I'll be brief today. I got a chance to get online and took it.

Producing a documentary in 5 weeks would be a challenge anywhere but doing it in Italy makes it even more "interesting." We were scheduled to have an interview with a Syracuse prof on Monday, but he was sick and ppostponed until Wed. The good news is that we got lots of good stuff from him on Wednesday, and even some useful B roll. The students went to shoot another interview and due to missed comunication, they were inside the hotel while the prof waited outside. They were within a few feet of each other and didn't know it. Another rescheduled interview.

I talked with both the Florence Chamber of Commerce and the Tourist Bureau to try to line up interviews. Anyone unfamiliar with Italian bureaucracy should read Beppe Severgnini's stuff. Anyway, you have to make an appointment to talk to someone about an appointment. We have one lined up for next week and hope to schedule the other. Only 2 weeks left to get this in the can!

Many of the students are going to Cinque Terre this weekend. We are opting for the Adriatic side, Cesenatico, where my aunt and uncle have a condo.

It's still very hot but it's supposed to get better. Let's hope.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. The record high temperatures here, and no AC in our hotel, make it hard to feel enthused. Today's high should be 92. I know, though, how lucky I really am.

I managed to get a few pictures uploaded.

Here are Kim and her friend Lorilynn. We met her while we were both living in Ames, and she and Kim became great friends. Lorilynn met us at JFK during our layover and brought lunch, including cannoli!

The Irish eat a hearty breakfast. Egg, three kinds of sausage (including blood), homemade soda bread.

Kim, Nicole and our Irish host Marion having tea and scones at Powerscourt in County Wicklow.

Me with the most photographed woman in Ireland, Molly Malloy.

THIS is what every university should post. I shot this on the door of Trinity College Dublin's library.

No picture can do justice to the crushing crowds in the Rome subway during rush hour.

This is the subject of the documentary: the dome of the Florence cathedral. This is actually the view from one of the student rooms in the hotel (not ours) -- zoomed a little, but not tremendously.

The cathedral museum contains the unfinished Michelangelo's Pieta - not the better-known one in Rome, but one he wasn't very pleased with.

One day during our class in front of the cathedral, a march by a political party took place.

A suitable ending shot - sunset in Florence.

The first week of class in Florence is complete. That means we are now 40 percent of the way through the "semester." Unfortunately we are nowhere near 40 percent of the way through the production. Those of you who know production, though, will recognize that this is not unusual. It takes a while to get geared up and going. Things are coming together and I am hopeful that all will end well.

We conducted an interview with Monsignor Timothy Verdon. He is a scholar on the cathdral and a member of its governing board. We had a bit of a scare when we arrived at his residence and he told us he didn't know we were going to tape. He was expecting that it would be only a pre-interview. After about 10 minutes of casual conversation he invited us to set up and do it. I think he was concerned, either that we would ask questions about stuff that was not his purview, or that we were unprepared, neither of which was the case. We got about 40 minutes - most of which was quite usable. He knows his stuff.

We've spent the week having class on the steps of the cathedral for inspiration, but that will end with class tomorrow. It is terribly distracting to be in the piazza with thousands of tourists. The worst part is the women who come up begging. They see you're talking to a group and yet they come right up with their cup and interrupt. Tough to keep your train of thought while teaching. Tough for students, too. Tomorrow we will move to a quiet park on the other side of the Arno, far from tourists.

The heat here continues. Most days it's over 90. We have no air conditioning in our hotel. We bought a fan, which helps greatly. At night, with the window open wide and the fan on, we're able to sleep.

Made it to the Uffizi gallery on Friday. Reservations are not available for the whole time we're in Florence. Tour groups have booked way ahead. We rose early and got in line before 7:30 for the non-reserved entry. Our strategy paid off. The museum opens at 8:30 and we got in before 9. A relatively short wait.

On a personal note, we had dinner last night with John and Marilyn Dolan and two of their kids. John is the brother of Kim's brother-in-law, Steve. Once again, we crossed the Arno to get away from tourists and found a restaurant where the locals eat. Goood food, reasonably priced. We had to tolerate the TV on during dinner, but that's what happens when you seek out a local place. Great to see them, and to compare notes on what we've seen and done.

We have moved onto Florence. If you've never driven the road between Rome and Florence, it's rather pretty (like I imagine parts of California to look like). Of course it was a little disturbing when our bus lost power going up one of the hills and stalled. The driver pulled over and, fortunately, was able to re-start the bus in about a minute. It may have been short, but he had to try several times and it seemed a lot longer. When we restarted, there were 38 relieved people (driver included). The students applauded and the driver responded, "grazie."

We're in week 2 of the semester and we've encountered a couple of minor technical glitches. The first is we are getting no audio from the camera-mounted mic. Not a big problem. We're using the hand-held to get nat sound. Yesterday we couldn't find the firewire (Sony calls it iLink). That's the cable connecting the camera to the laptop to dump all the video for editing. Thanks to the help of some students I was able to find a shop that sold me another (20 Euros, about $24). I'm convinced we have the cable (we used it in Rome) and it's jut buried under somebody's clothes somewhere.

