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!

a series of somewhat magical days....

So I have no idea where to begin this blog.

I have been trying to blog for days. Unfortunately, my emotions have been a muddle, mess, and disaster these past few days and I felt unable to write the purely happy and optimistic blog I desired. Amidst my fluctuating feelings of Italian ecstasy and confidence of no bedbugs and the fear of being stuck with bedbugs for life and having to head home to the states I decided to hold off until I could guarantee sheer joy for my readers. That being said, I have been creating a list of blog subjects for about 5 days now and I can't quite put them in order..... please bear with me!

To start off, I would like to say this: You will never believe what we ate for dinner tonight.

Luciana has been sweet enough to provide us with meals this week. In case you weren't aware, we were displaced yet again, this time to an INCREDIBLE and very expensive apartment right up the street from Luciana's. It is stunning and very adorable, and naturally I have attached a photo. Every night at 7.30pm we walk down the street with a neon orange cooler/bag to acquire our homemade meal and then we return to our apartment, eat together, wash the tupperware, and repeat the following day. Anyway, back to my point. Dinner tonight.

We had something I would like to call Italian Tuna Noodle Casserole. Shocking, I know. The wonderful mother of my darling boyfriend makes this delicious meal called Tuna Noodle Casserole. A casserole is foreign to me. As my mother says, "We don't really eat those..." I ha

d never even seen a casserole. My last night at Gaber's house this summer, I requested that his mother please make tuna noodle casserole so I could try it. It was amazing. Pardon me, but what is not to like about pasta with tons of cheese and tuna and peas? Nothing. So. Tonight. The Italian equivalent. I was laughing so hard. I opened up the tupperware container to find penne (cooked al dente, of course!) with a fresh tomato sauce and tuna. Canned tuna. Flakey, canned tuna. It sounds terrible, yes? It was incredible. So tasty. There you go, America. Italians do it to.

Back to our apartment for a m

inute. Lately, I have been trying to find some beauty in this city. Besides the obvious beauty of the buildings and churches, Florence is actually pretty disgusting.... There is no gree

nery like you find in the occasional pocket park in NYC or Boston, no trees on the sidewalks, hardly any flowers outside houses. Pl

enty of fake flowers stuffed in window boxes, and of course there are large parks but nothing immediately near my house. The streets are full of trash and even worse, dog poo. Everywhere. There are no laws about this here, and therefore no one cares.... How vile!! Our temporary apartment sings a different song. When you enter the first door into the "building" you are actually still outside in a beautiful courtyard full of the most luscious green grass and beautiful pink, yellow and red flowers, looking up to a sky where you can actually see stars at night... A little slice of home.... or heaven even!

Of course, the churches are beautiful too.... I might have even found one to call my own. We visited Santa Croce last week (see photos on Facebook!). It was a gorgeous Gothic church but it didn't call my name when I entered. The one breathtaking aspect of Santa Croce was the sensation I experienced when we exited the church to walk around the convent area

/private chapels.... I haven't smelled anything so similar to the scent of my grandparents house in Elmsford, NY since I last visited their house as a junior in high school. It must have been the scent of a tree that was planted in the courtyard but it was a magically reminiscent moment, reminding me that somewhere my grandparents are glowing with happiness that I am here in their country.

This morning we visited a church of the Renaissance - San Lorenzo. My heart may have stopped when we entered. It is a simple church - brick on the outside, no marble. The inside is all white plaster and simple grey stone. There are no frescos, all the art that hangs inside now was added later. Construction began in 393..... I walked in and immediately felt like a tiny particle in the universe. There are at least two organs.... what I would do to

attend mass at San Lorenzo and hear those organs playing.....

I had another magical moment yesterday.... slightly less ethereal but equally awesome (in the true meaning of the word!). My friend Allie is back in Northampton at Smith and she has a radio show Wednesday nights. Naturally, I wanted to listen to it live but for some reason it wasn't functioning properly. To cheat the system, I video-chatted my darling Gabriel and he turned it up very loud on his computer so I could hear. A few minutes later Allie sent me an instant message saying she was about to play a song for me. Momentarily Pablo Picasso by Citizen Cope came on..... a song that Gabe and I have listened to together for about 4 years now.... it was a very comforting and reassuring moment - a moment that made me feel as though everything was going to be okay no matter what happens with the bedbugs or the distance between myself and home. Thank you, Allie May!!

