Now THAT'S ingenuity

We've passed the half-way point over here.  We are now officially closer to our departure date than our arrival date.  On a travel course, that usually means a few of things.

"Over here" is beautiful.

1. The students who are prone to homesickness get hit pretty hard about now.  The novelty has worn off, and every new experience feels like one more thing that's "wrong" where wrong means "not like home."
2. Some of the new "friendships" are starting to unravel.  Repeated, forced proximity can make for fast friends, but short friendships.
3. Students are starting to look around and notice all the things they'd like to take home with them.  Some of the things are actual souvenirs but others are people and customs that the students will miss once they leave Italy.  

I tell my students that by the last day of the trip they should all have a list of things that they want to take with them and all the things they miss from home.  Travel experience isn't about discarding all your old habits in order to pick up new ones, but it is a chance to take a deeper look at your "normal" behavior to determine which habits are sound one and which could stand some correcting.

As we were walking along the city streets of Firenze on Sunday, my roommates and I saw the most amazing thing.  We saw a surprising ingenuity that I want to bring home with me. Unfortunately, this will never fit in my suitcase.

First, we saw this:

All of those little, squatty boxes are labeled for mixed materials; they're recycling bins.


Then, as we walked by, we saw THIS:

And THIS:

Those squatty boxes are on the "hatch" for a subterranean container about the size of wheelchair accessible porta-potty.  The truck hooks the "hatch" to lift a box out of the ground, swings it over into the truck bed and lowers it a bit.  Then the bottom of the box opens up and all the recycling materials fall out into the truck. Finally, the container is lowered back into its place with only the squatty box about the ground.

How amazing is that?

What a clever use of space in a crowded environment. It makes it much more pleasant to walk along than these typical recycling receptacles.