Ciao!  These past couple of days have been a little slower than usual, so not much to report here.  On Wednesday we stayed at our hotel (the Vesuvian Institute) for a day of lectures, translations, and discussion, and today has been similar.  Thursday we did go to Ischia, a nearby island in the Bay of Naples and the location of the first Greek colony in Italy, and I burned myself to a crisp on the beach!

I feel like I'm getting a pretty good taste of the "real" Italy these days.  Last night, an aqueduct broke... who knew they still used aqueducts in Italy... and so we didn't have water in the hotel for about 12 hours!  Imagine all the things you do with water--shower, brush your teeth, flush the toilet.  We couldn't do any of these things last night!  As you could probably have guessed, the hallways started smelling like a sewer system by the time I went to sleep.  And the front desk's advice was merely: "Breathe through your mouth instead of your nose."  Thanks.

Tomorrow is our last day in Southern Italy before we move up to Rome on Sunday!  I'm ready to be in a city again where I don't have to march up a ridiculous hill to reach my hotel at the end of a grueling day outside.  Keep your fingers crossed that the aqueduct doesn't break again before Rome!