This Shit is Bananas

Time for a more interesting post. Finally.

So while being here we've noticed some very funny things that Italians have said in English. Here are just a few. Note that we aren't making fun of them or being malicious. We just think it's funny and thought you would too.

"For what concern the things you are going to leave in the apt C, try to leave them in the area where the Kristen's bed is." - Alessia

"Watch out for the hole. Last time someone entered it... with the foot." - tour guide at San Gimingano

The first of these is particularly funny because Kristen is very very tall. 6'1" to be exact. In fact today at our cooking class one of the chefs looked up at Kristen with wide eyes and said "La Montagna!" which means mountain in Italian. Kristen said she had actually never gotten that one before. Very original, Mr Italian man. Very good.

So remember when I said "She should probably tell me what her favourite flavour of cake is the next time she sees me so that I can make it for her some time!"? Well that was just a test to see if she reads this thing. She's probably forgotten all about it but in the beginning of our trip she looked over my shoulder and saw the title of my blog and then proceeded to announce it for everyone to hear and talk about how "adorable" that was. She uses that word quite a lot. A lot of times to describe people, myself included. This was kind of cool at first because I usually want to (for some reason that I can't quite explain) be perceived as cute so it's kind of nice when someone says it. I think it's because I've always been the baby of my family and I used to look up to my older sisters a lot and also because I used to have this friend named Michaella when I was in first grade and one time she was on vacation with us I overheard my sisters talking about how cute she was and I thought they liked her more than they liked me. Not really sure if that has anything to do with it but that's the only event I can place such weird behaviour with. If I asked my sisters they definitely wouldn't remember this at all but it's quite clear to me. It's weird how stuff sticks with you. Even stupid things like that. Or maybe it's just me and I need to learn to get over it. Probably.

So anyway, Katie says that everyone is cute. Even when they're doing really normal things like cutting vegetables or eating cereal. I'm starting to get a cold so if I sleep on my back then I'll snore because I can't breath right. She told me this while we were making fajitas, "You were snoring in your sleep last night. It was adorable". At this point I dropped the chicken I was marinating and looked at her. Snoring is not something I would ever call cute. No matter who was doing it. Ever. She just compliments a lot and I usually don't really know how to deal with compliments. I guess I don't really like them for some reason. I think maybe because I don't do enough to deserve them or something. Like I could do better so why are you complimenting me? Maybe that's it. I've gotten a bit better about taking compliments from people even if I don't take them to heart. Usually I just smile and reply, "Thanks, dude" so that they won't harp on making me accept it. I'm sounding ungrateful. I'm not ungrateful. I would just like to earn the compliment and feel like I did something to deserve it. Like when Danielle or Bailey compliments me. I have to work for it so it feels really good when it happens. Katie on the other hand projectile vomits compliments on everything she sees so it just gets annoying after a while. And not a long while. We have a cooking class together so you can imagine what it's like in there. Or maybe you can't. I'll just tell you. The other day we were making Lemon Shortbread cookies in class and we were cooking together and she said to me and out loud, "She's like the head chef and we're all her little sous chefs." She said that twice and each time I didn't really know how to respond so I just said "not really" or something stupid like that. Then I was squeezing dough out of a pastry bag to make fun designs for the cookies and I made a little flower and she just stood there and watched me with a big, gross smile on her face (I say gross because it was motherly and no one should ever smile at anyone like that unless they have that relationship. You would have thought I had just tied my shoes by myself for the first time or something) and said to the other girl, "She's so good at this, it's ridiculous." I was squeezing dough out of a BAG!! How can someone be gifted at that? They can't. Anyone can do it. Just like anyone can cook. It's easy. Follow some freaking directions. I'm doing this because I like it. Not because I'm better at it than anyone else. I may know a few things that some people don't but that's ONLY because I learned it. I told her to stop right when she said that, but I think she thought I was joking because she said no with that gooey smile still on her face. I'm going to talk to her about it soon though. Only she tends to throw away anything you confront her about. She just replies with a "yeah, that's OK" really quick like it would be her answer no matter what you said. She did that to both Anna Lee and Kim whenever they confronted her about something. Hopefully I'll have balls enough to say that no, it isn't fine and it has to stop.

Anyway, another annoying thing she does is repeat herself a lot. Not on mistake like she doesn't realise she's already told you, but on purpose like she wants to remind you so that it will be the most exciting and important thing going on in your life at the moment. Anna Lee, Kristen, Alex, Michelle, and I have all taken to betting how many times she is going to repeat herself. I won €4 the other day! Yaayuuhh!! She also likes to burst into song all the time and she does it in a way where there are a lot of dips to the song even though that's not how the song goes and it's all head voice and annoying. It's like she's trying to make the song sexy and I'm like, "You're freaking singing Octopus's Garden, what the hell are you doing?" So anyway, the people involved in the betting game mentioned above have started playing a game called Knutes (it was the first word that popped into my head. It's a very wrong pronunciation of the bronze coin in wizarding currency, Knuts. Shut up) where we will drop a lyric into regular conversation with Katie and see if she bursts into song and we get points if she does. There's no prize really. Just a fun game. I came up with it when I overheard Anna Lee and Katie talking about Anna Lee's new boots (which Katie later copied and bought the exact same pair, only in black) and Anna Lee said, "Well, these boots were made for walkin". Then Katie started walk-dancing out of the room while singing that song. At first I was like, "Dammit, Anna Lee!" but then that gave me the idea for the game. It should be fun. I bet we'll all be really good at incorporating song lyrics into regular conversation soon.

In interest of keeping up with this pattern of posting things we keep secret from my roommate I am now going to reveal to you... Nannertots. They are an invention of Michelle's and they are amazing. First, you take a banana, slice it, and roll it in some sugar. While doing that some vegetable oil should be heating in a saucepan (not a lot. Gotta conserve, you know!). Crush up some corn flakes and heat some Nutella and a little bit of milk in another saucepan and stir so that it turns into a sauce. Put the bananas in the saucepan with the oil and let them fry. Take them out, roll them in the corn flakes and set them on a plate. At this point they look like tater tots which is where the name Nannertots came from. Then you drizzle the Nutella sauce on and VOILA! Nannertots.

