Writing Assignment 7/8: A Tale of Two Train Stations

"Don't bring your laptop. It will get stolen." With those words ringing in my ears (and my laptop in my backpack) the train rolled slowly into what had been described to me as one of the most dangerous places on earth, Napoli.  Supposedly it is inhabited by the scum of the earth, a criminal underworld so underworldly that hell itself provides it with complimentary heated floors.  Here morality is turned on its head as Greed, Corruption and Violence are treated as virtues rather than vices.  As the train screeched to a slow, almost deliberately dramatic stop, the thought of simply remaining seated until I was safely returned to Rome flitted across my consciousness, but then the moment was gone, driven from my mind as quickly as it had arrived by the rat race for baggage as everyone on the train simultaneously decided to exit as expediently as possible.  I paused at the door of the train and sort of peered out to ascertain that setting foot in Napoli wouldn't involve instantaneous mugging. Seeing no eminent danger I cautiously ventured forth out of the train station and into this Mecca for malicious men, my eyes darted back and forth in an attempt to look in all directions simultaneously.  My imagination picked up on the frenzied action of my eyes and everyone I passed was granted an illusory bio.  I brushed by serial killers, waited at cross-walks with rapists, burglars brazenly walked by and coke-dealers and prostitutes populated every city block.  My clammy palms clenched my wallet protectively fearful that if I let it go for even an instant the nigh supernatural abilities of the cities pick pockets would magic it away. Sweat leaked out of me, which I managed to convince myself was due to the balmy weather (in February) and the rigorous pace rather than the trepidation that permeated my thoughts.  This continued for twenty five minutes and concluded when we arrived at the cheerfully named, Hostel of the Sun, which was in fact quite cheerful, despite my initial misgivings.
My return to the station two days later was pretty much the polar opposite.  If you took my initial experience inverted everything and then played it backwards you would end up with my return experience.  At this point I had become quite tired of being paranoid, it's exhausting attempting to maintain a three hundred and sixty degree view of your surroundings.  Not only that, I ended up talking to some of the prostitutes and serial killers, with some hesitation I might add, and surprisingly enough they did not in fact kill people or sex people for a living, they had respectable professions, bakers, bankers, bus drivers and the like. The people seemed almost intentionally contrary to my preconceived notions about them proving in general to be some of the nicest Italians I had met to date.  Now given I did not test my newfound confidence that Naples wouldn't leave me mugged, murdered or molested.  I didn't wander through the streets alone at night nor did I frequent the reputedly dangerous districts, but then again I don't do those things (much) in Rome or Seattle.
Termini. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to see someplace in my life.  Despite having initially planned to visit Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast following our trip to Naples, I found myself on the first possible train back to Rome.  At some point during the last few weeks of our program I came to the realization that I had fallen desperately in love with the Eternal City.  However I was unable to pinpoint when this shift had occurred.  Now as I reflect upon my trip to Napoli I wonder if that emotional border was crossed the moment my feet hit the platform and Roman air hit my lungs that Friday evening, for it was then for the first time that coming back to Rome felt like a legitimate homecoming.  I was stressed and Rome provided the relief of familiarity, of belonging. Each time I departed Rome and returned I brought with me some newly added intangible element, a new opinion or comparison, but it also allowed me to appreciate Rome.  To quote 50 Cent, even though he is not exactly an academic source, "Joy wouldn't feel so good if it wasn't for pain." The concept is essentially the same, in order to realize my affection for Rome it had to be juxtaposed by an alternate city, in this case Naples.  This is not to say that I am equating Rome to joy and Naples to pain, although some may find the comparison astute.  What should be taken away from the comparison is the underlying truth that something is valued because of what it is not almost more so than for what it is. Rome is architecturally exquisite and historically unrivalled but it is only because there are other cities in the world that do not share those characteristics that Rome is valued as one of the most amazing cities in the world.