Doctor's Orders

Going to an Italian Doctor is another thing I can check off the study abroad bucket list. Not that it was on the list to begin with, but now that I've accomplished this and it's kind of unique, I'll use it.

First of all, took all of 35 minutes to walk to the doctor. Whoever decided to put the English-speaking doctors farthest away from where most English-speakers are is beyond me.  I'm of course the first one there, because I'm not going to wait to get checked on- I came to win!  I get called in, and at first I'm startled because there's no lab coat, no nurse, no stethoscope.  She doesn't take my vitals.  I just sit down, tell her my symptoms, and she nods (a universal doctor habit, apparently).  Her diagnosis? Either I have food poisoning or the flu.  Neither of these sound very good, nor extremely correct...? I never threw up, I haven't eaten anything out of the ordinary, I'm not running a temperature.  This causes her to be a little unsure of her initial assessment, so she kind of leaves it up in the air.  Her uncertainty certainly doesn't hold her back from prescribing me four different meds.  Two of which are things I could have probably gotten over the counter, and one of them I'm only supposed to take today.  Just to clarify, before people start asking me if I've written my will yet.  Chillax, people, not on my deathbed quite yet.

So essentially, I took my medicine today and had a nap (because my body is very exhausted from all this), and I feel worlds better.  I'm hoping by tomorrow I'm up for a trip to the library (a true test of heart, isn't it?), but I haven't decided whether or not a workout would be too much.

Oh, and there is something else.  Until next week, I have certain dietary restrictions, that completely interfere with my blogging intentions.  I am not allowed to consume any dairy, spiced/heavy meat, or (gasp) pastries/cakes for an entire week.  I've tried to see what we're going to be cooking in my class, but all I have to go off of is our reading assignment.  Guess what it's over? The history of Italian cheese. Perfetto. Regardless of my restrictions, I've decided to bring my camera to class so I can upload pictures of our creations.  They're nothing short of inspirational.

Well, I'm going to go try and boil apples.  It's one of the two meal options I have for today, the other being rice.  Tomorrow I get to upgrade to bread and pasta, and bananas I think.  The rest of the week will be a gradual reintroduction of foods to my palate.  I better be feeling better by Sunday, because I will be going to an ITALIAN SOCCER GAME! GOOOOOOALLL!

Buon Appetito, kind of,
Rachael

Lessons In Noodles, Nap-taking, and Nausea

Well, dear readers, I wish I were writing under a little different circumstances.  I'm afraid I've come down with something rather discomforting and (at times) painful.  Stomach pains, nausea, headaches and fatigue has been the name of the game for the past couple of days for this foodie.  Consequently, that means a week of minimal (or in severe cases, no) culinary satisfaction. However, that did not stop me from helping create some wonderful dishes in my cooking class, and learning about when to NOT take naps in class.

On Tuesday, my class consisted of making some fried meat patty things (that were good, trust me, like a fried meatball), some garbanzo tomato spread, lasagna (my group!), and a cake.  Given my intolerance to any type of food that day, I didn't finish any of my sample-sized portions of wonder.  But all of it was delicious.  And apparently, ricotta is never used in lasagne! My professora was completely aghast at the thought of such a thing- which, given that reaction, one can only imagine her response to me stating my grandmother's use of sour cream.  Another little Italian cooking factoid- in Tuscany, they never (and I mean NEVER) cook with red wine, always white.  In the words of my professor "to drink, yes, to cook, no!".  Regardless of it's ricotta deficit, the lasagna was to die for, but very very VERY intensive.  That makes it the second week in a row that I've been on the sort of "cooking team" with the most challenging dish.  She overestimates my skill.

In Art History on Wednesday, this girl in front of me fell asleep.  She had been asleep for a while, and finally with about 30 minutes left of class, the professora glares at her. For a good two minutes.  Her friend nudges her, and my professora states simply : It is best that you leave. Right now.  No smile, no please, but she had a gaze that could pierce ears. Fiercest little Italian woman I have met thus far.  Oh, and a MLIAWKARD moment, I was walking home from class, feeling sickly.  To alleviate my discomfort, I (for some reason) decided to make faces in the window of the fancy wine bar on my street. Which is perfectly fine, as long as the bar is vacant.  I don't have that kind of luck, so the waitress saw me making fishy faces and puffing my cheeks out like a chimp.  Yeah, just your typical American neighbor, don't worry about it.

Which brings us to today.  I actually skipped a class, in a sense, because of how badly I felt.  I went to take the test today, and asked if I could leave because of my sickly nature.  He kindly understood, asking me to e-mail him when I felt better.  So since then, I've just been laying on my bed, watching movies and drinking my weight in gatorade.  By the way, there are different flavors of Gatorade over here, and powerade, and I like them better. My appetite is completely gone, so aside from the obvious bad feelings of simply being ill, I've also felt a great sense of loss not being able to eat my new groceries I bought on Monday.  Sorry, quinoa and bulgar wheat, you'll have to wait it out a little longer.

Going to a clinic tomorrow to get this checked out.  I'm sure that'll be an experience worth blogging about, so I'll keep updates coming.  It's 8:00 here, and I'm going to bed.  

Buon Appetito?
Rachael

MASKS! MAKE-UP! MACARENA!

So I just had the best weekend of my trip.  Carnevale in Venice for the opening? Yes, I'll take some of that. With seconds.

So many people, and so much stuff to do! Not only did we venture the Venetian streets, but we also went to Murano and Burano- little islands which stole my heart and stomach!  Murano was mainly just for glass production (really beautiful stuff), and Burano is where I had a scrumptious coconut/lemon/cake/bar.  So good.  The baker recommended it, and it was to die for.  Oh, and in Venice itself, I had a smiley faced panino!

