Weekend #3

And the weekends just keep getting better! :)

Friday night didn't amount to much. I got dressed and ready to go out, and instead ended up sitting at home and talking on skype... Oops ;-)

But that's okay because the rest of the weekend made up for it! Saturday morning we had our wonderful Thanksgiving meal as I just wrote about. Saturday afternoon we sat around the house, absolutely stuffed. Before it got too dark, I went out for a walk around town, hoping to ease my stomach from its fullness a little. I was shocked when I went into town! I had no idea how busy it would be at 5:00 on a Saturday night! There's always quite a few people out when I go into town, but this time there were hundreds of people everywhere. For those of you in Phoenix... think AMC Movie Theater on a Friday night. And those in Dallas... McKinney Ave. on a Saturday night at 10 or 11 pm. Just the popular hangout place on a weekend! Since all the stores were still open, I did some shopping while I was out. I may have gotten a thing or two I didn't really need, but everyone deserves a treat every now and then ;-)

At that point of the evening, I didn't really have plans with anyone and wasn't sure who I would be able to hang out with for the night. Most of the people I met so far were working, so I was kind of fearing spending a boring night at home alone. Fortunately, Zoila (that seems to be a common phrase for me) has a cousin my age, so she contacted her and told me where to find her. Noemi is 25 and works at a pastry shop during the week and at a cute little restaurant called Le Fate on the weekends. She was on her way to work when Zoila called her, but I was invited to stop by her restaurant to introduce myself and say hello. Before I headed back home from my walk, I located the restaurant and met Noemi. We chatted for a bit and exchanged phone numbers, and I will hopefully get a chance to hang out with her soon!

I forgot to mention how cold it was. I had on a jacket that I normally wear for 60 degree weather. It was 40, maybe less. I didn't have socks, or warm shoes for that matter, didn't have a sweater, and didn't have a hat. I was dying. So I went home to change and prepare a little better to face this phenomenon called COLD.

It makes me miss Phoenix a little. ;-)

Luckily, Zoila (there we go again) made sure that I went out and bought proper shoes this week. You see, living in Phoenix, and even in some ways Dallas, does not require you to own attire appropriate for cold weather, rain, and snow. So, as you can imagine, I came to Italy with pretty much nothing but a few pea-coats. And you are greatly deceived if you think a mere pea-coat is enough for winter weather like this. So Zoila and I spent much time discussing what type of shoes would be best for me to brave this weather in. Boots seem to be what most people wear, but I find boots miserably uncomfortable, especially for walking around in. We finally decided on a popular style here - a classy tennis-shoe type of shoe that is commonly found in black, brown, or grey. Unfortunately, shoes in Italy are not cheap (or even affordable really), so I was bracing myself to have to spend at least 90-100 euros. However, Zoila knows the owner of one of the shoe shops on the main square, so she worked out a deal with her. I went in, tried on shoes that fit perfectly, and paid only 70 euros. I'm pretty satisfied with my new purchase.

And what do you wear these fancy tennis shoe things with, you ask? Well, skinny jeans of course! I'm telling you, I look more and more European every day. All I need now is a big black fluffy down coat, and I'm sure I'll fit right in!

 

cute right??

Fabio, the birthday boy!

my friend Sara

Maria, who grew up in Phoenix, and Daniele

Anyways, I put on my new shoes and skinny jeans and headed out to the wine bar. Chiara was working, so I talked to her for a bit, but there really wasn't anyone else there. I asked her where everyone was, and she informed me that half of the regulars were in Rome for someone's birthday party and the other half were down the street at someone's house for a different person's birthday party. At the party nearby were some of the people I had met last weekend, so Chiara told me she would drive me over there after she told her manager where she was going (pretty cool manager huh?). A few minutes later, Chiara dropped me off at a cozy little cottage not too far down the street from where I live. I went inside to find an amazing fire in the fireplace and a table filled with an array of food - pizza, bruschetta, chips, meatballs, sausage, salad, and of course, wine. I said hello to some of the people I already knew and was quickly introduced to new people. Amazingly, almost everyone I met spoke English! I spent the next several hours talking to lots of different people and making all sorts of new friends. One of the Italian girls I met actually grew up in Phoenix, so she is perfectly fluent in both English and Italian. It was very refreshing to be able to talk to someone who could understand everything I was saying, slang and all. She was really great in helping me communicate with others as well! I had a wonderful time hanging out with everyone, and when I got tired, I found some friends to give me a ride and I went home and crashed.

