independence and a visit from the boy

I think I just completed one of the best weeks of my life. I'll let you know.


Gaber left today after spending one week strolling my Florence streets by my side. We stayed in a little apartment right in the center by the sede, cooked dinner, came and went as we pleased, slept in, watched tv together, and chatted until 4am. It was the definition of perfection.


Wednesday - went to happy hour at a Mexican bar called Tijuana with Christine, Breana, Anna and Claire, then went to a yummy little trattoria called Gusto Leo (I think?) where we ate pizza, then home to snuggle and watch tv (by way of gelato, of course!)


Thursday - introduced Gabe to the wonder of kebabs in this city (he ate 2 in about 2 hours I believe), then strolled and did some grocery shopping, tv watching and snuggling since it was chilly and dreary, came home after class and made heart-shaped pasta with oil, garlic and hot pepper - so good!! I'm going to guess we got gelato afterward?

Friday - wandered ALL day, went to the History of Science Museum, checked out some cute churches, the building that I want to buy to start my restaurant and hotel (where Napoleon's brother lived and died I might add... its a stretch but its abandoned and beautiful.....), walked up the hill over the Arno, ate more gelato and kebabs, met the crew for aperitivo at Moyo, headed to karaoke and then spent about 20 minutes at 21, a discoteca, then headed home for the night.

Saturday - after not sleeping well at all (we decided there was Red Bull in the free mixed drink shots we got for singing karaoke....) we took the bus over the Arno and up to San Miniato, a beautiful little church on the hill, took lots of pictures, then wandered through Florence to the Duomo, ate gelato, stopped by my host family's house to introduce everyone and pick up all the stuff I sent home with him, then wandered home to cook roast beef, thinly sliced bistecca fiorentina and roasted potatoes (pretty successful, I must say!!). I am tempted to say we had more gelato after dinner.... (In case you hadn't noticed, Gabe was quite taken with the gelato!! Especially the lemon!)

Sunday - tried to go to Villa Demidoff in Pratolino.... after successfully figuring out the bus and wandering until we found the entrance, it was closed for restoration, but we found some snow and a "Gigantic Adventure Park" which was a huge ropes course up in the woods, then we went back into the center, strolled through the San Lorenzo market, stopped for gelato by the Duomo and then headed home to make a feast of amazing meats and cheeses and breads and beer, then tv and chatting til late. 

Monday - after Translation class we wandered all around in the sun, visited my favorite church and sat in on Mass for a little while and then went home to get ready to go out to dinner at an ADORABLE and delicious restaurant that Gaber found called Trattoria da Tito - SO GOOD! We took shots of limoncello with our waiter and the busser and then strolled home... by way of gelato. 


Tuesday - had class on and of all day long, Gaber played computer games, did some work and ran some errands, we made some lunch at home with the leftover meats and cheeses and some tomatos and then for dinner we went to my favorite restaurant in Florence, I Tarocchi, over the Arno where we had pizza, salad, bistecca fiorentina and then topped it off with gelato (we did stop by the apartment to pack for Wednesday first!!) Then there was a minor catastrophe (which we avoided very well!) Gaber left the keys in the apartment.... and the cell phones.... so we couldn't call ANYONE to let us back in.... and other than the owner, there isn't anyone else to let us in anyway! So first we found the woman in the neighboring apartment to see if she had access to the courtyard so maybe we could get in the window, but she didn't.... so she asked someone else.... but they didn't either (very teary and upset Sera on our hands at this point..... very covered in mascara and sniffly and pink....) Then I had an idea.... So we walked to Hotel Maxim, the first hotel we all stayed in when we first got here in September and, looking as sad and pathetic as possible, I explained our problem to the man and he let us use the internet to get the woman's number and then the phone to call her and BOOM! She came in less than 20 minutes! And said we were lucky because she usually turns her phone off at night! THANK GOODNESS! Tragedy avoided! Good thing we also had some strawberries waiting in the apartment to eat in bed as we watched House Hunters! 


Wednesday - a sad day... but we made it! Had some (VERY OVERPRICED) pastries at a famous pastry shop (they were pretty good I suppose!), hopped on the bus to the airport, said goodbye as bravely as possible, and that was that! Then I went to the sede to study for my opera midterm, took it, and came home!! Phew. 


Host family update: It's so nice to be back with them! I missed them! We had an amazingly yummy dinner of chicken, roasted potatoes and salad with tomato and avocado! Then we brought out all the Easter candy that my mom sent with Gabe. The Reese's eggs were a hit among the host parents and the Jelly Belly's were a HUGE success with the host bros. Especially the buttered popcorn ones. Yuck. I think I might have to request some more. And Harry Potter beans because the bros are very intrigued. I am going to miss it here. 9 weeks from today and I will be in my house in Vermont... how did that happen?? Scary, exciting, sad, and very different.... Vermont is going to feel awfully small..... 


Life update: As of right now, while my restaurant dream is still fully in tact, I have a new plan that will help my future in the food biz. There is a graduate program in Gastronomy at BU. And I can concentrate in business. While Gaber goes to school at MIT or works there..... And Alex will live down the street. It's a great life plan. I love being young and falling in love either everything and wanting to do everything. It's so invigorating. Did I mention that I am also considering finding a job/internship/something in cookbook/food book translation? It exists! I just need to find it! It would be AMAZING! 


Anyway! Time to go browse dresses online for my 21st birthday and my lovely best friend Isadora's bridal shower that I am throwing as well as her rehearsal dinner! 


Amore a tutti!!


P.S. Countdown to Barcelona, Madrid and London = 13 days and 19 hours!!!!!

wow. fame, here I come!

If you go to Google and start typing "Sera Jane" it will automatically guess Sera Jane Goes to Firenze as the first thing.... and if you Google just plaid old "Sera Jane" my blog is halfway down the second page! Thanks guys!!!! Now I just need my dreams job and dream restaurant/bar - who's helping?

UPDATE!

I was just informed today that I have an internship with the Florentine food magazine, Gola Gioconda (http://www.golagioconda.it/) helping them translate their website into English!!!!! I was daydreaming about it after and imagined myself working there after graduation as their token American who translates and writes pieces about food in the United States, and then they would let me start writing my own articles about Florence so I would get to go out and do field work and go to restaurants, and eventually I would open my own restaurant because I would have become part of the business scene in Italy..... Dreaming is great, isn't it?


P.S. Gola = throat, Gioconda = Monna Lisa

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