Day 6

MONDAY 2 AUGUST 2010

Barbara and I ventured to the Posta after class to exchange our US currency for Euros. It was a scramble! We were worried that we would be late, so we power walked across town like the dickens and got there in the nick of time. We passed a 6 Euro belt vendor I may go back to investigate... In the post office, patrons take a number from an automatic printer (which will print apology notes for people who arrive too late) with a designation (P-post/parcels, A-exchanges, etc.), and there are electric sign boards on which these numbers flick, accompanied by a corresponding teller window number (17 total, this place was crazy!). The tellers, being so busy, flick through numbers quickly if you don't show up promptly. With the wait, I imagine impatient patrons simply walk out. Barbara and I waited nervously, for we had to take our own separate numbers to be called at different times, and only one of us speaks Italian (I'll give you a hint: It's not me)! My number was called first, and as I was scrambling to my assigned window the teller flicked through three more numbers before I crossed the room! My presence there caused a small fiasco, but Barbara's teller was kind enough to take care of the both of us. I got a penny out of the deal! I'd thought those were not used any longer. After Barbara and I checked out at the COOP later in the evening, I got another penny! It was my lucky day for sure.