Not going to lie, I am surprised I’ve made it through the day so far. After being soaked the evening before, completing a load of laundry was in order, and didn’t end up in bed until after 2 AM. I had to be up around 7 AM to be prepared for our media trip to Enel… All I can say is I am taking full advantage of the free cappuccinos in the hostel lobby.
Fun fact: Italians do not order/drink cappuccinos after noon, so if you order one after, it’s another easy way to spot a tourist.
Piling out of the hostel door at 8:45 AM sharp, we made our way to the tram station… and waited at least a good half an hour to catch the right tram. Our destination was Enel, and apparently it’s located all the way across Rome, as it was our longest tram station ride, with roughly 30 stops in between.
Enel is an international electricity company that’s headquarters is located in Rome. It’s the #1 private network operator globally and #1 renewable operator. At first, one would not think that an electricity company would do anything with communications. However, we spoke with Ivano Ferioli, the head of internal media and shared with us many different ways Enel works on its internal and external communication. Enel’s main plan for the future is to focus on efficiency, growth, and group simplification.
The whole building and company reminded me of the Italian version of Google, and I was not far off. One of our hosts mentioned that they modeled the room we were in off of Google’s headquarters. The whole building itself is very energy efficient, and I personally thought it would be a great company to work for! (For those of you interested, they have a San Francisco location!)
Once the presentation was over, we were asked to break up into groups for radio and TV “assignments”. My classmates who were interested in radio went to speak on Enel’s radio station. The rest of us broke up into four groups for the TV portion. There was an interviewee and a journalist, and the other members of the group were able to observe from the control room.
After the Enel visit, there was a little bit of free time, where I was finally able to enjoy the outdoor patio for an hour or two. That free time was much needed, and I loved being able to enjoy some sunshine.
Our last night in Roma was a special one- we attended a cooking class on an island that held Marlon Brando’s apartment and some ancient ruins. It was one of the coolest things I have been able to attend in my life!
The head chef and his helpers walked us step-by-step through the process to make two different pasta dishes: gnocchi and ravioli.
I think one of my favorite parts of making the dishes were when the pasta had to go through the pasta maker and we all had to partake in the “pasta dance”. The room was full of cheer and energy, and at the end, it took all of us handling the pasta.
The one helper had told me “You’re not going to do this at home,” when he had to help me figure out how to roll the pasta thinner. I can’t even be offended, as I know he’s right. This intensive cooking is probably not my forte.
We actually were able to eat our own pasta at the end. The chefs took us up to the upper level of Brando’s apartment, and they cooked it for us while we were able to socialize with wine and check out the room.
Surprisingly, the food was pretty tasty, so I’d say we did a great job!