After class today, I hopped in the car and headed to Venice to pick up my dad from the Marco Polo Airport in Venice. It was a peaceful, stress-free drive. I cannot say the same about the return trip. All was fine at the airport. We got his bags in the car. We paid our parking toll. We even got on the Autostrada without incident. But then the heavens opened up for a torrential downpour. It got so bad on the way back, that all traffic slowed to about 30-40 km/hr. At one point it even hailed! Eventually things cleared up [View Full Entry]

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I was overdue for a haircut… by at least a month or two. And with my dad arriving tomorrow, I figured it was time to do something with il miei capelli (“my hair”). One of the women who works in the office suggested a place in Asolo that has a stylist who speaks English. I figured it was a smart move, especially considering that I know relatively little Italian. I also figured that I could do a better job setting an appointment in person than I could over the phone. So after my morning class was over, I drove into Asolo [View Full Entry]

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I moved up to the 8:00 teaching section. Even though I have given up my leisurely mornings and last-minute prep time, I am going to enjoy having the whole day ahead of me starting at 9:30 It had rained last night—not too hard, but enough to clear up the air a little. The skies were the brightest and clearest I have seen them since I arrived. It didn’t rain enough, however, to snap this heat wave we’re having. I drove past an electronic thermometer that read 38 (or about 100F). Yikes! My big adventure of the day was seeking the peak [View Full Entry]

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Today just seemed to be one of those days where I was being tested on my skills (or lack thereof) all day long. But I’m proud to report that I earned passing grades across the board. It started in the morning with Test One: laundry. I bundled up my dirty clothes in a dirty bath towel and headed downstairs to the washing machine. At first glance, the washing machine looked like a shrunk down version of the one back home. But it was a front load washer and I didn’t know how to put the soap in. And there was a [View Full Entry]

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This morning I started my day by shopping at the open air market in Crespano. It runs only on Sundays and is a mix of part farmer’s market, part flea market, and part travelling Woolworth’s. (Remember that place??) I heard that Crespano Market was quite the shopping experience. But I had no idea. Cars were parked at least a kilometer down the road—and this was early in the morning. Parking was much crazier later on. The vendors lined up along the streets of Crespano, selling everything from fresh octopus to cheap shoes. I thought that I would walk through it and [View Full Entry]

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I cannot believe that the first week of school is over and the semester is one-fourth of the way through. But it feels distinctly different from “time flying” back home. There, it makes sense that time would fly: Jam-packed schedules, strict adherence to clocks, multitasking, electronic planners and phones, the dinging chimes of new email… But here, life is so much more serene. Yes, there are things to do and regular times when they are to be accomplished. But all the moments in between are taken up with a certain amount of leisure—or at least with a leisurely approach [View Full Entry]

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Today I discovered “Tabacchi Two.” It is the tabacchi shop located next to the lotto shop misleadingly named “Tabacchi One.” Tabacchi Two is actually quite easy to miss. Its door isn’t very wide. And, in fact, it’s not really a door at all. In its narrower-than-a-door-sized opening there is a drape of door-length fuzzy “ropes” (for lack of a better word). It’s kind of like those beaded curtains in kids’ rooms, but thick and fuzzy. The first time I saw someone go through the door I thought that there must’ve been something q [View Full Entry]

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I am getting into a routine here in Paderno: waking early, eating breakfast at the cafeteria, doing final preparations for my class, teaching until siesta, going hungry during siesta (because everything is closed), eating after siesta (when everything opens again), chatting with my colleagues, exploring travel options, and heading home to unwind and write for my blog. Today I threw in a little twist. While recharging my camera batteries, I must have fried the battery charger somehow. I knew I could find a battery charger at Familia in Fonte (for €20). And I knew the same store also car [View Full Entry]

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Ahhhh, the first day of school has come and gone. I woke up to a rooster crowing. (Roosters crow, right?) Then not much later, the church bells started ringing. Now don’t get me wrong: These are pleasant sounds. But not when a nearby rooster cock-a-doodle-doos at six-something and church bells ring nonstop from 7:00 to 7:10. At that point, it doesn’t matter what your original intentions were. You’re getting up and facing the day right then and there. After my shower, it was off to campus. Bob, another one of my colleagues, filled me in on a great bit of info [View Full Entry]

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All I can say is, “What a day!” It was a flurry of activity from sun-up to sun-down. I suppose it didn’t help much that I only got about four hours of sleep last night. And then I forgot to eat breakfast. Not a good way to start the first day of the semester. But it wasn’t long before my enthusiasm took over for my lack of energy. The day started with faculty orientation. I made a pit stop at the tabacchi shop, hoping to find a single serving bottle of OJ and one of those big, cello-wrapped muffins that are [View Full Entry]

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