unpredictable

unpredictable. italy. have you ever heard that italy is unpredictable? well, dont worry. it is!

unpredictable. words. what italian is going to come out of my mouth each day.

unpredictable. panic attacks. getting to the bus stop 5 min early at my apartment, needing to catch a bus outa town at piazza gramschi at 8. the bus never shows up. running to catch bus 11, with the driver shaking his head and driving on. getting on a random bus at 7:55, and making it to piazza gramsci exactly on time to catch our next bus.

unpredictable. weather. one morning you wake up and its nice and sunny, and that very afternoon, it is pouring rain.

unpredictable. family meal times. coming home for once right after church, and finding that your family is expecting you to eat lunch with them. with five guests who are coming over for lunch in a half hour.

unpredictable. italian class. we do anything from "gymnastics" to "fortune telling" to playing a game or going to the market.

unpredictable. mail. i still haven't received my package from home, even though it was mailed over 2 1/2 weeks ago... still waiting...

unpredictable. schedules. the night before i registered, i picked my schedule. dont worry, i'm taking a sewing class, along with an essentials to nutrition. surprise!

unpredictable. home. what random sights or smells are going to remind me of my home, oh so far away.

unpredictable. emotions. one moment, it is silent at the dinner table. the next, everyone is talking loudly at the same time, laughing, and making hand gestures.

unpredictable. life in general. but i'm starting to prefer it that way.

what i love most about italy

Fiats
kinder bueno

gnocchi con pesto
cooking with Beniamino

wearing scarfs and boots

drinking cappuccino di orzo

day trips with amazing friends

beinamino's specialty zuppa di funghi

fresh mozzarella with tomatoes and olive oil

riding the vaporetto's in venice and getting lost

gelato - especially the combination of lemon and strawberry

doing "gymnastics" in italian class, with my fav italian teacher, enzo
writing postcards, licking stamps, and putting them in the mail drop box
the fact that there are no side walks - moving out of the way for cars to pass
eating "mystery meat" at dinner with Bev, grinning, and just getting through it
having long phone calls with my parents, telling them all of my wonderful adventures
having moments where a sentence just flows in italian, when i dont have to think about it
going to church and not understanding half of what is being said, but still feeling the spirit

delicious hot chocolate from the vending machine at the DA, on a really cold day
searching for chestnuts in the forest, with the leaves changing colors

having dance parties in our apartment with Giuseppe and Anna

sunday lunch as a group at the talbots, and fhe monday nights
going to the mercato on wednesday mornings before class

cobble stone streets and brightly painted buildings

watching how italians interact with each other

being around my family, just in general

reading the book of mormon in italian

eating riccarelli and paneforte
ceramic shops

chocolate

just a walk in the park

wow, this last weekend was jam packed, full of adventures.

venerdi (friday) - somers, audrey, and i took a day trip out to cinque terre. and let me tell you... it is beautiful! and totally worth it! we were originally thinking of not going there, because thats where everyone goes... but then we decided that we should... and there is a reason that everyone goes there!

it was a long day, i got up at the crack of dawn - literally. 4:15 am baby! the reason? the first bus in the morning comes in at 5;25, if i missed that, i wouldnt have been able to go to the station till 6:25, which would be non buona, perche the next bus didnt come till 6:25, and our train left at 6:35. so i got up super early, got ready, caught the bus, caught the train, made all the connections, and got to cinque terre around 10:30.

if you go to cinque terre, do the hike. it is definatly worth it, but dont worry, at times, it feels like the stairs never end! but the view that you get of the cities, is amazing. there are five cities right on the coast - hence "cinque" in the name. the building go right down the cliffs to the water. bright colored buildings, colorful fishing boats, bright blue water. cant beat that! and, get this, it was warm enough to go swimming - in october! we did the hike between each city, except between the 3rd and 4th, because there had been a landslide, and the trail was closed. and we had time to see all five in one day! and we felt like we had a good feel for each city by the time we had left.

