Episode 4: "Jumbo means hello"

Finally in our rooms at Plus Camping Roma, Matt, Beata, Aimée, Lisa, Caitlin, and I began to relax and settle in a bit. The rooms weren't bad at all, roomy even for the price. The six of us plop down on beds and chairs and floorspace and begin to snack and chat. I think I was getting ready to dip the end of a baguette into my nutella jar when we heard a knock at the door and saw the security guard peek in. (Oh hot damn! The po'po'!) He told us that we might wanna keep it down so we wouldn't disturb any other guests at the campground. Oh, I guess we had been talking kinda loudly. The security guard was nice enough and actually stayed for a while to chat. He was pretty pleasant but after a minute or two said he should probably get back to work. He stuck his head out of our doorway, looked right, looked left, and returned. All was safe at Plus Camping Roma as far as he was concerned. This was Jumbo.

I forgot where Jumbo was from, but he spoke great English and Italian. I figured he was from a Swahili-speaking area or close to one. His nickname "Jumbo" means "hello" in Swahili. With all the strife our group had experienced in trying to get to Plus camping and looking for our room, basically meeting and talking to Jumbo rectified our experience. Though he was currently the coolest security guard at the Plus Camping Roma site, he had come to Italy as an actor. Jumbo spent a year touring Europe with a Shakespearean acting company and had done well for himself. He was now in a transition period until he could find his next acting job.

During what turned into at least a hour-long conversation, the six of us got to know Jumbo better. We laughed and joked about interactions between men and women "I know you have your studies and all, but do you want to be my wife?" We discussed pop culture and the future of humanity. We chatted about world cultures and world cuisine. We conversed about Easter at the Vatican and the campground bar. I can't for the life of me understand why I did not jot down some of the quotes from that night. There were definitely a few which are worth noting.

Jumbo made an impact on all of us. Besides just being a gregarious, affable man, he seemed so insightful, a product of the conversation we'd had. He was an example of a person who had suffered a few setbacks in life, some self-imposed, but was managing, surviving, and even living with what seemed to be a great amount of self-awareness. He was a good example.

Before we left the campground 3 days later, every article we owned completely soaked, we made sure to track down Jumbo and say goodbye. He gave Matt his facebook information. Due to the longest friendhip pending status and a lack of a picture, forays into his actual identity are currently inconclusive. It looks like we're gonna have to count on serendipity. The next time I'm in Roma, or watching a European Shakespeare company, embarking on a ridiculously expensively unnecessary Roman holiday...