But things took a turn for the worse when the residents of Cagli awoke Monday morning to wet streets and a steady drizzle, eventually turning into a full-fledged thunder-and-lightning storm.
"I'm kind of upset," student Kimberly Schurtz said with a sigh. "I wish it were nicer."
In the faculty lab, Intercultural Communcation professor John Caputo (Gonzaga) sat mystified, staring out the window at the stormclouds. "A collegue says it's snowing outside Siena," he said, shaking his head. Indeed, news reports put this as the coldest June on record in Italy in 27 years.
The poor weather, however, was the perfect excuse to work on projects in the computer lab, where videography professor Dan "the Man" Garrity (Gonzaga) worked with a group of students known as "Group F" on a video involving vending machines. "Group F," Garrity explained, "is excelling above all the rest." He would not rule out some sort of divine intervention, he confided, a burst of thunder puncuating his claim. "But I'm pleased with the progress of all the groups," he continued. "At this point, we're just doing exercises in sequencing."
Photography professor George Miller was also happy with the students. "The images look good," he said. "I assigned a photography scavanger hunt, and at this point I have the results from 31 out of 33 students. That puts only two on my 'bad student list'."
Student Jasmin Conner was working on an interview. "It's with the owners of Joe Rivetto, a clothing line- two of them are from Cagli. I'm excited and nervous," she said, smiling.
Across the table sat Jennifer MacNamara, who spent much of Monday suffering from stomach pains. "My friends helped me out and supported me," she said. "Both morally and physically." By Monday night, she felt much better. She did not mince words as to the cause of her miraculous recovery: "I attribute it to the wonderful support of the faculty," she said.
Meanwhile, spurred by the possibility of future illness among the students, graduate assistant Chas Davis gave a talk about phone numbers and emergency preparedness. Fellow graduate assistant Nicole Luccarelli took student photos for her mysterious "files".
And outside in the hallway, a number of students smiled contentedly at the thought of tonight's activity: cooking class with Atrium administrator Donna Galleta, featuring gnocchi in tomato and cream sauce with pecorino and walnuts- a class so popular it was split into two nights by popular demand.
