A disaster date and a rainy vacation...

A lot has happened this past week since my last blog post. I had posted a little about it but then decided to delete it, but basically last Tuesday I went on a date with an Italian man. Instead of telling the whole story, I’ll just say it turned out to be a disaster. He was clingy and possessive only hours after I met up with him and at one point told me he wanted to have a serious relationship with me regardless of me moving back to California in less than three months. It was an absolutely awful date and I was uncomfortable the entire time. I’m glad I went though, I would have wondered if I didn’t and the whole story makes for good entertainment if I had the energy to write out the entire thing.

My friends and I had our adventures on the Amalfi Coast this weekend. Also turned out to be kind of disappointing. I mean, it was amazingly beautiful and awesome and we made it really fun, but the weather was bad and it rained a lot of the time, which chopped up the waves in the ocean, which in turn kept the boats from going around the island of Capri, which in turn kept me from cliff jumping and swimming in the Blue Grotto. I got to see it from the outside but I was so depressed that I did not get to go inside because the water was too rough to make it to the real place you go in. We still got to swim in the open water though, which I embraced to the fullest because I think that might be the last time I swim for months. But I was so sad about not being able to go into the Blue Grotto, I had a hard time getting over it. I was in Europe. I was in Italy. I was on the island of Capri and I wasn’t going to be able to see the Blue Grotto which was approximately 50 feet away from me. I’m still upset.

At the top!

We still had a really good time though. A few of us hiked up to the top of the island of Capri on Friday. 3,000 feet up, a vertical climb that was definitely the most strenuous hike I’ve ever done, but I was proud of myself that I made it. I thought for a second about not doing it because it was so extreme, but I thought… I’m here now. When will I be back? And how old will I be if I do come back? And how ashamed of me will my mother be when I tell her that I didn’t hike because it was too hard? (that was the most convincing question I asked myself) So I did it. It was difficult with a heavy backpack on and it began to rain about halfway up and I about died, but I made it to the top which had the most amazing view of Capri and the sea and was worth the pain for just those few minutes of beauty. At the top, I was thinking the hard part was over and climbing down was going to be a piece of cake. No. It wasn’t. Have you ever climbed down a thousand stairs? ONE THOUSAND STAIRS? And not just stairs, but the uneven stone ones with hardly a rail? I’m telling you, I wanted to be climbing back uphill. It was painful and it is now Monday and I am feeling the burn. My calves burn of soreness and I had to take the stairs down by walking backwards today because it is less painful. Extreme uphill and then extreme downhill. Not a fun hike but I am proud of myself.

I guess this store really got to us girls.

So besides Capri which had the potential to be probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen had it not been raining, we also made it to Positano and Pompeii. Positano first. What a relaxing day. We slept in and took our time and waited for a really delayed bus but eventually made it to Positano early afternoonish. The bus ride there was a little slice of Hell, I imagine. PACKED. Had to stand. Guy breathing on top of me. His iPod so loud I could hear the words of his songs. Having nothing to hang on to around sharp corners on a windy Italian cliffside road. I didn’t hate it as much as my friends did, but it still wasn’t fun. But as soon as we got off the bus it was beautiful. Positano is so charming and gorgeous. There is a nice black sand beach I would have liked to have taken advantage of had it not been so windy that I could lean my full body weight against the wind and also it was slightly sprinkly. I ate the most delicious calzone I’ve ever had instead of swimming. I also went shopping and got two fabulous bags for 15 euro. One purse to use for school because I regret not bringing one from home, and one fabulous weekend bag. That I needed. For important things. Obviously. I think most of us loved Positano. It is stunning and it was also really nice to have such a relaxing day after such an intensively tiring day in Capri the day before.

Best. Crepe. Of my Life.

This is a paragraph dedicated solely to my crepe I ate that night in Sorrento, the town we stayed in. I have never had a crepe. Don't judge me, I really haven't. But we were leaving dinner and passed this stand with stacks of jars of nutella up the wazoo and I had to get one. I was obviously set on nutella until I saw the word "Irish" on the menu in front of me. So I got a crepe filled with white chocolate and drenched in Bailey's. Like I said that night, it was like eating a pancake on drugs. Worth 4 euro.

