I like studying in Italy, granted it’s hard and I still don’t feel like I could carry on an intelligent conversation in Italian, but it’s still been alright. After being in Scotland, I don’t want to go back. It is absolutely amazing. We landed in Glasgow-Preswick and boarded a bus to the center of Glasgow. On the way there were rolling hillsides, sheep, cattle and it really had a mid Michigan type of feel to it. Lots of farmland and everything was so green!
Once we made it to the city center we saw a lot of business that we hadn’t seen in Italy. There was the infamous Starbucks where we proceeded to enter and order in English, there was a ton of fast food, but I asked Jim, our Scottish friend and he’s assured me that fast food isn’t really taking off over here. The downtown is sort of like Via Garibaldi. It’s strictly a walking street and walk we did. We saw people dressed in wind pants, gothics, and thug looking type people. I forgot what it was like to see such a variety of people. In Italy you see one type of style and in Scotland they definitely have many different flavors.
We met up with Jim at about 6pm when he got out of work. From there he walked us through a small part of town while on the way to his flat. Him and his girlfriend Jillian have just recently bought the flat and that’s good because it’s amazing. It’s a loft with two bedrooms, a nice living room and a great kitchen. I had forgotten what it was like to actually have a place to sit and comfortably be with people. The plastic chairs in our kitchen in Torino do little to set up a friendly atmosphere.
When Jillian got home we headed out to grab some dinner and had trouble finding a place. We visited three different restaurants before we could sit down. It was a nice little Japanese restaurant since the Scottish cuisine place that we tried was off limits because of a Jazz band that was playing. The dinner was great and after that, since it was raining, we stopped at the liquor store and made our way home. Jim was bound and determined to have Jeff try all the drinks that the college kids drink because of how cheap they are and their awful taste. It was entertaining to watch, nonetheless.
The only downfall to Scotland is its prices. The pound is worth double what the dollar is right now. Luckily we have a place to stay and don’t have to pay for a hotel. Jillian and Jim are great and were planning on touring Edinbrough and other fun sorts of things tomorrow.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
30-Marzo-2006
I don’t like doctors back in the US but government provided healthcare in Italy really sucks. This morning I made it to the doctors with a different translator, Claudia, and sat in the waiting room for a solid 25 minutes. Then we were redirected to another waiting room; apparently it was our lucky day, we proceeded to wait for an hour. Upon being called into the room and trying desperately to understand what Claudia was saying, I was diagnosed with spider bites and eight minutes later, I was back in the rest of the hospital. No wonder people look so sick over here.
The doctor, quack that she was, prescribed me injections so that the spider bites wouldn’t get infected and some type of lotion for my arms, and an oil also for my arms. Now I’ve had spider bites before and I’m pretty sure I haven’t suffered any permanent damage. The idea of being prescribed injections definitely freaks me out. You’d think they would give me an injection while I was there, but no, I have to go get shots from the pharmacist. Do you think they actually give me the shot? Or do you think they send me home with some syringes? Needless to say, I’ve also decided that it would take hell freezing over for me to get these prescriptions filled. I’m also giving up on my bed and sleeping in my sleeping bag. If I had a tent, I’d probably feel better.
Erin and I hung out for the remainder of the day. We did some more chocolate festival; I bought a lot of souvenirs and figured out how to get to the wrong airport in Milano. Thankfully I figured out it was the wrong airport before I was on the bus there. Tomorrow we catch a train to Milano early in the AM so we can be in Scotland by 3pm. From there, who knows! But I’m really looking forward to it!! Maybe I’ll be able to forget Italian healthcare.
The doctor, quack that she was, prescribed me injections so that the spider bites wouldn’t get infected and some type of lotion for my arms, and an oil also for my arms. Now I’ve had spider bites before and I’m pretty sure I haven’t suffered any permanent damage. The idea of being prescribed injections definitely freaks me out. You’d think they would give me an injection while I was there, but no, I have to go get shots from the pharmacist. Do you think they actually give me the shot? Or do you think they send me home with some syringes? Needless to say, I’ve also decided that it would take hell freezing over for me to get these prescriptions filled. I’m also giving up on my bed and sleeping in my sleeping bag. If I had a tent, I’d probably feel better.
Erin and I hung out for the remainder of the day. We did some more chocolate festival; I bought a lot of souvenirs and figured out how to get to the wrong airport in Milano. Thankfully I figured out it was the wrong airport before I was on the bus there. Tomorrow we catch a train to Milano early in the AM so we can be in Scotland by 3pm. From there, who knows! But I’m really looking forward to it!! Maybe I’ll be able to forget Italian healthcare.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
29-Marzo-2006
Yay for a relaxing day in Genoa. Andrea, Erin, Brian and I hopped an 8:20am train and made it to Genoa by 10:45am. From there we didn’t have any real plans except for seeing the famous aquarium. Since we were being leisurely we picked a random direction that seemed to go towards the ocean and followed our noses to the beach. It was really beautiful but an extremely wrong way from the rest of the tourist attractions. Slowly but surely we hoofed it over to the rest of the town.
The aquarium was really cool. Definitely something you could find in America, but a nice change of European scenery. We did manage to do all the churches and typical Italian sight seeing, so all in all we had a pretty packed day. I got a ton of pictures and we caught the 6:30 pm train back to Torino.
Today I woke up with some bites on my hand. Not too excited about it, but they definitely don’t seem to be the same as my rash/itchiness. I have 6 on my palm, three on the bottom of my wrist and three more on the top. I tried to find the nest, which I believe, must be in my bed, but didn’t see it. Tomorrow is the deathly scary doctor’s appointment. Yay.
The aquarium was really cool. Definitely something you could find in America, but a nice change of European scenery. We did manage to do all the churches and typical Italian sight seeing, so all in all we had a pretty packed day. I got a ton of pictures and we caught the 6:30 pm train back to Torino.
Today I woke up with some bites on my hand. Not too excited about it, but they definitely don’t seem to be the same as my rash/itchiness. I have 6 on my palm, three on the bottom of my wrist and three more on the top. I tried to find the nest, which I believe, must be in my bed, but didn’t see it. Tomorrow is the deathly scary doctor’s appointment. Yay.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
28-Marzo-2006
I snuck onto the Fiat factory field trip today and it was pretty cool. We got to see the automated chasis building system and the final assembly lines for the Fiat Punto and Idea. I never would have thought that so many components could go together so quickly. It was definitely a very interesting experience.
For the remainder of the day I went all over Torino trying to see a doctor. Mikaela, my translator and also a tutor for USAC, went with me to help. We headed to the doctor and they said we could make an appointment for August. I decided that wouldn’t do me much good so the nurse/receptionist recommended that I go to the emergency room to see a doctor. Even though it wasn’t an emergency, we headed there. I felt really bad standing in line next to people who were a lot worse than I was. I definitely just wanted to leave and apologize for being such a sissy but Mikaela got me through the line and into a less emergency orientated waiting room.
I finally got to see a doctor who was a bit of a jerk. He didn’t seem pleased that I couldn’t tell him myself what was wrong with me and just had this attitude that I didn’t really like. He prescribed me a bunch of things to get from the pharmacy and also gave me the go ahead to see a specialist. So we headed to the place where the specialist was and waited in another line to make an appointment for Thursday.
I now wish that I hadn’t said anything and just sucked it up. It was a waste of a day, a waste of time and I’m just grumpier about it now. I didn’t go get the meds that the doctor prescribed because I feel like he didn’t have a clue about anything and I don’t want to go see the specialist on Thursday.
“have a nice day” – aerosmith
For the remainder of the day I went all over Torino trying to see a doctor. Mikaela, my translator and also a tutor for USAC, went with me to help. We headed to the doctor and they said we could make an appointment for August. I decided that wouldn’t do me much good so the nurse/receptionist recommended that I go to the emergency room to see a doctor. Even though it wasn’t an emergency, we headed there. I felt really bad standing in line next to people who were a lot worse than I was. I definitely just wanted to leave and apologize for being such a sissy but Mikaela got me through the line and into a less emergency orientated waiting room.
I finally got to see a doctor who was a bit of a jerk. He didn’t seem pleased that I couldn’t tell him myself what was wrong with me and just had this attitude that I didn’t really like. He prescribed me a bunch of things to get from the pharmacy and also gave me the go ahead to see a specialist. So we headed to the place where the specialist was and waited in another line to make an appointment for Thursday.
