Modena in the wet

It's raining, and it's supposed to keep it up all weekend. That sucks.
On the bright side, a feature of local architecture is covered walkways,
which is a huge help. Foot traffic is slow, but all the best pitches are
under cover and it actually hasn't been bad. I'm headed to Bologna to
busk tomorrow morning, which should be cool despite predicted bad weather
- Bologna has 143 km of loggie (the aforementioned covered walkways),
which cover all the pitches that really jumped out at me on my scouting
expedition yesterday. Knock wood, here we go!

This morning I caught the Vermeer exhibit, which was pretty cool. The
only actual Vermeer, however, was the featured painting of "girl at the
harpsichord". There were a lot of other paintings by other Dutch artists
from the same time and place, however, including an exhibit of the
painting that appears in the background of the "Harpsichord" painting!
That was especially cool, because Vermeer really caught the feel of it
without dwelling on details so much that it steals the limelight. And the
expression on the girl's face is absolutely perfect, it says "do you like
the music? Do you like me?" in a shy, cautious, but hopeful way. The
exhibit also included two harpsichords of the type shown in the painting,
and very subtle harpsichord music playing in the background (I was halfway
through the paintings before I - a musician - even noticed it). That was
a nifty touch.

This afternoon was also entertaining, it was laundry day. What fun. More
interestingly, I'm about 95% decided to come back here in July - I broke
the news to my disbelieving parents today. I'm going to spend soem time
hanging out and wreaking havoc with my friend Paul ("Paolo Garbanzo") the
Juggler. As much as I'm in love with the Macbook, the new computer can
wait for fall.

It's very strange, because I'm ready to head back to the States but eager
to return. Especially since the language is finally starting to make
sense to me. I have a roommate who spent time in the states and knows
English, but in four days, including hours of wide-ranging discussions, we
haven't used any of it. I no longer feel stupid in Italian, merely
inar-inar-inar-inarticulate (points for anyone who catches the Queen
reference). My comprehension is finally kicking in, although it helps
that my roommate Paolo (isn't that confusing?) is originally from
Florence, home of the Italian Standard dialect. I was approached by a
pamphleteer on the street the other day who asked if I spoke Italian and
my first answer was simply "yes". A few weeks ago it would have been
"some", "a little", or "enough". I'm not fluent by a long shot, but I'm
starting to be comfortable. It's nice.