Happy late Thanksgiving!
Although I wasn't at home to celebrate with my family, I wasn't alone for the holiday -- Daniel came to visit, arriving on Wednesday and leaving early early this morning. Once he got to Parma, after a couple extra train rides, we had a very lovely weekend.
Wednesday we had a chill day because poor Dan had jetlag, but we got to eat dinner wtih Nice and Fil and Sarah (as soon as Nice met Daniel she asked how McCain was). Nice had us go to the grocery store to get some vino to celebrate eating together. Very cute!
Thursday was his tour around Parma -- we got tickets to the Correggio exhibit, and went through the museum sans audioguides because I had a bad experience with a tour when my group went to the exhibit. The cool part, again, was going up scaffolding into the dome of the cathedral to see the frescoes up close. It was nice going with Dan, too, because we didn't have an agenda like I did for class so we were able to look at the inside of the Duomo as well. We had lunch at Frank Foccacia (where I successfully ordered a meat sandwich instead of a pepper sandwich this time) and ate some gelato at Milano Chocolat (yum). We rode our bikes over to Anna's, where we had tea with her and Aldo. They were so cute! Aldo kept trying to speak English to Daniel and Anna gave us cookies with her homemade jam (we liked it so much she gave us a jar to take home. SWEET). Anna told me she thought Dan was a very nice boy and that what we have continues for some time. She is too cute.
We had dinner at a lovely little place and admired the city with its Christmas decorations. I got to Skype with the fam after they ate dinner, which was great! Sad that they couldn't see me, but it was nice to see them in all their Thanksgiving glory.
Friday we had planned on going to Cinque Terre, but the weather was so terrible that we changed our plans and decided to go to Bologna instead. It was very rainy all day (although it was snowy as we walked to the Parma train station) but Bologna is a good city to spend a day in in the rain because it is filled with PORTICOES -- basically every sidewalk was covered by a loggia, so it made walking around very easy. We had MTV Italy as our guide, and got to see a couple cool sites - we had lunch in a cute little place where I had some pizza (after unsuccessfully trying to find another lunch place that our guide suggested but probably didn't exist), we went up one of the two towers (it was very narrow and very tall, but had a good view), went inside the main church (very beautiful inside, and very very interesting. Each side chapel had something different in it - we felt like we were in a museum. There was one with a Foucault's pendulum, one had a ton of different relics, one had wood carved statues that were eerily similar to the ones at the Correggio museum, etc. Pretty awesome), saw a scandalous statue of Neptune (when it was originally carved, apparently the sculptor made Neptune's "triton" a little too big...so the church fathers asked him to make him smaller. However, after he recarved it, he made it so if you stand behind Neptune at a certain angle, his outstretched thumb restores him to godly status. HILARIOUS), and went by the University, which is the oldest in the world! We got to see this Anatomical Theater, where students would watch the dissection of human corpses. The room was gorgeous, and there were two skinless statues holding up this special chair. Really cool.
When we got back, Nice asked us if we wanted to go to dinner with Fil. Despite the cold, we walked to the restaurant, which was approximately 19 miles away through a lot of slush and snow. We were freezing and our feet were soaking when we finally got there. Nice was friends with the owner of this Naples-themed restaurant, and we had delicious food (a lot of fried things) under her suggestions.
Saturday Dan and I walked around Parma a bit (we got gelato at Mickey Mouse, and then wandered around a mini-market. An old man was manning this free wine tasting booth and when we got close with our bowls of gelato he told me this specific kind was good with ice cream and poured it in our bowls. Only in Italy. It wasn't bad, though), missed the train we wanted to Milan and ate lunch at a creperie (delicious bruschetta!). We finally got to Milan, dropped off Dan's bag at the train station, and manuevered our way through the Milan Metro to get to the Duomo piazza. There were 9 million cops around with riot gear and we never found out why. We went inside the Duomo with hopes of going up the dome, but as there was a mass going on, we were not able to do so. The Duomo is GIGANTIC (one of the biggest 4 I think?) and very beautiful. We also looked at the Galleria, a huge area of swanky shops covered by a glass ceiling. MTV Italy told us that one of the mosaics on the ground which had a bull on it brought good luck to whomever dug their heel in and spun around, so we did that. We looked at the outside of the Opera House and tried to find somewhere to eat but did not want to get ripped off, so we headed back to the train station to catch a bus to Malpensa. It was rainy and crowded in Milan (very similar to NYC) and Dan had an early flight the next morning.
When we got to Malpensa airport, we couldn't figure out how to get to our hotel, so we decided to take a cab. I asked a cabbie if he was free and after he asked where we were going, he called the hotel himself to get their free shuttle to come pick us up. That would never happen in the US. We finally got picked up and had dinner at the hotel (I felt bad that Dan's last dinner in Italy was in a hotel restaurant, but it was actually decent) and went to sleep. This morning we got picked up at 5:15 am to get him to the airport for his 6:55 am flight. It was hard saying goodbye -- after not seeing him for 3 months it was such a short visit of 4 days -- but we'll see each other in a little more than a month. I slept on the shuttle and train ride back, and listened to a CD on the Discman Dan gave me (since my mp3 player can't charge on any computer except for my broken one). When I got back I slept for 5 more hours, and then went over to the villa to bake Christmas cookies with Steph and Nate. We made our own frosting and cut out cute shapes but they did not turn out at ALL. I will post a picture later because they are quite hilarious.