I now wish that I hadn’t said anything and just sucked it up. It was a waste of a day, a waste of time and I’m just grumpier about it now. I didn’t go get the meds that the doctor prescribed because I feel like he didn’t have a clue about anything and I don’t want to go see the specialist on Thursday.
“have a nice day” – aerosmith
Monday, March 27, 2006
27-Marzo-2006
I think Garfield the cat said it best with, “I hate Mondays.” Today my disease decided that I was not allowed to even think about class and that scratching my arms off would be way better. Also, today fall registration opens up at Tech and the time difference prohibits me from being online when my chance to register begins. As the day went on I zipped my backpack open and the zipper fell off in my hand.
I went to see the program directors about my disease and then told me that Doctors didn’t operate on any sort of rapid schedule, so it might be awhile before we can get stuff figured out to the point that I could actually see a doctor. Sounds like fun. Danielle luckily made the first of possibly many appointments for tomorrow and he promised to go with me so I wasn’t stuck with a language barrier. I’m feeling better about my Italian skills but the whole conversation about itching and being disease ridden hasn’t come into my vocabulary yet.
Genova on Wednesday :-)
I went to see the program directors about my disease and then told me that Doctors didn’t operate on any sort of rapid schedule, so it might be awhile before we can get stuff figured out to the point that I could actually see a doctor. Sounds like fun. Danielle luckily made the first of possibly many appointments for tomorrow and he promised to go with me so I wasn’t stuck with a language barrier. I’m feeling better about my Italian skills but the whole conversation about itching and being disease ridden hasn’t come into my vocabulary yet.
Genova on Wednesday :-)
Sunday, March 26, 2006
26-Marzo-2006
I’ve discovered two things that really don’t go together in Italy; the month of March and sandals. Today was a beautiful day, 22 degrees Celsius which if you double it and add 30, we learn that it was 74 degrees F outside! Now, with this weather, one could logically assume that it would be ok to wear sandals. However, Italians have this season mindset that goes like this.. if it’s not June or July, one must wear a scarf and heavy jacket… logical eh? Never in all the time that I’ve been here have I felt more like a tourist. The looks were incredible; we’d get the once over and then the wide-eyed stare at our feet. First we considered that Italy could be a feet hating nation in which you were condemned because in the Vatican you can’t wear shorts or have bare shoulders. But the local crepe guy assured us that Italians did wear sandals and that we had just made the sandal appearance rather early.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
25-Marzo-2006
Let’s hear it for the chocolate festival. This annual tradition in Torino began yesterday and continues until April 2nd. If we do weigh ins before and after those dates, I think we might be able to scientifically conclude that I like chocolate a lot. We’ve been hearing about the festival since we started planning our trip, it was always one notch under the Olympics. Our school told us about a chocolate pass you could buy and taste a bunch of different chocolates… and that’s what we decided to do.
Casey, Jeff, Andrea and I went in search of a chocolate pass not knowing what to expect other than that we would be eating chocolate. The city of Torino sells the passes at information points around the city and we began there. We also knew that the center of all these happenings was taking place in Piazza San Carlo, which is where The Today Show was set up during the Olympics. As we were walking toward the Piazza we began to understand the Choco Pass and discovered that it was kind of like a scavenger hunt for chocolate. At different chocolate shops around Torino you could walk in and hand them your coupon good for a sample of their specialty chocolates. The sample could be just a few pieces of praline, the infamous Torino Gianduiotti, a cioccolata calda (hot chocolate) or a slice of cake. Oh yes, it was a good day.
Before we began our hunt, we decided to hit up the “Square of Chocolate,” that is what I’ve renamed Piazza San Carlo. Upon first glance, it looks like a circus. Every major chocolate maker in Italy has a huge tent set up. Some offer tastings, demonstrations, places to buy more chocolate than you could ever consume, and many other delectable treats. After reading the event pamphlet, we realized they have live music, Choco Creativity, Choco Lab, and Choco Shows. Who could ask for more, really? Since we knew that the Piazza wasn’t going anywhere, we decided to start our hunt.
We followed the map to little chocolate making shops in Torino, some of them close to the main Piazza, others WAY out of the way, but we made it to a good many of them today and plan to make it to the rest some time early this week. There was only so much chocolate goodness I could handle in one day. Almost as cool as going into the shops, were the displays that each of them had set up in windows. Mostly Easter related but all with tons of chocolate, the displays were extravagantly decorated and left me with only one thought, “Who gets to eat all that chocolate when this is all over?”
On our hunt, I made some very scientifically technical observations, for instance, the map sucked. If you are going to be sending people all over Torino, at least give people a big enough map so that all of the locations can be seen on it. Instead, they offered arrows pointing in the direction of the next shop (not cool). Next, since this is such a big deal, why don’t they have signs near the shops that say “Choco Pass accepted here!” Then instead of walking by three or four chocolate shops and not knowing where to go, the find would be easy. Apparently they thought we needed to work off our chocolate by having misleading information. The pamphlet for the hunt was well designed and partly in English (major applause) but some significantly important information was definitely left out. For instance, why am I given all these coupons and a map? Wouldn’t it be easier to provide me with a big plate of chocolate? This was my first thought as we started the game. Especially when our first location was closed for siesta. But after a little while, I began to appreciate the thrill of the hunt and now I know the best chocolate destinations in Torino. Not sure if that will be for the best or the worst yet. I’m planning on writing a letter that recommends all of these suggestions and then offering my services to ensure my place at chocolate festivals for years to come.
I’m going to go eat some chocolate!! :-)
PS. I still don’t understand why Italians think it’s cool to put chili peppers in chocolate… Maybe I’ll figure it out by April 2.
Casey, Jeff, Andrea and I went in search of a chocolate pass not knowing what to expect other than that we would be eating chocolate. The city of Torino sells the passes at information points around the city and we began there. We also knew that the center of all these happenings was taking place in Piazza San Carlo, which is where The Today Show was set up during the Olympics. As we were walking toward the Piazza we began to understand the Choco Pass and discovered that it was kind of like a scavenger hunt for chocolate. At different chocolate shops around Torino you could walk in and hand them your coupon good for a sample of their specialty chocolates. The sample could be just a few pieces of praline, the infamous Torino Gianduiotti, a cioccolata calda (hot chocolate) or a slice of cake. Oh yes, it was a good day.
Before we began our hunt, we decided to hit up the “Square of Chocolate,” that is what I’ve renamed Piazza San Carlo. Upon first glance, it looks like a circus. Every major chocolate maker in Italy has a huge tent set up. Some offer tastings, demonstrations, places to buy more chocolate than you could ever consume, and many other delectable treats. After reading the event pamphlet, we realized they have live music, Choco Creativity, Choco Lab, and Choco Shows. Who could ask for more, really? Since we knew that the Piazza wasn’t going anywhere, we decided to start our hunt.
We followed the map to little chocolate making shops in Torino, some of them close to the main Piazza, others WAY out of the way, but we made it to a good many of them today and plan to make it to the rest some time early this week. There was only so much chocolate goodness I could handle in one day. Almost as cool as going into the shops, were the displays that each of them had set up in windows. Mostly Easter related but all with tons of chocolate, the displays were extravagantly decorated and left me with only one thought, “Who gets to eat all that chocolate when this is all over?”
On our hunt, I made some very scientifically technical observations, for instance, the map sucked. If you are going to be sending people all over Torino, at least give people a big enough map so that all of the locations can be seen on it. Instead, they offered arrows pointing in the direction of the next shop (not cool). Next, since this is such a big deal, why don’t they have signs near the shops that say “Choco Pass accepted here!” Then instead of walking by three or four chocolate shops and not knowing where to go, the find would be easy. Apparently they thought we needed to work off our chocolate by having misleading information. The pamphlet for the hunt was well designed and partly in English (major applause) but some significantly important information was definitely left out. For instance, why am I given all these coupons and a map? Wouldn’t it be easier to provide me with a big plate of chocolate? This was my first thought as we started the game. Especially when our first location was closed for siesta. But after a little while, I began to appreciate the thrill of the hunt and now I know the best chocolate destinations in Torino. Not sure if that will be for the best or the worst yet. I’m planning on writing a letter that recommends all of these suggestions and then offering my services to ensure my place at chocolate festivals for years to come.
I’m going to go eat some chocolate!! :-)
PS. I still don’t understand why Italians think it’s cool to put chili peppers in chocolate… Maybe I’ll figure it out by April 2.
