10/10/2011 Impossible to be Confused!

From the beginning of my stay I've tried to adjust to the European date format which is DD/MM/YYYY rather than in the US where it is MM/DD/YYYY. I write the Italian dates on all of my notes and for my little financial chart I am using to keep track of how much I spend. My favorite days are when the month and date are the same, like today! There is no possible way to get confused!

Starting back with Sunday, I began my morning after a nice sleep in by skyping with some foolish friend who was still awake at 4:30am their time. It was funny because we were both tired and in PJs still but on opposite ends of sleep. After that I made a quick brunch and started my Napoli blog post. I did a little bit of homework yesterday and laundry and when it was midafternoon and I had sat on my bum all day I bundled up for a jog. It is so different putting on my yoga pants and long sleeves to go running compared to in the beginning when I had to wait until the day was cool enough that I wouldn't melt when I ran! I feel so good after a run and stretching out, I'm really glad I pushed myself to go.

After my run I had to jump in the shower and get ready to go out to La Botticella, the Steelers bar in Rome!!! I met up with Caitlin and Kacie, two girls from IES, to watch the game at 7pm our time. I met Caitlin at the Pittsburgh airport before we flew to Philly together and then Rome. Our seats were always close together and she is a sweet girl whose company I enjoy but I rarely see her. She is in a homestay in Trastevere. At the bar we were surrounded by Pittsburghers or Steelers lovers from across the US! We made friends with Chris a Californian studying abroad for the semester. His classes are held in a building very very close to IES so I am curious about his program. The four of us grabbed a pizza between the halves and returned to the bar to watch the Steelers stomp on the Titans. It was an ecstatic atmosphere in the bar with every sack and touchdown pass. I am glad the Steelers showed up yesterday instead that team that was posing as us for the first 4 games this season! We all went our separate ways after the game but promised to meet up again for the next one.

Steelers girls! (thanks for the earrings Mom)

This morning was another delightful Monday morning of classes. I am very happy with my teachers and my subjects. We spent Conservation class discussing different kinds of light that can be used (infrared, visable, xray, UV) for analyzing works and then talking about the different elemental bases of pigments and how they react to the light. It was a very science filled hour but brought back memories of Chem with Kerry Lee and Elaine Kuo! Oh Ithaca thank you for passing me through those science classes! It's a great reminder of what I can look forward to in the Spring semester.

After classes I came home and made a quick salad for lunch and dropped by the grocery store. I am considering an attempt at apple pie in the near future if I can figure out how I'm going to provide a crust. I don't trust myself to make one even close to my mother's standards and I'm trying to find somewhere to buy a  premade crust. It's funny the things we have in the US that are nearly impossible to find in Italy. I'm sure the reverse will be true when I get home and cannot find biscotti con panna or nutella down every aisle. How will I survive without the Prati market?!

A bag full of bites from heaven

I went back to IES this afternoon for a presentation on Afghanistan with a photo exhibit. The presenter used to be an ISC before she spent 5 months in Afghanistan working on development projects as a civilian with the Italian military. I was eager to meet this young women because not only has she accomplished a lot with her life but she is Nico's sister! She named Syria! She described the geopolitical and social conflicts and gave a brief summery of the past decade of war in Afghanistan along with her personal experiences while she was abroad. She was working there back in 2008 but her program has since lost funding due to the growing danger. Her story was very interesting and I hope we get to meet with her and perhaps have her over for dinner some night. While she has not had any photography training the photos she took were marvelous! A lot of landscape and genre photos along with a couple of the Blue Mosque which my eyes could not soak up fast enough. Islamic designs can be so breathtakingly complex and simple at the same time. Maybe I'll take some non-Western art history classes when I get back to IC.

Tonight I am hoping to cook up a yummy dinner and start reviewing for my Italian midterm. My oral discussion with my professor will be on Wednesday and the written exam will be on Thursday. Thursday night after my exam I am leaving directly for the train station!!! A group of us are going to Florence for the weekend!! After a semi-successful train excursion to Naples I'm ready to try out my first hostel and see Giotto's bell tower OF COURSE! I'm very excited for this coming weekend. Florence then a week of midterm exams then fall break (Dublin, Edinburgh, and Nice) and then maybe some time remaining here in Rome during November to save on money and explore my città.