Quoteworthy

well, my normally scattered postings will continue here, but the London attacks have obviously put me on edge, with the terrorist group claiming Italy would also be targeted, and since i ride the subway and busses during rush hour, through downtown Rome, up to four times a day. needless to say i shall be hoofing it for the remainder of my stay here, nevermind the half hour walk from our apartment to the UW Rome Center.

most of the students here seem to be just about completely worn down from the program, and i've been enjoying listening to gripes from unexpected sources over the last few days. yesterday was our third day trip, this time to the hill town of Todi, then on to a local winery, and finally to this city called Civita, if i remember right. Civita looks like something out of a fantasy world, perched up on a high hill right in the middle of a wide scooped out valley, and you walk over and up a long bridge to reach it. i added the pictures from yesterday's trip to my photo site at http://photobucket.com/albums/a242/mbruscas/. the one picture that needs more explaining is the one with me standing next to the mannequin in KKK attire. a sign next to it explained how it was not KKK-wear, but the traditional garb townspeople (i forget from what town) would use long ago during the burying rituals for someone who had died. wealthy, benevolent individuals would pay for certain services but wanted to remain anonymous, hence the hoods. so i guess the KKK stole their costume idea. shame on you, KKK.

everyone was slightly miffed after spending around six hours total on the bus yesterday and getting back at 11:30 when we were supposed to be back by 8. the strain is starting to show. we're only here for a month, but it is easily a full quarter's worth of time and effort packed in. we have class six days a week, generally involving three hour walks at 9 a.m. in the morning, then three additional hours of class at the Rome center in the evening, whereas one of the history programs has class four times a week and they're always out by 1 p.m., although they are in the city longer. but so that typical schedule, plus the maraton bus trips yesterday and people have started lamenting how much longer they're still travelling after the program ends and wishing they could go home. i am not quite that dour yet, but then i'm only faced with one week in berlin hanging out with Nick before i go home, and not the two months in Africa, for example, that my friend Emily will be experiencing. i definitely want to fast forward these next five days though. i've seen eight churches in the past three days now and judging from my photo production, my interest has steadily waned.

i've taken to keeping myself and a few others amused lately by greeting every new place we visit with the same line. i take a few looks around and say, "so, this is italy." it will probably get old fast but right now it is pretty much a necessity, and my friend patrick titled both of the poems he read today "so, this is italy."

also, since i've heard this story about 10 times over the last two days and it makes me laugh severely every single time, i feel it's just as big a part of the trip as any church or fresco. so i will relate it as best i can, but you really need to hear and see Ian's performance.....anyways, once upon a time a kid named Ian attended Garfield high school, where he was vastly in the minority to all the black students. and in a particular class there were only three white kids, and the black students referred to each of them only as "white boy". well for some unknown reason one day, one of the other white boys brought a bottle of whiskey with him to class, except he had filled it up with apple juice instead. so during class he just pulled the bottle out of his bag and started chugging it, with the pained expression on his face that one would make if they were actually chugging a bottle of whiskey. this is where the story might lose you in the text version, because ian's Chris Rock-like screams are impossible to recreate. anyway, this white boy's actions were met with riotous screams from the black students, and Ian gives the following quotes: "OH SHEEEEYIT!! LOOK AT WHITE BOY!! WHAT THE HELL'S WHITE BOY DOING??? YOU GONNA GET EXPEEEELLED WHITE BOY!!!" ian says many of the black students loved nothing better than an opportunity to shout out loud during class. meanwhile, the teacher just stood idly by chortling to himself. i wish i could claim that story for my own, but Edmonds-Woodway was on the tamer side.

A few students on this trip also fall on the crazier side. one girl i witnessed rub her head and neck back and forth against the bus seat in front of her yesterday like a cat. another occasion she lovingly embraced a tree at Hadrian's Villa and gave the bark a long, deep sniff, as i walked past thinking "let's just ignore that." but my favorite was also on the bus yesterday, when she enthusiastically suggested "let's have a day where we force ourselves to speak only in iambs!" i wanted to say, with all the seriousness i could muster, "wow, that is the single greatest idea i believe i have ever heard. and i think i love you now." i shouldn't only pick on her, there are several other slightly off-kilter people here, but those moments deserved special attention.

It's getting late so i will close with breakneck speed.
an exchange that sums up my poetry feelings....
Katie: "I've begun the slow descent into mediocrity."
Myself: "I plunged in headfirst."

an exchange with a history student on the bus....
Him: "What the hell, are they drunk?"
Myself: "No, they're my roommates. That's pretty typical behavior."
Him: "Jeez, how do you put up with that?"
Myself: "..............................."
And i'm still working on the answer to that.