the first real day(s)

Yesterday (Sunday) was when the majority of the students arrived (only one student is missing and may not be able to come since he has mono). I set my alarm for 8 even though I was exhausted because I wanted to have time to get ready and get coffee before the first group was supposed to get here (10ish). Since Bar da Gino (my favorite coffee shop) is closed for the August holiday (until Sept 1), I had to go to Cafe Belle Arti (where Allie and I would go on Sundays when we studied here). My Italian was stable enough to ask whether or not they had decaf espresso and then for a "macchiatone decaffinato," but, I felt like a complete outsider once the workers started talking to the customers in Italian...clearly my Italian is much rustier than I thought, which is a little discouraging.

Then David and I sat in the foyer by the front dock and read until the first group arrived...11 in all came in two water taxis, so it was a flurry of activity compared to Saturday (when it was just David, Rhianna, Chris, Megan, and myself). We carried hundreds of pounds of luggage to various rooms and I gave house tours before people settled in to unpack and then go off to find lunch. Rhianna, David, and I stayed at Casa Artom as we were expecting Brian and Tom at some point after their flights landed at 11ish. When they didn't arrive within an hour or so via water taxi, we assumed they took the Alilaguna (sort of like our public transportation), so Rhianna and I went to the Zattere around 1:30 to look for them (that's where the Alilaguna deposits you). We didn't find them and realized they probably could not have caught that particular boat, so we went back an hour later and thought we saw there boat only to realize Tom and Brian weren't on it and decided to walk in separate directions to try and find them. When we met back up (with no luck), we started to check the schedule to see when the next Alilaguna would arrive, but were worried because we thought they were lost and all the sudden the boys came walking down the dock right towards us. We got them and their luggage back to Casa Artom, then took them to a small sandwich/gelato shop for lunch. Later in the day, closer to 6, McKinley and Eugene arrived at the house, meaning everyone who was due to arrive made it safely, which was a relief.

We had a quick house meeting at 6:30, then all walked together to Taverna San Travaso for a big group dinner (somewhat of a Casa Artom tradition on the first night). Dinner was perfect...everyone seemed to get along well, the food was great, and the waiters love Wake Forest students, so that worked out to our advantage. After dinner, a handful of people were too exhausted to stay out, so they walked back to the house, and I led the rest of the group to Campo Santa Margherita. We split up between two pubs and just sat outside (beautiful weather) and talked for a while. Around 11:30, pretty much everyone was exhausted, so we came home, but I couldn't fall asleep until almost 2 for some reason, then woke up around 8. The students have to go on a walking tour of Venice after a few meetings today, so I'm hoping to rest while they're gone.

Today we took a group adventure to the Billa (grocery), and once again I bought hardly any food just because it was SO busy and I've done a horrible job of figuring out if/what I'm going to cook, etc. I'll probably go back tomorrow afternoon while the students have more orientation --"siesta" is the best time to go because it's less busy.

I'm getting more used to being back, but in a non-student role. It's just very weird to be here in the fall instead of spring--don't get me wrong, the weather is so much better (although I'll be happiest when it's about 5 degrees cooler during the day) and there are plenty of other perks, but, the myriad of tourists drive me crazy (I, probably irrationally, don't consider myself a tourist). The students seem relatively ready to consider me more friend than authority figure, which is nice, because I don't have a roommate, so I'm kind of the only person in the house without an automatic buddy, which just means I have to make more of an effort to do things with the group (without imposing...a tricky balance). I haven't really figured out yet if I'll do much traveling outside of the 2 breaks just because I'm not sure who I'll travel with-- from my experience last time, it's pretty important to get along well with anyone you're spending 3 or 4 straight days with, but I think hopefully in time, I'll figure out who that might be!

Tomorrow one of the students, Karen, turns 19, so it seems like we'll be celebrating that starting tonight...I get the feeling things will never be quiet or boring around here...!