I only have 3 weeks left in Italy! RIDICULOUS. 2 more weeks with the BC kids here! There will be a lot of work to do this week (preparing for final papers and presentations and exams) but this next weekend our whole program is going to the Alps in Aosta for a ski trip! I am very excited. We also have a group-wide Christmas Party at Anna's which I am stoked about.
I hope everyone's Thanksgivings were marvelous!
Home stretch, man!
<3
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
FIRST SNOW IN PARMA!
I was actually not excited about it because the prospect of walking to Soc at 8:15 in the morning in SNOW was no good.
We did see a snowman, though, so that was baller. I want the snow to go away for the weekend, though, so we can ride bikes around Parma.
I'll keep you all posted.
LOVE
the abominable snowman
I was actually not excited about it because the prospect of walking to Soc at 8:15 in the morning in SNOW was no good.
We did see a snowman, though, so that was baller. I want the snow to go away for the weekend, though, so we can ride bikes around Parma.
I'll keep you all posted.
LOVE
the abominable snowman
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Another excellent weekend!
On Friday, the entire BC program went to Verona for the day, which I was looking forward to but turned out to not be that fun, mostly because I was very frustrated with the people who were leading us around. Caterina, our coordinator, was in the US at BC and couldn't come with, so she had a couple of our Italian teachers accompany us, and they were just very disorganized and not fun to follow around a city. Despite that, highlights include: Juliet's balcony (which has a statue of Juliet that you are supposed to rub her boob for good luck, which I did not do...and then got POOPED on by a PIGEON!), delicious pastries for lunch, and...yeah it was a fine day. Oh well.
From Verona, a couple of us ventured on to Venice, which was MUCH MORE satisfactory. We got in around dinner time on Friday night but decided to find our hostel first. The hostel was unmarked, as many hostels are, but the weirder thing was that even though all 7 of us booked together we wanted different rooms...and these different rooms were in different buildings. Okay. As the manager guy was giving us our key he told us that for breakfast we had to come to the main hostel place and ask for a ticket and then bring that to the Chinese restaurant down the block and we'd eat there. Obviously.
We found a place to eat that was pretty cheap -- I had spicy pasta, one boy in our group had CUTTLEFISH, and the waiter kept making eyes at us. HOORAY! That was really fun (not the creepy waiter) and it was good to sit after our travels.
Jeff's cousin is studying with Wake Forest in Venice, so we went to the house that all the Wake kids stay, eat, and have class in (which seems really weird now that I think about it). The house was soooooo nice it was ridiculous. They were all very nice and welcoming, and DAVE PREDICTED THE SCORE of the BC/Wake game that happened yesterday! HE GOT IT ON THE NOSE. It was awesome.
We got lost going back because Venice is essentially a maze in Disneyland (it is impossible to comprehend that people live there and that it is a real place to live) but finally found our hostel and went to sleep. The next morning we were saddened to find out that our breakfast was NOT at the Chinese restaurant (it was actually closed), but at a bar next door. Alas.
WE WALKED AROUND ALL OF VENICE ON SATURDAY. Here are some things we saw: Rialto Bridge, San Marco Square (where Dave, Steph and I went up the elevator on the belltower, and I had an adventure with pigeons. San Marco is infamous for the ridic amount of pigeons that hang out there, and all these sketchballs come up to you and shove food in your hand so the pigeons land on you and take a picture. We didn't have any interaction with any of those people but I was hungry and wanted to eat the bread I brought, but every time I took the bread out pigeons were like "WHOA HEY THERE KRISTIN" and I got scared. I threw a bebe piece far away from me to get them away and they SWOOPED like swooping things and ate that thing up in miliseconds. So I decided to throw the entire loaf of bread at them to see what would happen, if it would be like piranhas in the movies. So after some dodging of pigeons to get the windup, I CHUCKED that loaf of bread and pigeons got mad excited, but then a seagull was like "AHA I am so huge and terrifying this bread is MINE" and scared off all the pigeons. And then a man picked up my bread and broke it up and threw some more. The end), we went on a waterbus, and basically saw adorable streets and canals, saw all the Murano glass we could bear to see, and Steph and I had these AMAZING pastries that were more than delicious. SO GOOD.
