hakuna matata.

DAY NINE
I don't know why, but it seems like every day it gets harder and harder to wake up... probably because I just keep having so much fun!  Another thing about this summer so far in Italy is that it is not hot.  All I have ever heard about the summer weather in Italy is how sweltering it is.  The temperature hasn't even come close to reaching eighty, and when we wake up, it is in the low fifties!  Global warming what?

Somewhere in the middle is my apartment... no view of the river, but great location near the Arno!

Allora, Danielle and I decided to make chocolate chip banana pancakes this morning!  Of course she mixed the batter and I flipped... always the sous-chef behind Danielle.  They came out delicious, but very different and interesting.  They were thick and heavy pancakes, still sweet with the chocolate, but very filling.  After breakfast, our first item on the "to-do" list was to visit our favorite Forno man.  I bought some round bread for sandwiches, my go-to meal, and Danielle attempted to ask our guy where you could find baking soda to make cookies.  It was cute to watch him attempt to understand.  He had NO idea what we meant.  He understood that it was an ingredient in baking and that it was white, but that is as far as we got.

The bread of Firenze does not have salt on or in it here unless you specifically ask.  Legend says that in the 12th century, when Firenze and Pisa were in a war, the Pisans tried to block shipments of salt into the city to make Florentines surrender; however, Firenze just started to make their breads without salt instead!  Tradition still holds true... and it is a very distinctive flavor on the palate!  Doesn't stop me from eating a sandwich for almost every meal.

I eat, sleep, breathe this movie.

We started walking toward all'Mercato Centrale after hitting up the Forno to buy fruits and stare longingly at all the delicious looking cheeses.  ALL the cheese here look so good and if you don't know me well then you probably don't know that I am obsessed beyond obsessed with cheese.  I am that awkward person who asks "Do you like cheese?" to random people just like Amanda Bynes from "She's the Man."  No shame.  I can seriously carry on a complete conversation about it, but I will stop... mostly for everyone else's' sake and so I can write about more of my day before midnight.  While we walked around aimlessly for a while because sometimes we still like to get lost, we discovered some cute shops that seemed to be reasonably priced!  It is so frustrating living in such a hip city where you want literally EVERYTHING and it is all so expensive!

So by the time we finished up walking around aimlessly, it was about time for me to go to Italian class. Class is starting to move along more quickly, but we still haven't covered any new material in the lessons yet, which concerns me since we are already almost 1/3 of the way through Summer A.  That's crazy isn't it?  I hope this summer doesn't fly by because I want to savor ever last second of it!  Allora, my teacher is so nice, but almost too nice in a way that prevents her from adequately correcting people when they make mistakes... I would rather be corrected so I actually know I am saying something with the right enunciation or emphasis or anything.  It's important.  Again, it really makes us appreciate how great of a teacher Alessia was!  We sent her an email today asking her if she will be able to visit us in Roma when we visit there with the program in about two weeks.  She lives in a small town right outside Roma, so hopefully she will meet us and show us around... that would be awesome!

Right after class, Carrie and I walked to Wine Class together, hoping Livia (our teacher) left her hair down today, so she will be less stiff.  Her hair wasn't down, but she was doing a bit better today.  We tasted three red wines today from different regions and "terroir," meaning soil, of Italy: one from Piedmont in the north, one from the south, and one from central Italy.  We learned about how the different styles of vines (grown on terraces, flat, or hilly ground) affect the color, smell, and taste of the wines.  I loved the Dolcette from Piedmont, and apparently it smelled of pepper and some "fruits," pronounced "fru-eats."  One of Livia's slides explained the olfactory sensations of some northern region red wines, such as wood, pepper, tar, and even rubber gloves... I was at first confused by that, but then I smelled wine number two, and I kid you not I would be surprised if there weren't rubber gloves up in there.  Sometimes the smell of cloves is similar to rubber gloves?  My favorite part of that class is joking around with Carrie and Paige as we taste our wines.    

 

I discovered my new favorite store today, and it may be "the best thing since sliced bread."  And even though I pass it everyday on the way to class, I never actually walked in... it's the "Tutti e 99 Centi" store!  And yes, EVERYTHING is 99 cents!  It is even better than the Dollar Tree because the stuff actually is somewhat good quality.  Okay, I know what you're thinking, but I am a college student, so it is acceptable to shop at a 99 cent store... ask around.  I'm serious.  

Just me behind my own lens... being goofy, per usual!

Well... anyway, when I finished being cheap, I returned to Tintori to make myself one of my famous salami sandwiches and hung out until my roommates came back to keep me entertained!  We finally booked our trip to the Cinque Terre when Tarah and Savannah's parents are here!  I can't wait!   It is going to be perfect!

Here are some pictures from our 1999 family vacation!  It's also perfect! <3

Tonight we plan on going back to that English pub, Kikuya to meet some friends!  Luckily there is no class tomorrow, so il Duomo... here we come!  It is so beautiful and humungous from the outside, so I can't wait to explore!

"Hakuna Matata"