Italian Crossword Puzzles

Here's a brief profile of my friends I'm staying with. Anna, a bubbly and irreverent brunette hooked on Grey's Anatomy, and Juliana, an sweet blonde who'll kill you with her affection. Both are spoiling me at their apartment in Venice. I do what I can to repay them.

My favorite part of this place: I close myself behind the shower's wobbly doors and uncoil the shower head from the wall to the music of campanile bells and a mother reprimanding her child in the backyard, sounds that filter through a colorful layer or two of hanging laundry.

Traveling in vaporetto: I didn't forget the sound of one of these bus-boats pulling up to a stop, or the image of the sailor lasooing the dock and twisting a knot probably passed down from generation to generation. I don't think I ever will, either.

Today, at Lido. Perfect sun, chilly water. I love digging through my pockets and having to distinguish between Eurocent coins and shells.

In the vaporetto on the way to Lido, I helped Anna with an Italian crossword puzzle. Meaning she taught me several new Italian words and completely ridiculous definitions for them.

On the beach, we played volleyball and Italian tennis-badminton. I fell asleep in the heat and had dreams I couldn't remember. After which we ate lunch along a sidewalk, spending as much time watching the people pass as enjoying our tramezzini. And of course, gelato.

I'm here for a pretty long haul, but when I get bogged down I just read more of "The Sun Also Rises" and it's better. Instantly. Here's what I hit recently: "You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see? You hang around cafés."

Tonight, I did not hang around cafès. I ate sushi for the very first time. This was in Mestre, the city on the mainland right outside Venice. The place was called "Sushi Wok," and was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Needless to say, I feel like an elephant seal right now. One nice thing about Italian restaurants is that you don't tip. I know you don't like that, Matt Maerowitz.

Juliana went home to Pergine for the weekend. So at the sushi place were me, Anna, her boyfriend Giovanni, and four of his friends that he studies Japanese with. So cute going to a sushi joint with your Japanese classmates. They spoke fast, and this is only my second day back in this lingual world. I got issues. I thought, what would be easier, following this conversation, or doing Anna's crossword puzzle by myself?

All the Blockbuster stores I ever knew in the United States have gone out of business. Today, I saw one in Mestre. There were both lights on and people inside. Blast from the past.

Do I feel American? Absolutely. Do I care? I don't know. All I know is when I indulge my friends and speak English, it sounds about as weird as "Deliverance" dubbed in Italian. Which I haven't seen.

This isn't really a sightseeing blog, is it?

Jetlag: Urban Legend?

Well hi there. My name's Andrew. I just graduated from Boston College with an indulgent bachelor's degree in English. To prove (or at least to lay the allegation) that I do have a future in some capacity, I'm attending grad school next year for a Masters in English. After that... well, the utility of holding your breath goes way beyond swimming.

That said, this blog will not be proofread or revised in any way. Take that as an inside track rather than an amateurist streak.

Today I'm writing from my friends' flat in Venice, Italy. I'm here until Sunday, when I take the train to Florence. As it goes, I'm signed up for an Teaching English as a Foreign Language course, which lasts a month. During that period I'll be living in Florence.

My journey began on a grey and silent day in Munich, Germany, when my Charlotte-bourne plane touched ground. The airport was more quiet than a library. I got halfway through "The Sun Also Rises" and picked at my fingernails.

The flight to Venice I know well. It took me over the Alps and the Dolomites. I could spot the island where my semester abroad program was. My generous Venete hosts Anna and Juliana, whom I met last year in Venice, are now employed by the same program.

Yesterday night we ate gnocchi and I made fun of my friends for never having heard the song "Say Aah." I'd say this country's about 3 months behind on the music. They're still on Tik Tok.

After that, we hit the vainglorious narrow streets of Venice. Took me back, really did. Chillier than normal, but we stared at the fisherman boats docked along the Zattere in protest of new government netting laws. After the which, we got a spritz in Campo Santa Margherita. It was sweet, the aftertaste this time was bitter.

I feel like my Italian sucks, though I've been studying it consistently. Feels kind of like a shirt that instead of getting too small after some time, it got too big.

I'm glad to be here.