We caught a train back at 7. The train was supposed to last for 3.5 hours, but we spent the first hour just being happy and talking. We only had one ticket, and the thing said we would get to Parma via 4 other cities. We stopped in Bologna and everybody and their moms got off. We started looking around, wondering if this was the last stop, but that wouldn't make sense because every other time we've taken trains and had to switch we have gotten 2 tickets. So obvi we wouldn't switch for this either. Jeff and Dave got off the train and checked a schedule, seeing that there was another train that would get us to Parma, and they suggested we get off. We were going to gather stuff and get off when the train started moving again, so we figured we would figure everything out in the next station. However, the train never gained momentum and it soon became evident that the train was not going anywhere but instead going to park for the night. Once it stopped, we got all our stuff together and tried to start walking towards the front of the train where the conductor was, because all the doors to get off the train were now locked. It was a very long train and before we got up to where we needed to be all the lights went out. We yelled at someone to hit the Emergency Open lever, and we tumbled off the train. There was a creepy man standing near the front of the train and we walked quickly away from him, towards the real station. Steph stopped because she thought she left her wallet on the train. Erin and I booked it so fast to the platforms, and managed to not get hit by any trains passing by. We finally got on a train to Parma, and the rest of the night was uneventful. It was one of the more scary things I've experienced in Italy...being stuck on a train with no way out and no one going up and down the cars to check. GOOD TIMES.
This morning we met up and went to a little Christmas festival in the streets of Parma -- it was so cute! We had free samples of cheeses and salamis, and saw all these Christmassy gadgets. Very very cute! Also, everyone in Parma is so nice. We had a bad experience with a mean bus ticket issuer in Venice, so it was good to be back in a place where people actually smile.
AND THEN!
After that we headed to the Villa around 12 and started cooking for our THANKSGIVING EXTRAVAGANZA! A bunch of kids decided we wanted a Tgives feast because we're all travelling (or having people visit <3) on Thursday, so we each made something. Jeff made pieces of turkey and a whole chicken, stuffing from scratch, a pumpkin pie and an apple pie; Nate made mashed potatoes; Steph and I made cookies and I brought the biggest loaf of bread I have ever seen (that I bought at the Christmas market earlier); Erin made broccoli and green beans; Dave made a Canadian chili that was delish; and we had vino. Steph and I made placecards for everyone (I drew turkeys on them!) and we had a HUUUGE table in Nate's kitchen. It was SO CUTE and SO FUN to spend hours cooking together and then having a FEAST. We have SOOOOOOO MANY leftovers...the entire chicken and a ginormous pot of mashed potatoes. Round two is tomorrow. But it was great, we listened to Christmas music and felt very holidayesque.
So! Short week this week -- we have hot chocolate with Caterina tomorrow night and I think we're watching Christmas movies on Tuesday, and then Wednesday DANIEL COMES TO PARMA and life will be magical. Also, I used Steph's computer to upload a lot of pictures, so check out the webshots!
Love to all, hope life is wonderful!
On Friday, the entire BC program went to Verona for the day, which I was looking forward to but turned out to not be that fun, mostly because I was very frustrated with the people who were leading us around. Caterina, our coordinator, was in the US at BC and couldn't come with, so she had a couple of our Italian teachers accompany us, and they were just very disorganized and not fun to follow around a city. Despite that, highlights include: Juliet's balcony (which has a statue of Juliet that you are supposed to rub her boob for good luck, which I did not do...and then got POOPED on by a PIGEON!), delicious pastries for lunch, and...yeah it was a fine day. Oh well.
From Verona, a couple of us ventured on to Venice, which was MUCH MORE satisfactory. We got in around dinner time on Friday night but decided to find our hostel first. The hostel was unmarked, as many hostels are, but the weirder thing was that even though all 7 of us booked together we wanted different rooms...and these different rooms were in different buildings. Okay. As the manager guy was giving us our key he told us that for breakfast we had to come to the main hostel place and ask for a ticket and then bring that to the Chinese restaurant down the block and we'd eat there. Obviously.
We found a place to eat that was pretty cheap -- I had spicy pasta, one boy in our group had CUTTLEFISH, and the waiter kept making eyes at us. HOORAY! That was really fun (not the creepy waiter) and it was good to sit after our travels.
Jeff's cousin is studying with Wake Forest in Venice, so we went to the house that all the Wake kids stay, eat, and have class in (which seems really weird now that I think about it). The house was soooooo nice it was ridiculous. They were all very nice and welcoming, and DAVE PREDICTED THE SCORE of the BC/Wake game that happened yesterday! HE GOT IT ON THE NOSE. It was awesome.
We got lost going back because Venice is essentially a maze in Disneyland (it is impossible to comprehend that people live there and that it is a real place to live) but finally found our hostel and went to sleep. The next morning we were saddened to find out that our breakfast was NOT at the Chinese restaurant (it was actually closed), but at a bar next door. Alas.