Alex, Michelle, and I have been developing and perfecting this recipe in secret. The reason we can't tell Katie is because she really likes to steal things and take them for her own. The boots were just one example. Another example is the word "sorostitute". Now, I'm not sure how many of you know what this word means but it's basically a name for the sorority plastic. You know the type. The fashion may have changed since I've been out of the country, but while I was on campus at uni the general sorostitute fashion was Nike running shorts, a Northface jacket, and Ugg boots. This was in the winter with temperatures as low as 25. Occasionally they would put tights on under their shorts but they always had to have the shorts on. I understand that the fashions probably change every year, and maybe even every semester but even with that vague description you will always be able to pinpoint a sorostitute. And they are everywhere. Even on this trip with me. You may be asking yourself why a sorostitute wants to be in another country and your guess would be as good as mine. I really have no idea. Anyway, I dropped this phrase once in Rome and she's used it ever since. She used it 6 or 7 times yesterday. All when I was within earshot. No joke. Repeats herself A LOT. So hopefully you now understand what we're dealing with here and why we can't tell her about Nannertots just yet (or you know, ever). It's because every day (you think I'm exaggerating, but it would be at least twice a day) we would hear, "Dude, I made bomb Nannertots yesterday." Of course you made bomb Nannertots! Nannertots in and of themselves are "bomb". She uses that phrase a lot too. It's always "that's bomb" or "I made bomb___". I just don't want her to take that away like she takes everything else away. And I think the fact that she doesn't know about them makes them better. If she knew about them and was in on it they just wouldn't taste the same.

We came up with a secret phrase for when we want to retreat to Alex and Michelle's apartment to make Nannertots. We're going to say, "this shit is bananas". You may think that is really weird and not sneaky of us at all but you haven't been around our apartment. There are a lot of very weird things said on a daily basis. I could just be sitting at the table, doing my Italian homework and say, "dude, this shit is bananas!". It will work. And it may even get me a point in Knutes!

Anna Lee and I are going to try and come up with some pranks to pull on her and Kim. She came up with a really good one. There is a 99 euro cent store down the street from us and she saw those things that kids play with where you put this little dinosaur thing in a cup of water and watch it grow. Only she saw a penis shaped one. Kind of gross but it could be fun to slip that into her water bottle one of these days. We're going to have to think of some more. Leave suggestions if you have any!!

Shout out time! Elisabeth, that's awesome about the Terry's chocolate orange! They're so good and they last for quite a long time too! : ) The classes are for everyone but there aren't actually a lot of Italians that go to my school. It's an international school so people come from all over the world but I have yet to meet an Italian from there. Weird.

Anyway, I'm going to end it there. I could go on all day about how she annoys me but I really shouldn't. We'll save some for later. You may think that I am a mean person for this entry. I really hope not. Think about it. I have to live with this person for 3 more months. It's going to be really hard. I might as well have some fun while I'm at it. Also, I'm going to start putting random quotes by Anna Lee at the end of these things. She is funny and the things she says should be shared with the world. Heres the first:

Anna Lee Quote of the Day: In reference to this dress. "That looks like something colloquial women die in."

Gelato count: 9

Nannertot Escapades: 3

Song currently stuck in my head: What else?

A Month Late Update

Went to Mama's Cafe today and got a bagel! What do I rate it? ... about a 8 1/2 to 9. It was quite good. Still not up to Kim's standards because it wasn't New York style (if you are from the South like me or perslaps live in another country where they might have it then a good freezer section bagel would be Sarah Lee). Chewey on the inside and fairly doughy on the outside. I forget if Kim said New York style had a crispy shell or not. Whatevs. Mama's bagel was pretty good and kind of reminded me of bagels from home. And it was a hell of a quest to try and find it too! It's very out of the way for me unfortunately. It's over the Arno via the Ponte alla Carraia which is 2 bridges down from the Ponte Vecchio and quite a few streets down from that. Luckily it's a pretty straight shot from where I live so I don't really need a map. When I started that way I was at the Duomo though and trying to find this one really good panini place. It's quite literally a hole in the wall but the paninos are amazing! I gave up because I couldn't find it and decided to venture over the river for the bagels that I've heard so much about. On my way back home I saw this awesome grocery store that sold a bunch of imported stuff. I found Duncan Hines cake mix and bought the Butter Recipe Fudge because it was on sale for € 3.10 (still a lot of money but it was usually € 5.50! My roommates were pretty excited. At least Anna Lee and Kim were when I showed them. Katie isn't back yet but she is probably going to flip out when she sees. She should probably tell me what her favourite flavour of cake is the next time she sees me so that I can make it for her some time!

So, we last left off after having met Brittany and leaving the horrible experience that was the "cocktail party". I don't really remember day to day after that so we're just going to talk about classes now. My schedule is as follows:

Monday: Intro to Professional Cooking and Italian Language: Beginning

Tuesday: Florence Food and Culture Experience

Wednesday: Contemporary Italian Cooking (dropped) and Italian Language again

Thursday: Wines of the World (added) and Italian Vegetarian Cooking

Intro to Professional Cooking

Got to the school about 20 minutes early and was very glad I did. I was kind of intimidated and there were a lot of other students around. There was a long line at the front desk so I figured I should stand in it like everyone else. The receptionist was pretty but also kind of severe. She spoke fluent Italian to her co-workers and did it beautifully with an enviable accent. She looked bored and a bit annoyed that we weren't just taking care of our own problems and at the fact that we couldn't pay our fees without her. I kind of think she hates me because I had a bit of a problem. I was supposed to be an Apicius student because I'm taking all cooking classes but it said on her information that I was an FUA (Florence University of the Arts. Sister school to Apicius) student. I was a bit confused, asked if I could pay my fees later because I was stupid and didn't bring my credit card and all I had was €90 on me. She said yes and I went over to my class. I saw that everyone was wearing chefs coats so I asked the professor and he told me to just get an apron for today. I went back to the grumpy receptionist and told her what he told me and she said, "The school doesn't loan out aprons- you know what... here" and she handed me two aprons. I guess she didn't want to deal with me anymore. So I was the only dork with an apron on in class. Everyone else looked amazing and professional with their white chef's coats and hats and knife sets. John was in the class and I talked to him in the beginning and told him that I was worried that I was going to get my but kicked but he assured me that I would be fine because it was an intro course. So I stood there in my green sweater and apron with my arms crossed because it was freezing in the classroom. There was a sliding door open or something.

