This shobbas was pretty much exactly like the first one. We went to shul then Chabad for dinner and lunch. Then Saturday night we drank a little here and after went to a bar around the corner, Rex. It was still a little early and it was a much older Italian crowd, plus there were too many of us to get a table. We just hoovered around the back taking pictures until after about twenty minutes we leave to go to The Lions Den, an American bar. It was pretty much the same sitch so we took pictures and just went home still tipsy off the pregaming. a little sad, no? Fail numbers one and two.
Today the school subsidized a day trip to Lucca but I didn't sign up in time and got closed out (Fail 0.5 because we had to sign up by last Friday, way before the weekend of fails.) So today I woke up late and decided to go see the
Ponte Vecchio. Any one who knows me knows that I can hardly get around Teaneck and am completely directionally retarded. Having this in mind I tracked out a way to get there via googlemaps and highlighted it on my pocket map that I carry with me every where. It started off great but then I got SO lost and when I'd finally locate myself on the map I have this unique talent of ALWAYS walking in the opposite direction that I should be. (Like the time I was supposed to meet Simon for dinner at second avenue deli and called him an hour and a half later because I hit the East River and realized I was most likely walking in the wrong direction). The glass-half-empty type may consider this fail number three but as I said I'm really used to being lost and it was an abnormally beautiful day outside, I was in no rush, made it there eventually, and it was lovely. On the walk back I decided to not even try and use my map and just walked. Over the course of my adventure I walked through the chocolate fair at Santa Croce:


Piazza della Signora

A guy playing guitar, the high end shopping in Piazza della Repubblica, walked around the Uffizi museum, saw where Dante lived, and walked along the arno to the Ponte Vecchio.
When I got back with my renewed sense of independence and confidence I decided to tackle the laundry. We've been having trouble with the machine but on shobbas a guy came and showed us how to use it and it seemed simple enough. I put a few pairs of underwear and two pairs of jeans in, poured in the detergent and pressed start. It started making all the noises a working washing machine makes but nothing was happening. I figured its just different in Italy and walked away. An hour later it's making the same noises but its not spinning and there's no water. I stopped it but the door to the machine was locked so I couldn't take out my clothes. Enter fail three.
A little later my suitemates come back and she tells me I put too much stuff in and I should take some out and try again. Same story. Fail four.
Then Shayna tells me I should just wash it by hand because it's not good to have detergent just sitting on your clothing for this long. I realize she's right and start hand washing all my clothes in the nasty laundry room sink. Everything was already stained. Fail Five.
As I was washing my jeans I realized my bus ticket was in the back pocket and that G-d works in mysterious ways. With the discovery of the ticket I realize that fails 3 through 5 were just so I can have one large success. Soon after I lost the ticket.