school spirit from 3000 miles away

Saturday evening after we got home from Bassano del Grappa (affectionately known now as the "most successful failed attempt at a trip ever" by those who went), we had another "house party" that involved beer pong and grappa (a fusion of two cultures lacking only in Italian participants). It was also the first home Wake football game, so everyone kind of wanted to stay in, have fun, and watch the game. We thought Brian would be able to get the game on ESPN 360, but since it was being shown on ABC, it was blacked out on ESPN, so we were all really disapointed and considered watching the play by play shown on ESPN.com's gametracker (that's how badly a lot of us wanted to watch). Luckily Jen convinced her parents to position their home computer so that the webcam captured the game from the TV and projected it through Skype on to Jen's computer here in Venice (and then up on to the projection screen in one of the classrooms). The picture quality was a little blurry and it was hard to see what was happening, but we could get the gist and hearing the announcers helped. As many of you probably know from watching it yourselves, it was a nail-biter of a game and so we all were holding our breath until the kick was pronounced good in the final second of the 4th quarter. It was a calm night compared to some of the others in the past week or two, but it was another reminder of how different this semester is, which I like. After all, it's not every group that can convince their professor and student assistant to team up and take on a few games of beer pong only after the professor peddles grappa to any brave soul willing to try it (again). It was the perfect mix of hanging out and having fun plus we got to watch the game, so I think everyone had a good time.

Sunday a few of us went to mass--Elizabeth, David, and David's houseguests for the weekend went to San Marco while Tom, Eugene, Karen and I elected to go to Salute (which is closer and offers mass at 11 instead of 10:30). I went pretty much every weekend I was in town my first semester here, so I was prepared to not understand most of what was going on, but it can still be kind of frustrating. I mean, I've been going to mass literally my entire life, so I know the process and timing, but it's hard to say things (like the creed or the Our Father) in English in your head while the rest of the congregation is saying it out loud in Italian. Plus not being able to understand the homily makes me feel guilty, but at least we all made the effort and spent the hour thinking/reflecting. I think the more often I go, the more I'll pick up on the Italian version of a routine I already know so well--goodness knows I can use all the practice I can get with Italian. Plus it was really cute because they had a special set of chairs set up in the middle of the main aisle near the altar and an older couple was seated there and the priest explained that the couple was married in Salute 50 years ago (I think on that day exactly, but I'm not positive).

Then everyone kind of met back up at Casa Artom to prepare for Regatta Storica. Regatta Storica is an annual event in Venice dating back to the 13th Century and starts near Salute with a parade of historical boats and ends with a series of rowing races in categories. David invited a handful of Italian guests because the event takes place on the Grand Canal and the house is clearly a perfect place from which one can watch the procession and races. While some of the students prepared food, I got the lovely tasks of sweeping the kitchen and mopping the downstairs hallway (where we spilled a good bit of beer the night before) and bathroom (somehow we tracked a ton of dirt in there)...and for those of y'all who know me well, you know cleaning isn't my cup of tea, but we wanted the house to look nice, so I mopped the heck out of those floors.

Before the guests arrived, a super long boat pulled up to our dock I guess so they could finish getting ready, so Ana and David went out on the dock and made friends. Jaimie, Charlotte, and I decided we wanted pictures on the boat, too, so we ran downstairs and hopped on--the family who owned the boat was hilarious and really nice, so we promised to cheer for them as they rowed past the house later on. Guests started arriving around 2:30 and soon thereafter we delved into the snacks (everything from fruit to cheesecake to cheese and crackers to bruschetta to insalata caprese...and of course wine). The festivities lasted nearly 4 hours, so we all wandered around the house between races to find the best place to watch. After it was over, a few of us walked to get pizza and gelato despite how much we had eaten during the Regatta, then I caught up with a few friends back home and crashed after a surprisingly busy weekend.

(pictures: top is the boat that pulled up to our dock, middle is the boat that started the historical parade, and the bottom picture is of one of the rowing races)