I had Italian again this morning. Meh. We're doing really really basic stuff and I kinda want to pick up where I left off last semester. I still haven't learned the subjunctive, which I find odd. I should have brought my textbook from home and just taught it to myself. I guess what frustrates me is that I want a slightly more intensive practice so that when I wander into a random caffe, I can understand what people are saying around me. I feel like I walk in a store and they can tell I speak English just from the vibe I am sending off because I am thinking so hard about how to say it in Italian. But, this is not the first language class I've gotten frustrated in. In fact, I don't think I've ever had a language class where I wasn't at some point wishing we could go faster. Huh.
After Italian I trudged back home and made oatmeal, quite successfully if I do say so myself. Banana, milk, cinnamon. Simple but oh so yummy - and it is definitely my #1 comfort food, which I really needed. it was freezing and rainy for most of today, made me feel sicker (?). But it was still pretty successful.
My roommate Alaina and I are going on a day tour to Cinque Terre in April (40 euro, covers transport and a guide, pretty sweet), so we went to the office to book it. We did some grocery shopping at Mercato Centrale. P.S. - I LOVE pecorino cheese. Molto. And then, the best part of my day...
CAPPUCCINO! With a foam heart :) It's my first one since I've been here, and no, it wasn't as good as it looks. It was better.
Came back and made some lunch. I love it - a turkey and cheese sandwich turned into turkey and pecorino with tomatoes on Tuscan bread toasted in the skillet, then topped with arugula and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. AND it was free. I'm doing ok, no?
Ran out to do some more errands, grab a couple things I forgot, get a textbook. I made dinner tonight, totally random but seriously delicious:
I chopped up a clove of garlic and heated it up in a pan with olive oil, then added chopped eggplant, zucchini, tomato, and cannellini beans, and added a good bit of olive oil and balsamic to it. Threw it over some leftover pasta. My roommates really liked it, as did I. I kinda figured it was hard to screw up that combo.
I am planning a trip to Prague for the first weekend in March, which I'm pretty excited about. I may be going to Lake Como for Easter break because we get a long weekend. Maybe Sorrento/Capri tour for the beginning of Spring Break...I refuse to stress out about travel. We've been making dates and stuff to figure out where we want to go and when to do it...3 months goes by WAY. TOO. FAST!
Going to Pisa on Friday. We want to learn how to get around via the train system, so this is our practice. And tomorrow is my first cooking class...mamma mia!
I'm sorry if this post is spastic...I'm so tired and stuffed up I'm not thinking very clearly.
I will leave you with a pic of me and my awesome roomies at dinner the other night:
Aren't we cute? Yes.
Reading/bed time. Buona notte!
~Namaste~
Hi BG. I am loving reading your "diary" as it were. I can't believe I had to create another new internet account--had to create a Google friend account to be able to respond here.
ReplyDeleteI love your food description. SEee---you too can cook like a peasant--you don't need measuring cups--just throw a few good ingredients together and voila! Until you do one and it's tasteless--like I did last night. Perfectly good waste of good steak tips--very blah. Oh well, try again.
I, too, never felt like the language classes I took went fast enough. But you just have to get out and talk, talk talk to the native Firenzians (or whatever the correct word is).
Thrilled to hear about all the places you intend to visit as well. Nice to be able to see and read about it so promptly. It's a different world (for me anyway).
Keep up the beautiful food commentary--makes me want to eat healthy. Off to walk the dog!!
mm