Me and my freshly cut linguine!
The celebration/parade thing going an along the street while we got gelato.
Yesterday we went on a field trip with all the Arcadia kids to a farm community to see another aspect of Umbrian life. Saw some olive trees, played with the adorable mangy dogs that were around, saw an adorable pony who was abandoned by his mother. But the best part was learning how to make pasta! I volunteered to go up and try it myself- while cutting the dough (we were making a linguine style), all the Italian chef ladies told me that I had a talent for cutting pasta. So, I've decided to drop out of school and become a pasta maker. Soon I will be sending you all boxes of homemade pasta. It was a nice afternoon.
Last night I spent the evening with Philipp, "internet cafe guy" (that's what my roommates call him). We got some gelato and sat on the steps at the Piazza. As we were making our way to the steps, there was a quite a strange "spectacle" going on in the street- people on stilts, wearing huge head masks, wearing drapy clothing and dancing through the street to Madonna. No joke! Philipp & I just laughed. Never seen anything like it. Woo, Europe! Anyways, Philipp & I had a great time. The purpose of our get together was to practice our Italian and English, but we most spoke mostly in English because my Italian is still pretty bad. But if I knew how to say something in Italian, I would attempt it, and then he would correct me. We sat there and talked for two hours! I learned he is originally from Switzerland, and he is here on a one month Italian program here. At school in Zurich he studies Political Science. We talked about Europe and the places I wanted to see, why we were in Perugia, what and why we are studying, etc. He was really fun to hang out with- I think we could be good friends.
In other news ...
I realized today that I don’t think it’s hit me yet. Like, I know I’m here. But for the most part I have felt comfortable. As I rode on the bus today watching the beautiful Italian countryside pass me by, I just thought, “wow, I’m in Italy.” But it didn’t really shock me at all. Is that normal? I feel like I should have had all those crazy knots in my stomach and the want to curl up in a whole and die or just go back to a place where they speak English. Or just break down and eat lots of peanut butter (which they do not have here). But no. None of that. Maybe it will come later? Beware!
No comments:
Post a Comment