No habíamos dormido bien y los días anteriores habían estado llenos de cosas por hacer, así que decidimos no madrugar, a pesar de que nuestro grupo peregrino había acordado verse temprano para partir a Fiera di Roma. En el Airbnb éramos cinco: mi novio, mis tres roomies (Pedro, su mamá, un amiga de ellos) y yo. Ellos no iban a hospedarse en Fiera di Roma, sino en un colegio cerca de Castel Gandolfo.
Antes de salir, desayunamos todos juntos y fue una maravilla. Nos ofrecieron pasta, pesto, pollo, arepitas, aguacate y ensalada. Comimos afuera, en una mesita que había justo al salir de la habitación. Gracias a Dios comimos bien, porque el día prometía caminatas largas.
We hadn't slept well and the previous days had been full of things to do, so we decided not to get up early, even though our pilgrim group had agreed to meet early to leave for Fiera di Roma. There were five of us at the Airbnb: my boyfriend, my three roommates (Pedro, his mom, a friend of theirs) and me. They weren't staying at Fiera di Roma, but at a school near Castel Gandolfo.
Before leaving, we all had breakfast together, which was wonderful. They offered us pasta, pesto, chicken, arepas, avocado, and salad. We ate outside at a small table just outside the room. Thank God we ate well, because the day promised long walks.
Cuando ya nos íbamos, tuve mi primera anécdota del día: el cierre de mi maleta decidió dañarse justo en ese momento. Intenté arreglarlo como pude, porque el transporte estaba por llegar y no podía quedarme. Logré medio resolver, aunque el cierre quedó con fallas todo el viaje.
Salimos desde Via Montiglioni, una zona tranquila, un poco nublada y fresca, muy distinta al calor de Roma. Caminamos hasta la parada y tomamos el bus hacia el metro de Anagnina. De día, ese metro se ve mucho mejor que de noche, aunque igual conserva ese aire un poco gris y solitario. Había bastante gente, muchos peregrinos como nosotros, por todas partes y un ambiente de movimiento constante.
As we were leaving, I had my first anecdote of the day: the zipper on my suitcase decided to break right then and there. I tried to fix it as best I could, because the bus was about to arrive and I couldn't stay behind. I managed to fix it halfway, although the zipper remained faulty for the entire trip.
We left from Via Montiglioni, a quiet area, a little cloudy and cool, very different from the heat of Rome. We walked to the bus stop and took the bus to the Anagnina metro station. During the day, that metro station looks much better than at night, although it still has that slightly gray and lonely feel. There were quite a few people, many pilgrims like us, everywhere, and an atmosphere of constant movement.
Nos despedimos de nuestros roomies en Anagnina, y seguimos hasta Ponte Lungo, donde hicimos una parada en un café ambientado en Londres. Tenía una vitrina llena de dulces y olor a café recién hecho. Pedimos un cornetto al pistacho que estaba delicioso. Le regalamos al encargado un “flaquito”, un dulce venezolano, y le encantó; dijo que el chocolate venezolano era muy bueno.
We said goodbye to our roommates in Anagnina and continued on to Ponte Lungo, where we stopped at a London-themed café. It had a display case full of sweets and smelled of freshly brewed coffee. We ordered a pistachio cornetto, which was delicious. We gave the manager a “flaquito,” a Venezuelan sweet, and he loved it; he said that Venezuelan chocolate was very good.
Después de eso caminamos hasta la parada de tren y tomamos el que iba hacia Fiera di Roma, que nos dejaba más cerca del sitio donde nos hospedaríamos. Cuando llegamos, el ambiente era caótico: peregrinos por todas partes, pabellones enormes y gente caminando en todas direcciones.
After that, we walked to the train station and took the train to Fiera di Roma, which was closer to where we were staying. When we arrived, the atmosphere was chaotic: pilgrims everywhere, huge pavilions, and people walking in all directions.
No había muchos voluntarios visibles, así que le preguntamos a unos policías cómo llegar a nuestro pabellón. Caminamos y caminamos —tanto que en un momento pensamos que nos habíamos perdido. Por suerte, encontramos un vigilante y un cartel que nos indicaba el camino correcto.
There weren't many volunteers around, so we asked some police officers how to get to our pavilion. We walked and walked—so much so that at one point we thought we were lost. Luckily, we found a security guard and a sign pointing us in the right direction.
Lo curioso fue que, aunque salimos horas más tarde que el resto, llegamos primero. Así que tuvimos que esperar al grupo para poder hacer el registro. Mientras tanto, descansamos un rato y fuimos a comer algo a un cafetín cercano porque ya el hambre estaba pegando.
The funny thing was that, even though we left hours later than the rest, we arrived first. So we had to wait for the group to arrive before we could check in. In the meantime, we rested for a while and went to eat something at a nearby café because we were already feeling hungry.
Fiera di Roma parecía una ciudad dentro de otra: pabellones inmensos tipo galpón, miles de personas, movimiento constante. A nuestro grupo de 30 lo dividieron en dos —uno de 10 y otro de 20— y nos tocó el pabellón número 2. Adentro, los puestos estaban marcados con los bolsos del kit misionero, y cada uno debía sacar su colchón inflable o sleeping, según lo que hubiera traído. No había camas ni literas. Los baños estaban dentro del pabellón, pero también había portátiles afuera, y las duchas eran igual: con cortinas que se movían con la brisa, así que la gente se bañaba con traje de baño o con ayuda de alguien que sujetara la cortina.
Fiera di Roma looked like a city within a city: huge warehouse-like pavilions, thousands of people, constant movement. Our group of 30 was divided into two—one of 10 and another of 20—and we were assigned to pavilion number 2. Inside, the stalls were marked with the bags from the missionary kit, and each person had to take out their inflatable mattress or sleeping bag, depending on what they had brought. There were no beds or bunk beds. The bathrooms were inside the pavilion, but there were also portable ones outside, and the showers were the same: with curtains that moved in the breeze, so people showered in their swimsuits or with the help of someone holding the curtain.
Nos entregaron los distintivos del jubileo, con el código QR que servía para canjear las comidas. Fiera di Roma quedaba bastante alejado de todo, así que la cena había que recogerla en un cafetín habilitado dentro de uno de los pabellones. Por el ticket de 10 euros nos dieron un sándwich y un refresco, un poco caro, pero suficiente para no pasar hambre.
We received our jubilee badges, with a QR code that could be used to exchange for meals. Fiera di Roma was quite far from everything, so dinner had to be picked up at a small café set up inside one of the pavilions. For the €10 ticket, we got a sandwich and a soft drink, which was a bit expensive, but enough to keep us from going hungry.
Allí conocimos a nuestras primeras amigas internacionales: Isela, de México, y Madellin, de Guatemala. Con ellas compartimos la cena y nos quedamos hablando un buen rato. Fue una de esas conversaciones que fluyen sin esfuerzo, entre risas, historias y el cansancio compartido del primer día.
There we met our first international friends: Isela, from Mexico, and Madellin, from Guatemala. We shared dinner with them and stayed up talking for a long time. It was one of those conversations that flowed effortlessly, filled with laughter, stories, and the shared exhaustion of the first day.
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