Perugia, Roma, Firenze, e Calzedonia

So much happens and I don't have time to write!!

Last weekend we went to Perugia. I'll post photos eventually. It was lovely. As always, the four of us had some interesting traveling experiences. This time the trip included an untimely torrential rainstorm; enormous pancakes-filled-with-sandwich-meat (called piadine, a Roman specialty) and also my first experience with Italian fast food; a bus strike; a farmhouse hostel in the Umbrian countryside complete with goats, cats, kittens, an Italian girl with a Kansas accent, her large and lovable boyfriend from Kansas, foosball, local wine, nonni, and farm-fresh eggs; an underground city filled with chocolate vendors; the piazze di Perugia filled with chocolate vendors; mobs cramming for free samples; and a chocolate-overdose-induced stupor.

The weekend before that we went to Rome. This trip cannot be summarized really. A few notable highlights:
Giulotti: fabulous gelato. I ate fig, banana, cioccolate fondente, pistacchio, and bacio (choco-hazelnut.) Covered with house-made panna (whipped cream.)
Societe Lucerne: delicious aperitivi buffet. The travel guide told us we would find effortlessly beautiful people, and we did. Literally everyone was effortlessly beautiful.

There's more, but for another time.

As the days go by I love Italian more and more. There are so many different aspects of the language and culture to love. I love the hand gestures. I love the superlatives. I love saying "Prego," and "Buona Sera," and "permesso." I love learning new words! Impensabile. Diffusissimo. Candelo. I like all of the old ladies who ride the bus with me every morning to do their grocery shopping, and I love running through the winding roads in the Tuscan countryside, while tiny cars zoom by at incredible speeds, and I can see the hills falling away draped in olive trees and studded with grandi ville overlooking all of their roba.

I like walking through Florence like I know what I'm doing here and I like it when people aren't sure what language to speak to me in. Today, in oviesse, I took six articles into the fitting room and a security guard stopped me. "Signorina! Ma quanta roba ce l'hai?" "Sei. Va bene?" "No. La prossima volta, no. Solo tre. E porta tutta indietro dopo." I later saw him affront an American male wandering through the store with a bottle of beer. "Not in here," he said. "All right, I'm walking out, I'm walking," said American male.

Were an American to remain here permanently, one could form a very negative opinion of one's own country based on their behavior abroad. It almost would make it easier to stay, because you don't see many of the positive aspects of American culture here. The strange part of moving abroad to me seems to be leaving your country behind and having it move forward without you.

On a lighter note, here is a nice Italian commercial. I guess I like even the non-food ones.

Like me, the Italians love food. How do I know? I can see it on television. Yes, Americans have our own food advertising. It consists of "food porn" (showing the food in a close-up, larger-than-life shot, which has been scientifically proven to instill cravings for this food in the viewer.) It's not elegant. And from what I remember it emphasizes the social aspects of eating-- a group of buddies enjoying the never-ending nachos at TGI Friday's, for example.

Italian food advertising is about pleasure. See below:

Oggi

Things that happened today:
1. I overslept.

2. I ate breakfast very quickly. (caffe latte, apple con yogurt al frutti di bosco).

3. My host mom drove Dalia and me to our bus stop.

4. Since we arrived early, I walked across the street to L'Angolo del Caffe`. This shop has an amazing array of products after my own heart, including one million different varieties of chocolate, several types of cookies including cantucci (these Tuscan cookies are similar in shape to what Americans call biscotti, that is: crunchy and designed for dipping. Cantucci are meant for dipping in vinsanto [sweet dessert wine], not coffee, Italians assure you, although they go well with coffee too. I'd even eat them dry, but Italians won't. You can get them in all kinds of different gusti, usually almond but also chocolate, pistacchio, and cherry.) Last night, Babbo and I walked in to buy 2 chocolate bars (one dark, one dark with black licorish/ liquirizia ) and he introduced me to the family that owns this shop. Babbo is a vecchio cliente and told me that I will be treated well when I go there. He suggested a project in which eventually, I will taste every single chocolate in the shop and decide on the best one. One per day. So this morning I bought 2 Fiats. Cioccolate fondente ripiena di crema di Fiat! In the shape of a Fiat. Crema di Fiat, is, SURPRISE! fluffly chocolate-hazelnut cream. Nocciole are omnipresent in Italian dolci. Dalia and I ate our Fiats during the break between classes today. I'm not sure if any of the other chocolates can top this one, but I'm willing to find out. The signore also gave me a freebie... perhaps it will be tomorrow's choice.

5. After school, Dalia and I bought some panforte, which we have ogled in shop windows for one month and decided to finally sample today. We bought it in a bar at Piazza San Marco. Like many other Italians, the shopkeeper complimented us on our Italian. Come mai parlate Italiano cosi bene? Siete veramente bravissime! They're always very happy to hear Italian spoken by foreigners, and to converse with us in Italian. People who work in the service business in Florence (hotels, bars, shops) probably spend most of their time speaking English. They're always interested to find out why we speak Italian, and what we're doing here. It's been fun to chat with random Italians.

6. I updated my blog, which needs updating! See assorted pictures below, in chronological order, with brief captions.


Il Tramonto del Sole, maybe one month ago:
in the midst of our uphill trek from bus-stop to home.




























Italians don't understand why Americans don't eat rabbit. I've eaten it here and enjoyed it. Still I was a bit taken aback when I saw these adorable bunnies on jars of rabbit-flavored baby food.














This is at the wine festival nei Chianti. I bought a class and could sample as many different types of Chianti as I wanted. More pictures of this spectacular event in an upcoming post.

Current favorite Italian phrases/words:

Ma non e` vero! (It's not true!)
Dondolare (the way that young people dance in clubs, bouncing around)
Ho da fare. (I've got some stuff to do.)
L'hai fatto apposto! (You did it on purpose!)
Dammi cinque! (High five!)
Noi siamo gran mangiatori di biscotti. (We're great cookie-eaters.)

I learn a lot of new words, but then I forget them. Usually it takes a lot of repetition to remember it, but listening to my Italian family speak helps a lot.