Friday, March 24, 2006
24-Marzo-2006
I made apple cake today! Unfortunately, like everything in Italy, it isn’t the same as back home. Everyone seems to like it, but I’m sadly disappointed. I think I might have to go in search of better ingredients and then we’ll try again.
This evening while I was baking, Andrea came over and we all played skip bo for awhile. Then we watched some movies and drank some vino. Not a bad Friday night, if I do say so myself.
My plans for the near future involve making some travel plans for my mom and I since she bought her ticket the other day. Adam is supposed to overlap her visit by a couple of days so I was thinking we would head to Milano since it’s close and there are some very cool things to see there. Other than that, the next three weekends we are doing some traveling. Next weekend is Scotland where we are going to meet up with Scottish Jim and then it’s Paris the weekend after that. The following weekend is Easter so we have an extended vacation and we’ll be in Frankfurt, Germany and probably Colgone (sp?) as well. Should be a pretty exciting couple of weeks.
This evening while I was baking, Andrea came over and we all played skip bo for awhile. Then we watched some movies and drank some vino. Not a bad Friday night, if I do say so myself.
My plans for the near future involve making some travel plans for my mom and I since she bought her ticket the other day. Adam is supposed to overlap her visit by a couple of days so I was thinking we would head to Milano since it’s close and there are some very cool things to see there. Other than that, the next three weekends we are doing some traveling. Next weekend is Scotland where we are going to meet up with Scottish Jim and then it’s Paris the weekend after that. The following weekend is Easter so we have an extended vacation and we’ll be in Frankfurt, Germany and probably Colgone (sp?) as well. Should be a pretty exciting couple of weeks.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
23-Marzo-2006
Today David’s parents came to the school. At 6:30pm our program directors set up this small gathering where students could meet his parents. I felt like it would be a good thing to go, and I was already at school anyway. Casey, Jeff and I were some of the first to sit down and there were only a few of us there when his parents came in. Then the rest of the group arrived. It was really awesome to see tons of students crowding through the doorway and I think it brought the first of many emotions around that evening. His sister, girlfriend, mom and dad looked just as uncomfortable as the rest of us felt, but after some quick introductions we all shared some memories and tried to figure out some more pieces of the puzzle leading up to the incident.
All in all it was a good thing to get everything out in front of the students and the parents. Everyone was pretty emotional and it was kind of comforting to see everybody grieving instead of just having your emotions all stored up inside. They did try to sort out some new information. They found David’s phone after the autopsy and confirmed that he had been speaking with his girlfriend from 5 to 6:11am. The train conductor found his body right around 6:30am so everyone is beginning to think this was more of an accident. Maybe he was walking on the train tracks and went to climb out and fell or something. I’m kind of confused because if the fatal wound on his head matched a pattern typical to a falling, then why couldn’t they rule out foul play from the beginning? I don’t know, the police told us they would let us know what the investigation concludes.
Other than that, the day was alright. Just some school and then came home and hung out. We were thinking about trying to go to Cinque Terre, which I’ve been thinking about for awhile now, but I don’t think it’s going to happen this weekend. The chocolate festival is calling to me and I want to write about the festival for my next article.
All in all it was a good thing to get everything out in front of the students and the parents. Everyone was pretty emotional and it was kind of comforting to see everybody grieving instead of just having your emotions all stored up inside. They did try to sort out some new information. They found David’s phone after the autopsy and confirmed that he had been speaking with his girlfriend from 5 to 6:11am. The train conductor found his body right around 6:30am so everyone is beginning to think this was more of an accident. Maybe he was walking on the train tracks and went to climb out and fell or something. I’m kind of confused because if the fatal wound on his head matched a pattern typical to a falling, then why couldn’t they rule out foul play from the beginning? I don’t know, the police told us they would let us know what the investigation concludes.
Other than that, the day was alright. Just some school and then came home and hung out. We were thinking about trying to go to Cinque Terre, which I’ve been thinking about for awhile now, but I don’t think it’s going to happen this weekend. The chocolate festival is calling to me and I want to write about the festival for my next article.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
22-Marzo-2006
Today has been all right. We watched two movies, which seems to be our favorite new past time. The weather today was on the verge of being nice, so the mood in theory should have improved. I was rather cranky today because I haven’t been getting much sleep. I keep waking up in the middle of the night to itch. I know that people sometimes look like their dogs, but getting the same symptoms as your dog is just plain stupid. I talked to my mom and she told me she was sending some meds that seemed to work last time, so I’m hopeful. Hopefully I won’t have this once I get back home, but I have a feeling that whatever it is isn’t planning on vacating my skin anytime soon. Grrr.
I only had one class today so I headed way down to school and it was really boring. Some people still had to give their presentations about Italian culture and this one group talked WAY longer than we did. It was annoying. Plus I just wanted to go to sleep. Casey gave me some Allegra type allergy meds and I just took one, we’ll see if I’m cranky still tomorrow.
I only had one class today so I headed way down to school and it was really boring. Some people still had to give their presentations about Italian culture and this one group talked WAY longer than we did. It was annoying. Plus I just wanted to go to sleep. Casey gave me some Allegra type allergy meds and I just took one, we’ll see if I’m cranky still tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
21-Marzo-2006
I just got back from being the only cheerleader at Jefferino’s basketball game. Over the past couple of weeks he made his way onto a regional team in Torino. They have games once a week and I made it to this one. The gym was super tiny and there weren’t any bleachers, so I pulled up a stool and made myself comfy. Jefferino neglected to tell me that the teams mostly consist of old guys and the team they played tonight was especially up there. This one guy that Jeff blocked in the first few minutes was a pansy for the rest of the game. Ridiculous. Oh well, they won. I know that sounds really uncompassionate, but I feel like he could of acted a little bit tougher without too much trouble.
Cuisine was absolutely amazing today. I think of out of every class so far that this one was my favorite. However it appears that this is boyfriend week because EVERYONE has their significant other here… it sucks. I sat next to a couple in cuisine who were being cute and making me angry. But anyways, the food was amazing! We had a few different types of aperitivo – a fondue/pastry thing, a sort of grilled mozzarella cheese dish, and caprese (tomato/mozzarella stuff) started us off. Then we had homemade risotto, Milanese style. And for the second piatti we ate an eggplant casserole type dish. I have never cared for eggplant but I’m pretty sure now that I just never knew how to cook it before – I have new hope. The dessert was an orange mergine type thing.. not my favorite, but that’s alright. Everything else was amazing.
I didn’t sleep well at all last night, so I’m ready to hit the hay. Buona Notte.
Cuisine was absolutely amazing today. I think of out of every class so far that this one was my favorite. However it appears that this is boyfriend week because EVERYONE has their significant other here… it sucks. I sat next to a couple in cuisine who were being cute and making me angry. But anyways, the food was amazing! We had a few different types of aperitivo – a fondue/pastry thing, a sort of grilled mozzarella cheese dish, and caprese (tomato/mozzarella stuff) started us off. Then we had homemade risotto, Milanese style. And for the second piatti we ate an eggplant casserole type dish. I have never cared for eggplant but I’m pretty sure now that I just never knew how to cook it before – I have new hope. The dessert was an orange mergine type thing.. not my favorite, but that’s alright. Everything else was amazing.
I didn’t sleep well at all last night, so I’m ready to hit the hay. Buona Notte.
Monday, March 20, 2006
20-Marzo-2006
Not a good day for Torino… Today is my Monday, which if you recall is my super long day of classes. At the very beginning of my first class our teacher announced that she had some bad news and told us how one of the students in the class died over the weekend. It was pretty hard news; this student in particular is in all of my classes. He was one of the Swedish students and was out really late Saturday night. A lot of people remember seeing him at a popular club that night but something happened to him between 4 and 6am and he wound up under a tall train bridge. They aren’t sure if he fell or if he was pushed, but they said that it looked like he had some severe head trauma before the fall. The police are investigating and the class took it pretty hard. There aren’t a lot of students in the program so everyone knows everybody else. Classes were rough, they didn’t try to make us really think, we pretty much just discussed a few things and then we were dismissed.
Other than all the awkwardness of that, and life re-evaluations, the day was alright. I got another package from Adam, which helped make the day a lot better. I went home with Andrea because her roommate was still in Cinque Terre and we had dinner and watched Miss Congeniality 2. Now I’m thinking about sleeping but I’m not tired at all.
