holiday warm fuzzies: ben & jerry's, christmas carols, la fiorentina...

My host padre just left the house wearing a LIME green hat. Adorable. And I just helped Lorenzo study Spanish. Probably even more adorable. 


I have no real point for this blog.... only to share some holiday cheer with everyone. I always become a big mush during the holiday season.... I am never stressed and always happy. It helps that I love making lists so I obsessively think about Christmas presents and what things I want to do during the holiday season...... I love it all. So far I am thinking that when I return home, I must do the following things:


Christmas shop on Church Street
have a Christmas party with my girlies
hang out with my pals from work this summer
snuggle with the boyfriend
watch lots of TV with my mamma
play in the snow [please let there be snow soon.... just not when my flight comes in!]
work... somehow.... somewhere..... ideas?
bake cookies
make beer with my dad
celebrate New Year's with the entire family [aka Isadora's family]
sleep. a lot. 
read for pleasure....
eat breakfast at the Wayside!
go to the movies
get a crepe at the Skinny Pancake 
hang out with Chad and Georgeee
relax.
and unfortunately..... write two 8-10 page papers and two 4-5 page papers..... what? 


Smith really knows how to make sure we still have plenty of work overseas.... Although I am decently sure that it is just the Florence program that is this intense.... That being said.... I am feeling very good about it all.... it feels good to be working this hard in a foreign language and be surviving somewhat reasonably. Next semester is going to be much better though! I will be taking one class at the University of Firenze, therefore I will have minimum work throughout the semester but one big oral exam in front of the entire class at the end..... Then I am hopefully taking a translation corse taught by Giovanna if I am selected after doing a little translation test.... Then a Modern Art History course which will have the most work, like Art History this semester, then finally, a History of Cinema class where there are mostly likely no papers, just some tests. Doesn't seem nearly so bad after all the work I've done this year! And! This semester ends roughly January 26th. We have about one week free, and then one February 2nd or so, we leave for Sicily for a week! And then second semester starts. It will be the perfect long vacation to re-adjust to Florence and get over being homesick! I can't wait! 


Big plans this weekend. Friday I am going to go to the Galleria Palatina to see the work by Rafaello that I need to write my art history paper about, and then Breana and I are going to the art history library of the University of Fireze to start our research. Friday night we will probably do something grand. Saturday day we are getting the whole crew together to go to the German Christmas market at Santa Croce, and Sunday I think we are going to go to a Fiorentina game! 


Anyway, I must be off to read some of my Italian book for Literature - Io Non Ho Paura - I Am Not Afraid. One of my future 8-10 pages papers. Woohoo! 


Wish me luck!
Baci a tutti!!!


P.S. Perhaps I should mention the other two things that I listed in the title.... First of all, Christmas carols. Love them. Need more. Enough said. Yesterday Giovanna found the little fake Christmas tree for the sede and Breana and I decorated it while listening to the Christmas songs on my iPod. We also started making snowflakes and paper chains..... Sigh. So great! Secondly, and way more importantly, there is now a BEN & JERRYS IN FLORENCE! Literally across from the Duomo. I teared up a little when I discovered it yesterday afternoon. I now get to walk by it twice a day! I might have to go this weekend..... It's like Florence knew I was missing Vermont so it brought Vermont to me!! Thanks, Florence! 

oops....

English recipes do not work in Italy.


1.5 sticks of butter does not easily translate to grams when all you know is that 1.5 sticks = 12 tablespoons.


Tablespoons are a measure of volume.... Italians measure butter in grams... aka weight. Volume does not equal weight......


Therefore one ends up with molasses cookies that have waaaay too much butter..... Ooopsss!!!! 


Anyone want a flat, chewy, caramel-like molasses-ish cookie???

a series of rather fortunate events

I think I will continue in list form:


1. Thanksgiving Day.
Part One: Thanksgiving started out with a lovely trip to the Uffizi for Art History. We wandered around the huge and overwhelmingly beautiful rooms, each full of art by one particular artist or another. No big deal that we were surrounded by famous works of Michelangelo, Donatello and co. The funny thing was, take this piece for example. 

It's called a tondo and it depicts, obviously, mother Mary with baby Jesus (its real name is Tondo Doni). The idea of these tondos came from something called a desco da parto, otherwise known as the tray for the broth and liquids brought to a mother after she has given birth. Given that trays are only so large, I was imagining that this tondo would be roughly the same size. NOT THE CASE! It was huge! And when I say huge, I mean about 5 feet in diameter. Very big. And very gorgeous. 


Part Two: The rest of the day I spent eating lunch at the sede, sending Thanksgiving e-cards and shopping with my lovely Breana. We decided to stay out in the center the entiiiiire day because we had to be at Giovanna's around 7pm for Thanksgiving dinner, aka we walked for 6 hours....... So finally 7pm rolled around and we (very exhaustedly) arrived at Giovanna's with little gifts in tow. We bought Giovanna and Monica each some green tea and bath fizzies for relaxing and some chocolate with chili peppers to give them a little kick. 

