Weekending

Ciao everyone and happy Saturday to you all, I am apologizing in advance for the fact that today's blog really probably won't be all that exciting if you like monuments, stories of the grand beauty of everything around me and really, pictures in general. I didn't see anything new today with my Saturday, I thought originally we might all head to the beach and see the Mediterranean, but it didn't materialize for one reason or another.

Tonight I have a potluck to go to which should be a lot of fun. It was my job to bring the drinks, so I'm bringing a bottle of both red and white wine, a two-liter of Coke and another of Coke light. I don't know if everyone knows this or not, but over here, Coca Cola is similar, but not the same to, Coca Cola in the US. It's sweeter, but not by a ton, and I think it has a bit more bite to it, which I don't really mind. Somebody mentioned it might be New Coke and it just never got switched back like in the states, but I can't verify that. Coke light, as Kirsten will tell you, is not the same as Diet Coke either. It is zero calorie, but not the same. Just something kind of interesting to wonder why it's different.

But yes, potluck tonight over at an apartment of some people in the program. It should be nice. I'm looking forward to some good cooking, and I know that some of these girls are in fact good chefs since the menu sounds a little too intense for some people not knowing how to cook.

I've learned pretty well how to budget everything here. I mean, since last weekend when Travis and Camille were here, I've spent about 5 euro a day on food, which isn't toooo bad at all. I go out for pizza once every few days (I could seriously eat it every day, I don't know why we don't have it in the U.S. the same way they do here. I mean, don't get me wrong, New York style pizza is fantastic and Escape From New York is still the best on the planet, but this whole type in general is just so good). The pizzas I've become really fond of are those that don't actually have salsa di pomodoro on them, or tomato sauce, but instead use olive oil on a foccacia style bread. The two favorites so far are Prosciutto e Mozzerella (but the actual Mozzerella cream, not the shredded) and the Sausage pizza. It's really, really good.

So good, in fact, that last night I had eaten my budgeted amount of food and although I had snacks I could eat, people wanted to have a few drinks and I didn't have a full enough stomach for that, so I got a HUGE square of pizza from my favorite Pizzaria just down the street near the Vatican. The two guys work there all the time and I have got to know them since hey, when you find good pizza, it's tough to turn it down. I mean, they see me walk by on my way back from class and they'll call out to me and say ciao before I can even see them. They know (unlike the grocery stores) how to treat returning customers.

I had my pizza back at the apartment with some Prosecco, or a speciality Italian Wine. I didn't know what it was until I got here, but it was really good. It was a girl in the apartment complex's birthday and I know her from the program, so everyone had a few drinks and around 12:30 a large chunk of people left for a bar, while about 10 of us declined and we just stayed and chatted. Twas a nice environment, for sure. And good prosecco.

But yeah, due to a late night last night, today was pretty slow for everyone. I just slept in a bit and FINALLY didn't get up to an alarm (it'd been weeks, it was glorious), organized everything around here, got cleaned up, and just relaxed, watching some F1 (it's so popular here that everyone watches). I went shopping today too and got some diversified foods for the week (fruits, some bread, and eggs). Oh, and a tangent: they don't chill their eggs here. It seems unsanitary, like asking for Salmonella. But, when in Rome . . .

And that's pretty much it for today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll go do something awesome, like go to the beach, but who knows. I am sure this time next week I'll have something really exciting to report, since I'll be in Athens! Woohoo! Can't wait for that, let me just say.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and until next time,

Ciao.