He was older than most of the other guys in the center, and when I saw him, he had just finished a chess game and had now moved on to the Sudoku puzzle in his newspaper. I'd felt a sudden urge to play chess earlier when I saw some of the guys playing by the foosball table, so I asked him if he wanted to play. I thought he'd be unhappy that I interrupted his Sudoku puzzle, but instead, he was eagerly excited to play chess.
So, play we did.
It'd been a while since I'd played, so I was a bit rusty at first. I used to play a lot as a kid, and I had some pretty good success when I played at school (don't know if it was me or because my opponents weren't that good though). As we played our first game, I got to hear and learn his story.
And what a story he has.
Aziz was a lawyer in Egypt, a rather successful one too. He had a good life and a positive career. One case, however, turned his comfortable life into a two-year-long and on-going nightmare. He described how, in helping a woman who had suffered domestic abuse by her husband and getting him locked up for five years, he went from fulfilling what he considered the right thing to do to being the target of attempted revenge killings.
After each of our first three moves, our chess pieces were in identical positions--both knights out, ready to defend against any easy four-move checkmates. This would be no easy game. Time to strategize.
Forced to run from the threat, he fled to the place he had easiest access to because of a visa he already had: Italy. In the two years since then, he has not been able to go back and see his family, he cannot practice law without an additional two years of school in Italy, and he has no place to stay. Like many of the men at the refugee center, Aziz had accomplished a lot in his home country and because of political reasons had to flee with little prep time. He hadn't been able to sacrifice precious time in waiting for a visa to what might've been a more accepting country of refugees.
I had Aziz's queen trapped so that I would capture it on my next move, no matter how little or how much damage he did with his next move. His furrowed brow displayed his visible frustration for not getting his queen out of the trap sooner. I'm getting closer to forcing his king into checkmate, but he's still keeping me on my toes.
In Rome, he's forced to live a life that was unheard of for him in Egypt. His pride, his dignity, his values--all compromised by the challenges of his predicament. He never thought he'd have to fight off others on the street to keep them from stealing his ID papers. He hates that bit of fighting, but he concedes that he has to if he wants to survive. Without any money, he can't afford school nor does he really want to do it. To stop searching for work and just go to school though would seem too accepting of defeat. But his choices are extremely narrow.
My rook and queen have forced Aziz's king into a corner. Two more moves to checkmate. I can see the end coming...I think he can too.
For now, Aziz can only hope that he's able to find steady work in Rome or elsewhere other than Egypt. In the refugee center where the majority of the group is Afghan, Aziz has fewer fellow countrymen with whom he can relate well. In his two years in Rome, he's learned Italian and can now get by, but even then things are tough. He has an appointment next week to work out some details in his case. If all goes well, he may be able to move on to another country where work is better and the society more accepting. In his forced hurriedness to get out of Egypt, Italy was the easiest place to come, not because he thought it was the best choice. If the case doesn't go how he hopes, well, he says, what can you do but keep trying and wishing for the best.
Aziz had dodged a few traps from my queen and rook, but with my rook guarding my queen's next move, I moved my queen directly in front of Aziz's king. This time, he's out of options. Checkmate.
Not too shabby for not having played in months, but with all the intense strategy, my mind was a bit drained. "Clever," was all Aziz said and shaking my hand. Before I could switch to just chatting, he started setting up for a rematch. Oh dear. He was determined to beat me.
The second game started out similarly, but this time, I couldn't visualize a good strategy. By the time I figured something out, Aziz had already captured my queen and started cornering my king. Ironically, he finally checkmated me with the same strategy I used to beat him in the first game. Turned out to be a good round of games, and in the process, I learned a lot from a guy who's in a rough situation but still tries to make the most of it. I later saw him again outside the center as I was walking to lunch, and he turned to give me a friendly wave. I wish we could go back to the center again while we're here.
Our afternoon class was canceled because Manka had an afternoon appointment. But we had to meet at 6 pm for a conversation with a famous Algerian author in Italy. In the meantime, I decided to head over to the Ara Pacis Museum, featuring the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) from 1st century B.C., for a quick visit before heading back to the apartment. The Ara Pacis was on my list of AP Art History pieces to see, so I was excited to walk through it.The museum was only the second place that I could use my ISIC card. Still, I haven't been able to use it enough to make it worth the $26 I spent on it. Worthless. The museum itself though also turned out to be disappointing. The only exhibit is the Ara Pacis itself and a single row of copied busts of Roman emporers and their wives. Copies?! Please.
I never realized you could walk out the other side of the Ara Pacis.
At 6 pm, we headed for the Rome Center to attend our discussion with Amara Lakhous, a famous author who immigrated to Italy from Algeria. Our conversation focused on immigration and the current trends in Italy and his thoughts on how Italy can move forward with immigration policy in the future. The quote that stuck out to me was when Manka asked him how he viewed Piazza Vittorio, the main immigrant community, and he answered, "That is the Italy of the future. That is the Italy of 2020 or 2030." But he also said, while it was good that the immigrant population had such a strong presence there both socially and economically, the marginalization was also dangerous when, for example, the Chinese store owners only put up business signs in Chinese. Basically, social isolation will not lead to a stronger and more unified Italy. It was a very intriguing talk, and I look forward to more.Tomorrow, we're heading back to Di Donato School to visit with teachers. Should be great. For now though, I'm heading to bed. My posts seem to get longer and longer; I should probably cut them down a bit. We'll see how that goes tomorrow.
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