Other than all the awkwardness of that, and life re-evaluations, the day was alright. I got another package from Adam, which helped make the day a lot better. I went home with Andrea because her roommate was still in Cinque Terre and we had dinner and watched Miss Congeniality 2. Now I’m thinking about sleeping but I’m not tired at all.
Friday, March 17, 2006
17-Marzo-2006
So ever since I decided that I had to send Adam a package because he’s been so great about sending me packages, I’ve dreaded going to the post office. Until today all I had heard was horror stories but now I feel that I fully understand.
The post office in Italy is used for more than just sending mail. In fact, there are so many different windows that I don’t even know what they were all for. When you come in you are apparently supposed to be able to figure out what you’re there for and grab one of six number wheels to determine your place. I choose to go to the post office close by my house thinking that it would be smaller and I’d have less of a chance to make myself look stupid… well..
A man helped me figure out which number to grab and my number came up quickly. I headed to the front thinking of the questions that they ask when we send things abroad in the US. I knew I was in trouble. In addition to these concerns, I didn’t have any of the heavy tape to seal my box. So I had an open box. In Italy, apparently, you’re supposed to cover all boxes, unless specific post office boxes with a brown paper. I think I got a few words in my direction about my lack of knowledge about the system, but oh well. The man that was working with me seemed nice and tried to ask me a question that I didn’t understand. He started motioning toward the box and showed an upward motion and I still didn’t know, but I said “no.”
Then he explained to me that it was going to be expensive to send, probably 30 euro (which with my knowledge of the conversation rate is about 100 dollars… ok, not really). I said that would be fine and then he found me some tape and handed me some forms. Next problem.. still can’t read. I could figure out where I was supposed to enter the origination and destination information but then when I got to the checking boxes part, I was confused. I filled in what I thought was the contents section and hoped that me writing the contents in English wouldn’t be too huge of a deal.
He weighed the package and the total came to 21.38 euro.. not too shabby I thought. Then he stamped about a thousand copies of the same paper and we were off and running.
The post office in Italy is used for more than just sending mail. In fact, there are so many different windows that I don’t even know what they were all for. When you come in you are apparently supposed to be able to figure out what you’re there for and grab one of six number wheels to determine your place. I choose to go to the post office close by my house thinking that it would be smaller and I’d have less of a chance to make myself look stupid… well..
A man helped me figure out which number to grab and my number came up quickly. I headed to the front thinking of the questions that they ask when we send things abroad in the US. I knew I was in trouble. In addition to these concerns, I didn’t have any of the heavy tape to seal my box. So I had an open box. In Italy, apparently, you’re supposed to cover all boxes, unless specific post office boxes with a brown paper. I think I got a few words in my direction about my lack of knowledge about the system, but oh well. The man that was working with me seemed nice and tried to ask me a question that I didn’t understand. He started motioning toward the box and showed an upward motion and I still didn’t know, but I said “no.”
Then he explained to me that it was going to be expensive to send, probably 30 euro (which with my knowledge of the conversation rate is about 100 dollars… ok, not really). I said that would be fine and then he found me some tape and handed me some forms. Next problem.. still can’t read. I could figure out where I was supposed to enter the origination and destination information but then when I got to the checking boxes part, I was confused. I filled in what I thought was the contents section and hoped that me writing the contents in English wouldn’t be too huge of a deal.
He weighed the package and the total came to 21.38 euro.. not too shabby I thought. Then he stamped about a thousand copies of the same paper and we were off and running.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
16-Marzo-2006
Wahoo. Definitely done with that exam. Might have been able to study a little better for it, but I’ve only gotta pass this class with a C. Nice cop out, huh?
Anyways, today is ADAM’S BIRTHDAY!! I had to call him at midnight so I could be the first one to wish him a happy birthday! I’m a horrible gf and don’t even have a card sent out yet, but I’ve got a package just waiting to get sent out. As soon as I can find some time in my oh-so-busy schedule, I will be all over it ;). Hopefully he had a happy birthday anyway since his ma and pa were heading up to Iron Mtn to help him celebrate.
Other than that, last night I got invited to an “apertivo” (that appetizer type thing where you buy a drink and eat all you want for free) of smaller proportions with some of my friends. It was great! Everyone either brought wine or prepared a small dish. There was more than enough food and good times were had by all. Tomorrow is St. Patty’s day and we plan on going to the Irish Pubs to see how they celebrate in Italy. Sounds almost as fun as snowboarding :(.. (those are tears)
Anyways, today is ADAM’S BIRTHDAY!! I had to call him at midnight so I could be the first one to wish him a happy birthday! I’m a horrible gf and don’t even have a card sent out yet, but I’ve got a package just waiting to get sent out. As soon as I can find some time in my oh-so-busy schedule, I will be all over it ;). Hopefully he had a happy birthday anyway since his ma and pa were heading up to Iron Mtn to help him celebrate.
Other than that, last night I got invited to an “apertivo” (that appetizer type thing where you buy a drink and eat all you want for free) of smaller proportions with some of my friends. It was great! Everyone either brought wine or prepared a small dish. There was more than enough food and good times were had by all. Tomorrow is St. Patty’s day and we plan on going to the Irish Pubs to see how they celebrate in Italy. Sounds almost as fun as snowboarding :(.. (those are tears)
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
15-Marzo-2006
I’ve survived the two day break from school. I suppose it hasn’t really been a “break” because I’ve still had to go, just not for class. Anyways, I received some bad news today – Our Mtn adventure for this weekend has been cancelled. Not quite sure why yet, but I will find out tomorrow. I’m kind of bummed but I’m contemplating going to Cinque Terre, which is supposed to be absolutely amazing. It’s a place along the Italian coast that has five towns connected by some back packing trails. Sounds like a pretty good time to me. I just need a dog or three and an Adam and we’ll be all set.
Tomorrow I have my first test in Italian 2. We’ll see how that goes. I should probably be studying my eyes out right now, but other not-so-important stuff just sounded like a way better time.
FYI, I did make it on the sign up sheet for Paris!! Yay! For 165 euro I get travel, two nights in a three star hotel, and two breakfasts! Sounds stupendous! We were at school yesterday thinking about how much time we had left, which apparently isn’t much, and we decided that we better start scheduling some trips. So today we got airfare for Glasgow in Scotland for two weeks from now, then there’s the Paris trip and right after that we’re going to go to Germany for some time. Hopefully we’ll be happy with our choice destinations. They were pretty much decided on because we could get there relatively inexpensively. Let’s hope it’s worth it. I’m not worried about Scotland at all, but Germany, we’ll have to look into. We were thinking about heading to Prague if we could, I hear it’s got some great stuff.
Today Kim and I went to the market to do some shopping and get some food. We decided for lunch that we would hit up the fish market and try some fresh shrimp. We spent 6 euro and got a ton of shrimp which we were pretty pumped about… However, we got them home and de-shelled.. they didn’t taste so good. We couldn’t figure out why at first and it made us really nervous.. but I think they taste a lot like the shrimp my family had at Christmas that had been too old or just frozen to long.. Which didn’t make much sense since these were supposed to be fresh.. but now we know I guess.
I got all excited and motivated about artsy things after Casey got her paints, so I bought some oil pastels.. Not quite sure if there is a technique but right now I feel like they’re pretty much like crayons and my skills are at the second grade level. Oy vey. I’ll work on that one.
Ciao for now!
Tomorrow I have my first test in Italian 2. We’ll see how that goes. I should probably be studying my eyes out right now, but other not-so-important stuff just sounded like a way better time.
FYI, I did make it on the sign up sheet for Paris!! Yay! For 165 euro I get travel, two nights in a three star hotel, and two breakfasts! Sounds stupendous! We were at school yesterday thinking about how much time we had left, which apparently isn’t much, and we decided that we better start scheduling some trips. So today we got airfare for Glasgow in Scotland for two weeks from now, then there’s the Paris trip and right after that we’re going to go to Germany for some time. Hopefully we’ll be happy with our choice destinations. They were pretty much decided on because we could get there relatively inexpensively. Let’s hope it’s worth it. I’m not worried about Scotland at all, but Germany, we’ll have to look into. We were thinking about heading to Prague if we could, I hear it’s got some great stuff.
Today Kim and I went to the market to do some shopping and get some food. We decided for lunch that we would hit up the fish market and try some fresh shrimp. We spent 6 euro and got a ton of shrimp which we were pretty pumped about… However, we got them home and de-shelled.. they didn’t taste so good. We couldn’t figure out why at first and it made us really nervous.. but I think they taste a lot like the shrimp my family had at Christmas that had been too old or just frozen to long.. Which didn’t make much sense since these were supposed to be fresh.. but now we know I guess.
