project

On sunday our group participated in a program known as Retake Roma. Within this project we cleaned off graffiti,  painted the subway, swept the sidewalks, and removed a lot of stickers from street signs. I found this to be a very interesting type of community service because even in a lot of major cities in the US you do not see it this bad. Moreover, the reactions we got from the pedestrians stuck me as strange. It was like they never saw anyone doing community service before which is so strange from an outside perspective because it is very much a part of our culture. Finally, after thinking about it, I do not know how much I support this program. I agree that it is a great thing to clean the sidewalks, but the tags have been a part of Roman culture for a long time now. Instead some American came over and decided she didn't like what she saw so she was going to fight it. This not only makes some locals angry but it also fuels the stereotype of Americans having a need to have it their way.