Parcheggio (par-ke-chee-O) – Parking

            ….ok so yes I didn’t do anything today really….but I feel like if I want this to be my journal I should try to at least find something to write about everyday, and at the end of all of this im going to want to remember the tiny, seemingly insignificant things, of everyday life…..like how Italians drive and, well, park…

…oh dear goodness gracious…..they cant…..or they can? Maybe they are just really creative in their parking jobs and the rest of the world isn’t?... either way, there is zero semblance of rules here that pertain to driving, or parking…seriously, they drive wherever, and however they want…..and I know this not even just from walking and watching but also because I drive with my host parents….since Italy really doesn’t understand the idea of lines, or taking turns, everyone just goes whenever they think they should (which is usually before everyone else, unless there is an elderly lady walking)….and literally, as. Fast. As. Possible…..honestly!….when we were driving to Bardonecchia one of the first weekends that I was here, I even asked my host dad, Simone, and he was like, “yyeeeaaahhhh there are speed limits, but no one ever really is checking…”…..case in point, no one cares J….

…also, as far as for people crossing the street….in America, pedestrians have the right of way, always….here? nope. Never….which is well, frightening….even in a crosswalk….if you have the go light, usually they will at least slow down and let you cross first if they are say, turning into the crosswalk….but goodness gracious, if you just try to run in between cars (aka everyday when I am on my way to school…because well, lets be real, the straight shot to school across the street, as opposed to walking aaallllllll the way down the street to a crosswalk is just too much J)….they don’t stop for you….they don’t even usually slow down….just lay on their horns…..sometimes they do swerve around you J….one day however, I literally had someone playing with me, like trying to see if they could hit me….he actually changed lanes into the one I was running into….gotta get some fun on your commute to work right?? J…

…oh and the horns?...oh the horns…ive come to the realization that, although, yes Italians use their horns like they are going out of style, its not necessarily out of annoyance or anger….its just to let you know right away that you are in the way, or that the light has turned green….see Italians I don’t believe, shall we say, hold grudges….no they are passionate people…and they just let that passion out right away…..they let you know whatever emotion they are feeling, right as soon as they are feeling it….case and point, the quick action car horn J….after a while of living here, and spending quite a lot of time out on the front (street side) balcony, its just kinda funny to listen and watch J….

…..i kid you not about the parking rules either, no tickets, nothing…. This very morning, I was just on my happy, sunny, Sunday morning walk to church….when I thought to myself, “that doesn’t look right” …(the picture above)…which is a lot for me, because Im so used to it by now, that people usually have to point it out to me….this car was parallel parked….but uh, well parallel to the wrong side….this car was completely on the sidewalk, with another car, parallel parked correctly next to it on the street…..like seriously, why did this constitute as the appropriate decision? …..what part of the driver thought, well its Sunday why not set a new trend and go straight up on the curb entirely…

….i may never understand how people drive, or park, here and not get tickets, or ya know, die….but somehow, to Italians it just plain makes sense….and if for nothing else, it gave me a good laugh this morning, and everytime I think about it J…..Happy Sunday everyone, and remember, “Don’t drive like my (Italian) brothers…” (Renaldo kids, please reread that in a Cartalk accent J)

(PS we were shown this youtube in my Culture class, kinda a funny spoof about how different Italy is from the rest of Europe.....sadly its all ENTIRELY TRUE!!!....this is my life people...)

Venezia (ven-et-Z-ah) – Venice

          …well the past 56 hours have been completely a whirlwind….exciting, fun, sad, sick, teary…all of the emotions in one….i am finally back home from all of our last adventures and Josh is currently on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean on his way home….this has been an amazing week, and although it never went according to plan, really at all….i am so thankful for just the time I got to spend with him…more thankful than words can describe…if there is one thing that this long distance has taught us is that we will never take time together for granted ever again….we enjoyed every moment….so now for the final blog post of my week with Josh J….(and its gonna be a long one J)….