Anyhow, we went around the room and introduced ourselves. In front of me was John from my school in Texas and it turns out he used to be a line cook! I never knew that! He's a big guy, about 6'2" or 3". John is quite nice and I'm glad we have a class together. Next to John was Sam. Sam is about my height with dark hair and square black glasses and he's from Belgium. Next to me is Kate who looked like she was about 24. She has a very soft, kind voice. Originally from the East coast I believe, but has been living in San Fransisco. Is a gardener and kind of reminds me of a hippy. Want to be her friend. Behind me was James from London who I was super excited about for obvious reasons and also a boy from Israel who's name escapes me. The guy from Israel is easily 6'5" and is kind of scary. He has kind of a pointed face and he was observing his knives at the beginning of class. When he introduced himself he said he worked in a restaurant as a cook but decided to get his culinary degree. I guessed that he was going to be really good.

In the middle of class Sam turned around, smiled and said he liked something and pointed to the neck area. I have no idea what he was referring to. Was he making fun of me for not looking like the rest of them and wearing an apron instead of a chefs coat? Was he making fun of the fact that I had a necklace on? I don't really know. He may not have even been making fun of me at all. I have no idea what he said. Whatever. I really started to wish that I had a chefs coat though. They seemed warmer than what I was wearing. And more secure. All buttoned up and such right up to the neck. So anyway, the professor told us to open the cupboard below us and take out everything we saw in there. At this point I started freaking out. "Eff! Are we going to Iron Chef this thing and have to make 16 amazing gourmet courses out of something crazy and weird like pork rinds??" It wasn't though. He was basically just having us see what was down there and where it was supposed to go. We put it all back and he showed us our ingredients and told us what we would be cooking that day. We talked about mussels and the correct way to clean them and then we cooked 3 different recipes with them. One was Impepata di cozze (mussels in a spicey broth. dry white wine, garlic cloves, parsley, and E-V-O-O! There's some pepper and salt to taste but that's pretty much it). It was pretty good. Then there was one that was stuffed with bread crumbs and then baked (Eh. Kind of dry like chewing carpet). Then there was my favourite with a saffron cream sauce. I love saffron (or zafferano). I think it might be my favourite spice. Hard to say though. I grouped with John and Sam and when I joined them at their table Sam said, "you better be good". I kind of smiled but I was like "Crap!" I kind of had a minisode during class because they all looked so much better than I did so I basically started the whole doubting whether I made the right choice and whether or not I'd be able to make it thing again. That isn't fun. Anyway, I did fine and the recipes all turned out quite good.

Next was Italian. Not too much happened except that I walked the wrong way around the Duomo which made me about 10 minutes late. I'm excited to learn Italian though.

Tuesday was Florence Food and Culture Experience which I had with Katie and we had a tasting of Pecorino cheeses (so good!) with pears, bread, and honey. I went home and had that for dinner that night. There was one girl in my class who wasn't there through a programme and had just taken a year off to take cooking classes. She's in Chocolate Artistry. I'm so jealous of her. I started wondering whether I should have done that because it seems like I'm wasting my time in classes that aren't for culinary arts majors. I guess I should explain that. Basically the only professional class I'm taking is my Intro to Professional Cooking. That was the only one I was allowed. I was very limited on my class choices because I'm not a culinary arts major because they don't have culinary arts as a major at my school. My plan is to get my degree in Restaurant Hotel and Institution Management and then go on to get my culinary arts degree but when I see people my age already in culinary school it makes me wonder if I'm just wasting my time. Why not just cut two years off my schooling and go to culinary school now. I don't want to own my own restaurant. I just want to cook. So I should be going to school for that, right? Unfortunately, it's all a bit more complicated than that.

Wednesday was Contemporary Italian Cooking and Italian again. Contemporary Italian cooking was a bust. The class was 2.5 hours and she had some people read the chapter aloud for the first 2. Then we made ground up chickpeas with shrimp, which is, rather lamely, exactly what it sounds like. We ground up chickpeas which took a ridiculous amount of time and then put some olive oil and a shrimp on top. I left without trying it as I think I had a pretty good guess as to what it tasted like. I dropped this class. Thank god.

Thursday was Wines of the World which was intimidating and everyone seems to know a lot about wine. I learned a lot though so hopefully I'll know a lot by the end of it. Italian Vegetarian Cooking was pretty cool. I like my classmates and I have the same teacher for this one as I do for Florence Food and Culture Experience.

Sorry if this was kind of boring again. I will leave a more entertaining post soon. I promise. I've actually typed it all out but am witholding posting it until this one has been up for about a day.

Gelato count: 9

Bagel Face

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I suppose I don't have much of an excuse other than the usual business or whatever. So I last blogged about Heathrow airport and the craziness and stress that ensued there. This time I am going to talk about my trip thus far. First things first: character introductions...

Kim: Age 21. New Jersey. (roommate)

Really nice! First person I met and hung out with. We both like to cook so that's fun. She knows a lot about a lot of things so it's good if you need some quick info on something. Kind of like Wikipedia.

Anna Lee: Age 21. California. (roommate)

How to describe Anna Lee... I don't think there are words other than awesome. She's super nice and easy to talk to. She has very good taste in music. Surfs, plays guitar, marches flute at her college. She's also hilarious. I've listened to more Beatles during this trip than I have my entire life. I like it.

At our first ISA (International Studies Abroad for those of you wondering) meeting we were all very tired because of the jet lag and it was still about 2-5 in the morning according to us and we had just spent the last 13+ hours traveling. Apparently Anna Lee is a very funny tired person because when we were writing down our email adresses she meant to end hers with yahoo.com but instead put hood.com.

Katie: Age 22. California (roommate)

Mama Duck. Very nice and caring. Compliments a lot. Currently being considered for Berkley for law school. Hufflepuff. Epitome of a Hufflepuff actually.

Alex: Age 19. Arkansas (neighbor)

We both have similar backgrounds and family. She's quite funny and I like talking and hanging out with her a lot.

Michelle: Age 21. Pennsylvania (neighbor)

Seemed shy and quiet at first. Not shy or quiet. Awesome and hilarious. She likes to say things like "yeeeaahh, giirrll as a joke. I'm so glad she's living right next door.