WE WALKED AROUND ALL OF VENICE ON SATURDAY. Here are some things we saw: Rialto Bridge, San Marco Square (where Dave, Steph and I went up the elevator on the belltower, and I had an adventure with pigeons. San Marco is infamous for the ridic amount of pigeons that hang out there, and all these sketchballs come up to you and shove food in your hand so the pigeons land on you and take a picture. We didn't have any interaction with any of those people but I was hungry and wanted to eat the bread I brought, but every time I took the bread out pigeons were like "WHOA HEY THERE KRISTIN" and I got scared. I threw a bebe piece far away from me to get them away and they SWOOPED like swooping things and ate that thing up in miliseconds. So I decided to throw the entire loaf of bread at them to see what would happen, if it would be like piranhas in the movies. So after some dodging of pigeons to get the windup, I CHUCKED that loaf of bread and pigeons got mad excited, but then a seagull was like "AHA I am so huge and terrifying this bread is MINE" and scared off all the pigeons. And then a man picked up my bread and broke it up and threw some more. The end), we went on a waterbus, and basically saw adorable streets and canals, saw all the Murano glass we could bear to see, and Steph and I had these AMAZING pastries that were more than delicious. SO GOOD.
We caught a train back at 7. The train was supposed to last for 3.5 hours, but we spent the first hour just being happy and talking. We only had one ticket, and the thing said we would get to Parma via 4 other cities. We stopped in Bologna and everybody and their moms got off. We started looking around, wondering if this was the last stop, but that wouldn't make sense because every other time we've taken trains and had to switch we have gotten 2 tickets. So obvi we wouldn't switch for this either. Jeff and Dave got off the train and checked a schedule, seeing that there was another train that would get us to Parma, and they suggested we get off. We were going to gather stuff and get off when the train started moving again, so we figured we would figure everything out in the next station. However, the train never gained momentum and it soon became evident that the train was not going anywhere but instead going to park for the night. Once it stopped, we got all our stuff together and tried to start walking towards the front of the train where the conductor was, because all the doors to get off the train were now locked. It was a very long train and before we got up to where we needed to be all the lights went out. We yelled at someone to hit the Emergency Open lever, and we tumbled off the train. There was a creepy man standing near the front of the train and we walked quickly away from him, towards the real station. Steph stopped because she thought she left her wallet on the train. Erin and I booked it so fast to the platforms, and managed to not get hit by any trains passing by. We finally got on a train to Parma, and the rest of the night was uneventful. It was one of the more scary things I've experienced in Italy...being stuck on a train with no way out and no one going up and down the cars to check. GOOD TIMES.
This morning we met up and went to a little Christmas festival in the streets of Parma -- it was so cute! We had free samples of cheeses and salamis, and saw all these Christmassy gadgets. Very very cute! Also, everyone in Parma is so nice. We had a bad experience with a mean bus ticket issuer in Venice, so it was good to be back in a place where people actually smile.
AND THEN!
After that we headed to the Villa around 12 and started cooking for our THANKSGIVING EXTRAVAGANZA! A bunch of kids decided we wanted a Tgives feast because we're all travelling (or having people visit <3) on Thursday, so we each made something. Jeff made pieces of turkey and a whole chicken, stuffing from scratch, a pumpkin pie and an apple pie; Nate made mashed potatoes; Steph and I made cookies and I brought the biggest loaf of bread I have ever seen (that I bought at the Christmas market earlier); Erin made broccoli and green beans; Dave made a Canadian chili that was delish; and we had vino. Steph and I made placecards for everyone (I drew turkeys on them!) and we had a HUUUGE table in Nate's kitchen. It was SO CUTE and SO FUN to spend hours cooking together and then having a FEAST. We have SOOOOOOO MANY leftovers...the entire chicken and a ginormous pot of mashed potatoes. Round two is tomorrow. But it was great, we listened to Christmas music and felt very holidayesque.
So! Short week this week -- we have hot chocolate with Caterina tomorrow night and I think we're watching Christmas movies on Tuesday, and then Wednesday DANIEL COMES TO PARMA and life will be magical. Also, I used Steph's computer to upload a lot of pictures, so check out the webshots!
Love to all, hope life is wonderful!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
BACK FROM POLAND!
Poland is awesome! Everyone needs to go there. I need to go back. Let me tell you about how great it is!
Jeff and I met up with Sarah MILLER on Friday night, after a little confusion on where we all were -- she had gotten in earlier that day and had been exploring, so she knew all the cool places to walk to. After we got situated in our hostel we went to walk in the center of Krakow. There is this huge wall that you walk under to get to the REAL KRAKOW.
We explored a little and marvelled at how cheap everything was and then went to a restaurant that had 25 DIFFERENT KINDS OF PIEROGI! I kid you not! Also, the ceiling was decorated with swirls akin to Starry Night, because the place was called Restaurant di VINCENT or something Polish to that nature. I had delish pierogi filled with SHEEP'S CHEESE and potatoes, and for dessert we all shared a plate of fruit-filled pierogi. SO GOOD.
Yesterday we did a lot of sight-seeing. We started off at Wawel Castle, which had a beautiful courtyard and also housed a gorgeous cathedral. The state rooms in Wawel were pretty interesting; the throne room had these stucco faces hanging from the ceiling which were entertaining and creepy.
