Another day in the life

So today marks Saturday, and I feel like I've been off for a while now, yet the weekend continues. I really do like that, not going to lie. It's a little tough to do work around here recently since I can't seem to focus on doing any reading and all of the readings are very long and dense without any really good stopping points or recapping moments. I know that that's how some readings go, but I'd really like to be captivated by something I'm reading rather than just interested because I find the general idea of knowing about it interesting, if that makes any sense.

But this weekend has been pretty exciting all things considered. Thursday I studied a bit before Chad, Bert, and I played a monster game of Risk, which I won the first one of and we're half way through another game that's spanned 2 days. We went to try and buy it and it cost 40 Euro, or roughly 56 bucks. Nooooo way. So we found a way to play online for free and we're doing that instead and it does everything for us.

I know, I'm a huge nerd. So sue me.

Around 6, we went to this AMAZING market around here, and by amazing, I mean it's like an Italian Fred Meyer: if it's on your list, you can find it there. It has a bakery in it, a meat market, a dairy section, several aisles of pasta and Vino as well. Lovely, eh? I needed Panna, or heavy cream, and I finally found it there and made a Spaghetti with Prosciutto and Cream and tons of fresh ground Parmeggiano. We bought three Rosette, pronounced "Rose-ett-eh" which are these little loaves of bread that are really only made here in Italy. And are delicious and cost about 20 cents a piece. Even better! We got a bottle of Merlot and a bottle of Chianti with the intent of learning the basic differences between them.

I came back here and made my dinner while Chad and Bert set the table and opened the wine. I think I liked the Merlot better than the Chianti for what we were eating as it has less of a bite at the beginning and was a bit smoother and finishes strong. I found the Chianti great, but it was probably better suited for a more red meat meal. But I kid you not, I think this may have been the best dinner I have ever made in terms of tasting excellent and not being overly basic either. Good flavor throughout and good wine, good bread, and good company. And it was plenty to feed us all, just awesome.

After that, I went downstairs and just chatted for a while due to internet death around here and I'm really enjoying meeting new people here; I feel like I have a few different groups I can hang out with depending on my energy level any day. Thursday I decided that it was time I went and checked out some Roman nightlife.

Now, Rome is not the biggest party city in Europe; that title belongs squarly to Barcelona or Madrid, followed probably Amsterdam and Berlin, but Roma is up there. There are several areas notorious for their beautiful people clubs, and so I was convinced to go out and see it, I've been here two months and I needed to check it out. Alcohol is very expensive here at bars, so everyone drinks beforehand and then just has one or two to keep the costs to a minimum. We got all dressed up (these are 4 girls from downstairs, Bert, and myself) and we went out to Art Club, which is an incredibly exclusive club here that somehow one of the girls knows the owner and could get us in. Unfortunately, it was closed on Thursday night so we resorted to going to Scholar's Pub, or the Irish Pub here near Piazza Venezia.

We took a night bus over there and got in about 12:45am, so it was already pretty late for my blood, but they were playing Tom Petty at top volume and playing U.S. sports, so I couldn't help but feel welcomed. We got a pitcher for a table we managed to snag amongst the very, very crowded area, I mean, like standing room only minus the tables. They played tons of famous sing along music, we laughed and were having quite the night; the girls were working it to try and get free drinks and actually doing a pretty good job. A few free drinks at 8 euro a pop is no easy task!

Let me just say something about being a man in a land of women: my program has 75 women and about 20 men total, so we're valuable commodities to an extent. Roman men can be a little, how do you say . . . aggressive? I mean, like they will try to do a little "innappropriate" touching and taking advantage of crowded situations, etc. Being a man in a group definitely cuts down on that, as it instills a little doubt in there head about whether not there could be a problem. And the girls really appreciate that. Then, when the girls want to get drinks, they just go about 10 feet away and schmooze, if they get uncomfortable, Bert and I got it handled.

We stayed until almost two just singing along and having a generally good time. I was tired and we headed back on the night bus, which is no joke, like Harry Potter insanity: fast drivers and taking corners at like 3 G's. It's an experience to say the least. We got back and I crashed hard, I was really tired.

Yesterday was mainly studying and hanging out, nothing too exciting to report. Today is Chad's birthday, and so we're having a birthday celebration for him with cake and friends, and The Cure have a free concert here today with John Legend and some Italian acts, we might go and check that out. I'm sure it's going to be INSANE in terms of crowds, but hey, it's part of life in Roma.

I hope your weekends are going splendidly, and until next time,

Ciao.