            …well Wednesday morning I was off to school nice and early for my long day of classes, poor Josh was sick, again, when I woke up so I left him to sleep…when I came home he had a really wiggly stomach and a fever that didn’t want to break, so as soon as the pharmacy opened I was in getting the medicines that Ely told me I needed, and off to see Gianni to get some gelato to bring home (after all isn’t that your standard Italian remedy??)…the meds broke his fever so fast, and after some more sleep he was feeling better thankfully….it actually worked out that we just had to stay home that afternoon because I had a big Italian test Thursday that I was really worried for, so to be able to just sit and study was perfect….thankfully he was feeling better by the nighttime, so we were able to go out for our dinner date, I had made reservations the previous weekend at my favorite restaurant in town, so it was rather perfect….we had a delish and wonderful time….gah I miss going out on dates with him….cant wait for that in the fall J….afterwards it was just back home for more studying….

            ….Thursday I was up extra early to do final studying then off to school to take my test…which I am thinking went pretty well, but im not too sure because I thought it went really well, but everyone else said they thought it was wicked hard, so I guess we will just see….but as soon as I got done, I ran home, packed, and we were off to catch a train for venice!....took us about 4 ½ hours by train, but josh was a wonderful traveling companion I learned (and learned even more so the next day)

Ganz loved it...

….we got into venice, just barely as the sun was setting over…it was perfect….as soon as we walked out of the train station we were right on the Grand Canal, and with the sun, gah I fell in love with it all J…..perfectly enough, our hotel/hostel was only about a 3 minute walk down from the train station, so we went checked in (cute little room, even had a shared terrace which was so cool J) and then were off to explore a bit and find some dinner…..gah it was amazing, we just followed winding streets going over canal after canal J….so beautiful….ended up finding a cute little place to grab some dinner, was really really good too J….by the time we were done and found our way back, we headed to bed planning on an early morning the next day since we only had until 5ish on Friday to spend there….

            …well as fate would have it, Josh got the full on stomach bug over night, complete with naseua and well, the rest L….poor thing was so sick….so rather than getting completely bummed out, what do we do mom? We do what we can and adjust our plans J….so when I woke up, I went to extend the check out until noon, picked up myself some fruit from the market right outside and went to pharmacy for some nasea pills…..hurried back gave my patient the pills, and watched some Private Practice in Italian (which was actually fun), while we waited for them to work….and work they did!....he was still a little wiggly, but by about 11:30 he was up and walking, and joking with me J….so we packed up and just set off taking it slow…

..needless to say, we scratched actually going over to the island of Murano (I guess that just means I need to go back! J)…but it was still perfect, the weather was SO BEAUTIFUL!!!....i think I saw that it hit around 68 degrees, and to be right on the water, gah wonderful….we walked our way around….

went to find Rialto Bridge, so so beautiful, wandered around there a while and I found some Murano (which is not hard in Venice J)….then we set off for St. Mark’s Square….after discovering the general direction, we kept seeing odd “street art”, as josh started calling them, that would just say “san marcos” or even just, “s marc” and then an arrow, in spray paint, or handwriting on paper….and josh was convinced it was the best decision to follow these, (no matter how sketchy it seemed to me) so we did, and it led us through these tiny tiny streets, one even so small we couldn’t even walk side by side to pass people we met…..it was fun and I was just laughing at him the entire time….

...and believe it or not, at the end of one of these little streets, it opened up into San Marcos Piazza J and my was it just spectacular….we grabbed some sodas - special drink break for rallying :) (sprite for the queasy one J) ...

...and just sat on the sea and people watched, and took pictures and marveled at the amazingness and said about a million times…..”can you believe we are in Venice, Italy right now?”….and the even more amazing one, “can you believe we are in Venice, together?!?!”….it was perfect….after a while we were getting sweaty (can you believe that?!? Sweaty!!! J)

....so we decided to get up and walk, so we walked to go see the bridge of sighs, and then Eagle Scout boy decided I was no longer in charge of directions and took over….we just started weaving in and out of tiny little streets, sometimes finding ourselves right at a canal with no bridge so we would have to backtrack….

...finding the cutest little piazzas, the sea, and all sorts of cool shops and people….until finally it was getting later in the day, so we figured we should start heading back to pick up his bag from where we were storing it at the hotel, and grab dinner before our train to Milan, and found we were totally lost…..so well we wandered even more! Until we found our way back….it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, getting fantastically lost in venice J

 …..when we got back, we bought my new scarf (gotta get one from every city), picked up his bag, and grabbed some panini from a bar on the canal and just sat outside and watched people pass by and waiting for the train…..

