7/10 Preface

A Preface to my European Excursion:

The 7/10 Split will be a forum for me to tell everyone who cares about the quirks that Europe, primarily Italy for now, has to offer.  I only travel on the weekends, Monday through Thursday is just regular school, but the weekends are always thrilling.  As an example, my first weekend here, the group of 55 Pepperdine students took a daylong field trip in the Tuscan city of Siena.  It was there that I discovered that they charge 1000 lire (roughly 50 cents) to use a public restroom facility.  Little did I know that the facility consisted solely of a hole in the ground, no porcelain anywhere in the building.  As I was squatting over the hole, and looking at the bare walls, I began to contemplate where my 1000 lire went…hole maintenance?  As I have continued my travels, I have discovered that this is the norm.  For a country that prides itself on beauty and masterpiece, Italy has a lot to learn in how to install plumbing.  Maybe everything is supposed to stay as it was in the time of Michelangelo.  I’m really not sure.  As a general rule, I will usually not share restroom experiences, unless they are most notable, but for those who have some sort of sick curiosity about my habits, my email is sara@theroadscholars.com.

The concept for the 7/10 Split stems from Sean’s “From the Road” series, which will be a tough act to follow.  For those of you that are questioning where the name “The 7/10 Split” comes from, ponder no further.  Italian time is 9 hours ahead of Pacific time, so as I write midday, everyone reading is probably still asleep.  The best time for talking to people from home, namely Sean to give him daily updates J, is early in the morning here and late at night there.  Any other time would interrupt sleep or class in both places.  So, we talk at my 7 am and his 10 pm, hence the 7/10 Split.