One Month Anniversary!

I am back and loaded with a ton of stuff to tell you about. It seem like forever since I have blogged but thats a good thing! That means I have been keeping busy and not letting myself get homesick. The person I am homesick the most for is Petey (sorry family).  But I can talk to all of you and you know how to read. Petey can't read, I tried to teach him when he went to college but all he wanted to do was hang out with his friends. Plus, he gets super confused when I skype him and tries to run behind the computer to see me. So sad! I bet you are all like "Enough about the stupid dog! Lets hear about Italy!" Here goes:

Warning: I do not know how to rotate videos so you will have to turn your computer or head sideways. Sorry!

Pasta Making
The other night, the director of our program took us to a cute little restaurant to make handmade pasta with what had to be the oldest pasta maker in the world. There were 3 generations of women there making pasta.  It was actually pretty neat getting to see how things were made start to finish. We made tagliatelle, tortellini, farfalle (bow-ties, but translates as butterflies) and another type of tube pasta that I forget the name. Everyone got a chance to make some if they wanted to. Anyways, we were at the restaurant for 4 hours making pasta and in the end we didn't even get to try the types that we made. It was a little bit of an upset, and we basically felt like slave labor, but the pasta they did serve us was good, and free!

Urbino

This past Saturday, we went on a day trip to Urbino, a small Renaissance city built up in the rolling hills of le Marche, a central region of Italy.  It was amazing. We toured an enormous palace and got time to just wander the streets and check out the city.  Oh, we also checked out Rafael's house.  Not the ninja turtle but the actual artist.  It was pretty cool. He had a pretty sweet set up, tons of different levels, courtyards, the whole shebang.  Anyways, one of my friends Alex and I wandered away from most of the group and were traveling through side streets looking for a place to see an amazing view of the city and we found this. 

Amazing right? I just sometimes cannot believe that I am in Italy. It's almost not real sometimes. I just keep trying to take a step back and think about the fact that I am in a place that most people only dream of going. That is humbling. 


My Everyday Life

This is the view from my balcony of Bologna's famous Two Towers. I stand outside almost everyday ad just stare at it. My roommates probably think I am weird, but I am just ot used to seeing things like this outside my window!  On another note, my pre-session course has just ended and went by really fast. I have just had my one month Bologna anniversary. It's so weird to think that I have been gone from home for a month. I am keeping in touch with a lot of people from home through emails, facebook and skype so I don't feel so far away. As far as classes go over here, there aren't any.  That's not because I am not going, its because my teachers are on strike. Strikes are pretty common here in Italy. The bus drivers go on strike all the time, now the teachers, and I think that my roommates are on a permanent strike against doing the dishes.   So one of my classes don't start until this coming Tuesday, then the other two don't start until October 19th.  Jealous anyone?  So right now I have just been spending time getting to know my roommates and have been bonding with them.  We recently painted one of our living rooms red.  When I say red, I mean BLOOD RED.  It's actually pretty cool.  My roommates and I have all had diner the past two nights together and its been great. Romina and I cooked gnocchi con Gorgonzola and bruschetta last night and it was gone in seconds. So either they were really hungry, we didn't make enough or they actually liked it! Another pretty cool thing happened to me the other day! I was walking to the International Language School, where I am interning, and I got stopped twice by Italians who were looking for directions. I was so excited that I was being asked because that means that I am blending!!!! But the only downside of both situations was that I had no idea what street they were looking for!!  Hopefully I will the next time!  Anyways, I have been having a ton of fun here studying my Italian and making new friends but I seriously am not sure how I will survive with only 1/4 of a jar of peanut butter left. Any donations will be gladly accepted. 

These are some of the girls in my program with me. We all went out for drinks the other night at a pub. Going out with 9 cute girls in Italy is always entertaining ;)


Now off to Verona!
Baci xxx

Check out her rack!! But seriously...

This is a little shout out to a good family friend of mine. My neighbor Julie has just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer and she is headed into surgery today. I just wanted to take this day to have all of you feel yourselves up a bit!  Even you too guys! Here is a link if you want some help:

http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/BreastSelfExam.html

So if you are reading this in your PJ's change into a pink shirt, or if you have no pink, THINK PINK!!! I am sure that a lot of us have been affected by cancer.  I just wanted to take a minute to recognize the strength and courage it takes for someone to battle this disease.  YOU GO GIRL!!!