            ….then it was off to Milan….2 ½ hours by train….we said goodbye to Venice, (totally in love with it) and trained to Milan, found our way to the hostel….well that is after I walked us about 5 blocks down the wrong street from the train station, only to walk all the way back and find out that we should have just stayed on the road directly in front of us, all while the naseau meds were wearing off on sick boy :/ ….needless to say, molly should really stop being in charge of directions!...we eventually got there, checked in and it ended up being really quite great….we went to bed pretty early…

            …we were up at about 4:30am this morning…walked to the train station, took a bus to the airport, then waited around a bit, and then well came the tears….a lot of tears….like I think I looked nuts completely when I said goodbye to him…..being apart from anyone you love is tough…but not knowing the exact date when you will see them again is just plain completely and utterly horrible….especially when the only date you know for sure, is 4 months away…..hoping that we can see each other in May, after I get home and before he has to report to work in New Mexico for the summer, but even that is still up in the air….i am so so so so thankful for this past week and even with all the broken plans, not getting to do everything I wanted to…it was one of the best weeks….3 months was a long time, and 4 will be even longer, but they say that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and that is definently true….im sad and I miss him….but im so thankful for the time I got to spend with him…..its so hard being left here in this place alone again (I felt the same way when mum and dad left)….but he has been so supportive of me being brave and independent in this whole semester, so I guess its time to be strong and brave again….fly safely babe, and thank you for a truly amazing week, one full of memories I wont ever forget J

Acqua – (ah-coo-wa) – Water (or lack there of)

            ….i truly meant to write this last night but I was so so tired after our dinner that it had to wait until today…yesterday was a truly wonderful day as well J….it started off early for me, 8am I had to be at the school to take part in the USAC Board of Directors Meeting…all of the Directors from all of the programs around the world and all of the partner universities in the states were here in torino to see our program, before then heading to the sight of the newest program starting in the fall in Reggio Emilia, and then to the final USAC program in Vieterbo….i was asked to show up and speak to the group about living with an Italian family and then also about my intership at the kindergarten….it was really fun to talk about what an amazing experience that this whole thing has been for me J im so truly thankful for all of the opportunities that I have gained from being here….

            …when I was done helping with the group at about 12…it was back home, to meet Josh, and then we met up with Natalie and Rebecca to go to lunch at our favorite pizza place J…josh had to eat his first whole Italian pizza and it was so much fun….so awesome for him to meet my friends and for me to get to see them all hang out together and get along….it made me so so happy J….after we had been there for probably an hour and a half, we of course, moved next door to get gelato from Gianni J naturally…

            …then josh and I were off on an adventure….and well I have no made a new decision, im never ever ever ever ever trying to take someone to Superga again….well we all remember the fiasco with mom and dad….and well, long drawn out story short, we got on the bus to head to where the Sassi tram picked up at the base of the mountain, (and I checked online this time to find our when it was running) but when we got there it had just barely taken off a few minutes early….so I figured, that’s fine we can take the bus, and after we found what time it picked up….we waited…..20 minutes later, still nothing….so I was bummed, but we decided we should waste the nice day, so we thought we would just go to the Mole J….so we bussed over to Gran Madre, and then took our time, walking through a few piazzas and up the Via Po….to the mole J ….to just find out that it was closed L…..soooo well, both efforts proved unfruitful….and after all of this walking and sun and time, little jet lagged boy could use a nap….so we took off for Eataly J…we had to pick up some things for tonights dinner at natalie’s house, and I wanted to show it all to him too….

            …then it was home, for me to work on homework and study, and a catnap for Josh…then it was dinner time with my host family, Valentina and Marco, and Eliana’s cousin, Roberta (but they call her Robbie! J mom I was elated, especially cuz I loved her!)…it was so much fun J poor josh didn’t understand a word of the conversation, but he was a good sport and hit it off really well with Marco which was really fun J….dinner was absolutely delish, Ely really outdid herself!....even made homemade bread and tiramisu! J and then of course, simone played the “lets make you try all the different digestives” game, so poor josh had to deal with that too….but we had a blast and josh got to see what Italian life is all about and how it is run, food and family J…..we had an amazing night!

