Waiting for my real Italian mamma

Bahh. Now I really am sick.


Fever approaching 100 degrees yesterday afternoon and a wretched cough, accompanied by tears and a low level of misery.


That was yesterday though. Today I feel better, although I am still in bed sipping tea, eating oranges, and reading.


Regardless, I have to think that someone is testing me.... Why else would I get bedbugs and then loose my wallet and then get sick all in 6 weeks? If anyone knows the answer to this.... please let me know! 


Fortunately, my Italian mammas - Monica, Giovanna AND Silvia - have all been taking supaaaa good care of me and my REAL Italian mamma is arriving with my real non-Italian padre on Wednesday. Thank goodness!


P.S. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 


Italy is finally starting to celebrate Halloween. PHEW. The kiddos dress up, there are pumpkins and witches all over, and Giovanna is baking pumpkin pie. That being said, I cannot for the life of me find a haunted house or scary walk to go on or anything!! And I really want one! Too bad for me! Yesterday, before I started feeling like I might die, I was at the Sede with the other girlies watching Hocus Pocus in Italiano. It was hilarious! I still haven't watched the Halloween movie with my little bros, but Filippo is really sick too so it might not be happening today either.


We are trying to find something to do tonight with the entire gang which will probably include attending a Halloween party at a pub, and possibly going to listen to live music at this place called BeBop. We'll see. I haven't given up on a haunted something-or-other just yet..... 


Anyway, regardless of my sickness I have been very productive these past two days, and I must continue to be so right now or else I will never finish all of this work!! Ridiculous!


Baci a tutto!! And as we say in Italy - Dolcetto o scherzetto! Trick or treat! 

PART THREE or the end of a long, fantastic week and the beginning of another

Earlier today
This morning for our History of Fashion and Costume class we went to Palazzo Vecchio (literally 30 seconds from the Sede - the picture below is the view of the Palazzo from a window of the Sede) to visit the secret room of Eleanora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo de’ Medici. No big deal. We saw all sorts of neat Renaissance clothes and witness a little reenactment of Eleanora getting dressed as she told us all about how one dressed oh-so-long ago. Not to bad for a Wednesday morning!

Today was pretty much my Friday although I do have to visit a museum tomorrow (oh, darn!) and check out my second university class. Shouldn’t be too bad of a day although we have so much work to do this weekend…. I will be spending every free moment reading or writing or something…. It’s a little insane. I have to wonder if the professors should have conferenced before giving us so much work because in all honestly, it’s going to be quasi-impossible……

Right this second
Regardless, here I am, blogging and watching la Fiorentina play la Bologna. Might as well relax before working my bum off and going out this weekend, right?

We had a most delicious dinner tonight. First some aperitivi (which we don’t often have): duck pate with tasty bread and little sliced sautéed hot dogs (Italians are obsessed with hot dogs and French fries…. They put them on pizza and call it American pizza) followed by an elaborate dinner including leftovers from last night: sausage with my new favorite curry sauce, chicken for the boys, amazing lentils with olive oil and salt, pasta that Silvia’s mother made today (I met her earlier, too – SO ADORABLE), leftover pasta with squash from last night and…. Something else…. But I can’t remember!

What’s on tap for the weekend
(Speaking of taps, have I mentioned that my dad is trying to make English cider at home right now? And when I am home for Christmas, we are going to make some beer together! Practice for my restaurant, obviously!!)

Tomorrow night the posse is headed out Tijuana for Mexican food (http://www.tijuanaristorante.it/) – don’t worry reservations were made for 22! Either tomorrow before dinner or Friday before dinner I am watching a Halloween movie with the twins. We have a new thing were we (and by we I mean me….) write messages to them on their chalkboard such as “Would you like to watch a movie tonight? Yes or no? If yes, go pick one!” I don’t know if we have plans Friday night but Saturday we are going somewhere for Halloween, of course! Somewhere amidst all these great things I have to do all of my work…. 

In boca al lupo!

Sorry this is so tremendously long, yet again. I am going to get into a new, more frequent writing schedule – I PROMISE!

Baci e abbracci a tutti!

PART TWO or the seemingly worse yet still amazing weekend

Saturday
Saturday morning I woke up at 6.30am to head off on a day of adventures. We first hit up Pienza (in this case we = all the Smith girls, Monica and Giovanna along with her husband, Alessio and his sister and our Italian friend Alex – what a crew!) where we wandered around for a good 3 hours. I went to lunch with Ali, Breana and Alayna at this really delicious ristorante where we ate incredible gnocchi. After Pienza, we bussed over to San Gimginano, the city of towers! We wandered for a few hours, ate some really delish gelato and bought supposedly famous wine (which turns out, I thought was disgusting….. too bad…)

When we got back from our little trip, I ran home, changed, freshened up and headed back out to meet the usual nightlife posse, this time to gather for aperitivi in honor of Alessio’s birthday. We ate at this cute place called Oibo (http://www.oibo.net/), although it wasn’t the best aperitivo I have eaten here (first place goes to Negroni, across the arno http://www.negronibar.it/). Something you should know about how we roll in Firenze is this: Every time we go out, we have no choice but to make a reservation, even if we are going on a Monday night to aperitivi at a strange time. This is because, on the weekends especially, we never travel in a pack less than 10. Initially this was frustrating because no one would ever make up their mind, but now by te middle of every week there has been at least one mass Facebook message to everyone stating what we are doing, when we are doing it and where we should meet. It has become a bit of a joke. Take Saturday night for example – I had to call and make a reservation for 20 people two days in advance. It’s great.