Upon arriving I was embraced by the warm smells of Thanksgiving cooking and the lovely sound of Giovanna's husband playing his violin while Anna played viola. We sang Thanksgiving songs (yes, they exist....) and drank wine, and chatted and ate and enjoyed each other. The best part was that besides Giovanna, Monica and Pam, our old cooking teachers, all of our professors came! They were all dressed up and buzzed and very jolly and excited to be taking part in this weird American holiday. At the end of the night, our art history professor drove Breana and I home which was very much welcomed after our day of walking. 

Unfortunately, having Thanksgiving with everyone from Smith did not prove to be as anti-homesicking as one would think. When I got home, all I wanted was my mom's cranberry sauce and my dad's gravy. They were at a friends house for the night, so I promptly called them and wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving, thus making myself feel much more far away and lonely. But fortunately....


2. Friday rolled around! 
After doing some work, I met Breana and we went to Casa Buonarroti which is the museum of all things Michelangelo. Yet another fantastic experience, getting to see his wax models of now large and very famous sculptures and finally understanding the size of things such as Battaglia dei Centauri (much smaller than I imagined!! Projectors and images from Google just don't cut it!). 


After wandering around and finding some yummy pizza, we returned home. As I was standing in the kitchen, making some tea, I showed my host mamma that I had found some pre-made Ocean Spray cranberry sauce and some molasses. Lorenzo then asked her when I was cooking and she said perhaps Sunday. He then requested we please have stuffing and cranberry sauce that night because he wanted it. So therefore, I made it. We made the stuffing without mushrooms and with less garlic than usual, and I had Lorenzo as my little helper, cutting the prosciutto, toasting the bread, etc. Surprisingly enough, everything turned out rather well. The cranberry sauce that I doctored up tasted somewhat related to that which we make at home, and the stuffing was also pretty darn tasty. And! Everyone ate everything! The stuffing was gone very rapidly and everyone tried the cranberry sauce (the boys ate it without complaints or disgust, and Silvia and Enrico had seconds!) I was one proud mamma hen given that Enrico and the boys, especially Filippo, are veryyyy picky eaters! Successo! 


3. Lovely, lazy, holiday-time Saturdays
This morning I slept in a bit and then spent the day being productive. I ate lunch with my fam (incredible pasta with carrot curry sauce.... yummmm!) and then returned to studying, took a nap and got ready for.....


4. A Special Night Out on the Town

Tonight I got all dolled up, had dinner with my host family and some guests (including an adorable little girl named Marta... babysitting, hmm.... an idea...), and then hopped on the back on Enrico's motorcycle, arriving at Teatro Verdi in minutes. I went up the the ticket counter to pick up my pre-reserved ticket where I was informed that my seat had been changed. When I bought my ticket online, there were 5 seats left and I chose the best of the 5, which was in the second section on the theater, at least 3 rows back. My new seat was in the 4th row. Of the first section. With a perfect view of the orchestra. It was relatively magical. And I teared up... they played some Haydn and Jupiter from Mozart's Planets. It was a gorgeous concert, and since the orchestra was so small (6 first violins, 4 or 5 seconds, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 basses and very small winds, brass and percussion sections) you could hear everything and it was stunning. I will definitely be tuning in online to listen to their Christmas Eve concert and going to as much as I can when I come back in January! (Which reminds me, Enrico's gym gave him 4-one month passes to give as gifts and he is giving one to me! Pilates, yoga, pool, water aerobics, sauna, spa, hot tub, tanning, and regular gym usage allllll free for one month! A perfect way to avoid the semi-inevitable post-Christmas slump! Thanks host fam!)


Anyway, here I am back from the concert, snuggled into bed, ready for a long night's sleep and a productive day tomorrow, including cookie-baking!! 


Bacione!!

disappointed....

I swear.... there are literally NO CRANBERRIES IN THIS COUNTRY!! So much for cranberry sauce!!






Good thing the carbonara cooking downstairs smells incredible!!!

10 things that occur around the holiday season in florence that make life worth living

1. Family Gatherings.
Last night my family got together with Victoria and Chrysanthe's family because my mamma is their father's sister, aka our little sibs are cousins. Yesterday was the nonna's birthday and she came with her sister and her husband. All in all, there were 14 people at my house, eating pizza, drinking Coca Cola and beer and laughing and chatting. I sneakily tried to take some family photos and then just decided to make everyone pose! It was a night full of laughter and sweet grandmotherly moments and love. And pizza covered in sliced hot dogs. It was perfect. 

