The Squirrel vs. The Gondoliers; or, why you shouldn't get your PhD in Venice

This is an example of the super-fat-completely-unafraid-of-humans squirrels that The New York Baroque Dance Company had to contend with during our residency at Cornell University. They stalked every tree-lined path on campus for students dreamily looking at the sky and thinking about Heidigger with mufins poking out of their pockets. Then they would strike!! Oh, the horror.When not avoiding these fiends, we spent our time making the adorably funny commedia dell'arte show, Harlequin's Capers. You can read all about it (along with fabulous background information about baroque dance) here in the Ithaca Journal.

After the performance, I went directly to Trieste, Italy for the last installment of The Fairy Queen. I was so happy to see my Italian friends again , and in addition to the joy of jumping around on the stage like a maniac again, allow me to list the other highlights:

1. going to Miramare Castle to smell that special parterre garden air and see a nineteenth century toilet

2. during aperitivo time, eating hand-sliced chunks of prosciutto cotto and drinking good local wine (although I have to admit that I also drank really BAD wine there, too) and then deciding that dinner was unnecessary

3. drinking coffee in a tiny pastry shop where the owner told us all about the supreme goodness of the Illy family

After the shows were over (I only cried a little bit during the last bows), I met Jeremy in Venice!! We had a lovely time, and it was hilarious how both the Italians and the Americans would say "oh, so romantic" when I told them of our plans. It was suitably romantic, but still awfully touristy even in the lowest of the low season. We were quite lucky that it didn't rain because in November there is always the threat of the canals overflowing, called "aqua alta".

Jeremy and I hit all the hot spots: San Marco, where we saw a poor girl being attacked by pigeons (on purpose, her parents were laughing and taking pictures, and she was quite a sport), the Rialto Bridge, the 18th. century museum, etc. etc. We were good tourists and didn't even get lost too much.

Our favorite things:(lists are so much easier than paragraphs)

1. Sarde in Saor, a Venitian speciality of whole sardines served cold with white wine, sweet onions, pine nuts, and raisins (watch out! I may try to make this!!)

2. seeing boats that deliver all of the food, etc. into the city, along with the garbage boats and ambulance boats-- there are no cars!!

3. We always ate Tramezzini (tiny sandwiches with different fillings) for lunch.

4. lots of quiet walks down narrow, twisting streets

Now, to explain the title. We happened upon a strange ritual near the University-- a girl appeared to have just received her PhD, and she was standing in front a huge poster with lots of tiny print and a picture of her swinging through the trees as a monkey. She was wearing padded hot-pants and a tube on her head, and while she tried to read the tiny text of the poster, her friends shouted "Drink!", threw eggs, and squirted her with ketchup and milk. The next day we saw the same thing happening to a boy, so this was no isolated incident. Ha! I can't believe I missed my chance to squirt ketchup at Jeremy. Posted by Sarah at 4:54 AM