Anywho. After aperitivi, we headed to this American/English pub called the Lion’s Fountain (http://www.thelionsfountain.com/) where we spent the rest of the night. Until we left. At which point I realized someone had stolen my wallet. Oops….  I am sure that I didn’t loose it for it was in my hand all night until I put it in my purse which was on a bench right next to us with everyone else’s purses. Unfortunately there was a semi-sketch group of non-Italian men who persistently wanted to take our photo for us…. Or something…. We decided it was them. Needless to say, my cards are all cancelled, I borrowed money from Smith, and my parents will be here in a week. Perfetto.

Sunday
Sunday five of us headed to Alessio’s house for his birthday lunch with all of his friends from university as well as his family and Giovanna. It very well may have been one of the cutest things I have done so far in Florence. His mother and Giovanna greeted us all at the door, and his mom was so welcoming and excited that we were there. We were all extremely awkward, as every good Smithie should be, and we stood around waiting for people to start eating. We ate about 17 different courses and then finished up with a HUGE (I’m talking about 2 feet in diameter huge) chocolate torte which Alessio could not for the life of him figure out how to cut. His house is beautiful (and by house I mean apartment because no one in Florence lives in a house) and pretty much a museum. His dad used to be a carabinieri (police officer essentially) and he has a passion for Garibaldi. Therefore, not only has he collected rare Italian comics featuring Garibaldi, but he has two of Garibaldi’s ACTUAL uniforms in glass cases, just chilling in the hallway outside their bedrooms. Italians really are great.

After this delightful lunch, we headed over to the stadium to meet Monica and the rest of the Smithies, along with our History of Fashion professor to watch a soccer game between la Fiorentina and I Napoli. Fiorentina lost…. Bummer. It was an extremely exciting game though! And Giovanna and Monica bought us all Fiorentina scarves which was good because it was freeeeezing!! Alè alè alè alè!!!! (Did I mention that on my way to Alessio’s my sweater fell out of my bag? What a weekend!)

Monday
Monday was quiet. Nothing too exciting happened really. We found out that our super sweet art history professor has swine flu so class was cancelled for the week (aka my one class on Thursday was cancelled and therefore my weekend would begind Wednesday at approximately 5.30pm).

As I was walking home from Stilistics Monday night, I realized that due to setting the clocks back, it was already almost completely dark outside. As I approached the Duomo, I was overwhelmed by how gorgeous it looked just past dusk. There were a few tourists scattered around, taking photos with flash that lit up the gold leaf details on the façade and as I looked around, I also realized there was a crescent moon just to the right of the dome. Of course. It’s Italy. Things really are picture perfect rather often. At this point, I noticed I was standing in the middle of the street (although as of this past weekend all the streets around the Duomo are closed to traffic- woohoo!) and I decided I should move. I got out my camera and spent the next 20 minutes playing tourist and snapping gorgeous photos of this palatial piece of marble that I walk by at least twice a day.

Upon completing this touristy task, I began my walk home thinking about how I finally felt settled. I had a family, my little bros were becoming less shy, I did things every weekend with my group of friends, I had classes to go to, work to do, I finally felt okay. Reflecting on the past week I decided that even though I had just recovered from bedbugs, I didn’t sleep much, my wallet was stolen, and I was then getting a lovely sore throat and cough, I had maybe just completed one of the best weeks of my life.

Not too shabby, Florence – thanks!

Tuesday
Tuesday… let’s see. Class in the morning. Art history was cancelled so instead I attended my first course at the University of Florence (we have to audit something this semester to practice the wacky system of Italian education). I am planning on going to one class on Tuesdays (Analysis of the Preferences of the Consumer – in the department of viniculture, a lot about product development, etc.) and then one of Thursdays (Economics of Viniculture). Hey, when in Italy… study wine! The class on Tuesday was really interesting and I would say that I actually understood about 85-90% of what the professor said! I even took a few pages of notes! 

PART ONE or the beginning of the best week ever

My apologies for being the worst blogger ever! It has been just about a week and I am pretty sure that in order to catch you all up, I would have to write a small novel.  Each day that I walk home, I think about all the profound and humorous things I have to say to you, yet when I get home, I am forever consumed by eating, napping, trying to read Italian literature and…. Facebook… and Skype. Therefore, I have now lost many of my insightful and moving ideas but please allow me to at least give a brief rundown of the past week.

