Here is a fun fact that I forgot to mention in previous posts that my roommates feel is super important to share in my blog... A bird used my shoulder as a toilet. Two days in a row. Cinque Terre, then Firenze. The Italians say it is good luck... I just think it is bad timing. Christin used her shirt to wipe it off of my shirt. Now that's a good friend right there. I hope you feel that your life has been enriched with that information. Moving on:
My Italian life. I'm just oh so cultured:
Wednesday! Wednesday I had class. WHOA! Blowin' my mind over here. Hah. Sorry, sono stanca. In pairing food and wine, my group made Italian cheesecake. Oh my goodness. Dare I say, it was far superior to 'merican cheesecake. The class is definitely interesting, but sometimes... wine just tastes like wine... We have a typology chart to fill out on each wine we taste. Sometimes, it all starts to taste the same... heh... I'm learning... Oh, and we made pasta with cheese that smelled like dirty gym socks. But it tasted good... We have been using so many different types of cheese, and our teacher makes us smell most of them before we cook with them. He is so passionate about how amazing they smell. Well... It has mold on it? It's hard to get excited to smell feet? I admire his passion though. It makes the class fun and interesting. He really is one of the best teachers I have ever had. After inhaling some Italian cheesecake, I headed to my Florence history class. Again, my professor is one of the best teachers I have ever had. He is extremely passionate about what he is teaching us, and he is very knowledgable about what he is teaching. On Wednesday, my classroom was the Baptistry by the Duomo in the center of Florence. I could get used to this. I am so happy that I am taking this class. Sure it's a little more work than what some of my friends here have to do (many people are only taking one class), but I think it will definitely be worth it. I have already learned so much, and it is fun to tell my roomies all about the fun facts I have learned. I'm sure they love hearing me ramble about the Medici family... :)
Wine.
Italian cheesecake!
My classroom for the day. The Baptistry at the Duomo.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT! FESTAAAA! We went to a club called Space. So. We went to Space. heh. See what I did there? Get it? Like... space? ........ Our friend Jake was DJing!!!!! DJ TURTLE! WE HAD SO MUCH FUN. Jake and the DJ before him played good music and I really liked the layout of the place. Jake was so good! It was so much fun to know the DJ. We ended up on the VIP platform thing? I mean, it's whatever... After dancing for a while, we decided to call it a night. Side note, Shannon and Diane ran into a girl they went to middle and elementary school with! SMALL world! Anywho, we were walking away from the club heading home, when we heard a jingling of sorts. We looked down a side road and saw some dude holding his pants in his hand... he was totally bare on bottom, ya feel me? ........... He saw us looking at him, turned away, and started walking down the street still holding his pants... Then we laughed way too hard. It was probably one of the top five funniest moments of the trip. Great night. Then we went home and got some sleep.
Goin' to Space.
DJ TURTLE!
DJ TURTLE!
Thursday! It's like a Friday! We have no Friday class.... which is awesome. In pairing food and wine, we basically made Italian Mexican food. The stuff we made looked like enchiladas and quesadillas. My teacher would probably not be very happy with me for comparing it to Mexican food. I also tasted the nastiest wine of my life. It was waaaaay too sweet. I like sweet wines and sweet things in general, but it was WAY too much. Some people liked it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea... wine... glass of wine... After class, I headed to my history of Florence class. Christin and I got some coffee before class. This will probably become a daily thing. Usually my professor likes to take cappuccino breaks in the middle of class (I know.), but after stuffing ourselves in our cooking class, it is hard to not fall into a food coma in the next class. They have the coolest little coffee machine in the lobby-ish area of one of the LdM buildings. The options are endless. I wish I had one of these in my apartment. After a delicious cup of coffee, I headed to class. Still can't believe I am a coffee drinker now... I thought that would never happen... Class. We were supposed to go inside of the cathedral at the Duomo, but it was closed for a special service. We saw Dante's church and his house as well as a place called the Inoccenti. It was so cool! This was a place that was built to care for all of the illegitimate children of the time. Most of these belonged to nuns and monks... Yeah... Apparently, many of them did not choose this lifestyle. Because they were forced into it (it gave their family higher social status or something to that effect), they didn't want to give up their romantic lives... so they didn't. When the babies were born, they would go put them on this little turning wheel thing and ring the bell. The people on the inside would wheel the baby around to bring them inside. It's like a drive through window... but with babies. It was crazy to me that it was such a problem. But it's great that they were doing something about it. After seeing this place, we saw a ton of gypsies chillin' in the square. It's weird that they beg so much, but they all have cell phones. After class, we headed to the Uffizi gallery for a rooftop terrace dinner and a guided tour of the new blue rooms. In the square outside of the Uffizi, I saw a guy playing "My Heart Will Go On" ... or "Hymn to the Sea" ... either way, I nearly had a panic attack of excitement. My. Goodness. I was so happy.
Best coffe machine ever.
Doesn't even look real...
View from the top of the Uffizi Gallery!
Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday. I like to call this day "The Odyssey." Lemme just tell you about it. Diane, Shannon, and I got up early Friday morning to make our way through Milan and eventually to Lake Como where we would spend the weekend. Okay. So we got up super early to head to the train station. We arrived early just to be safe. We hung out at the station for a little under an hour. The train ride was about four hours. This one made a bunch of stops. It was pretty nice. The seats were like airplane seats and we had a little table in between us. As it turns out, I can read on a train, but not in a car. Interesting. We got off the train in Milan. We had no plan and nowhere to be until our train to Como at 6 something. So we bought a map, caught a cab, and headed into the heart of the city. Milan is alright. I don't think I would feel compelled to go back there any time soon. Of course, the shopping was amazing. I mean, it is the fashion capital of the world, right? In the area with all of the designer stores (the Golden Square I believe), everyone there was dressed up and dripping in designer labels. The people in this area weren't very nice... We got ignored at a ristorante. So we moved on to another one. They charged us a cover charge, but they don't tell you that until you get the bill. Even the sandwiches were named after designers. We felt a little out of place with our jeans and our backpacks. We moved closer to the Duomo where there were more stores that weren't Gucci, Prada, or Louis Vitton. Many of the stores are the same ones that are in Florence. The Duomo was amazing!!! It is a Gothic style building and just gorgeous. We got some AMAZING gelato in the square. I got dark chocolate and creme. Good gravy. So. Good. We had been walking around for a little while when we found out that the Pope was coming.
Don't know where we're going! :)
Designer panini?
The Duomo!
Car.
SO GOOD.
Awkward pole selfie.
THE POPE IS COMING!
Yes. The Pope was coming to Milan in a matter of hours. Around the time that our train was scheduled to leave - so we would miss it. Millions of people from all over the world were coming to Milan to see the Pope. This was pretty cool considering that it was a national holiday and the Pope is rather famous... but we had a train to catch. We walked to a taxi point (you can't hail cabs here like in NY, you have to call them or go to a specific place where they hang out) and got into a taxi. The driver was driving around for 15 Euros worth of time trying to get out of the city to the train station. He eventually told us that he couldn't get us to the station and to just go ahead and get out of the cab. He was really nice, and he didn't make us pay the 15 Euros. SO. We took off in an intense power walk/run to get past all of the roads that had been blocked off. We were stopping along the way to talk to the police who were trying really hard to explain how to get to the station (their English and my Italian was a bit messy). They were nice. We finally found a random cab at a stop light and just started running toward him like "HEY PLEASE LET US IN!" He was really nice. We were able to get to the train station and catch our train on time. After a short train ride, we were in Como. Almost there! At the train station, we had to buy bus tickets to get to our hotel. The guy sold us tickets for the blue bus 10 and he told us that we would get off at Cremia... We waited at the train station for the bus for an hour and a half. We met some really nice people. Then we met an Italian guy who pinched my cheeks... (on my face)... it was strange... Well the bus finally made it to the station. When we got on, Shannon and Diane asked the driver which stop we got off at to get to Cremia... He said that that bus didn't go to Cremia. HAH. So we got on anyway. I talked to some people on the bus and figured out what to do next. We got off on the last stop at some bus station and asked the driver to call us a cab. He told us to walk down the road "that way" and you should be able to catch a cab... HAH. Okay. Well we were walking for a while when we saw a random restaurant. We walked in and asked for someone (ANYONE) to call us a cab. The cook called his friend Mario the cab driver. A few minutes later, we were finally in a cab headed to our hotel. When we finally made it, we rewarded ourselves with a bottle of wine. We sat at the hotel restaurant until 12:30 or so... they closed it, but the waiter told us we could just hang out. Well, if you insist. We all slept like rocks.
Saturday! WOW. Saturday was so great! We spent the day laying out, reading books, listening to music, and napping. Lake Como is absolutely gorgeous! It is surrounded by the Swiss Alps. Switzerland is right on the border. Incredible. It was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. It was so relaxing - we didn't want to leave! We heard so many different languages. It seems that Lake Como is where Europeans come to vacation. No one was speaking English natively. That night, we walked along the lake and came across a little restaurant on the water. We all ordered some sort of seafood. Let's just say it wasn't exactly what we expected. My grilled swordfish was good, but Shannon and Diane had some issues... Shannon's salmon and pasta... the salmon was mushed up in the sauce, creating quite the interesting texture, appearance, smell, and after-taste... Then Diane. Poor Diane. She ordered fried lake fish. It looked like they took the fish right out of the lake and fried it - exactly the way it looked when it came out of the lake. Diane's face was priceless. You could see their eyes... Not what we are used to. So we asked for some ketchup (because it pretty much doesn't exist over here), because maybe she could drown out the taste with some ketchup. Well the ketchup is different too. So we all went a little hungry. Too many Euros to go hungry... goodness. After dinner, we went back to the room, and somehow we all fell asleep around 8. When we woke up around 10, we hung out on our balcony looking at the gorgeous lake in the moonlight. It was amazing. We talked about life and all the jazz. I absolutely love these girls. Again, we slept like rocks.
