the things we do for coffee

This is officially the strangest holiday season of my life! It all started when I was charged with making Thanksgiving happen for 65 people in a foreign country. It got even weirder when I did things like cart half my body weight in bird around the canals of Venice, actually COOK for the big meal, and dress up big time for a holiday my family usually does in jeans. Oh, and going out to bars after the meal went off without a hitch? Yeah, that was just plain bizarre. When I then had a midnight meal at a kabob stand with half the house, followed by coming home to the remains of a pumpkin pie fight started by one of Ana's brothers, I decided I was definitely in a parallel universe. Sadly I didn't get a black Friday or Saturday in Florence, but, I saved a ton of money by not buying a train ticket and got to have a great few days with everyone in the house and visiting families.

Friday night, Kayla, Rhianna, and I joined Elizabeth's and Ana's families at San Trovaso, which was hilarious. There was a "kids" end of the table and I was basically hazed by Juan (Ana's older brother) and Rhianna with the house wine, which is probably why I was convinced to go on to Santa Margherita with all of them despite getting about 3 hours of sleep Thanksgiving night. It's probably also how I ended up buying 2 rounds of drinks at Duchamps for everyone, but it was fine because in doing so, I introduced Affligem (my FAVORITE beer on the face of the earth) to Ana's brothers and got a major discount on Spritzs (sparking wine plus Aperol, the traditional Venetian drink) because we bought so many. We went from Duchamps to Cafe Noir, where the boys got more beer and Kayla, Rhianna, and I decided it was time for Jack on the rocks. What can I say? Some life decisions just make more sense at the time! After that, I was ready to go home and our entire group (David, Rhianna, Kayla, Ana, her brothers, and I) walked back, but we ran in to the entire house on their way out and they convinced everyone but Juan and I to go back out (I was definitely ready for bed).

Saturday I woke up way too early but ended up being able to say goodbye to Ana's family (whom I adore after spending a few days with them), do some laundry, and then watch a movie with the girls. After lunch, Kayla and I went to the Christmas Market with McKinley and her sister before parting ways (they went on to San Marco). Kayla and I went towards Rialto to do some shopping. I planned to buy just gifts for friends and family back home, but also ended up with more black shoes (very cute and comfortable) and another little black dress on top of presents for a few people.

Sunday I went to San Marco for mass with Kayla and Zach, his family, Jen and Charlotte also showed up and sat with us. By the time mass was over, San Marco itself and the entire square were calf-high in water and it was pouring down rain-lovely. Kayla and I ended up taking a serious detour to avoid any acqua alta (neither of us had rain boots) and spent most of the rest of the day in the house because it POURED all day and even stormed pretty badly at times. Which half explains...

Monday. Oh my gosh Monday. So Kayla and I agree to go for coffee around 9am and walk out the door only to see water as close to Casa Artom as the Peggy (right next door). So we dash back inside to grab rain boots and cameras to take on what we assume will just be your typical acqua alta. By the time we round the corner past the Peggy, it's already ankle high (which we've never seen before). By the time we cross the bridge that leads to Bar da Gino, the water is almost to the top of my rain boots. We probably should've stopped there, but, as the post says...the things we do for coffee. As we were standing at the bar, the water started to seep in to the coffee shop, which was really creepy and Titanic-esque. I decided I really wanted to walk to San Marco, because it's the lowest lying area in Venice and I figured acqua alta would be even more intense there. So Kayla and I set out at about 9:30 and encounter increasingly deeper water as we approach San Marco...it sloshes in to my boots, drenching my jeans and feet, we walk on temporary sidewalks that are already starting to float away, Kayla has to give me a piggy back ride at one point, we get almost stranded in San Marco before decided to just risk it and trudge back, and get soaked practically to our chests on the walk back, because high tide, my friends, is around 11am, so the water just kept rising as we were walking! On the walk back, most floating sidewalks had floated away and we were on our own, but we had to get back, so we just dealt with it. It was SO incredibly creepy to see garbage and other random stuff floating beside us, to see water knee high in stores, to no longer be able to see the barriers of the canals, to feel yourself being pulled along by the wind and currents, to see water creep up in to your home inch by inch. We had no idea at the time that we were part of history, because the water reached heights of 5 ft 2 inches (taller than me, if you're keeping track), for the first time in 22 years. It was only about 30 or so centimeters lower than the historic floods in the 1960s. Apparently acqua alta was predicted, but not at unusual levels, so people were definitely caught off guard. It was amazing to see and literally be in the middle of history, but, I know it adversely impacted a lot of people and was much more dangerous than we realized, so, I'm glad Kayla and I arrived home safely and were able to wash our jeans and take long, hot showers (canal water is pretty polluted).

The rest of the day we again just kind of hid out in the house waiting for the water to recede before running some errands, etc. It's going to be a slow week for me, because everyone has exams and papers, so I'm doing awful, sad things like packing up, cleaning, and generally preparing to go home. I'm not ready to leave AT ALL! I just have to keep NOT thinking about my upcoming flights and reminding myself of all the things I'm looking forward to back home (shopping with Nina, getting my hair cut FINALLY, the Christmas season, movies in English, seeing friends, etc).

PS-There are a few pictures in this post, obviously, but, if you want to see more, there are a ton on my picture site (and CNN/NY Times, if you want professional ones!)