I got all excited and motivated about artsy things after Casey got her paints, so I bought some oil pastels.. Not quite sure if there is a technique but right now I feel like they’re pretty much like crayons and my skills are at the second grade level. Oy vey. I’ll work on that one.
Ciao for now!
Monday, March 13, 2006
13-Marzo-2006
Presentation = over J I think it went rather well. I was concerned at first that we wouldn’t have enough information to talk about for the 15 minute presentation, but it turns out we were long winded. Our topic of Italian shopping had tons of details, observations and conclusions to talk about. We won’t know how we did for a while but I’m good at not dwelling on things.
I’ve been signed up for the Paris trip almost since the sign up sheet went on the door and today they said the sign up sheet was pretty much obsolete. They told us that people were to show up at a meeting with money and that the trip was limited to 30 students. Then, a late email came out this evening that said they really needed to know by tomorrow who was going, so the meeting was moved up to tomorrow at 1pm. This should give you some sort of clue as to how things have been working in Italy. I’m SO glad that I was there late tonight to find out about this new development. Hopefully I’ll be one of the first 30 and get on the trip for the rate of 165 euro (really good).
After school I went over to Erin, Abbie and Michelle’s to chill before I had to make the long trek back to downtown. We had a good time talking about the trip this weekend and planning a party for Thursday night. I feel like having them as closer friends will make me more outgoing, considering they live close to school, as well as many other positive aspects.
Also, today I found out from Dauphine, my French friend, that I am invited to go on a ski trip to the Alps this weekend to her cabin. Only five of us are going so it should be a quiet and enjoyable time. I’m really excited!! I think I might have just found the right combination of things and people to keep me busy and tickled pink about Italy. Yay!
I’ve been signed up for the Paris trip almost since the sign up sheet went on the door and today they said the sign up sheet was pretty much obsolete. They told us that people were to show up at a meeting with money and that the trip was limited to 30 students. Then, a late email came out this evening that said they really needed to know by tomorrow who was going, so the meeting was moved up to tomorrow at 1pm. This should give you some sort of clue as to how things have been working in Italy. I’m SO glad that I was there late tonight to find out about this new development. Hopefully I’ll be one of the first 30 and get on the trip for the rate of 165 euro (really good).
After school I went over to Erin, Abbie and Michelle’s to chill before I had to make the long trek back to downtown. We had a good time talking about the trip this weekend and planning a party for Thursday night. I feel like having them as closer friends will make me more outgoing, considering they live close to school, as well as many other positive aspects.
Also, today I found out from Dauphine, my French friend, that I am invited to go on a ski trip to the Alps this weekend to her cabin. Only five of us are going so it should be a quiet and enjoyable time. I’m really excited!! I think I might have just found the right combination of things and people to keep me busy and tickled pink about Italy. Yay!
Sunday, March 12, 2006
12-Marzo-2006
Venezia was amazing. 118 small islands make up the city. There are no cars or buses allowed, “boat buses” as well as gondolas provide the transportation. But I guess I should start from the beginning. We made our early morning journey on Friday morning and arrived in Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet for lunch around 12:30pm. Verona wasn’t an overly big city so we saw the “manufactured” homes of Romeo and Juliet along with their tombs. Turns out that Juliet was an actual person, maybe not the one that was with Romeo, but a person glorified in Verona nonetheless. So they made her a house, put in a balcony and now charge an entry fee to view it. Funny stuff I thought. We didn’t pay the fee to venture inside, but we saw the courtyard where a statue of Juliet exists. Then we ventured to the market square, grabbed some lunch and climbed the bell tower that overlooked the city. Beautiful day, beautiful sites, just beautiful…
The last hour and a half to Venice flew by because we had movies to watch on the tour bus. I miss movies; they are amazing when they are in English. We made it to Venice at about 6:30pm and everyone was on their own for dinner. I hooked up with some people that are in my Italian class and we ventured forth to find a Trattoria. This is a type of restaurant that is family owned, typically has a few very good dishes and tends to be inexpensive. Venice is supposed to be one of the most expensive cities in Italy so we decided that cutting corners was good. We wandered for awhile and finally found a place that we could all agree on. Our trattoria experience was good but sort of selective. We did get to sample one of the Venetian beverage specialties, strawberry wine and it was great. We could not order certain food items because they were out or because there was only one person in the kitchen. All in all, it was a good time.
After that we decided to wander down to the main piazza. On the way we found the Rialto Bridge, which is the cities biggest bridge and definitely the most expensive. Then we went to Piazza San Marco, which has the basilica, the palace and a huge square. I’m really glad we got to see it at night because it was beautiful. The church definitely has the most ornately decorated outside that I have seen yet. By this time it was getting pretty late and cold so we headed back and called it a night.
In the morning our school paid for a tour guide and we got to go back to Piazza San Marco and we learned a whole lot of stuff, most of which I don’t remember, but I held on to some important facts. The weather was absolutely amazing and we learned a lot about the history of Venezia and Mark the Saint… whose body the Venetians stole from Egypt and brought back to worship. After the tour, we headed out to the island of Murano, which is famous for it’s glass blowing factories. The glass can be found about every three feet in Venezia but we thought seeing the place that it was made would be excellent as well. The boat ride was fantastic and the island was very much like Venezia. We luckily found a free glass blowing demonstration, which I understand is a feat in itself.
After we made it back to the “main islands” I found Casey and Jeff and we made our way to dinner. As we walked in and out of millions of glass shops, we found a shop owner that we particularly liked and asked if she could recommend a good place to eat. The place she recommended was absolutely fantastic. It was the first time since I’ve been in Italy that I wanted to go outside, throw up, and then come back and eat more. Casey had gnocchi, which is a very common restaurant dish but hard to find what is considered “really good,” it was amazing. Jeff and I got calozones the size of a small child. Okay, maybe not that big, but they were huge and delicious. I think I could have lived in that restaurant.
This morning was brutally cold and there was even snow. How this huge weather phenomena happened I’m not quite sure. Saturday was t-shirt weather and Sunday was I-didn’t-bring-enough-to-wear weather. Since it was crappie outside, a group of us decided to visit the Doge’s palace back in the San Marco Piazza. As I learned on the tour, a Doge is a very high person in the republic government body that ruled in Venezia. Turns out, Doge’s had to be rich and noble. A poor noble man could belong to the governing body, but only rich, noble men could be Doge’s. This was because the Doge had to “shower” money on the people of Venezia. I’m not sure of the frequency of this ritual, but the money was the Doge’s own. Only one Doge could rule at a time and they tended to select older Doge’s so that they wouldn’t have a significant amount of time in office before he died and another was put in his place. They seemed to operate similar to the way Pope’s are selected. The Doge that spent the most amount of time in his position lasted for 38 years. Impressive. Anyways, the palace was enormous and housed all of the government and courtrooms as well as a huge ballroom and the prison. The prison was first under the Palace but then they needed more space so another building was built across a small canal. A bridge was built to connect the two buildings that is called “The Bridge of Sighs.” This is because prisoners crossed the bridge not knowing when or if they would make it out again. The armory and the prison were very interesting parts. The sword collection was amazing. Also, all of the official rooms had beautiful frescos and gold trimmed everything. It was quite spectacular.
After that we wrapped our trip. The bus left at two and we made it back into Torino a little before eight. Now I’m avoiding my big paper due tomorrow as well as my homework. Imagine that. But I suppose I should return to it……… ciao ciao!
The last hour and a half to Venice flew by because we had movies to watch on the tour bus. I miss movies; they are amazing when they are in English. We made it to Venice at about 6:30pm and everyone was on their own for dinner. I hooked up with some people that are in my Italian class and we ventured forth to find a Trattoria. This is a type of restaurant that is family owned, typically has a few very good dishes and tends to be inexpensive. Venice is supposed to be one of the most expensive cities in Italy so we decided that cutting corners was good. We wandered for awhile and finally found a place that we could all agree on. Our trattoria experience was good but sort of selective. We did get to sample one of the Venetian beverage specialties, strawberry wine and it was great. We could not order certain food items because they were out or because there was only one person in the kitchen. All in all, it was a good time.
After that we decided to wander down to the main piazza. On the way we found the Rialto Bridge, which is the cities biggest bridge and definitely the most expensive. Then we went to Piazza San Marco, which has the basilica, the palace and a huge square. I’m really glad we got to see it at night because it was beautiful. The church definitely has the most ornately decorated outside that I have seen yet. By this time it was getting pretty late and cold so we headed back and called it a night.