Gorgeous view!
Selfie. :)
Sunset.
Roomiiiies.
Sunday! We woke up this morning, ate free breakfast, took a nap, then headed to catch the bus. The whole process was a bit smoother this time. When we reached the train station, we were pretty much right on time. I saw the Australians we made friends with in Florence a few nights earlier - how random. They were going to Milan, too. We changed trains in Milan, and eventually made it back to Firenze in one piece. We were successful with out first little excursion alone! YAY! We were proud of us. :) We went to our usual cafe by the apartment for some delicious salad and finger food. We stopped by the grocery store... and noooowwww here we are! It feels good to be back.
I just wanted to take a moment to talk about how blessed I feel to be here. I am so humbled by the fact that God has given me the means and the drive to make this happen. He's just way too awesome. He has been teaching me so much about myself and about other people through this experience. I am so grateful to be here. I wish that everyone could experience this! It really is life changing. There is a part of me that could stay here forever. The biggest thing that I have learned here so far is how BIG God is. He created all of this amazing scenery and still manages to maintain it as well as take care of me. I could go on forever.
Also. I miss my daddy. I wish so badly that I could call him and tell him about everything I am doing here. He would be so excited! He always loved a good adventure. Our favorite thing to do whenever we went to a new place was "explore"... we would set out with no end goal or direction in mind, and we would find the coolest places. I miss him more than I can truly express. It's cool that he can now always be with me though... he could see Lake Como with me! But... I think we all know that it isn't the same. I've definitely been struggling with that lately. It's hard to enjoy something like this when I know in the back of my mind that I can't go home and show him pictures and tell him about it... it stings. It's hard watching everyone around me Skype and call their fathers... I wish I still had mine here on earth. Yes, I know I have my Heavenly Father and that my daddy is the best Guardian Angel EVER... but sometimes, a girl just needs her daddy to physically be here. I don't get to hug him when I get home... and that hurts. I am so thankful that I have a mom and a sister who love me so much! They are such blessings to me! I can't wait to see them when I get back so I can show them all of my pictures!
Here are some more fun facts:
- Italians dress like it's winter. It was almost 80 degrees in Rome, and the people there were wearing scarves, boots, jackets... Is it snowing?
- Many bathrooms don't have toilet paper. Whyyyyyy?
- Everything tastes differently... EVERYTHING. Even if you think it's the same, it's not.
- WiFi and air conditioning is rare. Restaurants will write "free wifi! air conditioning!" on the windows to make you want to eat there. It's a big deal.
- There are no security checkpoints in the train station...?
- Noise level. Italians are LOUD. They talk loudly. You know how sometimes you don't want to talk on the phone too loudly in public? They don't care. You know how if it is 5 o'clock on a Tuesday night, you usually don't sing and yell really loudly outside of apartment buildings (well, maybe some of you do)? Well, they don't care. It was nice being at Lake Como because we fell asleep to the sound of the waves instead of the sound of the sweeper and garbage trucks and noisy Italians and drunk Americans wandering the streets late at night.
- People don't wear shorts here. They just don't. I was told this before I got here... but it's weird to see. I think it is because they dress more modestly than Americans. I have seen some shorts, but they are usually Americans.
- You can tell when someone is American. It doesn't matter if you speak Italian or how you dress... If you were born in America and you are a native English speaker, you just know. I can't explain it.
- I have never been more proud to be from Texas or to go to Texas A&M. A A A WHOOP! We say "y'all" and everyone is like.... what is that.... hahahaha I love it so much. I never realized how often we say it! So now all of these northerners use it around us. haha It's great. We also try to explain our traditions at A&M... no one gets it, but they all seem to think it's really cool. Every time I tell someone that I am from Texas, apparently, I am automatically the coolest person they have ever met.
Here are some things I miss about home:
- Singing in the car with Jeremy.
- Midnight cereal with Skyler.
- Playing with my love chunk of a nephew.
- HANGING OUT WITH CAMP STURTEVANT!
- Watching movies.
- TV. (I love TVs as background noise.)
- Wearing backwards hats, sweatpants, and Nike high-tops... I can't being to explain how much I miss this. It's so me... linen pants are great. But. You know.
- FADE TO BLACK! I miss dancing! I am so excited to get back and plan out the year with my fellow ossifers! :D
- Texting and regular phone calls. It has been nice not having to check my phone... but I love being able to talk to my friends and family whenever I want.
- GPS. Oh. My. Goodness. I will NEVER take this for granted when I get back. We are all struggling here without this.
I am enjoying my time here, but there are definitely so many things I am looking forward to doing when I get home! Time to get ready for the week.
A presto!
PS. I am really missing Camp Ozark!!! I'm so sad that I couldn't go back for at least one session this summer. :( Shout out to my all of my Ozarkians holding it down. Do the John Wall for me! :D
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