Lauren: Age 21. Wisconsin (neighbor)

Very easy to get a long with and nice. Also very pretty so she looks good in everything (damn her). Good for me to hang out with because I can be a bit quiet and if the conversation were left up to me... well... there wouldn't be any. She keeps the conversation going and brings up things to talk about which is good for me because I like to listen. She seems kind of intimidating at first because she is so pretty so you think she might not like you but she really is very nice. She also laughs at my jokes which makes me feel not so much like a dork all the time. She was actually the first ISA person I met (mentioned briefly in the last post).

Kristen: Age 21. Indiana (friend)

She kind of just happened. I think she started talking to Anna Lee and Katie in Rome and we were all about to go explore after the Vatican and she said she wanted to go with us. So glad she did. She turned out to be really awesome. She's nice and pretty and tall and likes to talk about cars with me. Definitely on the approval list.

That's pretty much the main character list. More will be added later (maybe within this post. It really depends on how much I feel like writing). So now it is Monday and it has been 3 weeks since the Great Heathrow Adventure. I am laying on my bed after having the bagel that I purchased on my way home. We will call this place the Snack Bar Anna Di Lomartire Anna Maria (Snack Bar for short) since that is what it is called. Logical, no? That's what I thought... Anyway, I've been craving bagels pretty much since I've been in Florence. What can I say? I freaking love bagels. I should re-title this blog to Wanderings of a Bagel Fiend. It's pretty serious. And none of those crazy bagels either. Plain bagel with plain cream cheese. On a scale of one to 10 I give this particular bagel from the Snack Bar a 5. It was nothing special. I should explain this rating system. 1 is the lowest and is the sweet bagel. Who the hell makes sugary bagels? It's not a doughnut. It's a bagel. Bagels should not be sweet (unless they are under the sweet bagel variety, i.e. cinnamon crunch). But if you are going to have a plain or onion or sesame seed bagel with cream cheese it should not be sweet. It should be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside with a slight saltiness that you can't really notice unless you really think about it slash look for it. I realise I'm no pro on bagels and that people from New York slash New Jersey would probably call me a stupid Texan and think that I have no idea what I'm talking about (that's more or less what Kim said to me). But hey, I have an opinion just like anyone else. If you like your plain bagels to be sweet (then you're a FREAK!) more power to you. Just know that I take your bagel boutique recommendations with a grain of salt (no pun intended. OK, maybe it was intended). So anyway, this particular bagel wasn't that impressive. The bread was too light. It wasn't chewy enough. Not the right consistency slash texture at all. And not much flavour. 5 may be too generous of a rating. After that bagel experience I looked at my map for the other marked bagel shops. Kim and I are going to Mama's Bakery across the Arno tomorrow morning in search of a proper bagel. I also looked at bagel recipes online. I figure if I can't find one that is suitable I will just have to make my own! I wish I was Jewish. I would be a bagel making pro! I wonder if my Jewish relatives in the Netherlands make bagels. Is it rude to ask them? Perslaps if I phrase it differently...

Time for a new subject...

At the beginning of our programme and while we were still getting to know each other there were several planned events for us mostly by the programme but some by the school FUA (Florence University of the Arts). The first of these planned events was a "cocktail party". I put quotes around "cocktail party" because it sounds like a classy sort of thing, no? It was something I was looking forward to. I thought of cute but classy little cocktail dresses and white wine and aperitivo. This was a gross misunderstanding of what it actually was. It was at a club called Space Club which I thought was very odd and should have been the first clue that my expectations were not to be met. Still, there was free food so we were all excited about that and decided to not have dinner when we usually would have so that we could enjoy the free meal. The Space Club ended up being in a dodgy part of town so that was kind of uncomfortable. We went in, checked our coats, went upstairs and found a place to sit. It was kind of crazy how many people showed up. There were tons of people and it was packed. They made some announcements that we didn't really pay attention to and told us that there would be 2 free drinks and that was what the ticket that we were handed at the beginning was for. I didn't really care because I don't drink. I've had a couple sips of my mum or dad's wine on occasion but I'm still learning to like it (I think I'm OK though. Kelsey said she didn't start liking wine until she went to Paris). I started looking around at the people to try and find John (I don't know if I've mentioned before, but John is a boy that goes to my school and decided to study abroad at FUA under a different programme) but I couldn't because there were just so many people. I did keep seeing a tall, very muscular guy though. It wasn't a pretty muscular either. It was the kind where it is very apparent that they spend an absurd amount of time at the gym and care way too much what they look like. And he was wearing a very tight shirt. Like I don't even know how he got his massive arms through it. Maybe very stretchy? I don't know. Anyhow, I was sitting by Anna Lee and I looked at her and said, "I spy a frat douche." "Really? Where? Wait, I love this game. Um... *looks around* That guy." Correct on the first try. He definitely stood out. So then we played with other people and they all got it right too. Fun game. Finally the food was served on a long table which was pushed up against a wall at the back so naturally everyone hoarded that part of the room. I decided to get food with Alex and we went up there and stood behind some people for about 20 minutes before getting really pissed that we weren't moving at all. I inched my way closer to the table only to see that people were just standing and eating off the buffet instead of getting a plate and moving back to there seats. Intelligent. Then I saw frat douch head into the insanity and emerge with a plate loaded with food and heard someone say, "dude, that's like your third plate" to which he replied by smiling like a buffoon and nodding stupidly. Third time? Third time and we are still standing there not getting any food? What the hell? Stupid frat douche! I was hungry and wanted to punch him in the face. Alex and I thought maybe the throng of people would be weak at its side so we decided to battle to the corner of the table. No dice. There was still a thick crowd of people trying the same thing we were. We did manage to find Katie, Anna Lee, and Kristen though. They said the wine was gross. We started talking about how disorganised the whole event was to some people from another group and talked about leaving. One girl was totally down for leaving. When I mentioned that I thought we might peace out soon she looked at me with huge eyes and said she wanted to come. I was kind of taken aback by her forwardness but I definitely understood. We were all hungry and were being denied food by our own kind. Kristen managed to get a plate of food with her long arms and offered us some of the food. I snatched a piece of bread and gave half to Anna Lee. We were both very excited and took a bite. Then we slowed our chewing and looked at each other. The bread had no flavour. Actually it was like a flavour destroyer. All previous flavour you may have had in your mouth was obliterated with one bite of the bread. I looked around and saw similar expressions to my own. The food was horrible. "Alright, I'm done. Who wants to leave?" I asked. Everyone raised their hands. We decided we would rather leave and pay to eat rather than maybe get to eat the gross food. So we got our coats and I gave some guy my free drink card and he was happy and then we peaced out.

