Enough with the faux pas, I should talk a little about what I experience every day. I have two campuses to walk to, generally. One campus is a 10 minute walk, and the other is a 15 minute walk. The 15 minute walk is a restored monastery-turned-prison-turned-University Facility. That is a strange progression, I know, but it seems that a lot of prisons in Italy were moved or emptied and rebuilt and so the old prisons, which were usually abandoned castles, monasteries, etc., have been slowly reclaimed by cities as public halls or by universities. The school has wonderful auditorium space, conference rooms, offices, and all of the modern conveniences. It also has a lot of the unexpected because its former use. There are beautiful frescos inside and out, a well, architecture to be appreciated, and newly restored dentals and ceiling art. Our classrooms are actually in a new section of buildings, and we are the first students to have class there. The Italian students will arrive in February for their semester. We have a different class schedule because our group is trying top be more aligned with the United States schedule.
I have realized that I should be taking time to learn how to cook new things, but without a mentor, I am really lost. We’ve only been out for a few meals since we arrived, so I am getting limited inspiration. I really miss my cookbooks and being able to get online whenever I want to look for something new to make. I realize how very few ingredients I actually cook with here. Our meals are olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil, tomatoes, and salads. We’ve had some sandwiches, but it just is starting to feel repetitive. It is very hard to cook without meat. It is not that we can’t find meat, just that it is so very expensive. Right now the exchange rate is $1.30 for every Euro. Here, I can get about a half kilo of ground beef for 7.50 in Euros… this early in my trip, I am unwilling to spend a lot of money on food. I would like to save a reasonable amount of money for traveling. We are trying to find reasonable airfare and accommodations for our two weeks break. We think Paris would be fun, and we might have free housing in London. We’re just not sure yet, so I want to save.
Right now my fingers are numb because I am typing this in my apartment with the windows open (because of the puddle problem, you know), and will post it on the Capital page later. I digress. I had an entry that I wanted to use from my leather bound journal that I write in every night, but now that I look at it, the writing is not very good, so I will end now. More later. Mom, don’t forget to water my plants.
Ciao!