Raffaello has been rowing for La Gondola Providence since the summer of 2008, and is now a seasoned veteran of the city's watercourses. He earned his BS in Aerospace Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a minor in Music. His training with singing groups at WPI pushed his vocal ability and complements the performances under the bridges of the City of Providence.
“Respect the balance.”
Hoping to pass along his zeal for learning, Raffaello (under the non-Italian name by which he is known to the rest of the world) guises himself as a physics and pre-engineering educator at Ponaganset High School, where he also mentors the school's competitive robotics organization, FRC Team 5112: The Gongoliers.
In his free time, Raf may be found pursuing a variety of other interests: reading (real books, and the internet-at-large), blacksmithing, painting, animal/plant/insect husbandry, writing, camping, woodcarving, gardening, excessive video watching on YouTube, cooking, repairing things, restoring antiques, and keeping company with Ana, his beautiful, awesome wife ( and First Gondolady Bryna's younger sister).
Raf is looking forward to The Big Project; he and Ana are endeavoring to construct a sustainable earth-integrated house and cultivate a permaculture forest garden on the land they own in Foster, RI. In the mean time, the two will continue to produce children's books and live life to the fullest.
“La Gondola Providence has this great quality where every single gondolier / gondoliera is astoundingly interesting to talk to, and equally interested in everything anyone else has to tell them ... I’ll bet these attributes are related.”