            …this morning we were supposed to get up and get on a train for genova, but josh woke up with a really bad fever and sick to his stomach….which we later realized was probably dehydration, as opposed to flu, because well, im not sure past dinner what water he had drank…..but his fever was so bad I didn’t feel like letting him rally, so we stayed home….he slept the day and I worked on studying for an upcoming test…..but early afternoon he woke up and the fever had broken, and his stomach felt better so we went off for just a small outing…..

            …we ended up going up the Mole today and that was so much fun….especially because by the time we got up to the top, the sun was just starting to go down, so the lighting was just beautiful J….it was the perfect little thing to do today….afterwards we had a couple more things to pick up for dinner at the store….then we came home just for an hour or so…..but Paula (Ely’s mom) was home and was so tickled to be able to meet Josh, she even had “I am pleased to meet you” written on her hand in English so she would remember what to say correctly J…it was so adorable J J…

            …then tonight we were off at about 8 for Natalie’s house for dinner…it was perfect….we brought over the pasta and wine, and she put it all together and made dinner…it was so delish and so much fun….i love dinners at Nat’s….it was a nice quiet ending to today….but everyone really was just exhausted tonight for some reason, so we got home at about 10 which was perfect….just enough time to write my post and do a little studying for my test on Thursday and then off to the sleep I am fighting so badly right now….tomorrow is a lot of school, a few last torino biggies, studying, and dinner out together for josh’s last day in torino before we go to venice on Thursday afternoon J….well goodnight all, until tomorrow!!

Felice – (fell – EE-ch-ay) – Happy

            …this is a post for two separate days being that I didn’t write a post last night, but the word is the same for both days and im guessing that it will stand true for the next week, im so happy J….

            ..yesterday morning I got up at literally the crack of dawn, actually no, it was before dawn had even cracked….i left the house at 4:30am to go to the station and take a bus to Milan at 5am, to get to the airport there at 7am to pick up my boyfriend, josh who had come all the way to Italy for his spring break to see me J….needless to say, I wish the reuniting in the airport had been filmed because I feel like I could have been in some romantic comedy movie…seeing him was absolutely wonderful, we have been apart for the past 3 months….

            …unfortunately his whole trip here had been quite the adventure, culminating in the sending of his bag from JFK to Zurich instead of Milan….so well, we dealt with that being told that they hoped it would be here by Monday….thankfully we were pleasantly surprised when later in the day we got a  phone call asking if we were home to have the bag dropped off J…thankfully Ely was home so the bag beat us!..

    

      …after we dealt with that situation, we took the shuttle into the city, got Josh his first cappuccino, hopped on the metro and were off the duomo…

....i think from the airport to The Duomo I said about 100 times, “I cant believe youre real, and youre in Italy!”….i guess you could say that I was excited and happy….we took our pictures, and went inside, and holy man is that church just massive and beautiful J….we marveled for a while J and then went out and walked through The Vittorio Emanuelle II Galleria, then followed a loop over to Piazza San Babila and back down to the Duomo….by that time we were hungry, grabbed an early lunch at Luini’s (that pizza frite place that I had the last time I was in Milan, I love that place)….josh was a fan J…then walked across the street to a gelato shop to have josh try gelato….after figuring out every flavor he could have, without ya know, dying… poor thing is allergic to nuts, in a place that puts hazelnuts in like everything!....and he was hooked J we sat and ate and had a grand time of that eating J….

            …then it was off to the other side of the Duomo to the castle….man it was beautiful, we walked through it and through the courtyard to the park behind, checked out a really cool arch, then we just sat and people watched and hung out (we had a pretty relaxed day because josh had been flying for about 18 hours on 4 ish hours the night before)…

     ...until it was time to go to our viewing of the Last Supper….we walked over and eventually found the way (thanks map!) and were right on time so we got to go in relatively soon J….we went in, each time they put us in a new room you had to have the doors seal then change the air before the next doors would open….so werid but when we walked in….holy cow, that painting is massive and amazing! We got to sit in there for our allotted 15 minutes…and we simply marveled J….so cool to have seen in person….