House Hunters International

This is going to be short and sweet since I have to go to class soon, but the director of my program is the star of House Hunters International Bologna.  I know some of you have seen this one because you told me but BEWARE! He told us it was staged!! Now my life is a lie and I can no longer aspire to be on the show. Don't get me wrong, I will still watch it! More to come!! I have amazing videos and pictures to show you!!!!
Baci!!!

La Vita Bolognese

So my roommates and I have yet to have a roommate dinner.  Mainly because we are all still not here. Some of them have gone home before classes start.  But tonight a bunch of us are going out together because its my roommate Romina's birthday.  Should be exciting!

My life has slowed down a little bit since I have moved into my apartment but not by much.  I am keeping busy with my Italian course and studying and just living the Bolognese life. Earlier this week we took a trip around the streets of Bologna to learn about the different monuments and palaces that are around the city. We also got to stop and eat at two different places in the city that are famous for their foods. The first place we stopped was at one of Bologna's oldest pasta and bread store. I forget the name of it exactly but its right around the corner from my flat.  They only let women work there because during WWII when no one had money the owner went to northern Italy and brought home beautiful prostitutes to work in the shop to attract customers to buy his breads and pastas. I think this is hilarious! But it seems to have worked because it is one of the oldest and most famous stores in Bologna.  We also got to tour markets and see all the fresh fruits, vegetables

and meats out on the streets. I was also told that the only way to ever marry an Italian man was to learn how to make bread, ragù, and pasta by heart. Only then would I be worthy of marrying an Italian man.  All I have to say about that is good luck! Then we sat down for a light lunch of meats, cheeses and wines.  I have to say that I have picked the right program to be on.  I hope that all these pictures are making you meat eaters out there hungry!  Everywhere I go people tell me that I am not going to survive being a vegetarian in Bologna because the main ingredients in everything are meat, meat and more meat. Don't worry, the waiter brought me a plate of cheese and my own piece of bread because the bread that was being served at lunch had meat in it too.  I actually might not survive! But I guess there is also wine in Italy right? That doesn't have meat in it!

Ho trovato un appartamento!

For those of you who do not speak any Italian, I FOUND AN APARTMENT!!!  I am very excited about this. In total there are ten roommates. Eight Italian guys, me and another girl. The other girl, Romina, and I are sharing a room that is big enough for a bunk bed and a closet while the other boys all have rooms that they can throw a party in if they wanted to.  I cannot complain though because I am only paying 190 euro for the best view in the entire city, and the place is huge.  It has a wrap around balcony that looks at the entire city.  I am two blocks away from the Piazza Maggiore, and one block from le due torri.  I will post pictures up as soon as I can. 

Romina and I painted our room purple today to make it more girly.  This was an adventure in itself.  We had to go find a shop that sold painting supplies, then I had to find words to ask for paint, paint brushes, a paint tray, and rollers.  Luckily, the guy at the store was really nice.  Interesting fact: when you buy paint in Italy, you have to add the color and mix it yourself.  When we brought it back to the house all 8 of the boys just started to laugh at us because we had no idea what to do.  Then, acting like they knew what they were doing, they promptly ruined our paint by adding too much water.  So me and one of my roommates, Rigo, had to go back to the store and buy more paint.  Embarrassing.  Once back to my apartment, all ten of us stood in my little room and watched as we painted it.  It was actually really fun.  I am learning soooo much Italian just by listening to them talk to each other and get to know us. None of my roommates know Enlgish so sometimes when I don't know a word it gets a little hard, but I can definitely say that within weeks, I am going to know Italian better than I ever thought I would.  Now I just have to remember all of their names!

I am also having a really good time getting to know some of the people in my program.  Lauren, the girl from U of I, and I have gotten really close.  We both officially move into our apartments tomorrow so its our last night as "Hotel Roomies".  I have now officially ate 5 gelatos.  I need to figure out how to keep track of them all on this page so if anyone knows how to use blogger, let me know!  I am also learning all the cool places to go to eat that are cheap, where the best bars are that have no Erasmus students (study abroad students from Europe and the US, like me, haha), and not just the grammatically correct way to say things but the common way. Example: When I am going to meet someone I don't say "I am going now" but "I am in arrival now".  I can just feel myself getting better at Italian everyday!

Tomorrow night, all ten of us are going to have a big apartment dinner. I told the boys that Romina and I would cook for them one night.  When I asked them if they like peanut butter they responded with "Okay, we will cook!"

Did I mention that we have a pet ferret?

Baci