and then... yesterday, we spent the day with our mom and dad. it was sooo much fun! we slept in that morning and did some homework... or well... we were supposed to... =) and so our dad made us lunch. and then after that, we went for a drive in the country, out to the forest, and went looking for chestnuts! i had no idea that chestnuts were surrounded by a prickly pod, and that three come in one pod. it felt really good to get out of the city, and be back in nature. and our dad is a crazy driver- love it! italians pass cars like no other, go super fast, and they tail each other too. definatly a different experience, but i've decided that i prefer driving in their car to riding a bus. after we spent the afternoon in the forest, we came back and went to the grand opening of an osteria (like restaurant) and met their friends. we ate some delicious food, and yes, i tried liver. i knew i wouldnt like it, but this cute old man had been talking to us for about 20 minutes, and then suggested that i try some food that he was eating. but dont worry, he told me that it was liver before i got some. it was really fun to be out with the locals, and seeing our parents in their social environment. i feel like i am truly getting the italian experience. i couldnt have asked for a better family! we are getting closer, and i feel like we really are a part of the family. i hope that we get to have more days with them like we did yesterday.

just a word of advice to the wise...

guiseppe had a birthday party last night and had a bunch of friends over for dinner. and so we got to help our dad make dinner. which was awesome! so we made risotto, which is all good, right? well, after its done cooking, beniamino puts it in a big bowl on the table, takes champagne out of the fridge, takes the cork out and puts the bottle in the middle of the bowl of hot risotto. and then he put sugar in it and it bubbled over into the risotto. kinda like when you make volcanoes as a kid. and it was awesome to watch, bev and i had no idea what was going on at first. and then we realized that we still had to eat it... because we had made the dish, and we figured it would be ok to just eat a little bit.i figured that maybe the risotto was hot enough, that maybe it cooked some of the alcohol out? ok maybe that was a long shot... it did taste good, but i could definatly taste the champagne. well, i got tired pretty fast after that, so after our 2 hour dinner party, i went to bed. at 10:30. early for me. so this morning, i got up early to study, but instead i had a mini panic attack about what i'm doing with my life when i get back home. and then i went to italian class and i couldnt focus on anything. i was soo out of it! and really emotional too! i had a hard time keeping hold of one thought, and even a harder time talking. i also felt kinda nauseous. i didnt realize what was going on until someone said i was a little hung over. and it all makes sense now! and i'm not goin to lie, it was pretty funny, my teacher enzo just laughed, luckily he understood, cause i had an oral test today. but dont worry - i still got a 92%! no idea how that happened. haha oh wow... story of my life!

anways, just a word of advice to the wise - dont drink champagne! or in my case... dont eat it with risotto! hahaha.....

check yes juliet!

this last weekend, has been one of the best weekends of my life!

thursday, we left bright and early for sirmione, which is a peninsula on lake garda. the famous ancient roman poet, Catullus was rumored to have had a villa there, and since we have read some of his poems, we had to go there! i was surprised at how beautiful it was. we had clear skies, blue water, and nice warm weather. it was the perfect day! we wandered around and took pictures, enjoying the view, (we could see the alps in the distance)! we were walking by the water and found some hot pots.and well... of course... i had to take off my boots and put my feet in! and it was really really hot! there was a cute old italian man there telling me that it was really hot, and i was like "e vero!!" but it was soo worth it... =) after that, we took a ferry ride from sirmione back to the main land. the view of the city from the water was amazing, all of the bright vibrant colors of the buildings... i loved it!!

we got into venice that night, and checked in at our hotel. only a 2 minute walk from san marcos... yeah, thats right! we went to a vivaldi concerto at a chiesa. it was beautiful to hear. some of us dressed up for the occasion, and while people back at byu at that time were in regular classes, our "class" that night was listening to vivaldi, the four seasons. awesome!

the next day, a group of us got up early and saw venice without all of the tourists. you get a totally different feel when the piazza and the pier is empty and quite. and seeing the sky all lit up with pinks, oranges and blues from the sunrise. in the morning, the water rises, and so there was water in certain areas in san marcos piazza, and there was boardwalks put up for people to walk in to get into the church. we went to the accedemia after that and saw many venetian medieval paintings. not my favorite though, they use darker colors and they aren't quite as focused, but it was still fun to see. somers and i left the group after that and went exploring on our own. we got lost several times and had to ask people for directions, every one we talked to were all really nice and helpful. we took a vaporetto (water taxi) out to murano island and followed a group of people and ended up going into a building and watching men create things with glass. my favorite was watching a guy make a horse, they make it look so easy!