The next morning, I woke up and got ready to go to lunch at Zoila's parents house, a Sunday tradition. I was still stuffed from all the Thanksgiving food and all the snacks I ate at the party, but I was still looking forward to a delicious home-cooked Italian meal. We had bread gnocchi with a sauce that tasted like chili, some sort of amazing fried bread that you eat with lemon juice and salt, and - that's right - pumpkin pie! I was SO stuffed by the end, but it was so worth it! The kids and cousins ran around and played for awhile, and I took a nap on the couch :) A little while later, we left to go a dinner party at Aurelio sister's house.

Patrizia, Aurelio's sister, and her husband actually live right next door to us, but they have a house in the mountains about 30 minutes away where they like to spend their weekends. But this is not a house. It is part of an old castle, hundreds of years old, and they are renovating it to be an absolutely beautiful home, complete with a multi-level library, chapel, and old fashioned kitchen. In addition, Patrizia's husband, Leo, is an artist and he works out of an artist's loft in a nearby area of the castle wall. He took me to see it, and to show me some of his work. He paints and sculpts, and his work is beautiful. You can view some of it here.

Roasting chestnuts with Leo and Andrea

Patrizia, our wonderful hostess of the evening

check out the ancient walls!! some of them are as old as the 1200s!

All the family gathered together, trickling in a few people at a time. I have learned that Italians take their time when they get together. There's no rush to start eating or to get on with the main event. The main even is being together and just socializing, so even if you don't eat until four hours after you arrive at a party, the important thing is that you had a good time! There was lots of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all sorts of extended family that kept arriving. There were even several people my age, which made for a very enjoyable evening. Zoila and Aurelio ended up heading home early, but they told me I could stay and have someone take me home later if I wanted. I am so glad I stayed! I had such a fun time talking with Andrea, Leo's 25 year old brother, and Martina, a 17 year old girl who studied in San Diego and London and speaks perfect English.

me and andrea

talking with Martina at dinner

We spent the evening talking, roasting chestnuts, trying different wines, eating amazing food, playing cards, touring the house, listening to fun Italian music, and just enjoying everyone's company. If I was stuffed before, you can't even imagine how stuffed I was by the end of the night. And they still sent me home with a plateful of desserts and cookies. :)

A very fun night!

Italian Thanksgiving

Yum.

I'm very lucky. Out of all the families here in Italy, I am living with probably THE only one that actually celebrates our American holiday of Thanksgiving! Zoila lived in the U.S. for ten years and greatly appreciates our holidays and traditions, so she really wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving as well. We tried to invite several families to join us for our feast, but since no one around here really even understands what Thanksgiving is, no one took up the offer. We still had a delicious and fabulous meal though! 

Now that's a delicious meal!!

Since Thursday was still a work and school day for everyone here in Italy, we decided to celebrate on Saturday instead. I woke up early on Saturday morning to help Zoila start cooking, and we spent the entire morning preparing. Here's a couple things to know about trying to cook Thanksgiving food in Italy: 1. Don't expect to be able to find your traditional Thanksgiving ingredients in a small town in Umbria, and 2. Your Thanksgiving meal is (still!) going to have Parmesan and olive oil in it somewhere! We had turkey, of course, but Italian-style, and just part of a turkey since there were only a few of us eating. We also made mashed potatoes with Parmesan and some other deliciousness mixed in (very different from American mashed potatoes, but very good), in addition to corn and mashed peas. And you can't have a Thanksgiving meal without stuffing and cranberry sauce! Unfortunately, cranberry sauce is nonexistent in this part of Italy, so we had to find a substitute. But I was very impressed with what Zoila found. It was some sort of mixed berry jam that actually had cranberries in it and when I tasted it, I would have never known it was anything other than regular cranberry sauce!

Apple Nut Stuffing. SO good! I actually helped make most of this!

Mashed peas

I think I'll take a minute here to explain something to you... This entire meal was made from scratch. Not a single ingredient was taken out of a can (ok, well... besides the corn) or from something prepackaged or ready to cook. Everything - the turkey, the peas, the stuffing, the potatoes - was all completely homemade with no help from Betty Crocker or Sara Lee. And the most impressive part of all? The pumpkin pie. There's absolutely no such thing as canned pumpkin here, so that means we made our pie with real, fresh pumpkins. Anyone ever tried a homemade pumpkin pie like that? It's definitely worth it! Zoila made her own pie crust, poured in the mashed pumpkin mixture we concocted, and a few hours later we were digging into an absolutely fabulous, truly homemade pumpkin pie.

We cooked, cleaned, stuffed ourselves, rested, cleaned some more, ate some pie, and had a wonderful day. When I decided to come to Italy over the holidays, I knew I was going to be sacrificing Thanksgiving, since it's only an American holiday. But what an incredible blessing to have still been able to celebrate such a wonderful American tradition, so unexpectedly, halfway across the world in the country of Italy! Now that's something to be truly thankful for :)

Not even a chance of getting everyone to look at the camera...

