Archive • Mondragone Fulbright ETA 2021-2022 • Buttondown

Final entry; 28-2-2024

Hello, friends! Some time has passed. As much as I wish I could open with "I'm sitting at my kitchen table in Mondragone!" alas, I cannot. Instead, I am...

Epilogue; 26-1-2023

Hello, friends! Surprise: I'm sitting at my kitchen table in my apartment in Mondragone! And wow, this feels so good. ^^ I started the first draft of this...

Week 40; 1-8-22

Hello friends, I'm writing this final update from a cafe in good ol' Media, PA. I've been back in the states since last Wednesday, and I've been looking...

Weeks 37, 38 & 39; 17-7-22

Hello, friends, 48 hours from now I'll be leaving Mondragone, and ~80 hours from now I'll be landing in Philly. More on that later. I spent a weekend in...

Weeks 33, 34, 35 & 36; 26-6-22

Hello, friends! Well it seems as though we've shifted to a 4-week newsletter schedule. Which means I'll be sending 1 more, right at the end of my time here....

Weeks 29, 30, 31 & 32; 27-5-22

Hello friends, I'd drafted the following paragraphs roughly 2 weeks ago: I'm finishing up this edition of my newsletter on the train to Pisa! It was supposed...

Weeks 27 & 28.5; 3-5-2022

Hello friends, It feels like this newsletter is right on the heels of my last one. I thought about waiting another week to send out more updates, but this...

Weeks 24, 25 & 26.5; 20-4-22

Hello friends, Buona Pasqua! [Disclaimer -- this is my longest newsletter yet!] I did not open my laptop at all last weekend, nor most of this week -- what a...

Weeks 22 and 23; 26-3-2022

Hello friends, The past few weeks have been a strange juxtaposition of normalcy and crisis. I feel as though I've been straddling both, but they are starting...

Weeks 19, 20 & 21; 14-3-22

Hello friends, I'm settling back into my pre-Omicron routine -- teaching regularly and in person, and traveling new places on the weekends -- hence my 3-week...

Weeks 17 & 18; 18-2-22

Hello friends, I'm fully leaning into being boosted, I feel like my world is opening back up again in so many ways. I'm writing this from a Freccia (high...

Weeks 15 & 16, 7-2-22

Hello, friends! I am happy to report that I FINALLY got boosted last Thursday, and was able to return to work on Monday (1 week ago), although not without a...

Weeks 13 & 14, 23-1-22

Hello, friends! Hard to believe we're into the last third of January. And I've effectively not gone back to work. As I mentioned, our break ended on January...

Weeks 10, 11, & 12.5; 12-1-2022

Hello friends, Happy (belated) holidays! I hope everyone is healthy and that COVID didn't impede time with family and loved ones. I am very lucky to be...

Weeks 7, 8 & 9; 19-12-2021

Hello, friends! I am once again behind schedule, so I've decided to add an extra week onto this one, which times out better with the holidays, anyways. I've...

Weeks 5 and 6, 30-11-21

Hello again, friends! This week's update is special (and late) because I've had not one but two guests here in Mondragone with me! Shoutout to Julian, my...

Weeks 3 and 4, 13-11-2021

Hello again, friends! I have been looking forward to writing this since I sent my last one. I was almost tempted to write it a week early, but given that...

Weeks 1 and 2, 29-10-2021

Hello friends! At the urging of many close friends, family members and colleagues, I've decided to "formalize" (some of) my communications from Italy. I...