2. Beautiful Lights. 
I know I have previously mentioned this and I also promised photos, but I haven't actually seen the beautiful lights lit up yet.... well I saw them at 2pm yesterday but I don't think that has quite the same effect as seeing them at night..... Tomorrow I will take pictures! I promise! 




3. Wandering at night.
I love this city at night. During the day.... not so much, but at night, definitely. I love walking home after class in the dusk to dark period, watching parents picking up their children, wandering past the bus stops and enjoying the general happy bustle that exists after the work-day has ended. I also love having that extra 30 minutes of leisurely strolling (well, I power-walk like there's no tomorrow but still....) to think in Italian and enjoy all the Italian-ness that surrounds me.... It's very relaxing and rejuvenating.... 


4. Decorations.
Storefronts, lights, windows.... all been said before, but I still really love it! 




5. Thanksgiving Dinner with Giovanna.
Thursday night. With all 20 girls and our professors. Turkey and gravy, stuffing, salads, corn, squash, pumpkin carpaccio, cranberry sauce, corn bread, pecan pie, apple pie and pumpkin pie.... Mmmm.... Just like home! 




6. Thanksgiving Dinner with the Host Fam 
It has been decided. Sunday night I will be cooking my family's version of stuffing and some cranberry sauce along with some molasses cookies perhaps.... Silvia is getting some kind of turkey or chicken, and we are good to go! The boys probably won't like the cranberry sauce and we'll see about Silvia and Enrico! Wish me luck! 




7. Helping Older Women Cross the Street
I was walking home tonight (enjoying the peaceful darkness, of course) and as I approached a sidewalk, this most adorable older woman reached out and asked me if I would be so kind as to walk her across the street because she was scared of falling. I took her hand and we walked across very, very carefully and very slowly, all the while she was telling me how nice it was to have someone help her. Then she squeezed my hand and said, "Buona sera, signorina!" My hand was glowing with warm, fuzzy feelings for at least 10 minutes, especially because I had just come from....




8. Sitting in with a Group of Grandmothers who Pray Together Every Day. 
After my audited class at the University of Florence (Methodologies of Contemporary Art History.... very, very, very boring...), I decided to spend some time in one of my two favorite churches (that I know of so far, that is!). When I entered, there were hardly any people other than one man who was seemingly very frustrated because the priest was late for confessionals and another man who works at the church and was restocking all the candles available to light. I walked through the church looking at all the small chapels until I found one that for some reason gave me the goosebumps. There was a beautiful fresco unlike all the others. Many were dark and depicted Jesus' sacrifice or other sad Biblical stories. This one instead was the Madonna surrounded by Saints, looking up at the heavens. It was so brightly colored and there were such relaxed, content expressions on each face, that I was immediately struck by its beauty. I lit three candles at this chapel - one each for my grandparents and my uncle. It was a rare moment of strong faith which continued to get stronger as I walked behind the sacristy (completely unlit with only a few candles flickering in the eerie silence) and I realized that I heard prayers. When I walked back out past the altar, I found a group of about seven woman, all much older, praying together. I went and sat down across from them and listened with my eyes closed for about 10 minutes, although they continued easily for another 10 or 15. It was pretty incredible.... and not something I often desire, but it felt good today to be part of a group of people so full of faith....




9. Orchestral Concerts.
Last night I decided I wanted to go to an orchestral concert. It is Christmas and Christmas means music which reminded me how much I miss my viola and orchestra and classical music. Within five minutes of deciding this, I had already found one this Saturday at the Teatro Verdi in Florence. I know have a ticket and I cannot wait!! http://www.teatroverdionline.it/




10. Being Happy.
Although I have now been sick for 30 days, I am extremely happy. I am settled, I am bonding with my host family, I am less stressed, things are going well at school, the boyfriend is just lovely and it is almost Christmas! Although I am pretty excited for Thanksgiving as well! This weekend between going out with the gang and taking myself out for a night, I will just be working, commencing some Christmas shopping and cooking! Sounds like a perfect weekend to me! 


Baci a tutti! And see many of you in less than 4 weeks! AMORE! 

something I stumbled upon

In missing Vermont and fall and Thanksgiving and the prospect of snow, and in Googling images of Vermont things such as foliage, I stumbled upon this gorgeous tattoo..... uh oh! 

pancakes galore!

I just made my host fam pancakes for breakfast - a success!! 


Given that I had to make them with olive oil instead of corn or veggie oil, and I was cooking them on a gas stove, with tiny little pans, I think I did okay - they were in my top 5 batches of pancakes I would say! I heated up Vermont maple syrup for Silvia, Enrico and myself and then the boys ate Nutella and powdered sugar with theirs. Everyone looks quite satisfied, especially when I made Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes for the boys! 


Now I just have to plan my Thanksgiving meal...... 


Bacione!