Everyone was busy all morning... ;-)

Aurelio

Maria Vittoria

me

Thea - part of the fam!

Cesare

Zoila working hard in the kitchen

Breakfast in Assisi

Me and Giulia

Last Monday I met Giulia for breakfast at the caffe. We ate some pastries and sipped some coffee, and then decided to walk around town a little bit. Foligno has tons of shops, but neither of us had much money so we just enjoyed window shopping. While we were walking, I told her I had been really wanting to go to Assisi (have you heard of St. Francis of Assisi???) because it's a pretty well-known town around here. Without a moment's hesitation, Giulia said we could meet there the next morning for breakfast and to sightsee a little. Even though I knew taking the train in the morning to Assisi and being back by 12:30 would mean getting up at 7 am, I agreed. :)

I got on a train the next morning around 8:30 and arrived in Assisi a little before nine. Giulia called to let me know her train was late and she wouldn't be there until ten, so I used the extra time to explore a little. Assisi is actually a hilltop town (as most of the cities around here are), so the train station is in another town called Santa Maria degli Angeli, located at the bottom of the hill. Right near the train station is the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, a beautiful church I visited that was made famous by St. Francis. Inside the church, directly underneath the basilica's dome, is the Porziuncola chapel, a small stone chapel given to St. Francis as a gift from the Benedictine monks. It was from this location that St. Francis founded the Franciscan order in 1209, also known as the Order of Friars Minor, a brotherhood who seeks to lead life in the generous and selfless way St. Francis demonstrated. After the establishment of the Order and a divine encounter with God that St. Francis experienced, countless pilgrims traveled to view the famous Porziuncola and receive the "Pardon of Assisi." (For more details, read the story of the Pardon here). The chapel's small size was simply not sufficient for all the visitors, so in 1569, Pope Pius V arranged for a new church to be built that incorporated the existing chapel. Since its original construction, the church has been modified and restored during many different time periods, and thus has marks of both the Baroque and neoclassical styles.

It's actually quite a simple church. The walls don't have elaborate decor, and there are no massive murals on the ceiling, as in so many other European churches. However, there is an elegant beauty to the simplicity, and the entire church is filled with an air of peace and tranquility. As I entered the church, I heard heavenly voices coming from the front. It truly sounded like a choir of angels. I could not locate where the music was coming from, so I slowly tiptoed around the church, peeking around corners to find this beautiful sound. At last I found a room full of people, apparently participating in a morning mass or service of some sort, but as soon as I entered the room, the service ended and people began walking out. I was disappointed to have missed it, but several people stayed in the room to pray so I joined them as well. After spending a few moments just observing, I decided to continue to look around more, and I found myself in the last empty seat in the tiny Porziuncola. The small chapel could only fit about ten people, and I was lucky to have found the empty prayer niche when I did. The mood was very solemn and I could see that people were truly engaged in prayer and intercession. Comforted in knowing I was not alone in dealing with emotional struggles, I closed my eyes and poured my heart out to my Father. I'm not sure how long I stayed. I'm not sure how many people came and went while I was there. But it was wonderful to kneel before my God and speak with Him and worship Him alongside so many others silently crying out to Him. While I was there praying, I couldn't help but think about St. Francis so many hundreds of years ago, kneeling in the same spot, whispering to the same God. How incredible to think that God was listening then, and He is still listening now.

I didn't take any pictures at that church, but if you want to know what it looks like, visit this website.

at breakfast

After awhile I left the church and went to go meet Giulia. We had a very fun time together. We rode a bus up to the top of the hill where the center of Assisi is and ate breakfast in a little caffe we found. Since I had to be back home by 12:30, we didn't have a whole lot of time, but we made the most of the hour or two we did have. The day was miserable. It was freezing, cloudy, and almost raining, but that did not stop us from walking through the town, looking in the shops, and viewing the Basilica of San Francesco (a different church at the very top of the mountain). The Basilica is huge, beautiful... and we got there right as we had to leave to catch our train. There wasn't even time to take the bus back down; we ended up paying an exorbitant 15 euros to hurriedly take a taxi down to the bottom. I will definitely be going back to see the church again, and this time I plan to actually go inside!

looking out over a beautiful view from the top of Assisi

San Francesco's Basilica. This is as much as I got to see of it. I'll be going back for sure!

a quick picture before running to catch the train!

Some Facts about Italy...

A few facts I have learned about Italy: 

Things Italians Like:

• Saying Ciao – I must hear it 100 times a day 

• Parmesan – We eat it on top of everything. Not a meal is made without cooking it into the dish somehow 

 • Boots – when it’s cold outside, you wear boots. What a novel concept. 

• Yelling and being loud – nothing like being in a room with kids screaming, dogs barking, moms talking, TV going, and phone ringing! 

