British and American Writers in Italy

Three days into the new class, and things are looking up. As of yesterday, the majority of the people in the class were stressed to the point of having breakdowns, and no one felt confident that they could do the assigned work on time.
It is a 3 week class, and in that time, we were assigned an average of 150 pages of reading a night (6 novels and a few short stories), 2 essays, a group project, student led discussion days and a final exam essay. On top of that, we have to prepare to leave, while doing our last trips and things before we leave. Confident that I could in no way handle that amount of stress, I talked to our professor yesterday and told her my concerns. She said I would be able to audit the class (take it for no credit) if I wanted to, and I felt good with that decision.
Last night, she reduced the reading by 100 pages, in lieu of the choir rehearsal, concert, and reception that happened last evening. Everyone was grateful, and I was actually able to get all of the reading accomplished. Then this morning in class, we were met with a surprise. Dr. Frankwitz announced in class that she was removing the book Indian Summer from our reading list. While we were all busy thanking God and her for their grace, we were shocked once again, when she continued by saying she would also eliminate the first paper. I glanced around the room in that moment and was met by 11 faces with the same expression I wore on mine: total disbelief, followed by incomparable relief. As it turns out, Dr. Frankwitz realized that the amount of work she had assigned was perfect for a 4 month class, but when compressed into 3 weeks, it was simply impossible.
So now the workload is both doable and enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to a good end to the semester.
Tomorrow is thanksgiving, and we are all anxious to see what meal Mauro will have prepared for us. He'll do his best to put on a Thanksgiving feast, though it will no doubt be quite different than we Americans are used to. Carissa's parents arrive tomorrow, which will be a nice treat, and I'll be going with them to Rome on Friday.