Wednesday evening
Alessio’s birthday, therefore we obviously had to go out… The whole gang: approximately 12 Smith girls and our 4-6 Italian friends. Oh man. After spending a bit of time at a little English pub, we headed t Yab, otherwise known as You Are Beautiful. There may possibly be no words to describe this discoteca. It was packed with hundreds of very well dressed people and unlike Twice, the first discoteca we went to, people were not embarrassingly intoxicated or aggressive in their attempts to dance with you (for the most part…). There were neon blue and purple lights everywhere and a pretty divine assortment of music, ranging from Katy Perry to the hottest Italian pop music. We got there around 12.30am (mind you, we had class the next morning at 10.30am) and we left around 3.00am. It was fantastic and the small amount of tiredness that I felt the next morning was eliminated by the fact that we were looking at some really incredible art in art history! The one negative thing I can say about Yab is that while I was waiting in line at the bathroom, one very drunk girl threw up on the back of my legs…. Fortunately it appeared to be straight vodka and therefore I hardly noticed. Oh the joys of alcohol.

Thursday
Let’s see… Fascinating art history class in the morning followed by an afternoon of wandering Florence and shivering as the temperature last week barely reached 55. This may not be as miserable as the weather some of you have been experiencing, but given that the previous week had been in the 80s…. big change! After an amazing dinner with the fam, we (we being the entire gang, of course) went out to our favorite German pub (http://www.braumeister.it/). We weren’t out for long as our lack of sleep from the night before began to catch up. I believe That’s about it? Perhaps I am forgetting something but I don’t think anything overly exciting occurred on Thursday!  

Friday
Ooops! Slept until noon – I never do that! Friday I met Breana, Ali, Victoria and Alessio at the Sede to get some work done. By work what I really mean is that Ali, Breana and I IMed each other the entire afternoon sharing stories and planning the rest of the weekend….. oops! (Aspetta, let’s discuss how Breana just got an internship at the Uffizi working in the library where they are restoring and documenting the old manuscripts from, you know, the RENESSAINCE, that were damaged during the big flood in the 60s…. BRAVA RAGAZZA!) I stayed in Friday night because….

Introducing: The Duomo!

I know you've probably all seen photos of the Duomo but regardless: I was walking this afternoon, heading home after class, and I was once again overwhelmed by the amazingly beautiful ringing bells of the Duomo. Therefore, I took a video so I could share their sound with you. Please ignore the terrible video quality and the shakiness of the camera - I was going much more for the audio and not the visual. That being said..... the Duomo looks awfully stunning when the sun is starting to set.....



Baci e abbracci! A domani!

and she falls in love...

First of all, I am sorry I am being a blogger-slacker...... But perhaps you can infer that my lack of available time has to do with the fact that I finally am living in a house where I have other things to do and other things to enjoy and therefore, I do not need to spend every moment blogging.

Secondly, I will again share how odd Italian hot chocolate is... I've decided it's the difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa perhaps. When I got home this afternoon (yes, in Italy it is still afternoon at 5:45 in the EVENING), Silvia asked me if I wanted something hot to drink. I said yes and was in the midst of saying that some English Breakfast sounded great when she decided that I should try some "cioccolato caldo." It is just so fascinating and surprising to me that I was handed a cup of hot chocolate pudding….. Fortunately it was a bit lighter than the hot chocolate from last week, but still, I was full for about 2 hours after eating it. I tried to explain to Silvia what we had in the United States that we call hot chocolate and I am fairly positive it sounded somewhat disgusting to her.

Now, once again, I have neglected blogging for long enough that I should probably do a little timeline in order to keep my events straight.

Saturday

I am not sure if I have shared this or not but my host mother is the sister of Victoria and Chrysanthe’s host father. Therefore, my two fratellini are the cousins of their host brother and sister. Saturday afternoon we gathered the troops (Lorenzo and Filippo, their two host siblings, plus 3 of their friends, and the 3 of us made a party of 10) and strolled over the train tracks to the movie theater to see Up which only came out this past week in Italy. Mind you, I saw up in 3-D this summer and it was one of the best movies I have ever seen. Nothing changed seeing it the second time. Although it was not 3-D and it was in Italian, I still cried and I still laughed hysterically. And the fact that we all went together as a big extended family was just about the sweetest thing I have ever done.

After returning from the movies with the two fratellini in tow, I threw on something cute and headed over to Breana’s at which point we met Chrysanthe and Victoria to wander over the Arno for aperitivi with Ali and her lovely English boyfriend. In case I haven’t explained aperitivi, it is a very Italian concept somewhat similar to tapas only about 1.72 million times more fantastic. Many of the fanciest (and not so fancy) bars and restaurants have aperitivi every night, especially on the weekend. As long as you buy one drink, you can eat as much as you want at the buffet. There is always pasta and many types of salads, breads with all kinds of condiments, veggies, and meat of some kind of another so for 7-8 euros, you can sip something nice and snack away for hours. The place we ended up at Saturday night was outside and the food was great!!

After aperitivi, Breana and I headed to The William, an English/Irish pub, with Ali and Keving. This pub tends to have the most random range of music each night, ranging from live American cover bands to Miley Cyrus to heavy metal. Satuday happened to be Disney stars and heavy metal. Something to note is that since Italian students often have class Saturday morning, and there is no drinking age here, all of the young teens are out Saturday night making for quite a sight. Perhaps that’s why we were surrounded by Jonas Brothers music videos all night? Regardless, we had some great cider, and headed home somewhat early in preparation for a great Sunday!

Sunday

This is the point at which I fell in love.

