Update

It is Wednesday, June 14, 2006, 11:38 am here in Cagli
as I begin to write this posting.

The week thus far has been somewhat busy. We're under
the gun because most of our field work has to be
completed by week's end. Our final stories and final
pictures are due on Friday, as is a rough edit of our
video. Our final video is due on Monday.

All of next week will be spent tying together loose
ends

Monday's are a day off from classes. It's a day for
those who travelled over the weekend to return to
Cagli. Last weekend most of my fellow students
travelled to Florence, only five of us stayed behind.
Monday is also a day which most people set aside to
catch up or get ahead. I used the day to take it easy.
I chilled out and slept in. During the afternoon I got
my cell phone working again, after erecting a block
when trying to recharge it over the weekend. Hey I had
to call the states, and talk to T-Win and Bianca,
because of my "stalker" I needed to resurrect my
sanity. I also took time to work on completing the
second draft of my story. Monday night we all had
dinner at a local restaurant where each week we have a
multicourse meal. This week we had pasta, curried
chicken, and pound cake with lemon sauce. After dinner
I came back finished my story, and submitted the
second draft .

Tuesday is our first day back to class after a long
weekend, weekends are nonexistent here because you can
often spend them working. Yesterday morning we had
Italian Language and Culture, and yesterday afternoon
we had Web Design. After Web Design I met with my
group leader and my fellow students to do a status
check.

After class and trying to set up an appointment to
meet with the subject of my photo session, I went to a
wine tasting. I was the only guy there, with 28 girls
and 5 guys, what's the odds of that. Smile. Apparently
given those numbers I shouldn't be complaining says so
many of the girls. We had three local wines (two
white, one red). With one of the wines we had pasta,
and with two of the wines we had salumi and salume.

Later in the afternoon I had the opportunity to go
back out into the field. Part of my responsibility is
to take photographs which will accompany the story of
another student. One of my fellow groupmates is
writing a story on a local soccer star and his family.
She wants to show how his devotion to the game, and
love for the game has become something which unites
his family. I took pictures, now it's up to me to
review them, edit them, and submit them for approval.
I loved going out to Giocomo's home. His parents and
older sister were so nice to us. Their home was
beautiful, it's about 10 minutes away from old Cagli.
In fact from their house you have a great view of the
city. They say it makes Cagli look small, but it's
absolutely beautiful.

When we returned to old Cagli I spent time helping the
same student outline and begin writing her student.
Maybe I'm better at this print thing than I like to
think.

After spending about forty-five minutes helping her I
escaped, and tried to find dinner. I stopped at one
restaurant sat down, was waiting for a waiter, and saw
that my "stalker" was there taking in a soccer game. I
"got low", I mean I hightailed out of there. I didn't
want any drama. I ate at a restaurant which is about 2
minutes from my apartment called "La Laterna". When I
originally arrived the place was practically empty
except for a few people on the terrace enjoying
drinks. I went in and asked if they spoke English,
since I was alone and my Italian isn't so good.
Luckily they said a little.

Extremely tired I said, "I just want a pizza."

I went into the dining room and sat down. I sat at
one table without a tablecloth. When the waitress came
out, and was about to set another place, I immediately
moved. It was late, and I didn't want to make her life
any more difficult. I immediately moved to a place
where there was a tablecloth. She noticed I then had
an obstructed view of the TV where soccer was on the
screen. I assume she was asking if I wanted to watch
the game.

"It doesn't matter to me, I'm just really tired," I
said to her.

"Preggo," she said, which means ok.

A few seconds later a waiter appeared to take my
order. I had a pizza, fries, and a coke. My food came
in about fifteen or so minutes. I ate the fries with
ketchup and mayo (Italians are big on fries with
mayo).

All together I'd say my solo dining experience was
forty-five minutes. I paid for my meal and went home.

Once home I called my mother talked to her as I did my
Italian homework, and then set up my gear for my video
shoot.

I had a 6:00am wakeup call. At 7:00am I had to be on
the town square to begin shooting my video.

Let me say that ya'll would be very impressed. I wake
up at 6am, raced up the firemen stairs to my cell
phone and turned off the alarm. I went back downstairs
to get my bookbag and my clothes (which I laid out the
night before).

Next I showered, ate a croissant and some wafters,
drank some Fanta(soda in the A.M., I know), and hit
the rode.

I made the five minute walk to the piazza and started
shooting.

Luckily, halfway through the shoot the video professor
showed up on the piazza. With his assistance I was
able to get some video, which I hope will allow me to
make a solid 3 minute package.

So much is happening, so fast.

Oh and it's important to note that I have been away
for the longest I have ever been away from home. The
previous record was 17 days, I believe the count as of
today is 19 days. I arrived on May 26, but mind you I
detest math.

That's an update.

Ciao amicis. (I think that's right. I like Spanish
better amigos is so much easier).

Ciao.

-CNEL

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