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. 

casual weekend. mediocre.

Portonovo in Ancona, Italy

This is where I got to go this Friday.... casual. 

My friends and I had mentioned to people all week about taking a day trip to the beach on Friday. I honestly thought no one would really show up and it would just be us. Imagine my surprise when I showed up at the fountain to find 25 people waiting and ready to go... No pressure at all... I totally know what I'm doing I have no idea what I'm doing. But shockingly enough, we made it there and back uneventfully and had an amazing day.

As if this wasn't cool enough for one weekend, today we were driven out to a farm 30 minutes outside of Perugia where we visited the Orsini family farm. We spent all day learning about sustainable farming (love love love), eating grapes straight off the vine, making pasta with the women of the family, and being served a 5 course meal.

The Orsini villa

cutest woman alive

just some grapes right off the vine

Overall it has been a great weekend
- I didn't get sunburned (yay me)
- I didn't mess up our trip to Ancona (and who said I wasn't street smart? get at me)
- I had the best mozzarella I've ever had in my life tonight
- I've decided that I think old Italian people and Italian kids are the cutest things in the world. Don't be surprised if I come home with one of each.

oh.... and just so you know... this is was what I got to look at while I was walking home from the grocery store tonight..... casual.

Italia vs. America

So here are some differences between Italy and America that I was both expecting and not expecting.


1. Americans are so LOUD. I actually struggle to hear what the Italians are saying sometimes (or maybe I just don't know the language). I happen to be a bit of a loud talker in public places (oops) and Italians are not at all. 


2. You can walk five minutes in any direction and find one of these...
 

 

please note: the picture of the inside of the church was very difficult to get. I may or may not have gotten yelled at by a priest.... and then proceeded to sprint out of the church... def going to hell.

3. Italians take their time. This is something I am going to have to get used to. I'm a very go go go kind of person. And I don't really like waiting. The line at the grocery store was moving so slowly I almost MISSED MY TODAY SHOW INTERVIEW (more on this later). But I have to appreciate this about them. They just take life in. No rushing. 

4. Apparently Italian women are not friendly will not even say hi to an Italian man on the streets. Well I struggle with this. If someone says hi to me, I say hi back. It's polite. So I realized it will be a losing battle to try and change that. Plus, I'm not Italian, I'm American dammit. And we respond when someone says hi to you. However, sometimes they are a bit too friendly... and then you end up with characters like this...

                             

The guy on the left claimed he played basketball for Notre Dame. Fat chance pal. Even I, the most gullible girl in America, did not believe that one.

5. Casual amazing views everywhere you go. Oh and underground cities? (History lesson on Perugia coming soon) 

                          

6. There are no dryers. Attempting the laundry process as we speak. After the wash finishes I am going to have to lean out my window and hang everything on a clothes line that stretches across the side and front of my building. Needless to say, it should be an interesting experience. 

7. Italians LOVE their food. Produce is so cheap it's amazing. I got an eggplant for 30 cents yesterday.  I am a hopeless foodie and am in heaven right now. I have to literally convince myself that I don't need to go to the grocery store every day. I'm sure I'll be ranting about food on this blog on a continual basis from now until December so brace yourselves. 

So those are my main differences so far. About the Today Show. I did have an interview and it should air either this weekend of next. Check that off the life goal list. If I email the PRODUCER. yeah you heard that right, she'll give me a more exact time. And then I'll tell you obvi. I am slightly worried though because I had kind of been sweating all day and was just at the grocery store and forgot my sunglasses so I'm squinting in the sun. Basically, I am going to look hot. That's all I'm trying to say. 

 Yeah that's Lester Holt. And no, I'm not a stalker. 

One more quick thing... 

This picture was up on the bar wall of us and we haven't even been here a week #winning

DREAM LIFE

so after class yesterday we were walking around and found this beautiful bar tucked into the side of a hill mountain that overlooks the valley with the most amazing views. of course we felt obliged to get some wine and hang out here...

as we were getting up to leave when, what to my wondering eyes should appear but LESTER HOLT sipping on a beer. (well not really. more like some orange fruity drink. but beer rhymed better). he is one of the lead anchors on the Today Show. if you know me at all, you probably know that I almost had a coronary when I saw him. I ended up going over and talking to him. you only live once right? 

he was super nice and we had a good little chat (i may of my not have stammered out "i love the today show" as i was shaking his hand. lord help me) and believe it or not, they want to interview me and my friends today at 5:15 about why we chose to study in perugia despite everything that is going on with the Amanda Knox trial.

i'm not even kidding.

seriously. i'm not kidding. 

one of my life goals is to get on the today show. i thought i would have to do it by being one of those complete losers who goes to new york city and gets up at 3 in the morning so that they can be in the front of the crowd. and you know what? i was okay with that. 

but this?! this is unreal. i'm taking it as a sign. a damn good one at that. 

