Gioca di Calcio!

This is going to be a short entry because io sono molta stanca!

So, since today was a national holiday, we spent it being kind of lazy. I didn't see anything too festive, unfortunately. However, there was a soccer game in the evening that was very fun. The game was a tie (0 to 0), so emotions didn't run too wild. Also, a sketchy man handed me this card as everyone around me cheered and laughed:

Translation: "I don't have your number. You call me?"

Several issues with this:

1. This card was very worn, and had clearly been recycled several times.

2. This man is old enough to be my father.

3. The man was also wearing a Confederate flag on his head like a bandana.

4. What kind of man knows that he is going to distribute so many numbers, that he has a need to produce cheesy business cards?

Although, I have to admit, it was pretty funny. The man then came down to where we were sitting and handed me a map with an address to a sketchy nightclub (/possible strip club?) he owns and offered me and my "ragazze" friends 50% off of the cover charge...I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I probably won't be making an appearance.

So, in other news, I stuffed my face again today with pounds of food. Thank goodness for the thirty minute walk to class everyday! The dish of the day today was from one of the local gelateries. It was a homemade ice cream bar--"niocciole," or hazlenut. Here is a picture of it nearly consumed:

YUM!

First day of classes tomorrow. Buonanotte! 

So, basically, this is going to be EPIC.

Yesterday was the first day of the program, which means that it was the first day that I got to meet all of the students with whom I will be studying and hanging out for the rest of the month! Everyone is SO cool, very relaxed, fun, and nice. The program director and assistants are VERY helpful, and just awesome in general. So, this is pretty much going to be the greatest trip ever!

I have learned so much about the culture and language in even three days. It's amazing how quickly you can learn by just being immersed in something. My italian is still extremely mediocre, but I have high hopes! I think that once classes start, I will get more accustomed to the different tenses, and maybe even the slang words and phrases. 

I definitely need to grow familiar with the phrase, "I am not interested," because the Italian men are BEYOND forward. Never have I ever heard more cat calls and shouts out of car windows. I was warned that they would be like this, but I really had no idea. It must be the fact that it is painfully obvious that I am an American. Maybe I should work on that...haha. 

Also...I don't know if I can handle the way the Italians eat. It is like a dream come true, but on a level so high that it is almost intimidating. I don't really understand how they are all so thin. We had a group lunch and dinner yesterday at a very authentic and delicious restaurant called, "I tre Farfalli" (The Three Butterflies). The food was so excellent, but I found that I was completely full after the antipasti! The cuisine here is so full of bread and pastas, that I don't understand how anyone could possibly fit all of that in and still have room for the meats. Apparently, they don't usually eat that way, but I was still shocked. The food is EXCELLENT, to say the least. 

I think I am going to start choosing a favorite dish of the day, and posting it here. My favorite dish of the day yesterday was the fondue-like dip. I don't know what kind of cheese it was, but it was white, and mixed with some kind of grainy substance. The fondue was served with fried bread, which was also delicious. This was one of the many small dishes that were served during the first course (the others included eggplant parmesan, some potato and ham dish, green beans, cured proscuitto, olives...you name it). 

After this, I was full. Like...really full. Then, they brought out the pasta. Holy hell. GIANT dishes full of the most delicious looking pasta I had ever seen. My favorite was the cheesy, creamy, tomato-y pasta. You can see me stuffing my face with it below:

The other girl in the picture is in my program as well. She is stuffing her face with the pasta al pomodoro e salsiccia! Delizioso.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was great. They had live music, which was so fun. In between courses (there was a whole course after the pasta even...I just can't write about it because I was so full, I couldn't even look at the food), we all got up and danced to the music. The waiters and hosts joined us as well...it was pretty awesome. Also, a guy from Bangladesh selling roses came into the restaurant and joined us dancing as well. I had befriended him the night before. He seems like a regular around town. He gave me a free rose because I  was able to have a full conversation with him in Italian. It was pretty cool.

So, I am going to go eat some fresh local peaches from the market (They are delicious and epic, and I bought about a dozen for only one Euro...$1.40 in America...molto bene!) and maybe grab a cappuccino before I head out to lunch and then the beach. Today, we don't have class, because it is a national holiday in Italy. I will try to take some pictures if I see any noteworthy festivities.

And so, I leave you with this picture of some of the people from the program at the restuarant!!

Ciao!

A few photographs...

It looks like a painting, but it's really the view from the plane as we approached Milan...nbd ;-)

They have this here.......AND it's duty free....

MAMMA MIA!!!!

The following pictures were taken from my Italian phrase-book:

........it goes on

...just wait...

...yeah. So I'm gonna go ahead and say that if you need to be reading these out of a phrase-book, you shouldn't be doing whatever it is that you are doing........

The view from the balcony attached to my room. It has character!

So, basically, I am all moved in. Almost all of the roommates are here, they are all cool, and I spent half of the day walking around town with one of them searching for Wi-Fi with (very expensive) success! So, I will be able to stay connected! YAY!

Now, off to eat a second dinner...why not?

Things that I have already learned before even arriving at my final destination...

1. Charles De Gaulle airport (in Paris) is the most poorly organized airport in the world. If you ever plan on connecting here, be sure to allow for a 45 to 60-minute bus tour of the entire terminal before you can get even close to your gate. And wear sprinting shoes.

2. Italian airport food is better than American restaurant food......

3. I really need to work on my Italian....like...a LOT.

4. Don't watch "The Blue Valentine" unless you want to spend the rest of your life depressed (I made this mistake on one of the flights).

5. Everyone in Europe is attractive. EVERYONE.

6. Asking for a glass of wine on your 7:00 am flight is not normal. Just because it is 1:00 am to you, and you spent the past two hours sprinting for your life, does not make it socially acceptable or okay at all.

7. Italy is freaking SWEET!

...

And it begins...

So, I am headed off to Italy for a month and then some. This is obviously a great adventure upon which I am about to embark, and I am going to have a lot to talk about (even more than I usually do...which is really saying something). Since I feel the incessant need to post internet updates on my daily experiences, I decided to keep a blog here on my experiences, rather than annoy people with pages upon pages worth of Facebook status updates (I still haven't caved in to the world of "Tweeting").

...So, tomorrow, it will begin! My flight leaves Dulles at 4:40 pm. This is the farthest I have ever traveled away from home without a parent tagging along. Hopefully I will make all of my connections, and hopefully I won't encounter any painfully awkward TSA security experiences (yeah...I am referencing THAT story...if you haven't heard it already, you probably shouldn't).

My goals for this trip:

- Actually learn Italian. For real.
- Become somewhat of a wine connoisseur
- Maybe ride a Vespa? This one might eventually be removed from the list, depending on my health insurance...
- Make Italian friends
- Eat lots of pasta without gaining a ba-jillion pounds
- MAYBE get a liiiiitle tan. MAYBE.
- Learn about the Italian culture in a way where I get to come home and explain it to my friends and feel really cool
- Avoid extended contact with the Mafia
- Avoid kidnapping

...The list will go on later.

Here we go!!

Arrivederci, America!