In the morning our school paid for a tour guide and we got to go back to Piazza San Marco and we learned a whole lot of stuff, most of which I don’t remember, but I held on to some important facts. The weather was absolutely amazing and we learned a lot about the history of Venezia and Mark the Saint… whose body the Venetians stole from Egypt and brought back to worship. After the tour, we headed out to the island of Murano, which is famous for it’s glass blowing factories. The glass can be found about every three feet in Venezia but we thought seeing the place that it was made would be excellent as well. The boat ride was fantastic and the island was very much like Venezia. We luckily found a free glass blowing demonstration, which I understand is a feat in itself.
After we made it back to the “main islands” I found Casey and Jeff and we made our way to dinner. As we walked in and out of millions of glass shops, we found a shop owner that we particularly liked and asked if she could recommend a good place to eat. The place she recommended was absolutely fantastic. It was the first time since I’ve been in Italy that I wanted to go outside, throw up, and then come back and eat more. Casey had gnocchi, which is a very common restaurant dish but hard to find what is considered “really good,” it was amazing. Jeff and I got calozones the size of a small child. Okay, maybe not that big, but they were huge and delicious. I think I could have lived in that restaurant.
This morning was brutally cold and there was even snow. How this huge weather phenomena happened I’m not quite sure. Saturday was t-shirt weather and Sunday was I-didn’t-bring-enough-to-wear weather. Since it was crappie outside, a group of us decided to visit the Doge’s palace back in the San Marco Piazza. As I learned on the tour, a Doge is a very high person in the republic government body that ruled in Venezia. Turns out, Doge’s had to be rich and noble. A poor noble man could belong to the governing body, but only rich, noble men could be Doge’s. This was because the Doge had to “shower” money on the people of Venezia. I’m not sure of the frequency of this ritual, but the money was the Doge’s own. Only one Doge could rule at a time and they tended to select older Doge’s so that they wouldn’t have a significant amount of time in office before he died and another was put in his place. They seemed to operate similar to the way Pope’s are selected. The Doge that spent the most amount of time in his position lasted for 38 years. Impressive. Anyways, the palace was enormous and housed all of the government and courtrooms as well as a huge ballroom and the prison. The prison was first under the Palace but then they needed more space so another building was built across a small canal. A bridge was built to connect the two buildings that is called “The Bridge of Sighs.” This is because prisoners crossed the bridge not knowing when or if they would make it out again. The armory and the prison were very interesting parts. The sword collection was amazing. Also, all of the official rooms had beautiful frescos and gold trimmed everything. It was quite spectacular.
After that we wrapped our trip. The bus left at two and we made it back into Torino a little before eight. Now I’m avoiding my big paper due tomorrow as well as my homework. Imagine that. But I suppose I should return to it……… ciao ciao!
Thursday, March 09, 2006
09-Marzo-2006
Phew, it’s Thursday… That means it’s the weekend! Tomorrow we leave for Venice at 7:45am in the morning, which means we have to leave for school at 6:45am. Then we don’t know for sure if the bus system in wonderful Torino will be running on a timely schedule, so we might have to figure something else out. Who knows, I guess we’ll figure it out tomorrow.
Sunday I will be back and pulling an all-nighter in order to get my project done for Monday. Then I have an Italian language test on Thursday, which I will be unhappily preparing for. But hopefully we’ll have good weather this weekend and our visit to the sinking city will be enjoyable enough to get me through next week.
Today after I got off of school (at around 8:30pm) I had a heck of a time trying to catch a bus. I let one go by because it wasn’t exactly one of two that would take me where I needed to go. But I ended up standing there for half an hour waiting for any bus at all after that first one took off. Then I finally saw another bus that would take me almost where I needed to go and tried to flag it down. It didn’t stop. Apparently bus drivers were hating on me today. Finally I caught a bus and made it home unscathed.
I’m gonna hit the hay in preparation for our big bus ride tomorrow. Ciao!
Sunday I will be back and pulling an all-nighter in order to get my project done for Monday. Then I have an Italian language test on Thursday, which I will be unhappily preparing for. But hopefully we’ll have good weather this weekend and our visit to the sinking city will be enjoyable enough to get me through next week.
Today after I got off of school (at around 8:30pm) I had a heck of a time trying to catch a bus. I let one go by because it wasn’t exactly one of two that would take me where I needed to go. But I ended up standing there for half an hour waiting for any bus at all after that first one took off. Then I finally saw another bus that would take me almost where I needed to go and tried to flag it down. It didn’t stop. Apparently bus drivers were hating on me today. Finally I caught a bus and made it home unscathed.
I’m gonna hit the hay in preparation for our big bus ride tomorrow. Ciao!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
08-Marzo-2006
Today is International Women’s Day!! Believe it or not, this international holiday has roots in America and the first I’ve heard of it is in Italy… isn’t that strange?
On this day back in 1908 there was a textile factory fire in New York (I’m pretty sure it was New York) and over 100 women died. Some even jumped out of windows as they realized that they had no way of exiting. The factory was in the typical condition of those back then. There were no fire standards and lots of fabric that could easily catch flame. There were also a lot of smokers. I didn’t find out the exact cause of the fire. The owner of the factory was put on trial but when the only survivor recounted her story the exact same way twice, the defending lawyer argued that she memorized what she was going to say and the charges were dropped.
This, along with other events, got the ball rolling for a women’s union. Over time, March 8th was declared International Women’s Day. In Italy they celebrate this tradition by buying mimosa, which is a type of yellow flower, and give them to women they know. Today Jeff bought Casey and I mimosa (I feel so special!). I think we should bring this tradition back to America…
Back to the homework.. I’m a slave…
On this day back in 1908 there was a textile factory fire in New York (I’m pretty sure it was New York) and over 100 women died. Some even jumped out of windows as they realized that they had no way of exiting. The factory was in the typical condition of those back then. There were no fire standards and lots of fabric that could easily catch flame. There were also a lot of smokers. I didn’t find out the exact cause of the fire. The owner of the factory was put on trial but when the only survivor recounted her story the exact same way twice, the defending lawyer argued that she memorized what she was going to say and the charges were dropped.
This, along with other events, got the ball rolling for a women’s union. Over time, March 8th was declared International Women’s Day. In Italy they celebrate this tradition by buying mimosa, which is a type of yellow flower, and give them to women they know. Today Jeff bought Casey and I mimosa (I feel so special!). I think we should bring this tradition back to America…
Back to the homework.. I’m a slave…
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
07-Marzo-2006
Oh yay for Italian Cuisine. I think I’m going to change majors and look into culinary arts. I don’t think I’d ever graduate, but taking the classes would be fantastic. Our teacher and her assistant are so nice that it’s incredible. Maybe it’s just a cooler than other classes because she teaches it at her house and that makes it seem very unlike actual class. Anyways, yesterday we made grilled peppers and some sort of anchovy cream sauce for the antipasto. I’m definitely expanding my food horizons… For the first course we had frittata, which is very similar to an omelet. One had onions and the other had zucchini and onions. Then we learned about polenta and it’s history. Turns out that people got this disease called pellagra from eating too much corn and too little meat. We began to think that maybe I had this disease but I looked it up online and I’m incredibly thankful that I don’t have it. We also learned that people used to think tomatoes were poisonous because of the juice inside. Interesting. Next came the second piatti and we made a meat dish with a very interesting sauce. There was orange peel, which ended up being the dominating flavor. It was all right, but I probably wouldn’t have it again. For dessert this time there was a sort of piecrust with jam spread over the top. Not too sweet but just enough to be good. Cuisine class is why I want to live with some Italians.
Other than that I worked more on paper for culture. I will be overjoyed after we give our presentation on Monday. Assuming it all goes well that is. As for the rest of yesterday, not a lot happened. Jeff bought Casey some acrylic paints, which have sparked my curiosity. They look interesting… I think if my drawing abilities reflect at all on my ability to paint that I shouldn’t even try… but I want to nonetheless.
Other than that I worked more on paper for culture. I will be overjoyed after we give our presentation on Monday. Assuming it all goes well that is. As for the rest of yesterday, not a lot happened. Jeff bought Casey some acrylic paints, which have sparked my curiosity. They look interesting… I think if my drawing abilities reflect at all on my ability to paint that I shouldn’t even try… but I want to nonetheless.
