Off I went to take the bus. I really do dread taking the bus on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I have to take the bus earlier, which means that it is more crowded because many people are headed into the city center for work and school. Luckily it wasn't as bad today as it has been in the past.
I don't think I have said much about the buses so far, other then that they are very clean and stick to the schedule very well. (Italians don't believe that last part, but compared to the city busses in Minneapolis I would say it's true.) If I repeat anything I've said before, mi dispiace! So, you're waiting at the bus stop, you check the time schedule for the bus, which is in military time, and has the hours listed across the top, and the minute that the bus arrives vertical under its corresponding hour. (This took me a day or two to figure out.) So, you notice that your bus will be coming in say 6 minutes. Do not look down, or get to distracted reading a book or sending a text message during that time. You keep your eyes up, watching for that bus! I have actually noticed quite a few Italians that will stand across the street from my bus stop to get the first view of the bus coming (because the bus is coming from around a slight curve). So you might be wondering why you need to pay attention so vigilantly to the bus arriving. The reason, is because the bus will not automatically stop. When you see that the bus you are waiting for is approaching, you step out into the street (if a car is parked there) to make yourself seen and you need to stick out your arm. It really is like fetching a cab. You need to make sure to do this especially if there are only a few of you at the bus stop. If you don't, and if no one on the bus has rung the bell to get off, the bus will keep on going! Better luck next time!
I got to school right on time today, and had to struggle a bit to keep myself awake for the first part of class. I was able to push through it and got my second wind which got me through the rest of the day. Lunch after my first class probably helped as well. We went to Gusta Pizza again, and I tried another new kind. This time I got the Calabrese pizza which had tomato, mozzarella, basil, and spicy salami on it. It was very good, but a bit messy to eat!
After lunch some of us headed back to the school, where we were going to work on homework during our break. I feel like this time usually turns out to be those that have taken more Italian helping those that have taken less. Which is totally fine by me, I think it helps me remember some of the things I learned a while ago and keeps it all fresh in my head.
Finally it was time for Italian. Today we were talking about different vocabulary that dealt with news and all the various types of papers and magazines. (They don't just add the word monthly, weekly, or daily in front of the word newspaper or magazine. They each have their very own special word! Yay! (Yes that was a little bit of a sarcastic yay. Don't worry, I still love Italian.) We have also been talking about the different types of comparisons and superlatives. So to combine these two things we came up with a set of questions asking about people's reading and buying habits in respect to newspapers, as well as their favorite book, author, most recent book etc. Our task was to then go out and interview local Italians using our questions! Luckily everyone we asked agreed to answer our questions, and seemed to find it quite entertaining. Just as I'm sure you might find it somewhat comical and a novelty to your day if some foreigners who were trying to learn English came up to you to ask you random questions for their class. (I hope you would say yes!)
Speaking of random people coming up to you and asking you questions. I have had multiple Italians approach me asking me questions in Italian. Just about every couple days someone asks me for directions. Today I had two separate ladies ask me some questions! The first one I was able to understand and provide the correct response. The second however, I was completely lost and said I didn't know. It seems that the Italian genes are more prevalent in my physical features. (One of my friends in school actually made the comment today that she wished she wasn't blonde because people always start talking to her in English.)
Well after class I passed by where our mail is sorted by last name on my way out. I had checked the box that contains M earlier today, but with no success. As I walked past the box, I glanced down, and to my great delight and surprise I saw my name!!!
Thank you to my Nana for sending me my first piece of mail! (If any of you would like to do so, feel free to comment or send me an email and I can give you my address. You all have the better end of the deal. Postage to Italy from the U.S. is only about $1.10 and postage to the U.S. from Italy is 2 euro, which works out to be about $2.60.)
Well as my family can attest, I love having an occasional meal that is either all fried foods, or all snacks/appetizers. Much to my delight, that is just what we had today! First we had suppli, which are are known for being a specialty from Sicily. They are fried rice balls that had cheese in them. (Some people call them arancini.) Then we had olive ascolane (olive is pronounced o-lee-vay) which are olives that have been stuffed with meat (kind of like a ground beef) with a little bit of cheese and then fried. (I normally don't like olives, but these were very good! My host mother is starting to catch on that I like things here that I said I didn't like back home.) After that we then had fried pork and fried chicken. Yum yum yum! Then it was on to the french fries! They have french fries that you can buy in the store too! Finally it was time for dessert! More fried things! For dessert we had fritelle, which is a popular dessert for carnival. They were kind of like cake donut holes rolled in sugar, but were more moist on the inside and had a bit of a fruity taste (which was probably what gave it it's moisture). They were horrible. No, I'm just kidding! They were delizioso! I went back for seconds!
I will have to try and get in some extra walking tomorrow to try and burn all of that off! My mother even made a joke that these foods were good for a diet! :)
Side note: My mother is ready to sew little bells onto my slippers. She always comments on how quiet I am when I walk around the house. (My slippers don't have rubber bottoms so they are very quiet, as are my socks.) There have been quite a few times where I scared her on accident because she didn't hear me coming! Today I purposely was walking around stomping my feet so she could hear me. She found it quite funny!
Send me your address!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, it's me -- Garza!!
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