            …after the Last Supper, we got my poor companion another caffe to wake him up a bit….then it started raining so we bought an umbrella from a street vendor and were off to find the nearest H&M to buy Josh some clothes to make it through until (we thought Monday) his bag got here….since it got here and we bought it now for no reason, he calls them his fashion clothing…nut ball….following, we walked around in the rain a bit before we found this little room that had some beer on tap, so we grabbed a couple and sat in one of the rooms and just talked for a while J…a great way to spend the rain filled hour or so of the afternoon…finally it was time to grab some sandwiches for dinner, then to the train station to catch a nap back to Torino…

            …today was supposed to pour all day long, thankfully it didn’t, so Josh and I spent the morning sleeping in and then we got to watch Frozen (because some nice boyfriend bought and brought me the English version from the states J) which was so so so exciting J….afterwards, we were off to show him downtown and some of my favorite places when it wasn’t raining, and then we were off to the Egyptian Museum….

            ….it wasn’t enourmous, but it was really cool….apparently this one, in torino is the best in the world behind Cairo….it was a perfect thing for a Sunday afternoon….

     ....when we finished we metroed back and went to the grocery store pick up a few things before coming home, and saw that it had finally cleared up enough to see the alps so we went up on the footbridge and even got a glimpse of the Matterhorn :)….my host family had gone out to eat tonight with friends, so took the opportunity to use some of those skills that I learned in my cuisine class and make dinner J, risotto with saffron, capresi it was delish and so much fun….such a great night….tomorrow is class in the morning and then lunch out for some real Italian pizza with some of my friends, then more torino sights, and finally, Ely is making Josh some amazing homecooked Italian food J….totally excited, and totally happy….hope all of your days are happy as well J buona notte amici!

Sono Enthusiastica – (so-no – en-th-oo-C-as-tic-a) – Im Excited

            ….today was a day of just doing this to simply pass the time….because well, this morning I woke up with only 22 hours until I would see Josh in Milan…and now I am at only 8 hours…I honestly am like those kids on the Disneyland commercials, ya know the “I’m too excited to ssslllleeeeeeeeppp…”…(only a renaldo joke? Hmmm ok)…

…after a couple hours of being up today I was expecting to get a text from josh giving me some sort of update about where he was in his day….(he left boise Thursday night at about 11, drove the 5 hours to salt lake city, to then get on his first flight to dallas)….about an hour after he should have been arriving at salt lake city, I finally saw his name come up on my phone, so I assumed he had just waited until he had gotten through security to text me…..not so….text message said, “morning, just got to the salt lake parking lot, ill explain later”….this was 1 hour 15 minutes before his flight….so needless to say, I sent him an encouraging text in response about how he needed to run but I was sure that he would make it, then put down my phone, stopped what I was doing and just sat and prayed that he would make it for the next half hour…..that was when I finally heard that he had been able to get his bag checked just in the nick of time and was working through security….so ya know, I just stayed stressed out for the next half hour while I waited for the all clear that he had boarded….so stressful for me, poor thing was actually doing all of this, and on about 2 hours of sleep…..but thank the Lord he made the flight….and then next one…and as I write this, he just barely is taking off from JKF on his international flight, next stop Milan and me J….i still don’t know what exactly happened that delayed him for so long, I guess ill find out tomorrow…but man I cannot wait to wake up and see him….

…so since I knew today was just about having to pass time, I left like all my puttering jobs to today…..i woke up at 9 ish (not the planned 11) and couldn’t go back to sleep so I just got up and started…taking my time of course….i showered, make myself a good breakfast, and took my time getting ready for the day….then it was off to work, I turned on some Grey’s and started cleaning my room, and bathroom (both quite the jobs, don’t tell my mom ;) )…then had to finish a project that I am making to send him home with….that took a while….then Eliana helped me to plan our day tomorrow in Milano, and then do the same for Tuesday in Genoa…..totally exciting Im not going to lie….upcoming blogs will be fun people J….and then I straightened my hair, painted my nails….played some smash car with Giacomino….sheesh it was a full day….