The girl who was so adamant to go with us turned out to be called Brittany from New Jersey. She seemed friendly enough and led us on a 40 minute quest to find a very elusive restaurant of hers. I'm easily distracted from hunger if I'm doing something interesting so this didn't bother me too much but everyone else was getting really annoyed. She kept saying, "Oh it's just over there" but we just kept walking. Over the Arno, down some streets, made random turns. It was like a walking tour of the city. Except more brisk and it lacked history and information. Finally Anna Lee, Kristen, Michelle, and Alex all stopped at a restaurant with a decently priced menu and said point blank that we were eating there. I had a very good pasta dish and talked to Brittany a little more and it turns out that we are both into Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and Torchwood. Needless to say I was excited that I had found another nerd to relate to. We went home at around 11 and Katie and I were both excited that we had made a new friend.

That's all for now, I'm afraid. I'm tired and have to be well rested for the bagel hunt tomorrow morning. Also, this post is long enough. Sorry for being so detailed. I jotted down so much every day and planned to have a kind of B.E.D.W.I.I. (Blog Every Day While In Italy) but that hasn't happened. It doesn't really matter. Mainly it was just pointless detail that you didn't need and would probably find boring. Let me know if you do. Or I suppose if you don't read/ comment at all that will just be a hint that I did bore you. I'll try and make it more interesting and if you have any tips on how to do so then they would be appreciated. : )

Gelato count: 8

Favourite Beatles song: Please Please Me

In case of an emergency, act like a flamingo and hop to your nearest index card.

In reference to the exit signs in the UK.

Monday, 25 January 2010

We left in plenty of time to get to the airport as far as international flight standards go. We decided to go to Panera Bread and my mum knew exactly what she wanted so she ordered as soon as she got in there. I didn't really have time to look at the extensive menu and decide what I wanted so I kind of just panicked and blurted out something about a roast beef sandwich. Then I inwardly cursed myself for not thinking about the amazing fuji apple salad they have there. I got a bagel for the flight to make up for it though. We got to the airport and just hung around after checking in. My mum was getting kind of emotional. I thought it was going to be a lot harder to leave them behind but I was so ready to get away from home. That break was way too long. I got up to my gate and sat near some British people and dropped some eaves on them. It was fun to listen to their accent. I should fly British Airways all the time. The plane had two levels (crazy!! It's even bigger than usual and it's going over a freaking COLD ocean! I'm not OK with this logic!) and the entertainment was awesome. They had so many movie. I watched Picture of Dorian Gray which was really freaky. Ben Barnes was hot though (duh!). Then I watched an episode of The Inbetweeners so that I could recover from that crazy movie before I slept. Slept for about 2 hours or something (I can't sleep for very long on planes. The only reason I got to sleep at all probably was because I dry swallowed some Benadryl) then woke up and watched 30 Rock. Then listened to my iPod. I sat by a nice Indian woman who was very interested in the fact that I was studying in Florence.

I landed in London and went to Terminal 5. As soon as I got out of security and into the main part of the terminal I saw a beautiful white Audi R8 on display for contest directly in front of me. I knew London was for me. A man who went before me through security in a wheel chair asked the airport attendent helping him what kind of car it was and I answered for him and we exchanged how gorgeous it was. Apparently he had a car waiting for him but he asked if they could take that one instead. Awesome.

After gazing at the car from all angles I pulled myself away so that I wouldn't sign up for the contest to win it (you had to live in the UK and I'm sure there were a billion things you had to sign up/pay for if you were to win it). Then I tried to find service in various parts of the airport. I found it very odd that I didn't find any and that the time was still on American time but I thought maybe the phone was just acclimating to the complete change of continent and time zone. I walked around for a bit, bought some British candy (2 huge Galaxy bars, 2 KitKat bars, and 1 Terry's chocolate orange) and some Lemsip (for when I get a cold which I undoubtedly will). I wandered around the bookstore and contemplated purchasing an HP book in paperback because I started missing it like crazy at the airport with all the awesome Brits (I resisted). Then I saw a cool football store and almost bought a cool West Ham scarf but I decided I should keep looking around. Then I found a mini apple store and decided to ask why my phone wasn't working. The guy said it was probably because AT&T hadn't turned on my international service yet. Awesome. So I kind of started to freak out because I was supposed to call my parents the moment I landed and I didn't want them to freak out. It was about 2 in the morning there but I knew my dad especially was probably getting really worried. The man at the apple store asked my if I knew my AT&T information and led me to one of the apple computers so that I could check some stuff. Unfortunately AT&T facts were something I neglected to memorise and prepare for before I left. So I just emailed my parents and told them I was OK but I knew that even though they get email to their phones they probably wouldn't check it because they were waiting for a call. Then I decided there was really nothing I could do so I decided to enjoy London/Heathrow airport while I was there and I went to get a bagel. Twas a very good bagel and I drank my strawberry Ribena (oh. My. Gosh. Why do we not have this in America?!?) with it. Then I got a BRILLIANT idea (I think it was the bagel/ribena combination). I would go back to the apple store, get on one of the beautiful macs, get on facebook even though I think it's stupid and hate when people get on social networking sites when they're in a public place/ computer store (these were exceptional circumstances) and try and find someone online so that they could text my parents and tell them that I was alive and to check their email. Unfortunately, there was a flaw in this brilliant plan. I literally tried all of the computers in the store and not one of them would let me get onto facebook (all for different reasons). So I was at a loss of what to do again and they finally posted my gate number on the screens (for some reason at Heathrow they wait til 30ish minutes before the plane takes off to post the gate numbers. I have no idea why they do this. It is not a secret code. It is a gate number) so I had to find my gate. I sat down and got out my computer to see if I could get online. I had to pay £2 and sign up but I did it anyway. I was desperate. I got on facebook and of course it was 4 in the morning back home so I wasn't surprised when I saw that the 8 people who were "online" were idle at the moment. I started typing up a message to my siblings so that in case they got on before work they could tell my parents that I was OK but I knew that my dad would probably be half way to London by that time (and really, they don't need any more harassment at the moment. Their terror level is high enough at the moment without his "help"). Then Anthony IMed me on FB chat and asked where I was. Thank goodness! I felt a huge relief sink over me. I told him where I was and explained my problem and how I only had like 4 minutes of internet and he told me it was no problem and that he would text them. He's basically my hero. So I boarded my plane kind of at the last minute because my gate area was a popular one and I didn't realise that my flight had been called. I was so relieved. I pretty much love him for that. He's so awesome. I do miss him and his craziness and playing capture the flag with all those guys. I was kind of sad that I had to miss my last semester hanging out with him since he's graduating in May. Hopefully I'll get to see him or something.

