More aldo, and also verona

So, first off, Aldo continues to be hilarious. Here's a little dialogue from the other night when anthony and jamal came to eat here with me, giulia, antonio, mario, donatella, and aldo:
(donatella was going to leave to go to dancing lessons so wouldn't be around to do the dishes)

Aldo: Chi lava i piatti stasera? (who's washing the dishes tonight?)
Me: Jamal lo vuole fare. (jamal wants to do it)
Jamal: Michele mi auita. (mike will help)
(Donatella enters)
Donatella: Chi lava i piatti? (you know that one)
Aldo: Lo fa Jamal. (jamal will do it)
Jamal: Si, ma aldo mi aiuta. (yeah, but aldo's helping me)
Aldo: (stares jamal in the face and says:) I WILL KILL YOU. (yes, in english)(deadpan stare continues for 30 seconds. extreme funny awkwardness).

So yes, jamal, congratulations on getting along with the family well.


In other news, we went to this city called Verona today. Maybe you've heard of it. a little play by some dude named shakespeare, called romeo and juliet, supposedly happened there. so after seeing some cool buildings and such, which happen to be just about everywhere in this country, we went into a church. in said church, there was the corpse of this saint, zeno or somebody like that. part of the church was from 1117 - that's crazy. anyway we got a tour from a priest and we got to see the body, albeit in a pretty serious case. you can't see the skeleton, and the face has a metal mask and the hand on which the priest-ring sits is actually a glove. but still, the fellow is 700 odd years old.

so after that adventure, we went to eat, and then walked around some more, and then we went to the "house of the capulets," a little tourist trap, though not much of a trap since it's free. anyway people scribble love-graffiti on walls or on post-it-notes that they stick to the walls with gum, and there is also a statue of "la giulietta." the custom is that you romantically touch her breast while someone takes a picture of you. so, it's kind of funny, one breast has obviously been touched a lot and the metal is a completely different shade from the rest of the statue. now that's the sort of thing that i notice while walking around historic verona. yes. also, we had gelato. very good.