Dinner with Americans
I wanted to update yesterday but I was busy booking Milan things. I am very excited about this trip, I haven't done any shopping for two months now, and I intend to eat altogether too much gelato.
I went to dinner on Monday night with my Mom's friend Leslie. I was a tad worried about meeting them actually. It has been so long since I've encountered the particular strain of South Tampa yuppie absurdity. All I knew about Leslie and family before Monday is that their daughter went to the Academy, they live on Davis Island, and Leslie is part of my Mom's krewe of wealthy idle ladies-who-lunch. In my book, that spells doom, especially since at Academy I was rather infamous (and not necessarily in a good way). And S. Tampa is an inbred nest of Lexi, so being infamous at Academy has repercussions... But they were vacationing in Eastern Europe, not the Med and my Mom's judgement usually isn't heinous, so I decided to give them a chance. I am glad I did; Leslie was pretty damned cool, she was quite a lot like me in high school, demonstrating "negative leadership skills" (which as I deadpanned to her daughter is having leadership skills but only using them for evil). They bought me a lovely dinner with actual fresh vegetables, and they bought my taxi ride back to the dorm. Not a bad Monday night.
Unfortunately, when I arrived back at the dorm my bathroom had no hot water. I wrote an e-mail to the IAESTE people (a move of desperation) and they told me that the dorms are being renovated and not to expect hot water for a couple of days. Lovely. After a few days of very quick showers, I finally woke this morning to have hot water again. It is really amazing that they can pull this kind of stuff without warning or apology, but then, this is Slovakia where utilitarianism reigns supreme. I am really amazed how I've hardened since Hong Kong, there I complained about taking air-conditioned public transportation to get to the Anna Sui store and getting small amounts of meat in my dinner. I would "break down" and go to California Pizza Kitchen for a salad. Here... well... its a bit depressing. Luckily I have a week and 2 days left here then I go home to the land of organic produce, sample sales, and hair appointments. I never thought I would be so happy.
I went to dinner on Monday night with my Mom's friend Leslie. I was a tad worried about meeting them actually. It has been so long since I've encountered the particular strain of South Tampa yuppie absurdity. All I knew about Leslie and family before Monday is that their daughter went to the Academy, they live on Davis Island, and Leslie is part of my Mom's krewe of wealthy idle ladies-who-lunch. In my book, that spells doom, especially since at Academy I was rather infamous (and not necessarily in a good way). And S. Tampa is an inbred nest of Lexi, so being infamous at Academy has repercussions... But they were vacationing in Eastern Europe, not the Med and my Mom's judgement usually isn't heinous, so I decided to give them a chance. I am glad I did; Leslie was pretty damned cool, she was quite a lot like me in high school, demonstrating "negative leadership skills" (which as I deadpanned to her daughter is having leadership skills but only using them for evil). They bought me a lovely dinner with actual fresh vegetables, and they bought my taxi ride back to the dorm. Not a bad Monday night.
Unfortunately, when I arrived back at the dorm my bathroom had no hot water. I wrote an e-mail to the IAESTE people (a move of desperation) and they told me that the dorms are being renovated and not to expect hot water for a couple of days. Lovely. After a few days of very quick showers, I finally woke this morning to have hot water again. It is really amazing that they can pull this kind of stuff without warning or apology, but then, this is Slovakia where utilitarianism reigns supreme. I am really amazed how I've hardened since Hong Kong, there I complained about taking air-conditioned public transportation to get to the Anna Sui store and getting small amounts of meat in my dinner. I would "break down" and go to California Pizza Kitchen for a salad. Here... well... its a bit depressing. Luckily I have a week and 2 days left here then I go home to the land of organic produce, sample sales, and hair appointments. I never thought I would be so happy.