Sunday, November 20, 2011

Beware of the Balls

Ciao tutti (hello everyone)! It's me again... I am happy to report that I am wrapping up my second week here in Italia! I have also just completed my first week at Via Lingua. Wow, it feels a little awkward to be back in school. Lord knows I didn't apply myself as much as I should have back at ol' NMSU, but I am certainly doing my darndest to be a good student for the next 3 weeks! I CAN DO THIS!

Anyway, a lot has happened in the last week... let's see if I can't get everyone (my one subscriber and my mother) up to date! Last Friday, Andrea's former roommate, Madeline, and her boyfriend, Paul, came down from Valdagno, Italy for the weekend. Madeline's birthday was a few days before and Paul wanted to surprise her with a trip to Florence and then a day trip to the truffle festival. Yes, I said truffle... Paul is from the UK- he's a little reserved, but sarcastic and Madeline is from Victoria, TX and can be best described as a bit of a spit-fire. Any-who, wonderful couple and I love them both! We basically spent the weekend eating, going out, eating the amazing cheese and butter with truffles that M & P brought back from the truffle festival, going out some more, and.... eating. However, our last meal together was on Sunday night and, as far as I'm concerned, is going to be ever so hard to beat. I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but my roommate is quite the chef. He spent all day Sunday preparing to make pizza for a group of 8 people. This was quite a process; homemade dough, fried potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, sausage, mushrooms, onions, the list goes on and on. It was seriously amazing. Definitely the BEST pizza I have ever had! On the other hand, the best comment of the day went to Andrea when he warned Madeline and I to "Beware of the balls!" - balls of dough, that is, that were rising on the kitchen table... priceless. (Check out my pictures on FB and try to imagine, although it won't be possible, the most glorious meal).

Okay, now that I'm done drooling, I can tell you a little bit about school. My class consists of about 12 people, mostly American, but also 1 woman from Holland, 1 from Canada, and even 1 from right here in Florence. When the instructors said that this 4 week course would be intensive they weren't kidding. It's been a ton of information to take in, but it's in a very organized format, exactly the format that I will be teaching in, and actually rather interesting. I think I've even been enjoying it a little! Yay me! My favorite part about school is its location. I love that I get to walk over the Ponte Santa Trinita while gazing at the Ponte Vecchio every day (these are bridges btw so look them up on google now if you don't know what I'm talking about... seriously GO). I also pass by all of the top designer stores: Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc. as I stroll down Via de' Tornabuoni on my way to class. A-MA-ZING. Also, this past Thursday there was a fresh flower market in the Piazza della Reppublica, which is where Via Lingua is located. Sooo beautiful! I can't believe I live here! (Fyi- I was unaware that this would be here so I don't have any pictures, but if it's there again this week I will be prepared).

Something that I'm really looking forward to in the coming weeks is the Christmas festival in the Piazza Santa Croce. It starts on November 30th and everyone has already been talking about it. I'm not really sure what to expect yet, but I'm still excited to attend. Speaking of Christmas and shopping, one of my classmates and I (hi Erica!) went on a little adventure yesterday to the local IKEA (pronounced e-KAY-ah in Italy). This was seriously a project. We started out at 3:30 pm and headed towards the Stazione Centrale di Santa Maria Novella (train station). Across the street were several bus stops, one of which was the free bus to IKEA. Now, I assumed that it would be a clearly marked location. I think we all know where assuming got me... I'm telling you this sign couldn't have been more vague and to top it off had been damaged a little by the rain. It looked like a freakin' water color painting. At least we found it. Of course we were 30 minutes early, so, we decided to form our own 'occupy IKEA' along with the 15 other people that were there waiting. Finally the bus arrived and 20 minutes later we were at IKEA! It was my first IKEA experience and, though it may not be my last, I'm probably not going again any time soon. But I did make it home with a new shower curtain, a new candle and a lint roller! By 7 o'clock I was home and just in time for Chef Andrea to make me some dinner! Fabulous!

Anyway... I'm clearly in a very wordy mood tonight, so I'll try harder not to let so much time pass in between posts! Until next time...

Ciao,

Abby

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