no spoilers here.

Especially since I'm one episode and two hours behind everyone else who watches 24. The glory of TiVo!!

Anyway, as it turns out, one of the Teaching Assistants for the program in which I studied in Italy was on last week's episode. Yes, America, that would be RoboCop.

Peter Weller and I had a particularly strange encounter on a field trip to Assisi (as in St. Francis Of).

Let me preface this by saying the program's required field trips started -very- early in the morning. At approximately ass o'clock. And I was probably feeling rough around the edges from a night of drinking. Anyway. RoboCop.

I boarded the bus and sat down in towards the front. Annoying Jaime sat next to me. Jaime was the MOST annoying person ever. EVER. I put on my headphones so we wouldn't have to speak.

Peter had an English-language newspaper. The International Herald Tribune. English-language newspapers were like gold in the fall of 2001, for obvious reasons. Unless you got there early, no newsstand ever had them, and though I look back on my Italian language proficiency with rose-colored glasses, my comprehension was NEVER good enough to read an Italian newspaper.

Thus, I asked Peter, who was sitting one row in front of me, if I could read his newspaper. He turned his head slowly to face me, and only made it about halfway. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, in a sort of condescending way I can still picture today. What are you listening to? he asked, clearly sure the answer would be oh, Destiny's Child or Hootie & The Blowfish.

Ella Fitzgerald, I replied. He raised his eyebrows. I can't remember exactly how it happened, but I passed him my DiscMan (It was '01!) and Peter passed me his newspaper. I was to return the paper exactly as it was given to me, perfectly folded with the sections in the correct order.

By the time I was done with the paper, Peter was asleep. I heard someone calling my name from behind me. Erika! Can I read your newspaper? my Italian class dialogue partner asked.

I looked at a sleeping RoboCop. I looked back at my friend. Sure! I passed the newspaper back to her.

A few minutes later, Peter turned around. He smiled at me as he returned my cd player. Her voice is like butter, he said, better than, say, Beyoncé.

I like Beyoncé! annoying Jaime said. I rolled my eyes.

Where's my paper?
You were asleep so I lent it to my friend.

RoboCop rolled his eyes.

For the record, when I returned his newspaper, it looked just like when I borrowed it.

In short:

• Peter Weller likes Ella Fitzgerald.
  
• Peter Weller is interested in the art of the Italian Renaissance.
  
• Peter Weller is a little anal about his newspapers.
  
• Peter Weller probably doesn't remember any of this.