November Miscellany

First things first...

The election was very exciting here. Leading up to the election we had been enjoying the TV news coverage of the campaigns, particularly the segments wherein Italian TV employees traveled to swing states and interviewed bewildered Italian-Americans, following which the encounters were dubbed, very approximately, into Italian.

Everyone wanted to talk to us about the election and share their opinions about what dire events might ensue were Obama to lose (here the election was presented essentially as a contest between Obama winning and Obama losing—McCain wasn’t really prominent). A professor we know here observed thoughtfully, "I think Obama may be the last hope for the world."

For election night we stayed up until 4AM to watch the returns. Italian news coverage consisted partly of live dubbed feeds from American networks and partly of confused analysis-- "Texas might go for Obama!"

The next morning, powered by espresso, I dragged myself to the seminar I was attending. I was greeted by a round of congratulations and a relieved "Yes we can!" from the same professor who thought Obama might be the last hope.

Even now we are still getting discounts at the produce market when the vendors notice the Obama pin on our shopping bag. But most people seem to have moved on to wondering what kind of puppy Obama will choose.

On that note, there was a protest downtown the other day against the closing of a kennel. I spotted this excellent slogan, "Yes we cani" ("Yes we...dogs"!)

 

Some photos of our neighborhood: 

Extra credit if you spotted the persimmon.

Why yes, we do live in the burbs.

This car wants to come inside. Please?

Lest you think that it's all cheese and spirits around here, here are some photos of my workplace, the Certosa del Galluzzo (an enormous 14th century Carthusian monastery, inhabited now by about 10 grumpy Cistercians). It has a research library for medieval studies, which is just monastic enough for good concentration, but features secular comforts such as heating and a miraculously automated coffee vending machine. 

Worthy of punctuation!

Olive harvesting time at the Certosa.