....... dream life. 

if my interview actually gets chosen (already deciding what i should say) yall will be the first to know when it will be on air.

until next time bitties

"unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life."

outside one of my widows

 casual view

 for sale in the main piazza

 our street! dog street...?

 strawberries handed out at the bar

 cute group

 organic market

asked for ice coffee and this is what i get... #idonthateit

is this real life?

I walk out of my apartment, and this is what I see. not real.

so let me set this up for you. i am currently sitting in a back alley way in PERUGIA, ITALY bumming wifi off of a cafe where i just bought my first third coffee of the day. its just so good here i can't help it. i will spend all of my money on lattes, macchiatos, and cappucinos. and a bird actually just shit on me. its all over my computer, my arm, and my bag. whyyyy? why? the italian man at the table next to me is laughing. funny. real funny. what is it about my luck with birds?! alright. well. anyways.

I moved into my appartment yesterday with 3 other roomates. who are awesome. one of them runs. one of them is obsessed with christmas and billy joel. and the other one loves to cook. enough said.

my room

cute little bed

kitchen!

Honestly, I was feeling a little overwhelmed when I moved in yesterday morning. Everything is just so different here. I had no idea where anything was and the language barrier is a bit bigger than I expected. However, I feel much more orientated with the town now and my Italian is already getting bigger. except for when I was at the organic food market today (i was in heaven. i eat that kind of shit up) and I was trying to ask for a half a kg of cheese and I probably looked like the biggest american idiot ever. It was probably highly entertaining for anyone who was watching.

two of my roomates and me at dinner

I have 5 talents. 1. untangling jewlery 2. getting a baby to stop crying 3. fb stalking (I can get a life story from that thing) 4. finding really good restuarants 5. i can't remeber it right now (how sad is that?) So I decided that I would share this restuarant talent with the group of people I was with last night. That was probably a bad choice, lots of pressure let me tell you. But guess what? the 6th sense kicked in and I found a bangin restuarant tucked away under a back street with a brick ceiling. We got a 4 course meal and 5 bottles of wine for 15 euro. and our waiter cooked the entire meal. Italians go about their dinner business very slowly. We sat there for over 2 hours eating our meal and it was phenominal. So thank god it wasn't bad because, well, that would be embarassing for me.

After dinner we went to multiple bars and Italians loveeeee American girls. Someone gave us strawberries and whipped cream when we walked into one place. I have paid for one drink since I've been here (villanova boys: take note). We ended up meeting this guy who claims he is on the Germany national basketball team (he was really tall so i guess i'll believe it). He was singing maroon 5 in the street to a girl who was having her bachelorette dinner and of course we felt the need to join in (file under: annoying american girls) So he ended up taking us all to this VIP room at a club and literally, literally, was popping bottles of champagne. Like I'm not even kidding. Is this real life? I feel like i'm on Jersey shore. except less trashy (at least I hope so). 

This morning I went on a run. Which consisted of me running down a montain, and then back up it. That was hell. Afterwards, I went to church. (I was shockinly ambitious this morning). It was so beautiful. It was all in Italian and guess what? I was the only blonde in the whole place! Wait. You mean I don't look Italian? what? no way.

 So that's been the deal so far. we are having a family dinner tonight at our appartment and I attempted to make my mom's red sauce (probs won't be as good as hers). my batteries about to die but I'll upload more pics next time. COME VISIT ME. ciao ciao. buena sera!

despite the fact that this entire week I have been a nervous wreck (as in may or may not have had a minor panic attack while I was running yesterday morning), i am as cool as a cucumber right now, only old people are actually aloud to say that. I am very relaxed. because I realized something. even though new things are kind of scary, they are also so exciting. you learn from them. they change you. it's like jumping off rocks into a lake, or trying a food you've never had before, or running a trail you've never been on. obviously this whole italy thing is on a much bigger scale, but when it comes down to it let's be real; it could completly suck or it could be great. and most of the time, it's great and it becomes your new favorite thing. so what exactly do I have to worry about?

I somehow managed to compress my entire life into 2 suitcases and an intense hiker backpack. Thank God for my mom otherwise who knows if I could have done that. also, I am now a proud owner of a pair of chacos. pop those babies on with the backpack and my arm party of braclets and what do you get? NATURE GIRL. woot woot. the shoes are a tad earthy for my style, but jean cutoffs and running shoes is so 80's mom. I just don't think I could handle that. 

so guess where I am right now? the airoport. in charlotte. sitting at a starbucks drinking an iced coconut coffee. (and guess what? technically coconut season at starbucks is over. so i lucked out. almost hugged the barista when he said they still had it) listening to Grace Potter and Fleetwood Mac. watching people walk run to their gates wondering where they might be going. got my books and US weekly all set for my flight which leaves in less than 2 hours. obviously I have to updated on Kim Kardashian's honeymoon. well I'll stop spewing my stream of consiousness now. next time I talk to yall I'll be in ITALY. isn't that crazy? yeah it is.

something to listen to till you get to read again