Seriously, get me home

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OK, so let's talk about all the things I will miss from Spoleto:
1. The food - especially the Penne alla Norcina (penne pasta with cream sauce and wild boar crumbles) and Flan with dark caramel sauce from Ristorante del Mercato
2. The people - the Spoletini are incredibly nice and helpful. They know we don't speak much Italian but they're happy when we try our hardest to converse.
3. Umbriarvacationrentals.com - Laurie is hilarious; that dry British humor just doesn't get old.
4. The history - it's like walking in a really pretty history book when you're at the foot of La Rocca looking down at this ideal little village.
5. The colleagues - I've met some great people here and have gotten to network like never before.

What I will not miss:
1. The hotel accomodations - mine were fine because I was alone, but some people just did not have it fair.
2. The lack of more than croissants for breakfast - I don't eat breakfast often, but hard croissants get boring quickly.
3. The mosquitoes - it's easy to hate them more when you don't have screens on windows; Italians just don't do that.
4. The currency exchange rate - ugh. $1.25 USD to 1 Euro? Seriously???
5. Lack of American conveniences - like a car, or the language, or the fast food. Chick-fil-A and green chile here I come!

My review of the program:
There were some beautiful moments in this program. Considering they've been asked to come back AND be a part of the Festival dei Due Mondi next year, I consider this a great success! Students were conducting, singing, managing, doing what they love to do and doing it in the country that made opera famous. I felt like an integral part of the success of the whole program and have met some great people.The venues are great, although far from each other, and the people are warm and welcoming. It was great to be recognized as a part of this program from the Spoletini and from US travelers who happened to see a performance. That kind of recognition makes all the things I don't miss a distant memory.
Hindsight being 20/20, this program did have its flaws, but most can be overlooked with the fact that it was the inaugural season.

Some things that I have a feeling will be changed will be:
Opera singers get their own apartment - the hotels are decent boarding, but the opera schedule is certainly different than orchestra, solisti, or studio.
The same hotel doesn't get used again - they did their best, but they had to have a few tongue lashings to get things done.
Opera cast gets a recital showing off their own experience and talents outside of the opera.
No more double performance days. People went from one performance to another and that, logistically, is just a nightmare. Things could be spread out a little more.
Use Teatro Caio Melisso for concerts and Teatro Nuovo for opera and large orchestra. It didn't make sense to house the opera in the smaller house and I think next year will attract more people.


EDIT: I was stuck in Houston and am ready to go home. Weather is not a good thing. Neither is the airline changing from mechanical problems to weather-related problems (as other passengers say) so they don't have to pay for hotels. However, I am going home this afternoon, August 17. I will get home!!!!

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