur, its like if free-form jazz was performed with cars. It was strangely beautiful in a way, although very stressful for someone who's used to giant interstate highway. Its like comparing a canal to a natural river, one is orderly, the other acts at the whims of nature. 

   I'm gonna have to change the subject abruptly here but I promise it'll tie in with the chaos described above. 

    The cities are chaotic in a similar way, not planned like most American cities, where development was carefully thought of hundreds of years into the future. The cities seemed to have grown like wild vines, houses and building popping up where ever there is room. Small bodegas to large apartment buildings, like plants left untended, the buildings fill the space. I walk down wide streets banked by dozens of shops, just to a take a turn down a narrow cobble stone street where cars will pass with only a foot or two on either side, expecting you to hug the wall or be run over. 

    Its like a vascular system cutting through the meat and tissue of a body, stretching out in all directions, always leading somewhere, never seeming to end. The chaos of the roads then don't seem to come from some disregard for others but rather as a natural extension of the philosophy of the cities themselves. To fill the space, leave nothing wasted or unused. To be as efficient as possible with what is given to them. So, though I am still nervous around the drivers here, it has taken on a greater meaning. Whether or not its good isn't for me to say. But it's not as foreign as it was just a few days ago. 

P.S. The coffee really is as good as they say. And the food is great but I've still got a terrible hankering for a Whataburger.