The cathedral was amazing, it was named for St. Stanislaus and had his remains there (I think), as well as a lot a lot of important dead people, like the first Queen of Poland, whom JPII made a saint, and a ton of royalty. We also climbed up to see a very large bell. Haha.
We checked out another cathedral and had some Polish pastries (yum yum, from the pretzel lady) and then found where we needed to meet for our tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau.
The tour was very informative and worthwhile, and, as you would expect, incredibly sad. I was really glad we went though.
After the tour we went to dinner back in the center of Krakow. Sarah and I both had a CHICKEN ROLL which was yummo. She had to ask the waitress what exactly a chicken roll was, but it was a very adequate description, actually.
All of Krakow was so Eastern-Europeany, it was so great, and so different than Italy. I really want to go back and spend like a week there. ALSO I used my mad Polish skills -- I said "thank you" a lot in Polish and "excuse me" a couple times. When I listened to announcements I could pick out numbers and I read COLD BEER on a sign. Life was good!
Amazing trip all in all, despite the 12 hours of traveling we did on Friday and 10 hours today. Definitely worth it.
OH AND TWO PIECES OF GREAT NEWS: my baby jar containers worked PERFECTLY, and I bought a Very Excellent Winter Hat! HUZZAH!
Poland is awesome! Everyone needs to go there. I need to go back. Let me tell you about how great it is!
Jeff and I met up with Sarah MILLER on Friday night, after a little confusion on where we all were -- she had gotten in earlier that day and had been exploring, so she knew all the cool places to walk to. After we got situated in our hostel we went to walk in the center of Krakow. There is this huge wall that you walk under to get to the REAL KRAKOW.
We explored a little and marvelled at how cheap everything was and then went to a restaurant that had 25 DIFFERENT KINDS OF PIEROGI! I kid you not! Also, the ceiling was decorated with swirls akin to Starry Night, because the place was called Restaurant di VINCENT or something Polish to that nature. I had delish pierogi filled with SHEEP'S CHEESE and potatoes, and for dessert we all shared a plate of fruit-filled pierogi. SO GOOD.
Yesterday we did a lot of sight-seeing. We started off at Wawel Castle, which had a beautiful courtyard and also housed a gorgeous cathedral. The state rooms in Wawel were pretty interesting; the throne room had these stucco faces hanging from the ceiling which were entertaining and creepy.
The cathedral was amazing, it was named for St. Stanislaus and had his remains there (I think), as well as a lot a lot of important dead people, like the first Queen of Poland, whom JPII made a saint, and a ton of royalty. We also climbed up to see a very large bell. Haha.
We checked out another cathedral and had some Polish pastries (yum yum, from the pretzel lady) and then found where we needed to meet for our tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau.
The tour was very informative and worthwhile, and, as you would expect, incredibly sad. I was really glad we went though.
After the tour we went to dinner back in the center of Krakow. Sarah and I both had a CHICKEN ROLL which was yummo. She had to ask the waitress what exactly a chicken roll was, but it was a very adequate description, actually.
All of Krakow was so Eastern-Europeany, it was so great, and so different than Italy. I really want to go back and spend like a week there. ALSO I used my mad Polish skills -- I said "thank you" a lot in Polish and "excuse me" a couple times. When I listened to announcements I could pick out numbers and I read COLD BEER on a sign. Life was good!
Amazing trip all in all, despite the 12 hours of traveling we did on Friday and 10 hours today. Definitely worth it.
OH AND TWO PIECES OF GREAT NEWS: my baby jar containers worked PERFECTLY, and I bought a Very Excellent Winter Hat! HUZZAH!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
I am a chilly little monkey. Tell this rain to go away!
Also, I am a tad frustrated. It is my goal to get an internship to count for class credit for next semester, and so all week I have been calling places. It is very hard, though, being 6 hours ahead of Boston, and using information that is out of date is bad too. Also having no number at that the people can return your call is no good. I don't think this will end well for me.
HOWEVER, I do believe I will win the INGENUITY AWARD after this weekend! Steph and I both realized that neither one of us has travel-sized toiletries (I always share with Erin, she always goes to hotels) and that this weekend we would need to bring our own! OH NO. Where does one buy such a rarity in Italy? NO ONE KNOWS. We looked in some pharmacies but then decided our best bet was to go to Esselunga, a giant grocery store that we'd never been to. Well, we went.
ESSELUNGA IS AMAZINGGGG
They had exciting items which we had never seen in Italy! Hot sauce! Peanut butter! Individual jellies (just what I needed!)! Lots of kinds of cookies! CHAI TEA!
We were so stoked and feeling good until we got to the cosmetics-and-the-like aisle.
No. travel-sized. to. be. found.
ESSELUNGA IS THE WORSTTTT
So! I bought two bebe jars of baby food (mixed fruit) and washed them, and have since put my shampoo and conditioner in them! I am assuming they will be confiscated by airport security, but WHO KNOWS! MAYBE I AM A GENIUS!