We also encountered one minor non-technical glitch. When the students were shooting in the Pantheon last week, a guard came over to tell them that they needed a permit to shoot professional video. They quickly pulled out their student ID cards and said they were students, not professionals. Still, the guard said, they needed permission. He said they could have 5 minutes. After some conversations with Romans, we have come to find out that pulling out a tripod draws the guards. They assume anyone that serious must be a pro. We modified our shooting plans. Now, any interiors we shoot we will shoot first off the shoulder. Once we have those, then we can take out a tripod. That's just interiors. Yesterday we shot 4 hours of person-on-the-street interviews in front of the Florence cathedral with no trouble. Tonight we have an interview scheduled with a church official. Perhaps he can help us use a tripod inside. Of course that was Rome and this is Florence, so who knows whether we'll encounter any more trouble.

It's hot here (our hotel has no air conditioning) but most of the students have bought fans and are not complaining. Just a reason to eat more gelato!

Ball State has published a news story about the class.

The first week of class is already over! It's hard to imagine we only have 4 weeks left to go to get this documentary put together.

Rome has been warm (in the 80s) but tolerable. At night it cools off fine. Good thing, too, since we have no air conditioning. The worst part of that, though, is the mosquitos. I have a couple of bites, Nicole seems clean, but Kim... they must realy love her. She said they're after all the drugs she's taking.

We leave Monday for Florence. I thought it was going to be Sunday. I must've missed the memo. Oh well, it really doesn't make much difference.

About the class: I have 9 students in the advanced class and 7 in the begining. That only totals 15 because one is actually in both (there are a total of 32 students here). The advanced class is all Ball Staters but one - she's from Murray State. The beginners - 2 of 7 from BSU. One other anomaly about the student population: there are 26 gals and 6 guys! I'm proud to say BSU has the largest contingent (10), followed closely by U of Kentucky. All but one of the Ball Staters are taking one of my classes. One is a chem major and claims she isn't nterested in TCOM. Imagine that!

We've shot the "gotta have" shots here, like the Pantheon (Brunelleschi studied to do his) and St. Peter's (Michelangelo studied Brunelleschi to do it). Class Tuesday wasn't that cool, but Thursday we met in front of the Colosseum, Friday at St. Peter's and today in Piazza del Popolo (has one of the churches from Angels and Demons which, by the way, is a popular our here). What an amazing backdrop for classes!

Here are a couple of photos of a few of them hard at work at the Colosseum.

We came with a script written (one of the grad sudents worked on it) but as with all good documenaries, we've all but torn that up and are working on a new draft. We've concluded that purely historical informaion would not only be less interesting but harder to come by (hard to get shots of the dome being built, since it happened 600 years ago). We've had a few "creative differences" among the students, but thankfully no one has taken it personally.

The place we're staying has almost turned into a dorm. It's small and we occupy all bust a few rooms. Students keep their doors open when they're in, inviting conversation. Not bad, except after midnight. They have a midnight curfew - not from us, but the hotel. The front dor is locked midnight to 7 a.m.

My two clleagues here are Bill Morningstar, a photog prof from Berea College (program director) and Gil Smith, a former Ball State architecture prof now at Eastern KY U. Last night Kim and I went with Gil for Egyptian food (after a week of nothing but Italian).

We arrived in Rome on Saturday, a little later than expected. Al Italia was about 1:40 delayed. It was no problem, though. Spent Saturday and Sunday night at a convent (threatened to leave Nicole) in the same room, but it was large, so no trouble. This morning we moved to the hotel with the students. Nic's excited because she has her own room. Kim's not too keen on the idea, although I thought she might like having a private room with me. What is she trying to tell me?

We did a lot of walking. Saw Pope Benedict deliver the Angelus (blessing) from his window to the crowd. What a huge crowd. We were able to attend mass at St. Peter's.

The students arrived today, a little late: exhausted and most without luggage (yeah Air France). Gave them a trip on the subway, basic orientation, etc. Class starts in earnest tomorrow.

God has been good to us. Weather has been great. A little warm, but no rain, and nothing like we hear it is in Muncie.

We have just finished three wonderful days in Ireland! We arrived Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. local time. Marian, who had stayed with us back in 2000, met us at the airport and brought us to her home in Laoughlins Town in the southernmost part of County Dublin. She made us an Irish breakfast, then the three of us headed into Dublin on the train for the day. It was great because the train goes right along the coast (saw a house Bono bought). We went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells, from 1200 years ago! The old library is fantastic. Walked around a lot. Marian took me out for a pint. On Thursday we spent much of our time at the Dublin Zoo. Today Marian took off work and we went seeing nature (instead of the city). Went to Knocksink Wood (where she used to work), an incredible place called Powerscourt, an old estate with incredible gardens (where Kim wants her sisters to know we sat on the patio and had tea and scones), then off to Glendalough, where we visited a beautiful valley lake. We had dinner at Johnnie Fox's, which claims to be the highest pub in Ireland. Whether it is or not doesn't matter - they have great seafood. Tomorrow we're off to Rome. Don't know when I'll update next.