The first person I met in Italy was Stefano. Even after all these years, I still remember his name.
Stefano was a late 30’s apartment manager, jolly and round, most closely resembling the Disney mouse character from Cinderella, Gus Gus. (Gus Gus was my favorite- I loved how he tried to gather all that cheese!)
Stefano greeted my friends and I outside a very dodgy apartment building in Rome only to tell us it was completely full and he had to relocate us to another building. Being that we were young, first time travelers to Europe, we should have run from this man as it could have easily turned into that scene from Taken. However, something about Stefano’s chubby laugh and sweet smile made me trust him instantly. Luckily, my instincts were right about him and he brought us to a newer building and offered us a very nice private apartment. It was the perfect place to discover Rome.
However, Rome would have to wait.
The tours of the Roman Forum and Spanish Steps were quickly put on hold when one of my friends fell severely ill and had to be taken to the emergency room.
Picture intense traveler freak out. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know which hospital to go to and my basic Italian travel dictionary was only going to get us so far.
Trying to keep calm, we evaluated our resources. In an age before international SIM cards or iPads, it looked a little bleak. We had a map of Rome, a few guide book pages that we had photocopied so we wouldn’t have the added weight in our bags, and a girl who was getting more and more terrified about her impending doom.
As we stood looking at all the information we had, desperately trying to locate an Internet cafe, we realized the closest person to us was Stefano.
Seeing him again felt like seeing an old friend- and even though he was just going to point us in the direction of an ER, we were relieved to see a familiar face.
When we started describing our situation he quickly stopped us mid-ramble. He picked up his phone, called someone and then handed the phone to me.
I put the receiver to my ear, heart pounding.
Much to my delight and to my friend’s rescue, a very sweet voice slowly said (in English, by the way), “hi, I’m Stefano’s niece, Emilia. He says you need some help.”
Within a few minutes Stefano’s niece was escorting us to the ER. She helped get my friend all checked in and stayed with her in the room so she could translate. The whole process took five hours, all of which Emilia stayed and helped us.
When the whole ordeal was finally finished, our friend walked out of the ER with a prescription and a new friend.
I know that people like Emilia and Stefano are truly one of a kind, angels for travelers.
Stefano was the first person I met in Italy- my Italian travel hero, and his random act of kindness not only helped us in an emergency situation but made me feel comfortable and safe in a new country. I wish there were Stefanos in every country!
(This post is part of Bootnall’s 30 Days of Indie Travel: Day 5- Kindness, sign up and share your stories, too!)