You may be wondering about my shower gel. How will I transport that?
No fears, friends, Steph and I also bought KINDER EGGS in which resided a TOY encased in a PLASTIC EGG-like thing!
Shower gel situated!
So, while I may have no future, this weekend at least is bright and shiny and CLEAN.
Also, I did taste the baby food. Not too shabby, but I would never eat a whole jar. Sorry, Johnny, I now feel your pain.
Ew also, side note: babies here eat things like HORSE and RABBIT. Sick.
Also, I am a tad frustrated. It is my goal to get an internship to count for class credit for next semester, and so all week I have been calling places. It is very hard, though, being 6 hours ahead of Boston, and using information that is out of date is bad too. Also having no number at that the people can return your call is no good. I don't think this will end well for me.
HOWEVER, I do believe I will win the INGENUITY AWARD after this weekend! Steph and I both realized that neither one of us has travel-sized toiletries (I always share with Erin, she always goes to hotels) and that this weekend we would need to bring our own! OH NO. Where does one buy such a rarity in Italy? NO ONE KNOWS. We looked in some pharmacies but then decided our best bet was to go to Esselunga, a giant grocery store that we'd never been to. Well, we went.
ESSELUNGA IS AMAZINGGGG
They had exciting items which we had never seen in Italy! Hot sauce! Peanut butter! Individual jellies (just what I needed!)! Lots of kinds of cookies! CHAI TEA!
We were so stoked and feeling good until we got to the cosmetics-and-the-like aisle.
No. travel-sized. to. be. found.
ESSELUNGA IS THE WORSTTTT
So! I bought two bebe jars of baby food (mixed fruit) and washed them, and have since put my shampoo and conditioner in them! I am assuming they will be confiscated by airport security, but WHO KNOWS! MAYBE I AM A GENIUS!
You may be wondering about my shower gel. How will I transport that?
No fears, friends, Steph and I also bought KINDER EGGS in which resided a TOY encased in a PLASTIC EGG-like thing!
Shower gel situated!
So, while I may have no future, this weekend at least is bright and shiny and CLEAN.
Also, I did taste the baby food. Not too shabby, but I would never eat a whole jar. Sorry, Johnny, I now feel your pain.
Ew also, side note: babies here eat things like HORSE and RABBIT. Sick.
Monday, November 10, 2008
La la la here is the obligatory after-weekend update.
THIS WEEKEND I STAYED IN PARMA!
Whoa. First time since arriving.
But it was lovely!
Saturday I took my bike and went around town for an hour and a half. I have been down some of the streets 19 million times so I went down a bunch of streets I had never been to. I knew I couldn't get lost because Parma is the size of my big toe. And basically after that hour and a half, I had seen all there is to see in Parma. GOOD TIMES.
No, it was actually really adorable and peaceful to do this. Venturing off the main road I was able to see how Italians really live, and the streets were so QUIET. It was a lovely way to spend a sunny day, just me thinking and cruising.
I also worked on my presentation for my Cultural Diversity class -- which I have to present in an hour. I am a little nervous because I don't know how well I related my chapter to the material, but this class is pretty laid-back and my professor is always nervous in front of us (he is a very sweet man but very quiet) so I think it should go okay.
What else of note. Nate and I made cookies yesterday, which turned out pretty good despite the fact that we had no real sugar so we took all the sugar packets from everyone in the Villa and just used those. We ALMOST had enough sugar for each batch (but not quite). Also I watched The Shining this weekend. Why, I do not know. After watching it I had to bike home alone. No good.
TODAY I rode to Soc and discovered that my front tire is flat! ALAS! Even more ALAS because there is a BUS STRIKE today, which means that I have no idea how I will get to cooking lessons tonight! OH CRAP. Actually, life is more OH CRAP for Steph because she is stuck in Milan. She was coming back from Paris and was planning on taking a 5am train home but guess what? There is a TRAIN STRIKE too, which may last until tonight! Poverina.
In other news, I really need to start working on my paper that is due in a month. WHY, KRISTIN? That sounds crazy and over-achievery! No, guys, it is a TEN PAGE PAPER IN ITALIAN ABOUT SOCIOLOGY. Oh. In that case, WHY HAVEN'T YOU STARTED IT SOONER? Good question.
Apparently Italy has taught me to talk to myself! Well done.
I hope life is great! Fam, I hope you had an amazing time in Quincy.
Hooray for BC for beating ND!
CIAO BELLI!
THIS WEEKEND I STAYED IN PARMA!
Whoa. First time since arriving.
But it was lovely!
Saturday I took my bike and went around town for an hour and a half. I have been down some of the streets 19 million times so I went down a bunch of streets I had never been to. I knew I couldn't get lost because Parma is the size of my big toe. And basically after that hour and a half, I had seen all there is to see in Parma. GOOD TIMES.
No, it was actually really adorable and peaceful to do this. Venturing off the main road I was able to see how Italians really live, and the streets were so QUIET. It was a lovely way to spend a sunny day, just me thinking and cruising.