At 6:45am, I woke up, took a speedy shower, threw on some warm clothes and headed to the train station where I met Breana, Julie and our Italian friend Alessio. After purchasing our tickets, we hopped on the train to Perugia where there was a chocolate festival. Yum.

The train ride to Perugia may have been my favorite part of Italy thus far. I don’t particularly like Florence – it is loud and dirty and full of tourists and beggars and dog poo. All of the little towns outside of Florence on the way to Perugia were gorgeous, each one a small cluster of buildings surrounding a piazza and a church on a hillside. My favorites by far were the small towns all around the edge of Lake Trasimeno. Alessio could tell that I was awestruck and in love because in very sweet English he said, “It appears to me that perhaps this is some place that you would like to someday live maybe?” Yes, Alessio. Yes.

When we arrived in Perugia, I fell even more in love. The chocolate festival was lovely, but it was overcrowded (and by overcrowded I mean that you literally could not pass through the crowd and as Alessio said, “How do you say this? We are like sardines all in one place tight together?”). Disregarding this chaos, Perugia is stunning. It sits up on a hill, overlooking copious churches and small towns scattered across the hills. To reach the center of the city, you must take a bus (or walk up steep streets) until you come to an semi-outdoor escalator. This escalator turns into two and then three escalators, gradually bringing you more and more underground within the hill. When you step off the final escalator, you set foot in the lower part of the old city of Perugia, which now lays underground. Today this underground city is a series of galleries used for events such as the chocolate festival, but it remains breathtakingly beautiful because it remains just as it was so many hundreds of years ago.

As I stood overlooking the hills surrounding Perugia almost teary, I was overcome with first goose bumps and then the overwhelming sense that I needed to spend more time here in the future. When I looked up, there was a patch of sunlight beaming down in vertical rays, spreading its warmth over this incredible old church off in the distance. Thank you, rosary.   

As usual, there are more pictures on Facebook!

When I arrived home Sunday later afternoon, I was greeted warmly by my lovely family. When it seemed to be time for dinner, I left my room, only to join a caravan of people already heading down the stairs. Silvia looked overjoyed when she looked up to see first Lorenzo, then Filippo, then Enrico and then me trooping down the stairs to enjoy dinner together. Throughout dinner, Lorenzo chatted about various different things and I believe that Filippo might have even said something directly to me…. Perhaps? Silvia, yet again, teased them for becoming so shy around. I swear its soon to change, I can feel it!

I might add that we had INCREDIBLE meatballs for dinner, followed by boiled potatoes and steamed green beans – both of which were very welcome because I am forever craving vegetables. The twins were very resistant to eating the “schiffo” potatoes but then Lorenzo had the great idea of smooshing his into mashed potatoes and added not just oil, salt and pepper, but also mayonnaise. You should all know that Italians LOVE mayo. They put globs of it on sandwiches, they add it to various salads, plop it on veggies – they use it as a dip and condiment for nearly everything. As Lorenzo dolloped his mayonnaise onto his potatoes, Filippo freaked out because he actually thought it was vile, but Silvia was just happy that her son was eating potatoes so she remained silent. Let me tell you, it did not look appetizing! Too each his own!

After dinner I presented them with chocolate that I bought as a thank-you gift. Little did I know that Lorenzo and Filippo adore milk chocolate with hazelnuts – and how could you not? It’s amazing! In a fit of excitement, Lorenzo remembered that he had a book with all of the musical instruments in it and he showed it to us. When Silvia asked what I played and I said viola, Lore eagerly flipped to the viola page and patiently explained the difference between all the stringed instruments. Thanks little bro!

Today

Mondays are long…. And today was no exception. I am in class from 9.30 until 5.30 with an awkward 3 hour break in the middle of the day. Fortunately, Breana and I decided to walk to the market at Sant’Ambrogio where we bought fruit, veggies, bread, cheese, meat, milk and snacks for the week. Shopping in markets is definitely the way to go around here because everything is so fresh (although fruit season is passing…. and veggies are starting to lack their incredible summery taste, but still…. very tasty!) and it is all so reasonably priced!

Anyway, when I arrived home, Filippo was home alone and greeted me cheerily, letting me know that la mamma was grocery shopping and Lore was at his music lesson (French horn, so cute).

Unfortunately, when I got upstairs and checked my email I learned that Laura Mann, the founder of the non-profit I worked at this summer, passed away this morning after fighting cancer for over 5 years. Laura was an incredible woman – powerful, brilliant, inspiring and beautiful. I know that she touched everyone who she met and changed their lives in some way or another. So Laura, good luck on this journey and we will all see you in the future!

It couldn’t have been more comforting to be able to go downstairs to my family and hear the boys teasing each other and watching the Disney channel (they LOVE “The Life of Patty”), while hearing Silvia and Enrico chat in the kitchen as they cooked and set the table. Sitting at dinner and absorbing all of the Italian language around me, savoring my spaghetti with tomatoes and pancetta, soaking up my balsamic vinegar with salt-less Tuscan bread and toasting with my host parents after dinner was an incredible feeling and it is not anything I ever felt at Luciana’s.

Mothers are always right: Everything happens for a reason. Always. And here ends my tale of falling back in love with Italian..... 

