A few of my favorite things

UPS Smart Car: Of all the things I've seen in Rome, this has been the most unique. I'm so sad I don't have a picture. Yes, it was a smart car -- one of those one-seater, no backseat, no trunk, play things that Europeans drive around, and it was marked as an official UPS vehicle! --brown, yellow logo, the whole thing! "Yes, um, I'd like to mail this leaflet." "I'm sorry, there's no room for that in our truck."

The Color Purple: Roma e' purpureo. Seriously everything -- clothing, purses, jewelry, shoes ... I even saw a purple crane today! I've taken some pictures that I will upload later. Steve is very happy to hear that purple is the color of the season because I don't particularly care for it, so it's easy on our credit card.

Car Talk: In the words of Beppe Severgnini, "Cars in Italy don't just talk. They make comments, insults, protests, insinuations, and lectures. They whisper, scream, object, inquire, whine, and express every nuance of the human emotion." The cars outside our apartment were saying all of these things at once the other night. I've never heard anything like it! There were probably a hundered horns all going off at the same time for about five minutes. (The was an accident, I think, holding up traffic at the intersection.) The cars would actually respond rhythms to each other. It was unbelievable!

Empty Trash: Our outdoor trash cans are empted 3-5 times a night, every night. Why? Ask the mafia. Seriously. There is no explaination. There is one at midnight, one at one, and one at two, and sometimes a few in between.

Church Music: We've heard a lot of interesting music while visiting churches: dark organ music, canned gregorian chant, a choir. All this is to be expected. We've also heard a pop/soft rock/gospel music piped over loud speakers, wailing, guitairs or mandalins, and other such curious things. It causes a bit of cognative dissonance.