A compilation of thoughts so far that I haven’t included on
the official blog:
1.
No one sat next to me on ANY of the planes.
Empty middle seat on the first plane and empty aisle seats on the other two.
Which was completely wonderful, especially on the middle one, since the worst
part about being on planes that long is that you start to cramp. But it was
also weird. Do I smell? Do I just look very strange?? IS AMERICANNESS
CATCHING AND THE GERMANS ARE AFRAID OF IT???
2.
The good thing about Italian dinners being so
late is that by the time dinner comes around I’m starving and can actually eat all the food I’m given.
3.
I didn’t tell my host mother that I had made
pasta by hand before because I didn’t want to be a know-it-all. I mean, I
didn’t lie, I just let her assume and
didn’t say anything. Which was good because I had a lot of trouble with getting my flour to absorb all the egg and it
would have been even more embarrassing if I’d admitted to previous knowledge.
But I also learned some useful things!
But I also learned some useful things!
a.
It’s not nearly as hard as I thought to mix the
egg and flour on the counter without a bowl.
b.
You can leave your dough with a lot less flour
in it if you just lightly flour each strip of pasta as it goes through the
machine. This makes the kneading much easier but retains the texture. It also
makes it so that you don’t have to desperately catch each noodle as it comes
out of the machine because it’s much less likely to stick to itself and tear
and make you cry.
c.
If you use half regular flour, half durum wheat
flour, apparently it helps your pasta have more “bite.” Which means it will
stay more al dente.
4.
My bed is very uncomfortable. And by that I mean
that it’s actually a perfectly nice bed except for that it’s very squishy and
makes my back hurt.
5.
One of the instructors for the drawing class
looks like a young, modern, British, hipster Van Gogh. He’s adorable. This is definitely not why I
chose to switch to this class.
6.
Actually though, ALL of the professors are
adorable. And very earnest. He’s just the most adorable.
7.
THERE ARE BELLS THAT RING THE HOUR (and also
sometimes the ten after? and the twelve after?? this does not seem to be a very
accurate clock) THIS IS SO COOL AND EUROPEAN DO YOU KNOW HOW PICTURESQUE I FEEL
RIGHT NOW??
8.
I definitely did not need to bring a Minnesota
weight coat. It is lovely here and definitely not that cold.
9.
You have all made me SO PARANOID about
pickpockets, let me tell you. But, the plus of having a long coat is that I can
just put my tiny purse inside of it and then not stress at all. Also, that
thing Steve told me about gipsy pickpockets in Romania throwing their babies at
you apparently used to happen in Florence, too. But it doesn’t anymore.
10. My
roommate has apparently gone to McDonalds about five times in the three weeks
she’s been here. THIS IS AN ATROCITY. My host family agrees.
11. I
stood in front of those Baptistery doors for SO LONG geeking out over them. The
perspective and the depth and the
detail—they’re incredible.
12. By
the time I got to Florence I was already done reading the copy of Daddy-Long-Legs I had downloaded onto my
computer to read while I was here. And I finished Dear Enemy today. Oops? (Also, though, they sadly didn’t have any
of the pictures, which rather degraded from the experience. Apparently when I
write letters I should always include doodles. THIS IS A GREAT IDEA I HAVE JUST
VOICED (written) AND I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE IT UNTIL I HAD HALFWAY-FINISHED
TYPING IT.
13. This
apartment really is the most perfect apartment. I covet it. I covet it SO MUCH.
14. I
miss you all a great deal. Not entirely specific people yet, even, since I’ve
only been gone for a few days, but just the fact of being able to be wholly
myself around people. I’m seeing so much and thinking so much and I just want
to TALK to people about it. But not necessarily new people. The old people who
I love. I am making friends, it just
feels slow. And there’s already so much that I’m excited about. (Hence this
rather long accessory blog post.)
15. There
is apparently an Italian game show that has an entire category where the host
says a word and the contestant has to say the correct plural form. THIS IS
APPARENTLY NOT AN EASY CATEGORY. This is both encouraging (because native
speakers are failing) and INCREDIBLY DISCOURAGING (because I’m doomed).
16. On
the plane from Dusseldorf I was so tired
and it was so loud and I couldn’t
lean against the headrest or the side of the plane or even the tray table
because it was shaking like crazy and I almost started crying. It felt so
horrible in that moment. But then I glanced out the window and the Alps were
there and they were utterly glorious and that cheered me up enough that I could
restore some of my equanimity.
17. I
did not consciously know how to spell equanimity until this minute.
18. Even
with two seats to myself I only managed to sleep for about two hours on my
international flight. I mostly spent my time watching Silver Linings Playbook (listed as Silver Linings Playback in the catalog), which was surprisingly
good. Luckily, I’m not really feeling jetlagged anymore. Exhausted? Yes. But
not really out-of-synch with the time zone here.
19. I
just had a nut biscotto for dessert and it was quite tasty. I’m very proud of
myself. I WILL LEARN TO LIKE NUTS YET.
20. Parents,
you have trained me too well! Apparently it’s polite in Italy (as in France) to
keep your left hand on the table while you eat, but as soon as I stop paying attention
to it it drifts back down to my lap. Probably by the end of the Florence time
I’ll have learned it and then I’ll have to unlearn it all over again.
21. THIS
IS WHERE I AM! The (A) is my homestay and the purple line shows my route from
the apartment to the Linguaviva building where my classes are hosted. Where the
line goes all light and dotted is where I go underground—that intersection is
so insane that there’s a whole underground network to get you to each of its
four corners. There’s even a whole little mall down there—not unlike the Paris
subways, except without a train. There is a violinist who plays for change down
there and I suspect I will at some point b giving him money. He’s wonderful.
22. Today
I wore my sixteenth birthday dress and my new cream sweater with the chiffon
sleeves and my little tan boots and red lipstick and a silver headband and my
black tights with white spots and my snazzy coat (the shell of my Minnesotan
coat—without the down lining) and I felt so cute and European and awesome.
23. Tomorrow
we’re going to leave for Sienna at 8:45. I’m very excited to see it again—I
barely remember it.
24. This
is probably a sufficient (excessive) number of posts for a single “accessory”
blog, so I’m going to stop now.
25. Much
love!
26. Ciao!