Monday, March 06, 2006
06-March-2006
Yay for school. Okay, not yay really, but for being a Monday it was a good day. Classes went well, no severe verbal lashings. I have a huge presentation/paper due for Italian culture next week, which is less than exciting, but we’ve got a good start on it.
After today, I’m beginning to feel less safe in Torino. Over the weekend one of my friends almost got jumped. He saw three guys coming towards him and one pulled a knife out in front of him. My friend, being a bigger guy, decided to act drunk and as the guy got closer grabbed his arm and forced it back on the knife bearer. The guy then stabbed himself in the shoulder and my friend proceeded to take that opportunity to grab his head and knee him. Sounds pretty fun, right? And today on the way home from school, Kim and Andrea were getting on the bus when I guy unzipped Kim’s backpack. Andrea saw it and zipped her bag up right away and gave this guy a severely evil look. If I had been there I’d a decked the guy, but alas, I missed it. Oh the joys of the city.
Well, that’s all for my update til tomorrow. Tomorrow is Italian cuisine and I have a TON of work to do today on my paper. So, buona notte! (good night)
After today, I’m beginning to feel less safe in Torino. Over the weekend one of my friends almost got jumped. He saw three guys coming towards him and one pulled a knife out in front of him. My friend, being a bigger guy, decided to act drunk and as the guy got closer grabbed his arm and forced it back on the knife bearer. The guy then stabbed himself in the shoulder and my friend proceeded to take that opportunity to grab his head and knee him. Sounds pretty fun, right? And today on the way home from school, Kim and Andrea were getting on the bus when I guy unzipped Kim’s backpack. Andrea saw it and zipped her bag up right away and gave this guy a severely evil look. If I had been there I’d a decked the guy, but alas, I missed it. Oh the joys of the city.
Well, that’s all for my update til tomorrow. Tomorrow is Italian cuisine and I have a TON of work to do today on my paper. So, buona notte! (good night)
Article for 06-March-2006
Culinary Trials in Italy
Italian cuisine is amazing. Fresh ingredients make for amazing pasta and pizza in every restaurant and pizzeria from here to the Mediterranean. However, the college budget does not allow frivolous luxuries like eating out for every meal. This leaves a couple of options: starve, wait for someone else to cook like my roommate of Italian descent, Brad, or brave the cooking art on my own. Since I’m not a fan of starving and Brad goes a little heavy on the spices sometimes, I decided to try my luck with the pots and pans.
Now, I’m not by any means an accomplished cook but back home I feel rather confident. I make some of my Mom’s recipes or follow a recipe from a book but in Italy things are completely different. During my first trip to the grocery store I realized that if pictures weren’t on some packages I would be in trouble. Pasta had seemed like an obvious choice, all you need is pasta and sauce, right? Well, in Italy there isn’t any spaghetti sauce. You can find tomato pulp, which sounds like it might work, but no it’s not good. Now that I’ve been here awhile I have figured out how to make pasta to my liking, but it did take some time.
Believe it or not, it is possible to get sick of pizza and pasta. I didn’t think it would ever happen, but it did. Luckily the corner store, Di per di, has those soups that you just add a few ingredients to and you’re in business but even cooking soup can be a complicated process when you can’t read Italian. This reading dilemma has resulted in having to throw out two concoctions… and the pans that they were made in.
Jeff Johnson, fellow Tech student and roommate, celebrated his 23rd birthday on Saturday and really wanted Texas sheet cake. In order to make sure that we got it just right, we decided to make a “trial cake” a few days before his birthday. The recipe came from back home, so thankfully it was in English but buying the ingredients needed to make a cake proved to be the hardest part of the whole ordeal. When the first shopping trip had been completed we hadn’t found vanilla or baking soda, so we went without. It seemed like a good idea at the time but the cake was definitely lacking. Jeff and I decided to try and find the ingredients at a larger store and stared at what we thought was vanilla for a while until finally throwing one in the cart. The baking soda was decided the same way. When we got home, it looked like we had done well, the vanilla really was vanilla and the baking soda looked like baking soda. The cake was pretty good, not quite as good as Jeff’s Mom makes, but far better than the first.
Today our French friend, Dauphine, came over to work on a group project and we told her of our cake-making trials. She looked at the baking soda box and laughed. As it turns out, what we thought was baking soda was really some sort of thickener used in soups. Ah well, maybe we’ll get it next time. Till then, I suppose we should keep our translation book handy and try not to ruin too many more pans.
Italian cuisine is amazing. Fresh ingredients make for amazing pasta and pizza in every restaurant and pizzeria from here to the Mediterranean. However, the college budget does not allow frivolous luxuries like eating out for every meal. This leaves a couple of options: starve, wait for someone else to cook like my roommate of Italian descent, Brad, or brave the cooking art on my own. Since I’m not a fan of starving and Brad goes a little heavy on the spices sometimes, I decided to try my luck with the pots and pans.
Now, I’m not by any means an accomplished cook but back home I feel rather confident. I make some of my Mom’s recipes or follow a recipe from a book but in Italy things are completely different. During my first trip to the grocery store I realized that if pictures weren’t on some packages I would be in trouble. Pasta had seemed like an obvious choice, all you need is pasta and sauce, right? Well, in Italy there isn’t any spaghetti sauce. You can find tomato pulp, which sounds like it might work, but no it’s not good. Now that I’ve been here awhile I have figured out how to make pasta to my liking, but it did take some time.
Believe it or not, it is possible to get sick of pizza and pasta. I didn’t think it would ever happen, but it did. Luckily the corner store, Di per di, has those soups that you just add a few ingredients to and you’re in business but even cooking soup can be a complicated process when you can’t read Italian. This reading dilemma has resulted in having to throw out two concoctions… and the pans that they were made in.
Jeff Johnson, fellow Tech student and roommate, celebrated his 23rd birthday on Saturday and really wanted Texas sheet cake. In order to make sure that we got it just right, we decided to make a “trial cake” a few days before his birthday. The recipe came from back home, so thankfully it was in English but buying the ingredients needed to make a cake proved to be the hardest part of the whole ordeal. When the first shopping trip had been completed we hadn’t found vanilla or baking soda, so we went without. It seemed like a good idea at the time but the cake was definitely lacking. Jeff and I decided to try and find the ingredients at a larger store and stared at what we thought was vanilla for a while until finally throwing one in the cart. The baking soda was decided the same way. When we got home, it looked like we had done well, the vanilla really was vanilla and the baking soda looked like baking soda. The cake was pretty good, not quite as good as Jeff’s Mom makes, but far better than the first.
Today our French friend, Dauphine, came over to work on a group project and we told her of our cake-making trials. She looked at the baking soda box and laughed. As it turns out, what we thought was baking soda was really some sort of thickener used in soups. Ah well, maybe we’ll get it next time. Till then, I suppose we should keep our translation book handy and try not to ruin too many more pans.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
05-March-2006
For Jeff’s birthday we went to the puppy store and wished that Italians weren’t so mean and let you actually play with the puppies. The store had many puppies and there was a pen with a German shepherd, a yellow lab, and a fuzzy white retriever, I think. It was definitely like looking at little Jake, Zoey and Casey. Since there was a little Casey I had to inquire about the price of these little furballs and it turns out, I could move out of my apt for a month and be able to afford one! I do think 300 euro was a little steep, but the puppy even acted like Casey. Yes, that means we stood there for a long while.
Last night we went out to celebrate Jeff’s birthday at a sushi restaurant. This being only the second time that I’ve ever had sushi, I was notably a little concerned, but courageous nonetheless. Jeff and I lost our minds for a short period of time during the order and let Casey talk us into ordering eel sushi.. Yeah I know.. But we also got shrimp sushi, avocado sushi with salmon and the favorite go-to sushi, California rolls. The eel sushi was kind of scary and I probably couldn’t be paid to consume it again. Other than that though, everything was quite good. Casey, Jeff and I were more than adequately full after that so we headed back to the apt to dig into the second cake, that turned out much better. On the way home we walked by some shop windows with some interesting goods so we stopped to gawk a bit. Casey was reading the prices about things that were REALLY expensive and Jeff announced, “Apparently ugly means expensive.” Which was quite possibly the funniest thing said the entire evening. Looking at the written words, it doesn’t sound that funny now but trust me it was hilarious. There was a backpack/satchel type thing that cost 750 euro and it was definitely ugly.