Baci e abbracci!

A domani! 

Blessed by an Italian Nun: or how I just raved in a fortress circa 1534

Thursday afternoon
I believe that I was just blessed (maybe not fully blessed, but at least slightly) by a nun who works in a little store of all things Catholic, located right across from the Duomo. Just the fact that such a sweet woman would even talk with me is enough to make me feel fortunate! This particular nun reminded me of my grandmother. If you took my dad's mom, taught her Italian, rewound to when she was 70, put her in a habit and tossed her over to the Duomo, you would find this exact little nun. I might need to return to the shop and buy this little wooden rosary I was eyeballing just because I had the overwhelming sense that I needed to buy it.... When in Florence, as they say! 


(Although.... when in Florence..... one must definitely eat at a chinese restaurant where they serve a) lemon chicken with at least one entire REAL lemon sliced all over the fresh chicken and b) pizza by the slice. So good. Add a cheap Italian beer and you pretty much have the greatest lunch ever.)


When I got home after this little encounter, my little bros were talking up a storm and Silvia embarrassed them tremendously when she said, "Oh ragazzi, this is how you are when Sera isn't here but the second she comes in the door you get timidi, don't you?" At which point they both turned bright red and sat down at the counter and stared at their hands, elbowing each other and giggling. 


We had an amazing dinner of tender and flavorful turkey, incredible lentils cooked al dente with salt and olive oil, the best brussels sprouts I have ever had - yes an oxy moron but these were the BEST, served with Béchamel sauce, who woulda thunk!? - bread, tomatoes, and then some mandarins and biscotti. Perfection.


Oh, and did I mention that after doing the last (yes, the LAST - WOOHOO!) of my laundry, I returned home only to find a pair of men's black boxer briefs mixed in? Interesante.... I have been obsessively spraying everything in this room (including the doors, my closet, the clothes in my closet and my bed.... all the time) because I finally brought home EVERYTHING from the sede. I have all of my non-washable things spread on the floor to be sprayed and monitered for the next few days and then I am putting it all away. So far the coast appears clear! In boca al lupo! (In the mouth of the wolf = good luck!)


Friday afternoon
Yes, I did just go buy that rosary. And I love it. A lot. 

Prior to this purchase, Breana and I were craving hot chocolate (since it is freezing here!! Yes, I am aware that it has snowed in both Northampton, MA and Middlesex, VT but regardless, it went from being 85 degrees to being 40-50 degrees in a matter of days and it has been a tad bit shocking!). Anyway, we were craving hot chocolate so we returned to a place we had seen yesterday and we ordered hot chocolate - literally that's what it was - hot melted chocolate with a dollop of delicious whipped cream on it. It was amazing, but very intense and very dark. 


Later tonight we are meeting up with our Italian friends and heading over to this great event called "Festival della Creatività" at this amazing old fortezza (fortress) called Fortezza da Basso which is only about 15 minutes from my new house (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortezza_da_Basso). It should be pretty amazing - there are art exhibits and food stands, and live music and DJs and dancing - everything you could ever need all inside one big, old castle. 

Friday late night
Recap of the evening: Dinner = delicious. As usual. We had really delicious rice with lentils leftover from last night and it was so comforting and tasty! Then we had two egg-somethings. It's hard to describe, but I guess they were like big flat omelets, one with sliced potato and one with incredible zucchini. Then we ate some apples and mandarins and after I helped clear the table (much to their surprise, I do this every evening no matter how many times they tell me not to!) and then we meandered into the living room to watch some ridiculous Italian television. I can't explain to you how bizzare Italian television is.... nudity, strange men in costumes (such as snowmen and really large red things with huge mouths), odd skits, and terribly depressing news. Needless to say, it is an experience. 

Oh, and did I mention.... I just raved in the castle. Well, the fortress really. It even had a moat (empty, but still!)! 


Saturday morning
Oops. I woke up just a tad bit late - 11:45am anyone? My family had the plumber come this morning and I just walked into the bathroom and the toilet is just not there anymore.... Anyway, the plumber was running all around the house this morning, up and down the stairs, hollering in Italian, and then the twins got up and were singing and frolicking around and it was all very nice and cute and entertaining and educational with all theItalian and such, but I wanted to sleep! So here I am, its 1:03pm and I need to finish this blog, shower, and then finish my homework, followed by a trip to the train station to buy a ticket to Perugia for tomorrow (chocolate festival!!) and then I am going out to dinner with Ali and her boyfriend and some other lovely ladies, and then who knows what!!


Such is life in Florence, Italy.


Baci e abbracci!!! 

...and the magic returns

My mother has always told me that everything happens for a reason. This is true.

That being said, it is often difficult to find that reason when things are just not going your way.

The other day I asked Giovanna how you say "the silver lining" in Italian, or at least if there was a different way of expressing that idea. She couldn't think of a thing other than "everything happens for a reason." I guess Italians just inherently know that there is a silver lining to all difficult times and therefore they don't need a phrase that expresses it.

This brings me to my point.

Despite the atrocity that is bedbugs, things have turned out rather peachy.

