magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

first things: happy birthday arron. if i don't email you today it wasn't for lack of trying. this is where one of those internet capable cell phones comes in really handy.

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secondly, i bought a watch in gubbio this morning. i haven't owned one since... i don't know, umass? maybe nmh? seven years at least, maybe longer. i did have a clock on my beeper, but even that's over two years ago now.

it's a swatch, like the last two or three watches i had. clear face, through to the gears, with flourescent orange hands and a clear band with an orange stripe along it.

it will take a while to get used to having something on my wrist. and to the ticking. but i've sort of felt like i've needed a watch since i've been in italy. i have no real sense of time here.

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so yes, i was in guibbio this morning. i got up (sans watch or clock) super early and caught the seven-thirty (give or take) bus. chandler got on the bus in scheggia (she's in one of these little towns too). we hung out in the piazza grande until things began to open up around nine-thirty and then went in search of a watch shop. which turned out to be a jewelers, and all the watches seemed a little too fancy for my taste.

but on the way out i noticed some simpler swatches on the bottom shelf of the window display. they were L7.000 (a touch under $35 which is what my very first swatch cost) so i bought one.

we walked around some. found the post office. stopped in the main cathedral. then took the funivia up the mountain. and walked the rest of the way up. at the very top are the ruins of... a very old church? fort? and an amazing view. sarah.b was witting up there painting.

back at the bottom we met up with irene and the three of us took the bus to perugia. perugia, the modern capital of umbria, is quite large. we walked around the historic center of the city, but had no real direction and were already on sensory overload.

i bought two books of contemporary italian poetry because they were beautifully designed. and found a swatch shop where there were a few watches i would have chosen over mine. but i would have had a harder time deciding, so i'm not going to dwell on it.

it was really nice to get out and do something. to see other risd kids. to speak english.

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i didn't get to send any email. i asked mario about it, and he said okay, sure. but then got into something of an argument with his father that i didn't follow. all the while he was making gestures to me telling me that his father didn't know what he was talking about. but after he left the room his dad told me that it was too expensive and mario had used it too much, so they disconnected it. just great.