Pompeii on Sunday was fascinating. Pompeii is an ancient Roman city that was buried by a Mt. Vesuvius eruption around 72 AD and long forgotten until it was uncovered in the 1500’s. It is amazing. It’s a very big city that you can walk around and see the essentially untouched ruins of these people’s homes and stores and bakeries and brothels (seriously). When the volcano erupted, people were obviously surprised and unprepared, and just died suddenly. As their bodies decomposed there was a perfectly preserved hole of their bodies left in the ash, so when the city was uncovered the archaeologists had the brilliant idea to inject the holes with plaster to pretty much see what these people looked like when they died. There are a few of these plaster figures that you can see around the city and it is both fascinating and really sad. Anyway, I loved wandering the city and jumping around the stone streets with Ricky, Marissa, and Krissy, but none of us had a tour map or anything of the sort. I would have liked to have known what I was looking at but it was still pretty amazing to guess where the ancient Chipotle was located.

I just went to brush my teeth and was sad to see that I have absolutely completely squeezed my toothpaste tube completely dry. I have a new tube I already bought, but it isn’t Crest Vanilla Mint. If studying abroad teaches you anything, it's how to appreciate the little things. Bye bye, good toothpaste.

I have my first (hopefully) somewhat exciting food and wine class tomorrow. The first three weeks of class have been unbelievably boring and the class has so far turned out to be quite a disappointment. But tomorrow we will taste cheeses and I’m hoping it will start getting fun. Our class is going wine tasting in Northern Chianti on Friday so I’m pretty excited about that. I'm going to Boboli Gardens next Monday with my photography class. Boboli Gardens is BEAUTIFUL. Sometimes I still can't even believe I'm actually going to school in Tuscany.

Mexi Monday!

Tonight was one of my favorite nights since I've been here. I finally got to cook for everyone. It was round three of Mexican Monday and Hannah and I pulled out the extensions of our table and moved it into the living room and cooked for 12 people. I had to wander the city searching for tortillas and then wound up overpaying for them at the ethnic food store (it's funny to walk into an ethnic food store and see American food too) but it was so so worth it. Mexican Monday is keeping my taste buds sane. We did highs/lows like we do daily, and my high was that I got to cook. I liked being hostess for the first time in over a month. But being hostess around here is difficult because my circle of friends is too big and united and I can't invite one without inviting ten. So hosting is expensive. But it was so nice. I miss having dinner for everyone at my house in SLO.

The bad news is that I feel as though I am getting sick. Waking up these past two days has been very difficult. I wake up and put my feet on hardwood floor, which hurts my ankles every single morning in the first place, but especially these past two due to being so sore and then also because I’m starting to get sick. In the past two weeks most of my little Italian family (my 8 friends) have all been sick. Hannah and Krissy lost their voices last week and Ricky and Marissa had illnesses of their own. I may be coming down with what they and a bunch of other people in our program have been getting.

I started writing this post last night and am finishing it today, post cheese tasting. Holy. Smokes. I think I got some sort of high off cheese in class today. We got to sample 6 different cheeses and 2 types of salami. I think it might have been so delicious because I was starving, but I choose to believe it is because Italian cheese is unsurpassable. It really is. I tried stracchino (similar to cream cheese), fresh Gorgonzola, one fresh pecorino and one spicy aged pecorino, parmeggiano reggiano (I am going to seriously miss fresh parmesan cheese when I go back home), another pecorino, and salami with black pepper and garlic and salami made with chili pepper. Oh my goodness. I was in Heaven. Italian cheese is so. good. I can't wait until my mom gets here to experience Italian cuisine like I am.

I figure this is an extremely long post so I'll end it here. It's now Tuesday night and my friends are coming over in a little while. My little Italian family is my home away from home. I love these people. I knew I would do this, too. I didn't want to leave home because of my friends, and I am guessing I am really not going to want to leave here because of these friends either. Luckily half of them are from Poly, so most of us are all headed home to the same place at least.

I do miss you guys at home though. A lot. Every day I wonder what you all are doing. And every Friday morning I think to myself that it is Thursday night in SLO and I'm neither line dancing nor eating doughnuts.

Ciao from Italia. Drink a Dr. Pepper for me.