So anyway, I slept a little on the flight while I listened to Glee and got to Rome about 2 which is when the ISA shuttle to the hotel left. I didn't really know how I wanted to get to the hotel but I knew that a cab would be my last resort because I didn't really want to spend that kind of money. I asked a man if there was a shuttle or something and he asked me where I wanted to go and I told him the hotel name and he told me he would be leaving in 10 minutes. I went to sit down and adjust my purse and keychain my backpack zippers together and this girl came up and sat down. I asked her if she was taking the shuttle and she said yes. She apparently had to get to the university before 5 or she would be locked out so she was kind of stressed and thinking about taking the train. We ended up taking the shuttle which was just a regular van and two men that had nothing to do with the hotel or airport but just drove people around fro €20. I was kind of nervous but the van was completely full so it was more reassuring that I wasn't alone. Driving through Rome was so awesome. At first it didn't look like anything special. No ancient ruins or anything like that. Just a normal city. The trees were awesome though. They were really tall and didn't sprout branches or green until the very top so they kind of reminded me of Pandora trees from Avatar. It made me think of Kelsey. Our driver occasionally pointed stuff out as we passed it and we passed under an aquaduct and that was pretty cool. I guess I looked like kind of a dork because I saw Carrie (the girl going to uni there) smiled and asked me if it was my first time in Rome. She had been there once or twice before if I remember correctly. We drove right by the Colosseum and I saw some random Roman soldiers walking around. I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed but I didn't want to point it out in case it was just a normal thing and I looked like an idiot. My hotel was the first stop and turned out to be right down the street from the Colosseum. I got out, paid, got my bag and went into the hotel to check in. I saw another girl with a suitcase and she had an ISA tag on so I said hi. We checked in and it turned out that her name was Lauren as well. Then we went our separate ways when we got to our floor and I tried to stop smiling (out of excitement) long enough to open the door and meet my new roommates. I was kind of nervous. I got in there and said hi to them, acclimated myself a bit and laid down for the first time in hours.

We had a meeting later and it was so hard to sit through and not fall asleep. I was so tired. I definitely nodded off a few times. There was one boy that kept nodding off and one of the ISA people had to keep coming to wake him up. At one point he was so close to falling asleep on his friend's shoulder next to him. That would have been really fun to see. Then we went on a bus tour of the city and I definitely fell asleep. They kept telling us that they knew we had been up for a really long time but that we were in Rome and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's not that we didn't all know that. We did. I would have loved to stay awake. I was really tried. It got to the point where I could literally not stay awake even though I was trying my absolute hardest. I've only been tired like that one other time in my life. I pulled an all-nighter for Travel and Tourism (that class was so not worth losing sleep over) and I literally could not stay awake in my speech class even though I was in the front row while a group was giving a speech and I was telling myself to stay awake. It was ridiculous. I literally laid down and fell straight asleep. I don't remember ever falling asleep so quickly before in my life.

OK. That's it for tonight. This whole first day thing actually happened about a week ago but I'm just now posting it because I didn't have internet at all in Rome and I've been quite busy lately. I am in Florence after all. Sorry if this was way too long and not entertaining in the slightest. I will try and post more (but not this detailed. Don't worry) again soon. Seeya!! : )

Gelato count: 6

A break from packing

Hello!! It has been almost a month since I've last posted. Whoops! I've just got back from dinner at my favourite Indian food restaurant with my family and am pleased to say that they have reverted back to their old recipe for safron pilaf rice. Thank goodness! I was worried there for a second. Seriously, I could survive off of that rice for months. It's amazing. Indian food was my request for a last meal at home. I think it was a good choice. In the last week I've indulged in all my favourites. Orange chicken from Panda Express, Chipotle burrito, Indian food and I made my mum's enchiladas. I am pretty happy. I also got to meet Danielle's school friends including the infamous aforementioned Elliot. They are all really cool. I was pleased to find out that they are all (except for Elliot) Harry Potter fans! That was a nice surprise and I was a little shocked that Dan hadn't mentioned this most important tidbit when talking about them.

I also got in an accident since my last post. I was in my mum's Subaru and I was driving to switch cars with her or something when I drove by the Retirement Home complex in my neighborhood. I was listening to Josh Groban when all of a sudden I saw this huge white thing a couple feet from my head. I tried to swerve out of the way but there wasn't really room or time so she nailed the side of my mum's car. I was really shocked and I got out to call my mum and happened to catch some of the other girl's tearful conversation with her dad. She mentioned something about her fifth time. Fifth time?! That was my first wreck and I'm 20! She didn't look old enough to have been in four previous accidents. She looked younger than I did. We were both fine and it was very apparent that it wasn't my fault. I was kind of shaken up after and I always drive really slowly when I drive by there. Just in case. There's also this big sign by the entrance/exit of the complex so I'm always afraid that she's hiding behind there waiting for me in some bigger, more sturdy vehicle.

