A post about little

Ciao everyone, I know it's a common refrain, but it's not always easy to start a post. It's Friday morning, about 10:10 at the start of this, and I am just up after having a little breakfast and listening to some music. It's raining heavily and smells fresh with a mix of garlic from my dinner last night. Some of my roommates are at a site visit this morning, and I am just by myself in here with the cleaning people swarming the apartment right now. It's always a little awkward when they come in, but I really don't have anywhere to go this morning while they're here, so I'll just blog and keep listening to my music and it'll be over soon enough.

This week went by in a blink. I had two midterms and a paper prompt due. It was a whirlwind of excitement from Tuesday afternoon to today, but not the kind that makes for all that amazing storytelling or picture taking, but there are some nice things I can update about a bit more of my cultural discoveries and the people I've met since I've been living here for almost 2 whole months now. In fact, it will have been 2 months since I left Portland on Sunday, and that's a bit nuts to think about to be honest.

I have been making impressive strides I believe when it comes to Italian. I really feel like I'm turning a corner. Some days I feel more confident than others, but Wednesday afternoon I felt like I was at a watershed moment that made me smile. We went to Mimi e Coco's Panini shop here, which is a series of 4 shops that are cafes, gelato shops, etc. I had about half an hour between classes, so I went to snag some lunch and a few of my friends came along, Anne and Alyte. They live one floor down from our apartment, 2 of 4 girls in one of the 3 apartments just below us. Anne is in a long-term relationship too, as in several years, and it's been nice to have someone else to talk about the distance and whatnot with. Alyte goes to UCSD too, and she's studying abroad for a year, with her second semester being Semester at Sea, which the Vieiras connection has been explain to her and I think it's really cool to be able to do that. She's got a huge Lithuanian family, and we've also talked SEVERAL times about the awesomeness of the greatest basketball player of my time, Arvydas Sabonis, who you may remember on Portland a few years back, was also Lithuanian.

Anyway, Panini. We went in there and we ordered these great looking and relatively cheap panini, and by the time they were done, I had about 12 minutes before class started, and she started to wrap them up to go, but I asked if we could eat there (possiamo mangiare ecco?) and she said "oh, I thought you had class" and I responded "Si, io ho, ma voglio mangiare ecco" (Yes, I do, but I want to eat here) and she laughed, saying you'll have to eat quickly in Italian, and I laughed back saying "si, sono Americano, io posso fare" (I am American, I can do it) and she laughed heavily, as did Anne and Alyte. I made a joke in Italian and an Italian person found it funny. I felt very proud of myself.

Anyway, class went a long for the day and I came back here Wednesday evening after Science and Religion and I had to study for my Italian midterm yesterday. I went downstairs to a different apartment, the Alicia/Amber/Cara/Laura (in alphabetical order) and spent about an hour and a half not studying and laughing hysterically, telling roommate stories about Freshman year (cough cough Sean!) and looking at my new favorite website, stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.

If you haven't heard of it, it's the funniest thing I've seen in quite a long time. White people are not made fun of often enough, I think it's why so many people don't like us. Make fun of me. It's really funny if it's true, and I love Chappelle for that.

Anyway, Amber, Laura, Alicia and I talked about potential travels and excitement the rest of this year, including my journeys to Perugia for the Chocolate Fest soon (which they too will probably attend), Egypt in two weeks, Munich in three, and Istanbul in 5. It's pretty intense, I've gotta say. Theirs are even more intense; Amber and Laura are in Madrid this weekend, Perugia next, and all over Eastern Europe for the second break, Interlaken in November (at my behest!) and who knows where else. Cara's in Belgium this weekend, where Alicia was last weekend, and has gone to 4 countries since she's been here, and is going to Poland, Romania, Hungary, etc, this year still. Intense.

Anyway, quick rundown of the people, since I've got the time: Laura and Cara both go to UCLA. They're both really good people. Laura is probably one of my favorite people to hear "get tough" on an issue, like over-zealous religious people, ignorant people, and people who talk way too much without realizing no one cares (it's pretty hysterical. She gets revved up and matter-of-factly states things that coming from anyone else may be considered slightly offensive, but she says it with so much conviction and hysteria that it's priceless). Cara and I have had Italian since the beginning, and we both share the terror of learning French first. She travels everywhere and has been to Europe several times before, and she's already graduated, this is her last Semester, and she's considering moving here when the program's finished. Crazy stuff.

Amber goes to Santa Cruz and is the one I sat next to on the plane to Athens through the turbulance of death. She's a senior, and when you get her and Laura together for a conversation section, it pretty much makes my day every time, which is probably why I find myself hanging out down there pretty often. Amber reminds me a lot of a few of my friends from high school, and is really laid back in terms of life, which is always nice. Life here is so busy, it's nice to find a group you can just relax with.

Alicia goes to Irvine, and her and I and some other people went to go get the best gelato in the world (their title, not ours) from Giolitti. It's an artisan Gelateria and they make some awesome gelato, no doubt. I got a mint chocolate chip, nutella, and fudge one for 2 euro and it was so, sooooo good. One problem: a 40 minute walk each way. Kirsten: you would have died. 40 choices, made there, and they were awesome. Delicious.

Anyway, if you're thinking there's a lot of girls here, it's because there are. I mean, us guys are outnumbered grossly by women. Like 4 to 1. It's pretty nuts. The guys I live with are great, and I couldn't be happier with my roommates, Bert, Chad and I play Risk online all the time and since I've won all three games so far, I'm convinced I'm the next Napoleon and destined for world domination. Of course, they're not so convinced.

I made dinner last night, and I decided to make that Prosciutto and Cream Spaghetti, and while I was at the store, I was trying to discover what would accent it well. It needed something else, and Chad and I leveled that fresh garlic cloves, minced up into really small pieces would probably be nice. I mean, a little more texture and a nice new flavor. The garlic was so fresh and it was perfect. The pasta was the best thing I have ever made, no doubt. We split a bottle of red and made about a pound and a half of this pasta almost a whole garlic clove minced in the cream, parmeggiano, and prosciutto, and it was awesome. Mmmmmm I have a dish now, I'm really excited! It just takes one to start, and I can build from here. Now I have a great, cheaper dish that can feed quite a few people. Get a soup / salad and a dessert, I can host a party and be set!

I'm sooooo cool, right? (Imagine me saying this dripping with sarcasm).

Anyway, I believe today is going to be pretty quiet. I am going to do a little work and relax, the Tellams come over to Athens today, so that's fun for Kirsten. Next week they go to Cairo, and I'll join them soon, but I can't that long! Cairo! Egypt! Ahh!

That's really all there is to report from here, sorry if it wasn't the most interesting post ever but hey, maybe you see a bit more of what my life is like here. I hope you have a great day today, enjoy your Friday, and until next time,

Ciao.