So far we both have survived our first quizzes in Italian and conquered numerous assignments. We are beginning to prepare ourselves for midterms in a couple of weeks. Tests, projects and papers as usual. Cody continues to rock at watercolor and I am excited to begin my own designs in fashion design. I’ve successfully developed 3 rolls of black and white film as well as several photos, however two rolls of film could have turned out better…. Still learning I guess! Our cooking classes continue to inspire new meal experiments at home and Cody has become the teacher’s pet in his History of Christianity class – mainly because he is the only one planning to go into ministry.
restaurant and buy a drink and then you can help yourself to a buffet of appetizers, “antipasti” as much as you want. So considering our collective lack of alcohol experience we decided to order strawberry daiquiris, thinking we couldn’t go wrong. The barista didn’t make them like a slushy though, which also probably aided the fact that it was super strong. Ick. Cody was smart and stuck to trying an Italian white wine, Prosecco. The food was pretty good and it was fun to try a bunch of different Italian appetizers. And we had fun catching up and hearing about Megan and Brie’s trip to Sicily. None of us had plans for Thursday evening, so even though they were all leaving for another weekend trip the next day, we decided to get together yet again for Movie Night #2 at their place. Cody and I had been planning to make stir-fry that night. ONE: because we wanted to know if I would like it. (I used to never like stir-fry/ not a big fan of all Chinese food, also not a big rice person) and TWO: Cody loves and misses Chinese food and there are numerous Chinese restaurants here, but considering we haven’t even gone out for Italian restaurant food, we’re probably not going to go out for Chinese food in Italy. So we offered to bring half the supplies for shrimp stir-fry and made some together at their apartment. I liked it! And it hit the spot for everyone’s Chinese cravings. Now we can’t wait to come home and have Mexican food… Anyway we also brought popped popcorn and enjoyed watching Iron Man with gelato and really amazing home-made hot cocoa. Very fun evening. Now we’ll have to hang out again next week to hear all about their trip to Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii. Lucky Ducks. ;)
A month ago was the deadline to sign up for a 2-hour Saturday tour through the Oltrarno, the area on the other side of the Arno. This might explain why everyone else who signed up must have…. Forgot? There were supposed to be 9 students along but Cody and I ended up with a private tour! It was kinda nice that way actually. The school set up the tour with a city tour
guide I think, because we have never seen here before. I can’t remember her name but she looking only a few years older than us, and the three of us had a nice time. So we mostly saw and learned about a few palaces and some churches and got some tips and advice about some good places to go and eat. Which is always nice to find out from the locals. This picture is me and the tour guide in front of Palazzo Pitti. So far the only church we’ve actually been inside of was the Duomo, but we got to see the inside of two other churches across the river. It’s interesting to note the differences between each one. The churches on the North side have been built with fancy facades almost as splendid as their insides, but on the South side it’s like finding hidden treasure when you go inside. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures so I’ll just have to describe them a bit for you. Santo Spirito was our favorite. It’s a very plain-looking Augustinian church, with a few doors, and round window, and a plain, smooth white façade. But on the inside it’s filled with all or most of its original artwork, including a copy of Michaelangelo’s Pieta, and his original crucifix. It was so beautiful; a great example of Renaissance architecture, with pillars and textured ceilings. (You know how some fancy ceilings are painted to look like they’ve been built or sculpted with fancy fixtures? Well this one was actually carved out, or real. I don’t quite now how to explain it, hopefully that makes sense) It was so calming to walk around inside where it blocks out all the city sounds and you can just listen to whispered explanations of all the impossibly beautiful things you see in front of you. We also saw the inside of Santa Maria del Carmine, which was different from Santa Spirito because it was built in the baroque style. It was so cool to see amazing examples of the two styles within ten minutes of each other! Europe is so amazing.
Sunday we went across the river again so I could finish a role of film while checking out the antiques fair that occurs every second Sunday of every month. That was really cool. There were also some flower vendors, so I took some pictures I thought our moms would appreciate. They were all really beautiful. Then it was on to homework and a hair cut for Cody. Next Sunday we’re hoping to check out that evangelical church again and possibly even go with my aunt and uncle!
Culture Clues:
* The way they address floors of buildings is different from the US. Cody and I would say that we live on the 3rd Floor, but Italians call it the 2nd because they consider the 1st floor the “ground floor” and then count up from there. If the man who dropped us off on our street and left us standing with our luggage and a map hadn’t told us this when we arrived, we never would have found our apartment. Good* to* know*
* Italians love their dogs and bring them EVERYWHERE. There are more dogs being loved and cuddled than there are children.
* There are several different types of Eateries to be found through out the city, and after asking my cooking prof about them, I finally discovered the distinguishing differences between them this week. There are trattorias and osterias which are fairly interchangeable. They are generally casual sit-down restaurants for lunch and supper that have small menus so you can choose from 1-3 1st courses, 2nd, a side and a couple desserts. A Ristorante is of course, a restaurant and is probably fancier and offers a full range of menu options just like restaurants in the US. Then there are Vinainos which can be so small as say, a closet, and you can basically build a sandwich and have a glass of wine. They are only authorized to sell you quick, put-together foods, instead of pastas or other dishes. Lastly, there are Enotecas which are sometimes like fancier Vinainos with a larger selection of wines and nicer meal foods, but sometimes they are just wine shops to buy bottles of wine.
Now you know!
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