*Insert Transition here*

So I'm Italy bound. It has finally arrived! I'm really excited. I'm even excited to fly although I'm sure all the excitement will vanish only to be replaced with apprehension once we're getting ready to takeoff. I hate flying. I don't know if I've mentioned that before or not. I really hate it though. I always manage to tell myself that it's not that bad and that people do it all the time without anything going wrong but when we actually start getting up in the air I'm like, "This is the stupidest thing in the world. Really. What the hell are we doing up here?! This is so high! This thing is way to big! And it's carrying HUMAN LIVES! WHY?!?". I plan to pop some Benadryl once I'm up there though so that I can sleep. It's British Airways so that's cool. I was going to fly on Lufstansa and I was really excited for that because that just sounds awesome, but then we booked with a different agency. I'm also putting together a playlist of all my Harry Potter music. Well, all the good songs at least. So many of them are just repeats. It's Year 1-6. It will be epically long. I love the POA soundtrack. It was very different for John Williams yet you could still tell it was him. When you listen to them all together you can totally tell that he's the best. There's just no comparison. He's amazing.

I'm really excited about getting there. I'm landing in Heathrow and I'm going to get some British chocolate! I haven't had a Mars Bar in forever! I also want to get a pasty. Danielle said the might have them in the airport. I should mention that she used to live in London. She lived there for about two years in high school. She's also studying abroad in France the same time I'm studying in Italy so we are going to meet up a couple times. We are definitely meeting in London because I've seen most of the touristy stuff and I really just want the normal experience. She's going to take me to see her old house in Surrey named Maryhill (they name their houses in England. So cool! I want to name my house) and to Tesco (I am really freaking excited about going to Tesco. If you don't know, it's basically their main grocery store. I am probably more excited for this than I should be) and to he favourite Indian food restaurant. It will be really cool to see her while I'm there. I'm happy that I'll get to see her London life. We might even see her school! I'm also going to see a West Ham match while I'm there as well as visit the Who Shop (Doctor Who). The Who Shop is right next to the Boleyn Ground! Seriously. It's like it was destiny. Two of my favourite things on the same street!

I suppose I should talk more about Italy as that is where I will be spending most of my time. I arrive in Rome on Monday and I meet with the rest of the group at a hotel where we stay and have orientation and stuff like that. We are touring Rome and get to have free time and stuff there. I can't wait to meet my roommates! One is from New Jersey and two are from San Diego, I believe. One is a surfer! I used to be obsessed with surfing and wanted to learn to surf SO bad when I was younger. Unfortunately that dream died because I realised that I was in the wrong area of the world for that most exciting activity. I did get surfing lessons when I went to Hawaii though. It was really awesome. We saw turtles and I learned pretty fast! But then I graduated to a shorter board and fell every time. Those short boards are freaking hard! And this one was only a little bit shorter!

OK. That'll have to be it for the pre-departure blog post. Sorry that wasn't very interesting, but I'm pretty tired. Buona Note!

Buon Natale!

That's Merry Christmas in Italian! : ) Danielle and I kind of do this thing where I say something in French (because she's fluent) and she answers back in Italian (which I am attempting to learn). I realise that this seems a bit backwards. Oh well! It's helping us both! By the way, Merry Christmas in French is Joyeux Noël.

I suppose since I've written 3 or 4 posts about Christmas since October I should probably write one on Christmas. As you know if you've read the previous Christmas posts, I get freaking excited about this holiday. Some might even say to a fault. Whateva! As you may also recall from the aforementioned posts, my sister and I were planning a prank on my other sister while she is away with the in-laws. I'll just remind you. My sister is very particular about her Christmas decorations. She hates coloured lights and she hates those big inflatable decorations that sometimes adorn her neighbor's yards. So, naturally, my sister, Megan and I were going to... redecorate her house for her while she was away. Operation Anti-Grinch. Well... that didn't happen.

This next part of the post is rather sad despite the joyous holiday and you may not want to read it. I completely understand if you skip over it (how will I know, anyhow?) or if you just stop reading at this point. I will let you know in BIG BOLD, RED LETTERS when it is OK to carry on.

Sad part:

The reason we did not carry on with the genius that is Operation Anti-Grinch is because I came to my sister's home and discovered something rather unpleasant. You see, I've been house-sitting while they are away, which includes feeding the animals, checking the mail and so on. I woke up early yesterday (Christmas Eve) because I had an errand to run with my dad. I had come in late the night before so I had fed the dog, Holly at around midnight. I was only going to be gone for two hours at the most so I decided to feed her when I got back. So I got back and went over to feed her and get some stuff to take back to my house. In hindsight, I should have realised that there was something wrong in the beginning because I didn't here her bark when I pulled up. She didn't come to the door when I got in so I figured she was off somewhere in the yard. I opened the door and she didn't come. She didn't come when I called her which I thought was odd. She is very hyper and gets really happy and excited when she sees anyone. So I went to one side of house and saw that she wasn't there. Then I went to the other side and found her. I smiled and called her name because I thought she was just being lazy or had wanted me to come find her. Then I started to get worried when she didn't move. Long story short, I started crying and ran back inside to get my phone and call my dad. He came over, my mum came over, my brother came over, and soon, everyone sans the owners of the house and it's animals were over. I started to get really scared that it was my fault for not feeding her even though I thought she would be fine cause she had just eaten late. I thought maybe it was something I had done and I felt like running away and never coming back. She was only two years old. A puppy still.

Conflicted part:

Everyone assured me that it wasn't my fault and that Great Danes' are susceptible to all sorts of problems because they are so big and that it was probably a heart attack. That just made me angry. Yeah, I'll just say it. I was really, really angry at... wait for it... God. That's right. I was pissed. Sometimes (most of the time if not all the time) I have no idea what is going on with him. He does things that don't makes sense or maybe they just don't make sense to my tiny, stupid, human brain. But really, why does he take things away. Why does he take people away. Why do little kids have cancer. Why would my sister have to go through ANOTHER loss. She had a little black cat named Cole and he became really sick when he was just a kitten and died. And then she had a little Australian Shepherd puppy named Bailey and it turned out that she had been born with a sickeness and died too. Why, in Gods name would that happen? What is the point? I understand that we don't have a perfect world, but really? Some people are trying to make it better. This may seem really harsh and sacreligous or whatever, but it seems like God isn't trying to make it better. It's like he gave up on us completely. Like he got bored of his toys and gave them away. I've heard that bad things come from Satan and that everything good comes from God. Maybe that's true. Maybe it isn't. If it is true then I think God has a say in what bad things do carry out and what does not. I think he can stop them. He just doesn't. I have a lot to be thankful for. I know that. I just have a really hard time being thankful when know he can take it away in the blink of an eye. And for what? I don't know. I would never know why. In my 20 years of life I haven't had to deal with many hardships. I've had two dogs die and a dog run away (also a couple hamsters, a mouse, and a gerbil). I've never dealt with a family member or friend die before. Honestly I don't know if I could handle it. When I was little my dad wasn't around that much. He was a coach along with a running a constructions business and would go on trips and stuff like that a lot. So my mum was my best friend. She was kind of my everything. I was terrified of losing her. I would get really upset whenever she would have to go somewhere without me because I thought God would take her away from me in some horrible car accident or something. I insisted on driving in the car with her everywhere she went because I thought God wouldn't hurt a child and that she would be OK as long as she was with me. I let go a little as I grew older. Sometimes, though, I would get really bad feelings about public and crowded places. I was kind of agoraphobic and would cry and get scared that something would happen to my parents when we went out. So yeah. There's my past as well as my complete misunderstanding of God. I guess I still don't understand him so that hasn't really changed.