when we finally got back to the main island, we decided to just explore. we made it into some really cute residential areas, where there were no tourists (except us - but i dont think we count at this point) =) one area that we were in, we saw about 4 or 5 policemen armed with guns, not just pistols and looking at us suspiciously. that kinda made us nervous, and so we took some pictures and left. we thought it was just because the terrorist alert is so high right now, and so they were just being alert and ready. but we talked to talbot that night at dinner and found out that there had been several student strikes, and so of course thats why they looked at us suspiciously, two college age kids walking around... of course we looked very threatening! haha we had an amazing dinner that night, grilled salmon, pasta with a clam sauce and capers, salad, gelato... delicious!! we took a vaporetto ride to get back to our hotel afterwards and saw the city at night, that was fun! i definatly love venice a lot more this time around. i was able to experience more of the culture, talk to some of the locals, and explore back streets. and i love the architecture, it has a strong middle eastern influence, so different from anything that we have seen in italy. it just might possibly be my favorite place i've been to so far... (did i mention that we had perfect weather? sunny and warm - rare for venice in the fall!)

saturday, we went to verona. the city of love! i wandered around again with somers, which i love just walking around just the two of us. we blend in more with the people, and can observe more that way. first, we went to la casa di giulietta. and dont worry, its nothing like how its portrayed in letters to juliet. well, there is a balcony, and a statue of juliet, and tons of tourists there. but no writing letters and leaving them in the wall... but what i loved about it was that the walls were covered in love graffiti. if i had had a sharpie pen on me, i so would have signed the wall. after that, we went to a little open air market and bought some souvenirs. we went to a church and ran into our professor and a group and decided to hang out with them for a while. we hiked a hill through a residential area and found a beautiful view of the city. i love verona! i kinda wish that i lived there... thats how much i liked it. somers and i did have a pen on us and decided to sign the wall... so we have left our mark in verona!

it was definatly an amazing weekend! i think i have found three of my new favorite cities in italy! i definatly recommend going to all of them...

HeRe CoMeS ThE SuN!

wow, this past week has been an interesting/challenging one for me. i started off the week with my first oral exam, and i was really nervous... but.... i got a 92%! lets just say that i feel pretty good about that. =)

i've been busy with school, busy with learning the language, and a little stressed, ok, more like really stressed about what i'm doing with my life when i get back. so i had a rough day on thursday but i have some amazing friends that helped me out and... that afternoon, five of us left for assisi. and....

here came the sun!

we spent three nights in assisi, in absolutely adorable hotels. right in the historic area of the city. with great food, good rooms, a nice manager, it was perfect! we went into all the churches there, hiked up to the castle and had a mini "devotional" on sunday, ate at fun restrauants, and had a fun relaxing time. did i mention that it was sunny all three days that we were there? amazing! especially since in siena, it rains about every other day...

we went to gubbio one day and spello another. these are both cute little towns in the umbria region. filled with flowers, churches, ancient roman ruins. we had quite the adventure getting to spello... it was right after school got out, so we get on the bus and its full of high school age italians, and we are clearly american tourists... we had quite the time buying our ticket, and we didnt know where to get off... and even better... they were talking about us the whole time! we could understand enough of what they said, and lets just say that i stood out being the only blond on the bus. i have never felt more outa place in my life! we were ready to get off by the time it was our stop, it was embarrassing! but it was funny, we laughed about it for a long time after that...

we ate at several different trattoria's. i got gnocci two of the nights and strangozzi con funghi (truffles) the other night. it was all really good, but i have come to realize that gnocchi is my favorite kind of meal. delicious!! italians like to linger at their meals, and so you go and eat your meal, and then hang around for another half hour to an hour just talking. there is no rush, if theres no room in the restrauant, they will tell you and you just go find a different place to eat.

i bought my first hand painted italian plate! i am really excited about this! we went in a cute little shop where the man was painting plates while we were there, and i found one that i absolutely fell in love with. beautiful hand painted ceramic pieces are everywhere, in so many shops. lets just say that i am in heaven!

