back back to class class

I am currently sitting on the back steps of the church in the main piazza looking out over vendors selling beautifully painted ceramics and shopkeepers meandering back to their various shops signaling the end of siesta... something that I still find puzzling. They are just so relaxed here! Let's all just take a 2 hour break in the middle of the day... it's cool. no worries.

so I started real live class this week. It's funny how even though I have not sat through a class since May 5th how easily it is to fall right back into being a student. My classes here so far have been so interesting. I am literally hanging onto every word my professors say (nerd alert). They have been great so far (it's really only been two days).  They don't just talk at you. It's so interactive which works well for me since I tend to be the daydreamer type if I'm not 100% paying attention and that amount of attention doesn't happen very frequently for me. 

My favorite class so far, shockingly enough, is my History of the Culture of Food class. My professor is this quirky little older Brit with a big bald spot in the center of his head and curly black hair (thank god my dad shaves his head or this might be what he would look like. yikes). The best thing he said all class while going over the syllabus was this:


"Let's say your in Florence for the weekend and you meet two beautiful Italian men. You have a dreamy Saturday night with them and a lovely Sunday. Sunday night you're thinking "oh man I need to get back to Perugia so I don't miss class tomorrow." If you leave and come back here for this class you are a moron. yes, I will take points off your grade, but if you come back you're just dumb. Being here is about having experiences."

Coolest teacher award so far goes to Simon Young (yes, that's actually his name)

We get to go to wine tastings and restuarants for class #idonthateit #atall 

So far I've learned that Italian food varies greatly depending on the region in which it's being made. Since the North has huge dairy farms, they use butter as a staple while the South uses olive oil since the climate and terrain lends itself to easier growth of olive trees. The North has huge wheat fields which allows them to make soft pasta made with eggs and flour while the South eats hard, eggless macaroni. Since the South often has hotter temperatures than Texas, their fruits and vegetables are violent in color and rich in flavor. Fish from the Adriatic Sea is said to be some of the best fish in the world because the salt levels are way less than other seas and oceans as a result of fresh water flowing into it from the Alps. Cities that are a mere 20 miles apart have completely different cuisines because of how separate the regions of Italy used to be from one another. 

This is your food lesson for the week. Quiz next Tuesday! ..... jk jk jk 

Clearly I'm very into this kind of stuff. Hopefully I'm not boring you!  Alright well the heat from my computer combined with the shockingly hot temperatures over here is making me sweat my ass off right now. Something that happens on the reg here. Do Italians believe in AC? nope. Do they believe in ice? uhhh nope. 


on that note I am going to try to go buy an ice tray before class. and a pigeon almost just flew into my face. time for me to go. until next time biddies.