…after all of that…we went out to dinner with two of Simone’s Zias (aunts) and their husbands and boy was it so much fun!!...they are the perfect italian women….kept making me eat (I see where Simone gets it J)…looked the part, and actually looked like my dad describes my great aunts….and they loved to eat…..the food was also fantastic….but the best part of the whole last 3 hours?....when one of them told me I wasn’t allowed to call them by their first names but rather I had to call them Zia J…..it was a wonderful night…I love having dinner with the family J….I just really love my family J…

….but I came home early from dinner, the rest of the family is still out and I came home to sleep….it was great fun but unfortunately I have to be leaving the flat at 4:30am to go catch a 5am bus to Milano Malpensa Airport tomorrow morning…so I came home to get some sleep….not without much persisting for me to stay for Limoncello from Simone of course….but still I am off to bed…to try  to sleep J….completely cannot wait to wake up tomorrow and finally get to go see my boy….its been 90 days since I saw him last, and I cant believe that he is coming all the way to Italy to come see me….this is going to be one of the best weeks….

Classe Finale (claw-say – fee-na-lay) – Final Class

           Well today was my final cuisine class, and Im not going to lie it was the absolute best meal….seriously I loved every single part of the meal…it was so much fun and so delicious….now all that is left for that class is to write the paper for the take home final and then that class will also be completed, leaving me with only 2 classes to complete for the rest of the semester…..man it is going to be rough going back to an actual 16 credit class load next semester in Boise….just getting ready to sign up for classes for next semester im feeling the pre stress…..but man, this was truly the best way to do this, only taking the classes that have to do with Italy has been really fun, I love all that I am learning and thankfully I do not have the course workload like that of some of the other kids, and certainly not that of a normal semester at Boise State…but anyways back to our last meal of class…

            ….the antipasti an egg frittata with zucchini, which was sooo good…I have found that since I have come to Italy and have to eat it all the time, I actually like zucchini now (ok dad you win this one finallyJ )…..it was really good, especially the balsamic reduction that went on top…

….then we also had another antipasti, and I don’t remember what it was called, but it was a cured beef, that was about the consistency of prosciutto crudo but a little harder….then we took a ricotta cheese, mixed in a tiny amount of chili pepper, then placed a little of this on the meat and rolled it up….then it was topped with mix of lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper….it was sooo good, I could eat that as a whole meal …

heres your shoutout Myles :)

…but then it was onto the primi piatti and honestly this was the best part….because we started the class by preparing the primi, homemade pasta….ive seen my dad make this every Christmas eve for our homemade lasagna, but it was sooo much fun to make our own tagliatelle…and man your can truly taste the difference and it is sooo worth the work if you have the time, it is sooo easy too J….

….so we technically made this pasta into two different primi piatte…the first was my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE food!!! Carbonara (yes pangie I now know how to make a delicious carbonara)…we cooked the pancetta, then mixed that, the hot fresh pasta and the egg/cheese mix together to make the deliciousness that this dish is….seriously I cannot even express how good it was J…

 

….then we made the other way by making our own PESTO!!!....it was soooo fantastic (honestly not as good as dads, but still good) mixing that with the smaller cut of pasta was super super delish!....

….then even though I felt completely full to the brim, we had our secondi piatti….again, I don’t really remember what the name of it was, but it was a fillet of pork rolled up with prosciutto crudo and sage….mmmmmmm….literally the flavors were just so complete and so delicious!!....with this we had a side of simply insalata verde….a green salad….arugala and a smaller leafed lettuce with the regular oil and vinegar dressing…..

….finally, when we all were tapping into our “second stomach” aka our dessert stomach that we have somehow found here in Italy….ya know that one that allows you to still somehow fit gelato after eating an entire pizza….no? only an Italian thing? Hmm, well, that makes sense….(J youre welcome dad)….well we made a dessert of zambione….kinda a loose sweet custard….this, however was unlike any ive had before, it tasted sooo much of wine and was much looser, but still very good….we ate it with the sweet bread called, Colomba, which is in the shape of the dove and is only available during easter season….very very good ….

…tonight with dessert we had a great Prosecco….and all toasted with our teacher Elizabetta for our final class….its been soo much fun, and ive truly learned so much about cooking in general and Italian cuisine….it was worth every single extra penny we had to pay for it….i loved  this opportunity….so fun and sooo delish! J…gah I love Italy….i have NO idea what I am going to do when I go home to the states…..oh well, we will cross that bridge when we come to it…..until then, Buon Appetito Amici! (Good Appetites Friends  )