Allora . . . it is beginning to seep into my daily consciousness.  My Italian adventure is less than three weeks away and final preparations are in progress.  At this point most of the details are related to finishing the semester and staying current with grading.  However, I did purchase an audio book yesterday in anticipation of the long flight from the west coast to Roma.  Over 21 hours of audio book . . . no, that is not a typo.  It just isn’t summer without a George Eliot marathon read.  And what better way to wile away the in-flight hours than with Romola by George Eliot, the unabridged version.  Before I committed to the $26.95 for the audio book, I listened to the voices of the readers.  Screening for any irritating language cadence or annoying habits that might grate on my nerves, I settled on a woman’s voice with a British accent.

Update to the Spoiled Americana post.  Last week I embarked on a mission to transfer euros from my U.S. bank account to the proprietor of an Italian villa.  In the Spoiled Americana post I lamented about the Italians’ system and this particular proprietor’s reluctance to use PayPal as a means for receiving funds.

My first attempt to transfer funds began at the credit union.  The teller behind the ¾ inch thick plexiglass says “we only transfer in US currency” and there is a $30 fee for the service.  What?!  I was tempted to lecture the teller on cultural competence and chastise the bank’s ethnocentric policy but decided against that tactic.  Instead I drove to another bank . . . Wells Fargo.  Several banking forms later and much discussion about how Italians use commas instead of decimal points and decimal points in places this teller had never seen before, euros were transferred and fees paid.  My reservation at the Italian Villa is secured at least that is my hope.  Restate sintonizzati . . .