I feel like making lists today so here goes:

Things I miss from home:

Fall in the midwest - most importantly pumpkins and the Scenic Drive in Knox County 

My bicycle

Dark roast coffee, American style *

Avocados

Frozen Waffles

*Italian espresso is made with a lighter roast of coffee and dark roast is hard to find (impossible so far).  Coffee is everywhere of course but if I try to brew it like I do at home it doesn't taste the same.

Best American movies watched in Italian:

Little Orphan Annie

Back to the Future

Batman Begins

Over the Top (you remember, that Stallone movie about arm wrestling...yes, arm wrestling)

The Mummy

Best American Cartoons watched in Italian language:

Spongebob Squarepants (really it makes more sense in Italian)

The Simpsons

Batman

VENICE

Okay, no list here.  Since I last wrote we have had a short trip to Venice with the ACM students.  I have struggled on what to write about it because, although it was a highlight of my year everything I can think to say seems so cliche.  Before going there, Venice, in my mind, seemed so stroybook/fairy-tale-ish that I could barely believe that it was a real place.  Our first move was to get on to the water taxi and ride down the canal to where our hotel was.  It was a breathtaking first view of the city and I was giddy, absolutely giddy.  I even squeeled.  Though we were only there for two nights the magic never wore off.  We had a corner room in the hotel that looked out over the canal and in the morning I could see the cruise ships coming into port. (I never knew those things were so huge.  Before I knew it was a cruise ship I thought the whole of Venice was floating away!)  Our first morning there was the first day of fall weather for us and we went from upper 80's in Florence to lower 60's with mighty winds in Venice.  Nick and I were prepared but I can't say the same for the students.  We had to divvy out extra jackets and sweaters and scarves to those who were underdressed.  And rain, lots of rain that morning.  But OH, did it make for a romantic setting.  Venice in the rain is just as good as Venice in the sun.   By mid-afternoon the clouds had cleared and it warmed up a bit.  So, besides the weather all I can really say about Venice is that everything you've ever heard about it is true & unexaggerated.  Magical, romantic, oozing charm out of every little crevice you can find.  It still seems like a fairy tale.  

The highlight of the trip was getting to see the church of San Marco.  In 828 AD the bones of the Apostle Mark (yes, that's the "Mark" as in "Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) were stolen from Greece (supposedly to keep them from being plundered by the Muslims) and, with great effort and smuggled in in vats of pork they were moved to Venice and have been there ever since (although for centuries they were hidden, buried within the structure of the church).  Mark became the patron saint of Venice and the gigantic, multi-domed San Marco was built at the entrance of the city.  San Marco is dripping from top to bottom with gold mosaics, just dripping.  The only part not covered in gold mosaics is the floor and that too was stunning.  Though staring at the floor was a little unnerving because they are almost all completely uneven and slightly sunken in spots due to the architecture of the city.  Oh yes, the piazza was covered in pigeons - thus the photo of the bird with San Marco in the background.

Oh!  Also while we were in Venice Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono were visiting.  I think that everyone but Nick and I saw the

m either on the street or at the Guggenheim museum.  It wasn't a huge deal but it did add a little sparkle to our already magical weekend.

It has almost been three months and I am finally feeling settled here.  About halfway into the second month I think that I experienced a bit of culture shock.  When going through the stress of a culture change there is never one thing that you can put your finger on and say, "Here, this is what frustrates me", no there is just a series of unfamiliar things that slowly but surely start to get under your skin.  The bright side of that is that if you know that what you are experiencing is a form of culture shock then you know that it will pass and it did.  In the meantime I soothed myself with whatever American movies and food.  I was soooo happy when "Annie" was on one Saturday morning and also, renting "Superman" online was a big help one other day.  As for food, I must confess that McDonald's never tasted better.  I didn't even mind that I had to pay for ketchup.

That's all for now.  Here's another picture I took out in the country of some wild crocuses (croci?).  The students had a fall break last week and so Nick had time off and we took a short trip to the Chianti region.  I was surprised to learn that Chianti wine is not the headache in a bottle that I know of from the states.  More on that trip later.