For example: Last night my host mama popped her head in the door and blew me a kiss goodnight followed by a "buon giorno" note on the counter when I went down for breakfast this morning. Then this afternoon we were talking about food, and first of all, they now all tease me about how much to put on my plate at dinner after living with a woman who perpetually overfed me. Secondly, when they mentioned that they enjoy this funny American thing called a pancake with syrup from trees on it and I offered to get them Vermont maple syrup and make them pancakes they agreed - this is something Luciana would not have agreed to given I wasn't even allowed to get my own glass from the kitchen, let alone actually USE the stove. God forbid. Finally, the fact that I have been given two little brothers it just about the best thing ever. They are still too shy to really talk TO me but they do talk around me and my host parents often have to remind them to slow down so I can understand what they are saying. The sweetest thing is that when it's time for dinner Lorenzo comes to my door, pops his head in, says, "Pronto!" ("Ready!") and runs back downstairs, meanwhile Filippo is laughing hysterically because he didn't have to come to get me and poor Lorenzo did. Lorenzo even knocked on my door earlier to bring me another blanket for my bed and when I said, "Buona notte" he just said, "Ciao!" and scampered away. Love it.

Additionally, I have decided that Luciana is no better a cook than any other Italian mama. It's the ingredients that give everything that basic, delicious, fresh taste and its hard to create anything that isn't absolutely yummy! In fact, tonight may have been my favorite meal so far - first ravioli with sage and butter (why don't Americans use sage more?), followed by proscuitto crudo, peccorino, homemade pepper jelly, Tuscan bread (did I mention that Tuscan bread is salt-less and therefore definitely requires a large hunk of cheese and pepper jelly!), mushrooms from Lucca, salad, amazing tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, and then a tasty biscotti and a mandarin. Now come on, what is there to not love about that meal? Niente. That's what.

Anyway. On a different note, I have the first bag of guaranteed bug-free clothing here in my room. Everything else remains at the sede. It has all been sprayed with BioKill (charming name) and bagged for the next 24 hours. Tomorrow I will dry what can be dried, freeze what can't be dried, and bring it home, all while respraying both my things and my room. Hopefully this is the last hurrah because I cannot imagine a more mortifying and upsetting thing than carrying the bugs into this generous and beautiful home.... Wish me luck!

Baci e abbracci a tutti!

P.S. Chocolate festival in Perugia this weekend? I think YES!

Starting Anew.

In order to fill you in properly, I must backtrack a few days. I will first share with you the fact that I was having an incredibly lovely weekend until Sunday around noon.

Friday night we went out for aperitivi with Alessio and his friends (our Italian friends/babysitters who we met through Giovanna). We got all dressed up (as it was Victoria’s birthday) and we enjoyed an evening of snacking and sipping some fancy drinks. We then wandered over to Twice, a somewhat touristy and overpriced yet still enjoyable discoteca. We danced our bums off all night and meandered home.

Saturday morning, we went to Pistoia, as I explained a few posts ago (you can see Giovanna and I chatting at the train station station. Saturday night we went out to an fantastic bar called Das Brumeister (or something along those lines) – by far the best bar I have been to so far (I think I shared this with you already?).

Anyway. Long story short… I woke up Sunday morning in a jolly good mood because I had slept a solid and restful 8 hours in my bed, in my new clean, bed-bug free room and I was about to head out to an artisanal market on the street where Giovanna lives.

Or not.

Because as I was standing up to hop in the shower, something scuttled out from under my blankets.

Undoubtedly a bedbug. Which I tried to catch, yet I failed and therefore it escaped. No worries though, because in the next 10 minutes I found 5 more through my sobs. I ran up to Ali’s room in tears, and called Giovanna who arrived within 30 minutes.

The next 10 hours are somewhat of a blur but what remains most clearly in my mind is that I was devastated, pissed, soggy with tears, and often found myself sitting on Giovanna’s lap being rocked, or walking around the streets of Florence holding her hand and my stuffed cat. Embarrassing. But so wonderfully 

comforting.

By 2pm, Giovanna had found me another family. A perfect family. That lives on a perfect street. In a perfect house. A family with 11-year-olf twin boys named Filippo and Lorenzo and the sweetest young mother and father Florence has ever seen. They live in a brand new apartment complex, complete with indoor courtyard area, an electric fireplace, a loft, a completely modern kitchen and every Disney movie you could ever want to watch in Italian.

After meeting this picture perfect family, Giovanna whisked me away to her house where she made me shower and then wear her white terrycloth bathrobe while we washed enough of my clothing to last a few days and steamed my backpack and purse. God forbid I bring bedbugs into this incredible new house.

After dining out with Giovanna, Julie and Ali, I “moved in” to my new family (mind you I only had a backpack with little clothing and my school supplies…). My new family picked me up at Giovanna’s house and I was privileged enough to pile into the backseat of the car between the twins. It was perfect.

Yesterday morning we started our official classes – I had Italian Literature, History of Costume and Fashion and Stylistics. Today I had Literature and Art History. So far everything seems pretty great, although the amount of reading we have in Italian is feeling somewhat overwhelming at this point.