• Olive Oil – another secret ingredient in pretty much every meal 

• Pasta – eaten by every Italian family at least once a day. Like rice in Asia. 

• Saying Bella – Beautiful seems to be the most common adjective for something well-liked in Italy                                                                                                                                    • Wine – can’t complain about the frequent wine tastings I get at home with extravagant Italian wines!                                                                                                                      • Skinny jeans – it’s a European thing, but definitely an Italian thing too

• Dry bread – always good for an afternoon snack, served with cheese, jam, olive oil, or prosciutto

• Recycling – I think we have 5 different bins in our house… paper, plastic, organic, trash, glass… it’s crazy. Europeans are so hardcore about it, they will even separate a plastic lid from a cardboard milk carton and recycle each of those in the proper bin. Americans could learn a thing or two about saving the environment from the Italians! 

• Prosciutto – it’s not just popular in Italian restaurants. Italians like their ham!

• Smoking – besides the family I live with, I have yet to meet an Italian that doesn’t smoke (at least for the young people) 

• Saying Mamma Mia – they really do say that here!!

• Kisses – Italians don’t hug goodbye, they kiss; thus it is extremely awkward every time I forget this and lean in to hug someone who is trying to kiss my cheek…

• Staying up late – The evening doesn’t start (dinner included) until around 9:00. I don’t know about you, but I get pretty hungry by then! 

 
Things you will never be able to find in Italy: 

• Spaghetti with meatballs – Just a false Italian stereotype. Only spaghetti with tomatoes is served here, while meatballs are a totally separate dish. Whoever mixed the two is American, and is genius. 

 • A dryer – still don’t understand this one, but they just don’t use them here

• Peanut Butter – although Nutella seems to be quite popular

• Salted butter – they only have sweet; I guess who needs butter when you’ve got olive oil, right? 

• A Mexican restaurant – I am quickly coming to thoroughly appreciate the variety the U.S. offers in ethnic cuisine

• A movie in its original language – Italian voiceovers are some of the best in the world, so literally every theater you go to has only movies that are dubbed over in Italian

• Starbucks – even the world’s most famous coffee chain can’t compete with an authentic Italian cappuccino. After all, where do you think Starbucks got its inspiration in the first place?

• Apple Cinnamon candles – even during the Christmas season, not so popular around here 

• An automatic car – hence why I haven’t been driving. Someone recently told me that manual cars are good because there’s a lot of hills around here… still not seeing the advantage

• A restaurant that serves olive oil with parmesan cheese and pepper to dip your bread in – totally an American twist on Italian ingredients

• A shop open before eleven on a Monday morning – come on, it’s Monday. Who wants to go back to work early in the morning after the weekend anyways? 

• Bruschetta – I know when you just read that you read Brew-shett-uh, and you’re thinking of toasted bread with diced tomatoes and garlic on top. If you’re ordering it in Italy, make sure to pronounce it correctly – Bru-sket-uh – and know you will get toasted garlic bread with olive oil, not tomatoes. Traditionally the bread is toasted over hot coals. 

 • An Italian family eating dinner before 8:00 – Italians run on a much different time schedule. Lunch at 1 or 2, siesta till four (all the shops are closed), and everything back to work and back open until 8. The night only just begins at 8 or 9. 

• Ice cubes – have not seen a single one since I’ve been here 

• Air Conditioning – good thing it’s winter, because Zoila informed me it gets up to 105 in the summer, and not many people have AC. Yikes!

• Large cups – everyone drinks out of cups the size of Dixie cups. I can’t figure out how everyone isn’t dehydrated all the time 

• Cranberry sauce, pumpkin mix, and pecans – Ok, well we obviously know which holiday is on my mind! 

 
Things that came from Italy that you may have never realized (or maybe just I didn’t realize):

• Cappuccino, espresso, latte, mocha – all the fancy coffee drinks we love so much in the U.S. 

• The Mafia – Okay, we all know they originated in Italy, but apparently they’re actually real here and are a big deal. Watch out if you go to southern Italy like Sicily or Naples! 

• Bologna – the meat is actually called Mortadella, but we call it bologna because it comes from the city Bologna. Now how we went from Bow-lown-yuh to buh-lown-ee, I have no idea. Ask Oscar Mayer. 

• Music terms – this is pretty widely known, but now that I know how to read and pronounce Italian, it makes so much more sense to think of words like crescendo, piano, fortissimo, adagio, legato, etc. However, for you music people out there, piano in Italian actually means slow down, not get softer like it does in music.

• Names of instruments – like cello, mandolin, viola, bassoon, tuba, and timpani 

• Other food words like – ciabatta, broccoli, Panini, zucchini, and focaccia. Once you understand the weird pronunciation rules with c, cc, and ci or ce in Italian, then you finally get where the strange pronunciation for those words comes from!