Even though it was only 9:30pm when we got back, we didn’t really feel like going out. It’s kind of strange in Italy, or at least I think it is. A lot of the people in my program go out to the bars and discotecas on a frequent basis. I just can’t seem to justify frequenting the same places and paying 5 euro to get the cheapest drink on the menu. On some level I feel like maybe I’m not “taking hold of my Italian experience” since I’m not out immersing myself in the culture. I don’t know how it’s really that different back in Houghton, except the drinks are cheaper and there are usually a lot of people to catch up with. I miss the KBC. I’m wondering how different the experience would be if we lived with host families instead of in apartments. I know it has the potential of being really bad, but at the same time I feel like I would definitely learn how to cook. Speaking of which, Casey and Jeff are keeping track of my failed cooking attempts, which by their definition has hit three.
Well, that was a deep ramble. It is Sunday so I’m going to do what every college student does on Sunday, lots of homework. Arrivederci!
Last night we went out to celebrate Jeff’s birthday at a sushi restaurant. This being only the second time that I’ve ever had sushi, I was notably a little concerned, but courageous nonetheless. Jeff and I lost our minds for a short period of time during the order and let Casey talk us into ordering eel sushi.. Yeah I know.. But we also got shrimp sushi, avocado sushi with salmon and the favorite go-to sushi, California rolls. The eel sushi was kind of scary and I probably couldn’t be paid to consume it again. Other than that though, everything was quite good. Casey, Jeff and I were more than adequately full after that so we headed back to the apt to dig into the second cake, that turned out much better. On the way home we walked by some shop windows with some interesting goods so we stopped to gawk a bit. Casey was reading the prices about things that were REALLY expensive and Jeff announced, “Apparently ugly means expensive.” Which was quite possibly the funniest thing said the entire evening. Looking at the written words, it doesn’t sound that funny now but trust me it was hilarious. There was a backpack/satchel type thing that cost 750 euro and it was definitely ugly.
Even though it was only 9:30pm when we got back, we didn’t really feel like going out. It’s kind of strange in Italy, or at least I think it is. A lot of the people in my program go out to the bars and discotecas on a frequent basis. I just can’t seem to justify frequenting the same places and paying 5 euro to get the cheapest drink on the menu. On some level I feel like maybe I’m not “taking hold of my Italian experience” since I’m not out immersing myself in the culture. I don’t know how it’s really that different back in Houghton, except the drinks are cheaper and there are usually a lot of people to catch up with. I miss the KBC. I’m wondering how different the experience would be if we lived with host families instead of in apartments. I know it has the potential of being really bad, but at the same time I feel like I would definitely learn how to cook. Speaking of which, Casey and Jeff are keeping track of my failed cooking attempts, which by their definition has hit three.
Well, that was a deep ramble. It is Sunday so I’m going to do what every college student does on Sunday, lots of homework. Arrivederci!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
04-March-2006
So today I had to pay rent and needed to take out some additional money from the ATM to cover the cost. I went to my favorite ATM that allows you to take out more money than the usual because I get charged a flat fee no matter how much money I take out. So my favorite ATM, which I’ve used before, decided to reject my card with the “this card is not able to make international transactions, contact your bank” babble. I started crying uncontrollably into my coat sleeve. Okay, I didn’t, but I was a little upset.
I called my mom later to see if we could get down to the bottom of my card moodiness that one moment works and the next moment hates my guts. It turns out that my bank has had a lot of fraud problems in Italy and no one with a National City account can get money out of an ATM right now. Peachy. Now I have to go to a bank and try to get a cash advance, which will in the long run end up having fewer fees. This is only if I can figure out how to ask for a cash advance in Italian….
I called my mom later to see if we could get down to the bottom of my card moodiness that one moment works and the next moment hates my guts. It turns out that my bank has had a lot of fraud problems in Italy and no one with a National City account can get money out of an ATM right now. Peachy. Now I have to go to a bank and try to get a cash advance, which will in the long run end up having fewer fees. This is only if I can figure out how to ask for a cash advance in Italian….
Friday, March 03, 2006
03-March-2006
Today I was sitting in language class doing my best to translate whatever my teacher was spouting off about when Daniele (a guy and one of the program directors) came and asked to see me in the hallway. I felt like I was in high school again as I exited the room and though I was confused about what the matter could be, I was sure I could talk myself into safety. Luckily it wasn’t anything too bad, he just informed me that a package had come in which I owed some money. Sometimes when packages go through customs they attack an additional charge to them. Specifically, this package that my mom sent was labeled “gift” on the customs sheet and when that happens the officials assume that there is something new and valuable in it and tack on additional charge. It cost me 15 euro to get my package in addition to the $40 that it cost my mom to send. Needless to say, it wasn’t too great. So if anyone sends me a package, write “used personal items” on it and do not check the “gift” box on the customs sheet. We learned our lesson, didn’t we mom?
Pretty much decided to take it easy this weekend. Since we’re heading to Venice next weekend, I want to be sure that I have enough money to do some cool things which means laying low for now. It is going to be a pretty good weekend because tomorrow is Jeff’s birthday and we plan on heading out to dinner and making a homemade cake!! It was such a serious endeavor that a “pre-birthday” cake had to be made in order to ensure that it turned out. Unfortunately, we were unable to find baking soda for the cake, so it is severely dense but as luck would have it, we found some today at a bigger grocery store. Hopefully tomorrow’s cake will be “just like my mom makes it” as Jeff has said more times than I count.
Sorry this one’s so short, busy doin a whole lot of nothing interesting..
Pretty much decided to take it easy this weekend. Since we’re heading to Venice next weekend, I want to be sure that I have enough money to do some cool things which means laying low for now. It is going to be a pretty good weekend because tomorrow is Jeff’s birthday and we plan on heading out to dinner and making a homemade cake!! It was such a serious endeavor that a “pre-birthday” cake had to be made in order to ensure that it turned out. Unfortunately, we were unable to find baking soda for the cake, so it is severely dense but as luck would have it, we found some today at a bigger grocery store. Hopefully tomorrow’s cake will be “just like my mom makes it” as Jeff has said more times than I count.
Sorry this one’s so short, busy doin a whole lot of nothing interesting..
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
01-March-2006
Holy March! I cannot even believe that February has come to an end. Today hasn’t been overly eventful. I went to class at 1pm and wasted most of the morning. For tomorrow I have a list of things that need to get done before I take off for class. I also have my first real Italian conversation class since the other one got caught short. I suppose that will determine how much I really enjoy my classes for the rest of the semester.
Casey and Jeff experimented with a birthday cake today since Saturday is Jeff’s birthday. We were supposed to be in Budapest for the weekend, but the trip that was supposed to be airfare and a hotel room turned out to be a bus ride and we decided that 13 hours on a bus just wasn’t something that would be a good time. Since then we’ve been trying to come up with an alternative plan, but it’s kind of short notice to try and go somewhere for a decent price. We told Jeff we’d change his birthday to a weekend that we traveled and then everything would be grand.
Other than that, there’s not a lot going on. I tried to watch a dvd this evening when I discovered that my program to watch dvds didn’t exist on my laptop since its always been so flaky on everything. Tomorrow I’ll have to beg and plead with adam for a solution.
Well, I suppose I’ll do a little bit of homework tomorrow so I don’t look like a complete idiot in class tomorrow. My Italian teacher has started to speak only in Italian since we are now “advanced enough to understand.” I’m not so sure that I agree with that philosophy but I suppose I’ll give it a shot since I was left with little choice. Ciao!
Casey and Jeff experimented with a birthday cake today since Saturday is Jeff’s birthday. We were supposed to be in Budapest for the weekend, but the trip that was supposed to be airfare and a hotel room turned out to be a bus ride and we decided that 13 hours on a bus just wasn’t something that would be a good time. Since then we’ve been trying to come up with an alternative plan, but it’s kind of short notice to try and go somewhere for a decent price. We told Jeff we’d change his birthday to a weekend that we traveled and then everything would be grand.
Other than that, there’s not a lot going on. I tried to watch a dvd this evening when I discovered that my program to watch dvds didn’t exist on my laptop since its always been so flaky on everything. Tomorrow I’ll have to beg and plead with adam for a solution.
Well, I suppose I’ll do a little bit of homework tomorrow so I don’t look like a complete idiot in class tomorrow. My Italian teacher has started to speak only in Italian since we are now “advanced enough to understand.” I’m not so sure that I agree with that philosophy but I suppose I’ll give it a shot since I was left with little choice. Ciao!
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