it was a fun, well spent free weekend. even though i had been to assisi before, i got a totally different feel for it this time. i feel like i'm fitting in more with the italians, i dont feel like a tourist at all. lets just say that it is a great feeling!

well, i'm off to new adventures this weekend... in... VENEZIA!!!

p.s.) i have noticed that the more time i spend here, the worse my english spelling/phrases are getting... so if i say something that doesnt quite fit, or is spelled wrong, thats why!

pasta, pasta, and... wait for it.... MORE pasta!!

i have consumed more pasta in this last month than i think i have my entire life. dont get me wrong, i love pasta, i havent had the same dish twice. i never knew that one could do so much with it. last night, we had roasted chestnuts, and i think it is a new favorite. i can see why "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" would be good at christmas! (can we do that this year?)

but i did have one interesting experience with some meat that my family served us... bev and i got to the table, and noticed that there was a bowl that had something in it that looked like raw chicken, no joke. we were both nervous about that. our family laughed and said that we should try it, that it was something "new" for us. i kept asking what it was, but all they said was that it came from a cow, and that we should try it. so i took one bite, my facial expression said it all. they just laughed, and luckily they werent offended. i couldnt even eat one whole piece, i still have no idea what it was... and honestly, i dont think i really want to know...

this week has definatly been more trying for me. getting frustrated with the language, having some success, and then getting frustrated all over again. oh well, all i can say is that i am trying!

three out of the four days of classes were spent in the different museums and churches here in siena. looking at medieval sinese art, loving every minute of it!

friday, a few of us went to firenze. we shopped at the san lorenzo market, and i found.... my PANTS! hah my gypsie pants. they are the most amazing thing ever invented, i will have to put up a pic of me in them.... once i take that pic... and the vendors there are hilarious! i had one give me a high five and called me his "lady gaga", several comment on my beautiful eyes, and another who tried to sell me a leather jacket. he almost convinced me to get one! maybe when i go back another time... it was all just the fun italian charm that you hear about, and i loved it! we walked into the food market, looking for something to eat. little did i know that it would end up being a meat market.... lets just say i got a lil queasy... i saw a pig hanging upside down with its stomach cut, a full rabbit skinned, and a lot more.... that took care of my appetite for the afternoon!

a while later, we wandered into the piazza del duomo, and jane and i got pizza. it ended up being from the same pizza place that mom, krystal, and i got pizza at a coupla years ago! the best pizza i habe ever had in italy... sadly, we couldnt sit on the steps and eat it because it was raining, but oh... the memories!

we went to the accademia and stood in line for over an hour. but we eventually got in and saw the David. Simply beautiful! so realistic, i felt like at any moment, he could just step down and walk away, thats how realistic he feels. i am reading the agony and the ecstasy for class, and book all about Michelangelo, and i have a new found love for sculpture. mom, you and grandma need to read this before you come to italy in may, you will appreciate Michelangelo's artwork soo much more! we also went and found la chiesa di beatrice (Dantes young love). beniamino had talked about it several times at dinner, and so i decided that i needed to find it. it was tiny and charming. i remembered walking down that same street a coupla years ago, krystal stopping to get her pic with the wine bottle at the tiny"hole in the wall" cafe.

we went to a sit down restraunt for lunch/dinner and i ordered gnocci con pesto - it was amazing! i defintaly recommend that dish! i want to learn how to make gnocci... surprisingly, the first meal that i have ordered since i've been here. definatly worth it! then of course, we had to get gelato again from vivoli.... =) we went to the ponte vecchio, by then the weather had cleared and we had a beautiful view. couldnt resist, i had to take a few photos!

can anyone guess what we did next??? went to .... ..... ....... H&M! somers and i were in heaven! sadly, we only had 45 min there... but that was enough time for me to find something i wanted! a cute grey sweater/almost dress, i am in love...

all in all, it was a good day, a good end to my week. and yes, i have now officially been gone ONE WHOLE MONTH! it doesnt feel like its been that long, but at the same time, it feels like its been a lot longer, we have done so much...

well, on to a new week, with more adventures ahead!