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!