So not the best Christmas Eve ever. It was really hard to see and think about and I would start crying randomly and get really sad. I thought about how she was still laying outside while we were all inside thinking about what to do and how she might be cold. Then I thought maybe she was just sleeping really deeply and that I would look over to the door and see her standing there, excited that everyone had come over. I also kept rethinking how she died. Maybe it wasn't a heart attack. Like I said, she was still a puppy and she wasn't very obedient all the time. She was also very big and couldn't control her excitement all the time so she would hit you with her tail or step on your feet on accident. My dad didn't particularly like her because he thought she would accidentally hurt the baby. Not everyone was particularly patient with her all the time. She sure did love everyone though. No matter what. I wondered if she started to think that people didn't like her so she just lay down and decided to stop living. I couldn't sleep last night because I had a really bad stomach ache and I thought there was something wrong with me and that I would just die in my sleep. I don't really want to die right now.

OK, THE SAD PART IS OVER. YOU CAN READ NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T GONE AWAY!!

This morning I woke up and made these little baked things of my Grandmother's invention called French Puffs. They are basically mini muffins that you dip in melted butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar. Then I made jam filled muffins. Your basic muffin recipe with Jam in the middle. Everyone seemed to like them so that was good. And of course we had my mum's breakfast casserole. Christmas brunch is definitely my favourite meal of the year. We exchanged gifts and I got money for my trip which was nice as well as a really pretty and soft pashmina from my dad.

I am getting re-excited for the Doctor Who special that will be airing tomorrow for all of us Americans. The Brits get it today. Just another reason to add to the list of why Lauren should move to England. I was beside myself with excitement a couple days ago before all of that Christmas Eve stuff happened. I am going to go watch season 3 in attempts to get myself super excited again. Tomorrow I am heading to Tulsa, OK to see my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin. They kind of had a blizzard up there yesterday so hopefully all of the snow won't be melted and I'll get to play in it and take a walk and that fun stuff. I love snow. <--Another reason to NOT live in Texas! Or at least my area of Texas.

Happy Christmas!! : )

It's time for another Christmas blog, I think

Hello! For some reason I thought I had already posted what I am about to talk about, but that must have been some weird dream or something.

I went home for Thanksgiving and it was a lot of fun. I watched Glee with some of my closest friends. I also talked about Europe with my family on Thanksgiving day and now my sister Whitney really wants to go. My mum and I were discussing plans and she was listening and she was like, "I've been meaning to go to Italy". Then later she came up to her husband, Jamie while he was talking to my sisters in law and I and said, "Honey, two things: First, we're going to Italy in May, and second, look what mum and dad got us!" (something for Caroline). She is funny. So, Whitney and Jamie are most likely going as well as my other sister Megan and her best friend Nelda who is pretty much an unofficial member of our family. I'm not sure about Liam and Lorrie.

Since then I've watched a ridiculous amount of Doctor Who as well as ordered two DW books. Also, it snowed on Tuesday and today. Tuesday was more of a rain snow and it was very wet, but it was definitely white and it was definitely cold. After having breakfast with my roommate I went on a detour back to my dorm to see the two known Camaros in the car park because I knew they would look awesome in the snow, and as a result of this detour had to use every single free surface in my room to dry out my very wet slash cold clothes. Today, however, the snow was of the dry variety and didn't stick to the ground as much. It was very pretty though and I realised for the first time that snowflakes are indeed all different from each other. I thought that was just a myth! It's beautiful and I stood there outside on the sidewalk holding my red glove up to my face with my mouth hanging open, looking like an idiot. I was just so enthralled. It was glittery and amazing. I want more of it!

My friend Kelli recently posted a Christmas blog which inspired this one. You should read it. In it she talked about Elf and how he made the snowflake cutouts and decorated the store in them. After reading this, I got up, looked at my room and realised how sparsely decorated it is. I have half a line of twinkly lights which only take care of half of my wall space (that is only a quarter of my room that has twinkly lights!!) and red tinsel garland stuff with golden baubles (Gryffindor colours) and candy canes hanging on them. Kind of pathetic. I looked down at my incapacitated printer and the pile of unused, unopened white printer paper on top. It will be used for good.

Yesterday was Carol of the Lights at my school. We all went outside to watch the campus Christmas lights come on all at once. It was cold and I layered a lot! I wore two pairs of jeans. Two pairs! I didn't even know that was possible! I also wore my new khaki trench coat that makes me feel like a detective and my new fleece gloves which are very soft and I never want to take them off.

That is it. That was kind of pathetic, but I am very tired. This concludes two very late nights in a row for me and I am not very coherent as a result. It is also very cold in my room at the moment and my mac mouse isn't registering my touch. It's like I have dead person hands. Goodnight.

You should watch this video. : )

Currently Reading:

Sadly, nothing at the moment. My DW books were supposed to be in by now. I do hope nothing has happened to them.

Currently Listening:

It's Snowing by Catchlove. Fitting, given the very cold circumstances. : )

Also, Somebody to Love from the cast of Glee. I keep rewatching the video on YouTube, but I think I'm going to invest in the soundtrack fairly soon (like early tomorrow) so that I don't have to watch Finn's awkward dancing.

19 days, 15 hours, and 57 minutes until Christmas!!