Today as I was walking to class, I realized that I am lucky enough to pass the Botanical Gardens of the Museum of Natural History every day on my walk to and from the sede. Naturally, Alayna (whose birthday was today!) and I decided to check it out after class today. The woman at the door let us pay the reduced price because we were so bummed when we learned that our “Friends of the Uffizi” card didn’t work at the garden. Of course, in true Italian style, this particular botanical garden is NOTHING like those in the States – it was disorganized, the map was completely incorrect, and most of the greenhouses were either completely empty, closed for some reason or another, or extremely dirty and full of moss. Even so, there were trees and grass and in the cool air, it smelled like home (speaking of which – what is with the SNOW in Vermont already? And yes that is indeed a pomegranate tree!!!)

Yet another miraculous part of today was the fact that as we were sitting in Literature, we realized there was some kind of band playing in Piazza della Signoria right outside our window. No big deal. Just some incredible, very Italian-sounding band. Rocking out. In a piazza where the Medici family used to chill. Whatevs.

Less than 30 minutes later, I was sitting on the steps of a church in the center of Florence with Alayna, Breana, Christine and Anna, munching some paninis and drinking some (AMAZING) lemon soda, and, again no big deal, someone started singing very traditional religious church music inside the church. In the middle of day, not during any service, but just because. These are the things that make Florence so divine. Literally.

The only thing left to do before I can be completely settled in this new house is to acquire the rest of my belongings from Luciana’s, dry everything, steam what can’t be put in the dryer, including my luggage, and somehow get it all over it from the other side of town. No need to fret though because this afternoon Monica and Giovanna decided that they are going to do it themselves, and leave me at the sede to relax. Yes, that is indeed correct – they want to go bag up all of my belongings, get them dried, steam my luggage and repack it all and send it to me at my new house because they a) don’t want me to be under and more stress and chaos and b) they don’t want me to feel uncomfortable around Luciana (who continues to blame all of this on me personally… I think not!). They said that next week they would take Ali, Julie and I out to coffee with Luciana so that feelings can settle and we can all move on. I highly doubt there are two greater women in this world. Thank you….

On that note, I do believe it is time to go do some reason about the history of Italian fashion! Stay tuned for more updates!

Baci e abbracci a tutti!

P.S. Many pictures on Facebook!!!

sono fortunata....

I am feeling like a very lucky lady these days.

I have moved into a new family and I now have twin little brothers named Lorenzo and Filippo and they are just about the cutest thing ever.

Since we don't have wireless and I am using the family computer, I don't have time to write the blog I truly want to, but perhaps tomorrow a major update is in order.

Baci! Viva l'italia!

seriously.....?

After all that.... just found 3 bedbugs. In my bed. In the new room. Where there weren't supposed to be any. 


What did I do to deserve this? 

Rainbows in Italy.

I don't know how many of you know about my belief in rainbows, but were I to choose a religion, I would say that I believe strictly in the power of rainbows. Allow me to explain.


When I was eighteen months old, my uncle passed away. As the story goes, my family was in the hospital with him and suddenly the sky darkened to black and there was an intense thunder storm. It soon passed, and as the storm passed and the sky cleared into blue skies, my uncle passed away as well. 


A few days later, I was standing on our screened-in porch looking outside and my parents heard me calling, "Kiss! Kiss!" (my uncle's name was Cris and I couldn't yet pronounce my R's). When they came out to see what I was calling to, they saw me pointing at a rainbow as I called his name.


When my grandfather died, I was in Italy with my parents. My mom flew home early and my dad and I were left to spend a few days alone in Venice. The day of his wake was wet and dreary, but as the afternoon came to a close, there was a rainbow.


When my grandmother joined him almost 3 years ago, it was again rainy and damp, and again there was a rainbow that afternoon.


At my graduation party, after walking through my backyard holding my mother's hand and sniffling about having to leave home for the first time, it drizzled for a few minutes, and yes, yet again, there was a rainbow.


We have hundreds of photos of rainbows stored away on various computers and cameras because they appear in our lives so often, almost always on a challenging or monumental day. 


The reason I decided to share this story with you is because when I arrived home yesterday, Luciana's umbrella was sitting outside the door, and of course, it is a rainbow umbrella - each panel is a delicious, bright, vivid color. I thought it was a nice "welcome home" gesture as I moved the last of my belongings from the temporary apartment back home to Luciana's. Thank you rainbows!


This is why I say that if I were to choose a religion, it would simply be my faith in rainbows to show themselves when I need it most.

Note: The rainbow in the photo is not an Italian one, but a lovely one taken the other day in my backyard in Vermont (thanks, Mama!).

Riso Freddo and the Power of Change.

Italians are funny.

Tonight we ate riso freddo - cold rice - aka chilled rice served with sliced egg, canned tuna, tomatoes, capers, mushrooms and cut-up hot dogs. I am paying $50,000 to eat cold rice and sliced hot dog salad. Brava! Too bad it was extremely delicious.

* * *

This morning I went to Pistoia (everyone MUST go here, its BELLAISSIMA) to meet some of the teachers I may be working with for my little education internship. We also heard some of them speak and watched a little video about the architecture of education. It was all very interesting, and the elementary schools in Pistoia are incredible, but I am still feeling hesitant.

I love children, I always have. I love working with them and teaching them and laughing with them and watching them change. I have even (frequently) entertained the idea of getting my teaching license for the elementary level, but in the past few months I think I have changed my mind.


