Nick teaches at The Latin School, where each year students participate in Project Week. During past Project Weeks, Nick has taken students on a theater trip to London and a desert vision quest in the Southwest. This year he stayed in the city and did a week of competitions based on reality TV shows. For The Amazing Race, he asked me to pretend to be an Italian bocce pro in Arrigo Park in Little Italy.

Nick: It'll be easy. The kids have to beat you at bocce, then you give them their next clue. I've even got a hat and a little vest for you.
Me: What if a real Italian walks by and beats the shit out of me for using a bad Italian accent?
Nick: We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

It was really fun. You could tell the kids weren't totally buying the fact that I was Italian, but were too polite to call me out on it. Nick told me later that the last place team ended up winning the whole thing by being the fastest to solve the puzzles at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen, which made me happy as they were clearly the most cohesive.

Me: What are they doing tomorrow?
Nick: Top Chef. We were supposed to get actual Top Chef contestants to judge the competition, but they weren't able to do it. Bummer.