I also worked on my presentation for my Cultural Diversity class -- which I have to present in an hour. I am a little nervous because I don't know how well I related my chapter to the material, but this class is pretty laid-back and my professor is always nervous in front of us (he is a very sweet man but very quiet) so I think it should go okay.
What else of note. Nate and I made cookies yesterday, which turned out pretty good despite the fact that we had no real sugar so we took all the sugar packets from everyone in the Villa and just used those. We ALMOST had enough sugar for each batch (but not quite). Also I watched The Shining this weekend. Why, I do not know. After watching it I had to bike home alone. No good.
TODAY I rode to Soc and discovered that my front tire is flat! ALAS! Even more ALAS because there is a BUS STRIKE today, which means that I have no idea how I will get to cooking lessons tonight! OH CRAP. Actually, life is more OH CRAP for Steph because she is stuck in Milan. She was coming back from Paris and was planning on taking a 5am train home but guess what? There is a TRAIN STRIKE too, which may last until tonight! Poverina.
In other news, I really need to start working on my paper that is due in a month. WHY, KRISTIN? That sounds crazy and over-achievery! No, guys, it is a TEN PAGE PAPER IN ITALIAN ABOUT SOCIOLOGY. Oh. In that case, WHY HAVEN'T YOU STARTED IT SOONER? Good question.
Apparently Italy has taught me to talk to myself! Well done.
I hope life is great! Fam, I hope you had an amazing time in Quincy.
Hooray for BC for beating ND!
CIAO BELLI!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Okay, out of respect for those who view politics differently than I, this is the last time I will talk about Obama winning.
BUT
When I went upstairs to have dinner with Nice tonight, she showed me a cake she had made -- it says OBAMA and has a dove of peace (and the symbol for VIVA) on it. TOO ADORABLE.
Also, she told me I couldn't help with the dishes because it was Obama Day, and then proceeded to sing Obama Day songs, which meant she would sing OBAMA DAY in a certain way and then go "that was the classical version. The last one was the pop version." I heard opera, drinking song, Catholic school girls, Brownies, Christmas song ("I'm dreaming of a white Obama"...which we immediately decided was not the best choice hahaha), college fight song, jazz, and I can't even remember. Nice is too hilarious, and I think it is so interesting to see how the rest of the world viewed the election.
She told me to send the picture to my grandma who loves Obama, so here are the pics!
(I did the dishes anyway. No worries, Ma)
BUT
When I went upstairs to have dinner with Nice tonight, she showed me a cake she had made -- it says OBAMA and has a dove of peace (and the symbol for VIVA) on it. TOO ADORABLE.
Also, she told me I couldn't help with the dishes because it was Obama Day, and then proceeded to sing Obama Day songs, which meant she would sing OBAMA DAY in a certain way and then go "that was the classical version. The last one was the pop version." I heard opera, drinking song, Catholic school girls, Brownies, Christmas song ("I'm dreaming of a white Obama"...which we immediately decided was not the best choice hahaha), college fight song, jazz, and I can't even remember. Nice is too hilarious, and I think it is so interesting to see how the rest of the world viewed the election.
She told me to send the picture to my grandma who loves Obama, so here are the pics!
(I did the dishes anyway. No worries, Ma)
I was a slacker and only stayed up until 3:30 am last night (right after my boy won Ohio) but I was a happy little monkey when I woke up this morning!
HOORAY FOR OBAMA!
This morning my History of Parma class got interviewed by the Parma Gazette about the election. Amusing.
IT STOPPED RAINING! I hope hope hope that this holds out until I am back from babysitting, because I do not know how to take the bus to get there and I hate riding my bike in the rain. Oh well.
SO LIFE IS GOOD!
Love to all!
HOORAY FOR OBAMA!
This morning my History of Parma class got interviewed by the Parma Gazette about the election. Amusing.
IT STOPPED RAINING! I hope hope hope that this holds out until I am back from babysitting, because I do not know how to take the bus to get there and I hate riding my bike in the rain. Oh well.
SO LIFE IS GOOD!
Love to all!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Hahahaha I just read my entry before I went to Switzerland and the entry after I got back and I AM SO PREDICTABLE! I used the same joke for the weekend and then the same word to describe the people going. I guess that means I also have a short term memory, because both times I thought I was being very clever. ALAS.
I got a package from Daniel yesterday! Now I can clean my apartment with Lysol wipes, chew gum that I did not pay 9 dollars for, and listen to excellent music! DAN IS THE BEST! <3
ALSO I got a Halloween card from the gparents today! The mailman must think I am super popular. THANKS GMA AND PAPA B! :)
It is raining here. I think Italy is pretending it is England for the week, which is not cool. There is a river that runs in the middle of Parma that is always always dry. It is simply a ditch with bridges over it. HOWEVER, lately there is a HUGE AMOUNT OF WATER IN IT, which confuses everyone. No one told me to bring my rainboots. I have to ride the bus, not my bike. I hope these short sentences adequately convey my discomfort.
