I feel bad about the lack of exciting things to write about lately, and the other day I was talking to a friend who reminded me of something that happened in Rome when we were there last year. Some of you might have heard about this, but I thought it was funny and bizarre enough to share!
So, we went to Rome as a part of our European Art History Study Abroad, and took the metro pretty much everywhere. One day, on the metro to the Colosseum, I had to go to the bathroom really bad. The group decided to go ahead, and I went to the metro toilets. First of all, I had to put euros in a slot to even get it to open, which was tricky because the door would seal itself when someone was inside, and it didn't say whether it was occupied or not. So I finally got in, and it closed and sealed (with some finality) behind me. This freaked me out a little, since I am pretty claustrophobic, and the toilet was a dark little room. The floor was rubber and wasn't solid, it was like a grate. The walls were the same black rubber, which was kind of weird. So, I am finishing inside, and I hear these guys outside the toilet, trying to figure out how to get their money in, even though I was inside. I could hear the money going in, and all of the sudden, a red light starts flashing and a woman's voice starts shouting in Italian...something like "Lavaggio, lavaggio..." And I knew enough Italian to think, "Why is someone shouting 'WASH! WASH!"...and suddenly, water starts coming up from the floor, the ceiling, even the walls. I panicked, and tried to get out, but the door was sealed (turns out when someone tries to get in, it triggers the seal so it can clean...stupid boys!!) So, brave soul that I am, immediately starting having a panic attack- crying, hyperventilating, the works. Meanwhile, I am getting completely drenched. Finally, the water stops and drains through the floor, and the door opens, and everything is completely normal- except the fact that I walked out of the toilet with red, swollen eyes, soaked from head to toe, with slightly asthmatic wheezing. The boys just started at me like I was absolutely insane. Granted, this whole thing (though it felt like hours) only lasted for less than three minutes. So I run outside, to my professor who had decided to wait for me- if any of you know MJ, he is stoic. Completely calm, very unemotional. The Professor Binns of BYU, if you will. Hilarious, and great, but a very, very dry sense of humor. He looked at me, blinked a few times, and then said, "The metro has self cleaning bathrooms." And I said, "Oh." And then he laughed, very briefly, and said, "Come on." And that was that. Me with my dripped wet hair, soggy clothes, tear streaked face with mascara all over my cheeks, following MJ to the Colosseum. It was pretty cool. But I don't think I will go back. And I will NEVER use the self-cleaning bathrooms at the metro again.
