Since I have been here in Italy for 4 months now, I can confidently say that I have learned a good bit of stuff. Some of it is more fun to talk about than others, so here you go;
1.
I have learned how to cook - Matt and I cook lunch and dinner everyday... AND IT'S ACTUALLY GOOD! Ironically, Matt's and my cooking has gotten exponentially better... At the beginning there were nights where we were half crying and half hating ourselves for eating the disaster of a meal that we were calling dinner. And then we thought we knew what we were doing until we were informed one night that not only have we been using pizza sauce for pasta sauce, but the way we cook pasta is actually over cooked pasta. After that day our cooking has gotten drastically better!!! Now we are taking recipes that we know, and adding our own twists to them, experimenting with food, and for the most part (87.43% of the time) It turns out quite well.
2.
I can speak Italian... sort of - I can confidently say I can sort of speak it!! Honestly though, I am happy I am not studying in Florence or Rome. While they might be the more typical image of what Italy looks like to people, I wouldn't trade the experience of going to the open market and trying to buy things, and only being able to speak Italian. The level at which you learn a language when your hunger depends on it as a college student is as exponential as your cooking skills!!
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| Speaking Italian with Cristina! (she is Italian) |
Its always fun to try your Italian, and then you go somewhere and try to buy something and recognize that you have no idea what you need to say (rather you turn into cavemen and start saying words that you hope work and just start pointing). This is what Matt, Jill, Samantha, and I did on Saturday!
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| We finally got them! |
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| This is us... DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT MOM!! |
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| O Clocks (trend started by Gabe and embraced by all!) |
For real its harder than it looks, but we make it look good!!! Shoes, watches, purple pants, sweaters, scarves... Eventually if you can get it out you can have a blast, and we did! If you can accept the fact that it is going to be frustrating and difficult it will be fun, and you will look awesome!
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| I know we look Italian, but we aren't... Ok well sort of we are! (Dark Purple Corduroys!) |
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3.
What college is like (relatively) - This seems like a stupid one to put on, but really the first three years of my college experience was not really "college" as it is depicted everywhere in life. I went to school only two days a week and worked 4 days a week. This also means I never went out, I didn't really drink before I came (I still don't really), but most importantly, I didn't understand what people where talking about when they were referring to "The best four years of your life". Now, I can say that sometimes going out on a Tuesday night because class Tuesday afternoon sucked can be fun! Going over to a friends house on a Wednesday just because you can is a good time! Not having to be in bed by 12:30 on a Friday really helps your social life! Ironically I say this when I am studying abroad in another country 1/4th of the way around the world, with a language I can barely speak, but whatever!
4.
Spontaneity can be fun - If you knew me before I came to Italy you would know that I would have considered myself a spontaneous person. However having been here now I would laugh at myself. Really my "Spontaneity" came from not ever having plans; I was good at being able to drop nothing to do whatever on a dime! And the other half would be immaturity. Doing crazy things just because something thinks it would be funny doesn't always make it spontaneous... IT MAKES IT STUPID!!
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| Its still fun though... |
But being here has allowed me to really see what adjusting plans that you have to accommodate other plans that have surfaced, cancellations of plans, or double bookings (something that I am bad at). In fact, I have gotten way too used to asking Matt what plans we have that night because to me it has turned into lets make some plans and then we will figure it out later! Italian spontaneity is a little bit different; it actually means lets all meet for dinner at 8pm at this place (I dont know why Italians then hear 830.. still haven't understood that part), and then "Spontaneously" we will chose what bar we go to one after the other depending on what drink we want next! (STILE CESARE CIAMPI!!!)
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| Angelo, Lorenzo, and Cesare "Rumeria.. Perche' no!" |
This experience really has taught me a lot about being able to manage going to school, working, having fun, traveling, and everything else that might just happen to show up in your life! There are better ones that I could have probably put, but to be honest these came with the best pictures and stories!!
See you guys again Wednesday after finals, but while you wait check out the left side of my blog and insert your email address.. you can now get an email notifying you whenever I post something!!! I know, it's super!
