Il bar e' la mia chiesa

Cafe freddo is amazing...

So I decided to go to the only Orthodox church in Florence this morning. I should have known from my brief phone experience yesterday that liturgy wasn't going to go so hot... I called and told the priest that I was an American student studying here for the semester and that I was Orthodox. This was all in Italian mind you, meaning I used up almost every word I know in the language. As I was asking what time Liturgy was, he just said "What do you want." I asked again in English, and he said "9 o'clock." I said, "OK. I'll be there!" - happily and with enthusiasm I'd like to note. He just said "OK" - like a jerk, I'd like to note - and hung up.

This morning, no one came up to talk to me, everything was in Slavonic, it was really hot and gross, and the choir was ungodly flat. The only hymn that I recognized was the Kedvrov Our Father, but the base section, instead of distinctly singing each note in each of the 5 note runs, just sloppily slid their way up and ruined the whole thing. In short, it was just like I was in a church in the US: rude, stand-offish, and with poor choir. AND the priest didn't even say anything to me when I went to kiss the cross. Fr. Giorgio Rude-ioni.

BUT HAVE FAITH! My hope in mankind was restored... by a barista! Duh! I wanted a cafe freddo, so I stopped at this bar. The guy understood all of my Italian, smiled, and when I started trying to put sugar in, he politely stopped me (in Italian, and I understood him, thank you very much) and then gave me simple syrup. "Benissimo, no?" Si. Certo. And to make things even better, he was singing along to a Springstein song that was on in the bar. This is why in Italy, baristas should replace the priests.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Simple Syrup" Yazge