Saturday School

Today I'd like to share with you a short fairly long rant about saturdays here in Italy. The average Italian elementary student does not have school on saturday. Same goes with middle school students. In college here school on saturday is unheard of. But what about high school? Yup! "But wait, Mitch! It's only a half-day!" an Italian teacher might point out. Well actually it's only an hour less than normal, technically making it a 5/6 day.


It's not like Italian high school students are going to school for much more time than their American peers. In fact it works out to the same number of hours every week (assuming the American takes a zero period, which I did for all four years of high school thank-you-very-much). 


This single extra day of school changes everything. The number of non-school-nights is cut in half, and I would argue than the overall feel of the weekend is completely killed. If you want to go the movies, go to a bar or disco, or even just hang out with friends late at night, you have only one day a week where it is feasible - saturday. And by the time saturday night comes you've just finished a six day week and honestly sleep sounds like such a better option at that point. 


Also, do you know that feeling of sunday where you can't exactly relax because in the back of your head you know that there's school the next day? Well buddy you'd better get used to that feeling because that's the only day of the weekend you have.


And in the end that's exactly what you do - get used to it. By the end of the first month I was somewhat habituated to the unholy practice of schoool on saturday, but every once and a while it just gets to me. And yes, I do realize this is a relatively insignificant problem in an otherwise incredible experience. Really this entire post could be smacked with a "FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS" tag, but I just needed to get this out of my system.

Venezia e Carnivale!

Instead of the standard, and completely unethical, routine of going to school on saturday, I was treated this past saturday to a day in Venice during Carnival with Rotary! As everyone knows, exchange students are really the coolest people ever, so these trips are always incredible. This particular day-trip was made even cooler by the presence of District 2050 who met up with us on the train.

"Medico Della Peste" Mask

Our first stop of the day was a small mask shop that prides itself in having completely hand made and individually painted Venetian style masks. Most of us bought a mask as a souvenir and so that we could fit in with everyone else. Around a quarter of the people walking around in Venice that day were sporting a mask of some sort, making the entire atmosphere magical, if not slightly creepy in that anonymous way. My favorite mask type has to be the Medico Della Peste, or Plague Doctor. These have a long, beak-like nose with rounded eyes. I'm also a big fan of the Bauta masks which have a large protruding upper lip that allow for the wearer to eat and drink comfortably. I won't bore you with more of the history and details but if you'd like to know more the Wikipedia article is fairly informative and concise.

"Bauta" Mask

From there we continued to make our way through the city. Many authors have tried to capture the spirit of Venice and it does not compare to seeing and experiencing it for yourself. So honestly if Shakespeare couldn't do it I really shouldn't even try... oh why not, let's give it a go. The small side streets wind and wander aimlessly with a sort of curious casualness, forming a massive labyrinth. And the main roads - well they're canals. Buildings are pressed up against each other, trying to take advantage of every square meter of dry land. The city is completely drenched in history, and you can practically smell it. Well actually that scent is the stagnant canal water, but don't worry about that.

Back to the Futuristic Past!

After lunch we spent most of the afternoon if a couple of plazas, including the famous Piazza San Marco. They were so incredibly packed with people. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in such a small are without a single point of focus. Everyone was there to enjoy each others costumes and the general atmosphere of Carnival. Some of my personal favorite costumes include a fantastic plague doctor complete with syringes filled with translucent glowing green fluid, Ezio from Assassins Creed, and an extremely well-done steampunk couple. If you are reading this on mitchmastroni.com you should be able to see the photos by going to the "Facebook Photos" tab on the side and selecting the album "Italy, Part 7" at the top. 

Overall it was an incredible day spent with an awesome group of people. Even though I didn't go smashing through library floors, wading through waist-deep rat-infested petrol rivers, or being chased on boat by fez-touting Brothers of the Cruciform Sword, I did manage to enjoy myself. (Apologies for the extended Indie reference, but I was seriously thinking about it the whole day)

Florence!

I'm currently editing MINII Ep. 2, but I hope you enjoy these photos from the past weekend in the meantime!

The MINII Show!

Funny Title Goes Here

And so it begins. I'm sitting in a Delta terminal in San Francisco International airport. In six hours I'll be in Atlanta, Georgia. In twelve hours I'll be somewhere over the Atlantic. In 18 hours I'll be in my new home - Italy.


I feel like I'm in the same movie scene I've seen dozens of times, about to take off to some grand new adventure, leaving my old life behind... although I doubt that the love of my life will come running towards me in slow motion right before I board the plane.


There's not a whole lot to say right now. In comparison to the crazy tales I'll be sharing over the next ten months, the stories of air travel are quite mundane.


But for now I'll leave you with this thought: how many articles of clothing must we remove at airport security before the TSA adds stripper poles next to the metal detectors?


Mitch out.