I didn't have too much to update on, since I did I think yesterday. Or the day before.
OH AT ANNA'S FOR COOKING LESSONS, we made tiramisu which I never liked but it was really really good. She also made pesto (homemade) pasta, and chicken with peppers. It was the bestttt.
That's all for real! Hope everyone is doing well!
PS ALSO OH MAN! GO OBAMA! I AM SO NERVOUS!
I got a package from Daniel yesterday! Now I can clean my apartment with Lysol wipes, chew gum that I did not pay 9 dollars for, and listen to excellent music! DAN IS THE BEST! <3
ALSO I got a Halloween card from the gparents today! The mailman must think I am super popular. THANKS GMA AND PAPA B! :)
It is raining here. I think Italy is pretending it is England for the week, which is not cool. There is a river that runs in the middle of Parma that is always always dry. It is simply a ditch with bridges over it. HOWEVER, lately there is a HUGE AMOUNT OF WATER IN IT, which confuses everyone. No one told me to bring my rainboots. I have to ride the bus, not my bike. I hope these short sentences adequately convey my discomfort.
I didn't have too much to update on, since I did I think yesterday. Or the day before.
OH AT ANNA'S FOR COOKING LESSONS, we made tiramisu which I never liked but it was really really good. She also made pesto (homemade) pasta, and chicken with peppers. It was the bestttt.
That's all for real! Hope everyone is doing well!
PS ALSO OH MAN! GO OBAMA! I AM SO NERVOUS!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Oh hai!
I just got back from Svizzera! Lucerne, Switzerland is a lovely little place to go to, let me tell you. I will now tell you.
We took a train there, which took about 6 hours, which was less of a hassle than flying and a jolly good idea, because the sights that we saw as we rode through Switzerland were GORGEOUS. We were completely surrounded by the Alps, and little mountain towns covered in SNOW. We were so excited to see snow, and felt very Christmassy all weekend, even though we got there on Halloween. The night we got in we found our hostel and went to eat. That took awhile to accomplish because APPARENTLY there are no restaraunts open in Lucerne. EVER.
BUT we had German sausages and they were delish. Lucerne is a German speaking part of Switzerland, if you didn't know. Juanes would have loooved it. Also he would have loved the train ride over because we spent the 4 hours in Switz talking to a German student. Pretty great!
Saturday we did a lot. We took a bus up to this Gutsch forest and walked around in the snow. It was COLD so we walked back down to the town and got some hot chocolate at a place named Heini. Tee hee. DEELISH as well! There are some really beautiful bridges that have these painted panels on the insides...one is the bridge to Hell and depicts all these death scenes, and the other is the bridge to Heaven and has prettier paintings. Also we took a picture in front of the largest Jesuit church in an attempt to get on webmail. Haha.
We also saw this giant lion carved into a mountain which was a gift from France, and we took a picture with a man playing a mountain horn.
We had cheese fondue which was AWESOME and got swiss chocolate. ALSO I bought a Swiss Army knife but it is in the shape of a credit card and has 13 functions! It is so cool!
Basically it was a very chill weekend (literally) of seeing a beautiful little Swiss town and being with a solid group of people. VERY AWESOME.
Time to watch the Office! YAY
I just got back from Svizzera! Lucerne, Switzerland is a lovely little place to go to, let me tell you. I will now tell you.
We took a train there, which took about 6 hours, which was less of a hassle than flying and a jolly good idea, because the sights that we saw as we rode through Switzerland were GORGEOUS. We were completely surrounded by the Alps, and little mountain towns covered in SNOW. We were so excited to see snow, and felt very Christmassy all weekend, even though we got there on Halloween. The night we got in we found our hostel and went to eat. That took awhile to accomplish because APPARENTLY there are no restaraunts open in Lucerne. EVER.
BUT we had German sausages and they were delish. Lucerne is a German speaking part of Switzerland, if you didn't know. Juanes would have loooved it. Also he would have loved the train ride over because we spent the 4 hours in Switz talking to a German student. Pretty great!
Saturday we did a lot. We took a bus up to this Gutsch forest and walked around in the snow. It was COLD so we walked back down to the town and got some hot chocolate at a place named Heini. Tee hee. DEELISH as well! There are some really beautiful bridges that have these painted panels on the insides...one is the bridge to Hell and depicts all these death scenes, and the other is the bridge to Heaven and has prettier paintings. Also we took a picture in front of the largest Jesuit church in an attempt to get on webmail. Haha.
We also saw this giant lion carved into a mountain which was a gift from France, and we took a picture with a man playing a mountain horn.
We had cheese fondue which was AWESOME and got swiss chocolate. ALSO I bought a Swiss Army knife but it is in the shape of a credit card and has 13 functions! It is so cool!
Basically it was a very chill weekend (literally) of seeing a beautiful little Swiss town and being with a solid group of people. VERY AWESOME.
Time to watch the Office! YAY
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