Whenever I try something new, I fall in love with it and decide that I want to dedicate my life to it. I alluded to this in a past post, but I'll elaborate just the same. When I took Anatomy & Physiology senior year of high school, I wanted to become a doctor. When I took my Anthropology of Dying & Death course at Smith, I wanted to become a forensic anthropologist (a là Bones). When I worked at a daycare, I came home thinking, "Hmmm, maybe I want to open a childcare center." When I attended a Doula workshop, I wanted to become a licensed Doula and after receiving acupuncture for the first time, I wanted that as a career as well. When I subbed at my mom's elementary school, I decided that I absolutely wanted to be a 1st and 2nd grade teacher. Now, all those ideas have flown out the window because my most recent endeavor in the real world was working in a restaurant and naturally I am dead-set on opening a restaurant. 


I am not saying that I don't think the Pistoia internship wouldn't be an incredible learning experience but I am worried that there is another internship or another volunteer opportunity out there somewhere in Firenze that would benefit my interests even more. There is a school of hospitality and restaurant management in Florence but I am pretty sure the classes are taught in English so that won't really work... but I'm sure there are others out there! 


I guess I am just worried because I want this year to be the best that it can be and I don't want to waste or miss any opportunity I am given. Pistoia would be incredible, as would many other things, so I suppose at this point its just up to me to explore some options and decide what I truly want to do.


Baci a tutti!

new life plan.

If you can dream it, you can do it.  --Walt Disney 

When I was little, I wanted to be a ballerina. Then I found out my hips were double-jointed and was informed by an evil doctor that I would never be able to live my dream.

When I was in high school, I was positive I wanted to go to college and then move on to medical school because there was nothing I wanted more than to be a pediatrician. Then I got to Smith College.

Upon arriving at Smith, I abandoned the idea of becoming a traditional doctor because far more intriguing was the idea of becoming a midwife and an acupuncturist. I combined this with my love of the anthropology department and decided that a good fit was to major in anthropology and specialize in medical anthropology.

I still love this idea and it is indeed the degree with which I am going to graduate. That being said, I have one dream at this point, and it is a dream so intense and incredible that when I start to think about it - really think and dream and plan - I start to shake a little, my pulse races and I even cried a bit yesterday.

The one thing I want is to own a restaurant.

I want this so badly that I am considering dropping my education internship this spring in Italy so that I can find courses in Italy in restaurant management. Either way, I plan on taking courses next summer, possibly during senior year, and upon graduating so that I have some knowledge of management. It seems perfectly feasible to spend a few years working in restaurants, a job which I adore, with the goal of attaining assistant manager at a local, well-loved establishment. Waitressing is something I enjoy a great deal. I love the rush and the business, I love learning about the food coming from the kitchen and I love chatting with customers, ensuring their return.

My dream is an elaborate one. I want to open a taproom/bistro where I brew my own beer and cider, and bring in many other local beers on tap as well. I want as much locally grown food as possible and in addition to pub fare (burgers and wings are a must-have), I want funky and intriguing snacks, salads and entrees to appeal to everyone. I want a dark yet fun and enticing atmosphere. I want regulars who come the same time each week and order the same beer with the same burger. This is something I would kill for....

Talk about college being worth it.... I have the opportunity to spend 4 years learning about things I love, finding a passion even if its unrelated to my major.... I can then attend a few classes while working at a variety of restaurants.... all en route to establishing something of my very own....

And what if this dream actually came true?

My boyfriend, someone who has more faith in me than God (he would rather I say Sir Isaac Newton), strongly believes this is a dream I could achieve by the age of 22. If I can take out a loan, and save my own money, and (fingers crossed) receive some assistance from Obama's small business act, it is feasible. I have begun to make connections in the restaurant business and if I can continue to immerse myself and I can find a perfect piece of real estate for the right price.... get help from the right people, come up with the right name and the best menu....

Hey, it could happen.....

Any advice? Suggestions? Ideas? Connections? All is welcome and needed!!!

BACI!

Dreams do not vanish so long as people do not abandon them. --Phantom F. Harlock

Sometimes dreams alter the course of an entire life.  --Judith Duerk 

BEDBUG UPDATE

THE COAST IS CLEAR!

Ali and I just returned from a brief and successful trip down the street to Luciana's. We hunted high and low and saw NOTHING - EVVIVA!!!

That being said....... We did find something else!

We left this temporary apartment and as we crossed the street, I noticed two women standing on the corner. I casually turned to Ali and said, you don't think those are lucciole do you? (Note: lucciola means glow-bug in Italian, but it also refers to prostitutes but more in the sense of a saloon girl, its not always a strictly negative word and we just learned it the other day so I just practicing using it, of course!) Unfortunately, my joke suddenly became less funny because we realized that they were indeed Italian prostitutes who were actually standing on our very own street corner, two doors down. On top of that.... we overheard them speaking casually with each other and one was most certainly a man (unsure how politically incorrect it would have been for me to say transvestite, but it was indeed a transvestite....).

When we left Luciana's after finding no bugs, the less masculine of the two lucciole was gone.

Baci!