Prior to this lovely event, I had two other humorous, interesting and sweet experiences. Yesterday morning I went to a market over on our side of town, down by the Arno. I was wandering the market and after buying some peccorino and some sunflower honey (AMAZING by the way) I decided to buy a panini. I wasn't sure what kind it was exactly, but there was some kind of meat, perhaps pork, that all of the panini stands seemed to specialize in. After ordering one, I stood in front of the stand eating my delicious snack with a group of three Italians - a couple and their younger male friend. The older man asked me if I would care for a small glass of wine with my panini and after politely declining a few times, he gave up trying. I then tried to pay. I went up to the counter and offered my three euros but the younger man came flying over saying that I could not pay because he was... I tried to argue but to no avail and thus I walked away with an exceptionally tasty, free panini.

Only moments later, I was strolling along a very ritzy street full of designer shops and a man in a very nice Italian suit approached me, saying something very quickly in Italian. He soon realized that I had no idea what he was saying and he repeated more slowly - "Posso prendere un foto dei suoi piedi?" "May I take a picture of your feet?" To which I said, "Scusa?!?!!???" He then explained that he was a photographer and a designer, he loved shoes and that was his specialty. He said he adored my shoes (mind you, they were gold sandals from Payless......) and really, could he please just take one photo. He then whipped out a very nice camera and proceeded to show me that he had hundreds of photos of feet in shoes on the street.... Che strano! I decided if he were going to put my life in danger, my chances of surviving were higher if I obliged, so I stood in the street, posed my foot, and let him snap a quick photo.... Hopefully he doesn't trace my $8 sandals back to me!

Bedbug update: Any minute now (its 11.35pm) we have to walk down the street to Luciana's and start Night 1 of the Bedbug Watch - otherwise known as Bedbug Busters! (If there's something strange in your neighborhood, Who ya gonna call? BEDBUGBUSTERS! If there's something weird and it don't look good, Who ya gonna call? BEDBUGBUSTERS!) If we see even HALF of a somewhat alive bug, we are to call Giovanna immediately and we will no longer be allowed to live there..... Hopefully there will be none, given that they gassed the walls and re-sprayed the apartment a few days ago...... Wish us luck!!

Goodness, my apologies for the length of this blog!

A domani!!

Baci e abbracci!

P.S. I actually had one more subject I was going to cover in this blog.... a very important one! But I think this is long enough as it is, and instead I am going to write a separate one!!!

that was just a little joke I was playing on you

so first of all. that last blog post was going to be a very nice, sentimental, mushy, happy, loving post about how great italians are and how we met lots of very sweet people yesterday and how luciana is taking such good care of us during all of this bug nonsense....

but then.

we went out. and before we went out, there was a bug. a little round, flat, brownish-red bug. crawling on my wall. i decided to ignore it and assume it was a fluke....

too bad that was NOT the case.

at 230 am when julie and i got home, we found 5 more. and then 6, 7, 8.....9, 10..... THIRTEEN MORE. little baby ones, big full ones, crawling on the floor, the bed, the light switches..... everywhere. per tutto.

long story short, i texted giovanna, she called back immediately, i was awake in the living room trying to nap until about 7am at which point luciana realized i wasn't in bed and she freaked out, we were up looking at bugs in my room for an hour, then i napped some more, talked with giovanna, then luciana, then ali and julie, then giovanna, then luciana, over and over.

verdict: we are moving out this afternoon/evening to either an apartment or a bed and breakfast. we will eat either in the apartment, out, or possibly with luciana every night (which i don't understand because i don't think anyone should even BE in this apartment at this point....) and while we are gone, they are going to re-exterminate. hopefully the ENTIRE house this time. not just the "spots" where the bedbugs "most likely" live. they need to do inside the walls, the sockets, the light switches... poor luciana having to pay all this money......

anyway, if after a week the coast is clear (which we will know only after staking out in my room with giovanna in the middle of the night on a bug-watch to ensure they are not lurking - giovanna's idea), we will move back in. if there is any sign of any bugs, we are being reassigned to new families and new houses....

talk about a nice welcoming into florence.

wonderful, sweet, generous italian people

people at the laundromat

taxi driver

luciana and my sheets

Come se dice "OVER IT"???

I have decided to be done with this whole bug thing.

Today we got new mattresses, Luciana cleaned our rooms to a pristine shine, and we are about to head out the door to the laundromat to wash EVERYTHING we own......

Upon returning home I am going to make my bed with these new sheets, put away all my freshly washed clothing, tidy and organize, and take a nap in my bug-free room. I am done done done with all of it! Then I can go back to blogging about interesting, moving, beautiful, Florentine things like how we visited Santa Croce yesterday and it was AMAZING, or how we found a really neat Tedesco (German) market, or how we went out last night and are going out again tonight - soon, I promise. No more bugs. Ever.

If I get bedbugs again.... I am coming home to Vermont and staying there forever.

Anywho. Off to the lavanderia! Wish us luck!!!