And then, my friends, the typical carnevale dinner commenced. SO MUCH FOOD. AND ALL OF IT WAS DIVINE. But fear not, dear readers, this foodie-aerobics-instructor completely earned her meal.  After dinner, there was dancing in the restaurant with the group of Italians who shared our banquet room. We taught them all the macarena, and they proved to us that Michael Jackson is always cool.  ENJOY THE FOODS :)

Antipasti: Little meat sausage patties, and on the skewer is prosciutto wrapped with zucchini on a bed of polenta.  SO delicious!

Vegetable risotto- one of the TWO (thats right, TWO! pasta courses!)

Gnocchi with a cheese sauce. Seriously, maybe my favorite. It was so good, but so rich! The cheese sauce tasted kind of like alfredo, but it was not as cheesy.  More cream than cheese probably!

The Main Event: Ham cooked with sage (I believe), with some roasted potatoes and cooked spinach.  MMMMMMM :)

Dolci: Fried dough with powdered sugar. Can't go wrong with that, right? And then, some fried dough ball things with raisins.  If it's fried, I'll eat it. Seriously.

So that was our large carnevale dinner, which put us all in a food coma and made me sleep better than any other night I'm here.  The next day, we went to the Guggenheim Museum (which was amazing, saw some Dali, Picasso, Duchamp...) After that, to St.Mark's square to see the "Flight of the Angel", where they put some crazy volunteer Italian on a rope above the square and have them fly down to the ground. I was scared for them.  As was a very concerned French woman next to me.  She was shaking with fright.  After the flight, the parade of masks! Everyone and Anyone is dressed in their Carnevale finest, complete with masks, make-up, and outrageous outfits.  But don't worry, they're not all dressed up like the Phantom of the Opera Masquerade scene.  Some random costumes which I had the opportunity to see: flowers, mariachi band, penguins, and William-Wallace-wanna-be's.  I had my face painting done by a pirate from Rome, and while he was doing my make-up people came by and took pictures of me...? I let him take the creative reigns on this one, and just told him to do whatever (to follow his heart, if you will).  When I looked at the finished product, it was of course beautiful! And some random englishman captured my surprise face on camera? Many awkward moments, people, many awkward moments.  Oh, I also tried to hot spiced red wine, and it definitely helped keep me warm on the dreary rainy sunday that eventually overtook the end of our carnevale stay.  

All in All, fantastic trip with fantastic people! And the boat ride back to the mainland included some playing of American music *(Love the way you Lie, you know you love it).  I'll probably update tomorrow, because I've been lacking and I just feel bad. I can't believe spring break is coming up so fast! It's insane! 

Buon Appetito! 

Rachael

Love Me Some Lucca!!!

My dear readers, I have had a revelation.  Yes, I told you that I loved Rome.  And Florence, though smaller than Rome, is a beautiful thriving city that has many glorious offerings to the curious traveler.  But the true Italy, the heart and soul of the country, is found in the small towns of Italia.  Lucca, the small town I went to this weekend, showed me that.  Through delicious sandwiches and heavenly pastries.

Lovely Lucca, which I will officially refer to it as from here on out, sits about an hour and a half by train away from my current home Firenze.  The town, surrounded by a wall, seems intimidating at first.  Not to worry, dear readers, this town is just as welcoming and cute as ever! Everyone here smiles, NO JOKE. I saw way more people smiling here than in Florence.  Also, I saw just about as many bakeries as their are QuikTrips in Tulsa.   This is a beautiful thing.

We biked around the whole day, a real bargain actually.  It was warm enough to wear shorts (er, warm enough for me to wear shorts), and it seemed like everyone and their grandmother was outside enjoying the sunny Saturday.  I saw a little kid throw a tantrum, but it was just cute and not annoying.  Children whining in Italian does not sound nearly as irritating as children whining in English.  He was literally on the ground, whining "MAMAAAA. NOOO".  His mom encouraged him to get up because they had to go (I think?), and the small four year-old continued to army crawl all the way to his mother.  These old ladies on a bench were cheering him on.  This is the Italy that I love.  And then there was an older boy, who continued to ride his bike around us to show off.  He did handstands, cartwheels, and even walked on his hands! Skilled!!!! BRAVO BAMBINO! Except one time, he messed up. So he looked to see if we saw, and then continued to sulk on the curb for two minutes.  Can I bring back a child with me to the US? That's totally legal, right?!

Anywho, the bike lady thought I was French because of my name (Rachael, like Rachelle, and Rene, because that just sounds French).  I asked if we could all pay for our bike rentals seperately, and she looked at me as if to say "No, not on your American life".  Then, she looked at my last name, and asked if it was Reagan like the President, and I just said Yes.  She then let us pay individually. WIN WIN WIN.  ANCESTRY FOR THE WIN.

Anyway, Venice this weekend for Carnivale! WOOOOOOOOOOOOT! Should be a grand ol' time! I'm behind on pictures because our internet tells me it'll take 342 minutes to upload my sweet shots.  No way man, I do not have that time.    Pictures of my food from Lucca to come next post!

Buon appetito!
Rachael

Apologies and Condolences. And France!

First and Foremost, I owe the lovely cyber-audience a sincere apology.  I’ve let you down with this not updating since France business, and for that, I will make it up to you. So grab some milk and cookies, kids, because this post is about to turn into a rainy-day novel.

France was wonderful, beautiful, spectacular, warm and surprisingly friendly.  Everyone there was incredibly sweet to me, but that might have something to do with the fact that I spoke only French to them (BONUS! Thanks 5ish years of French!).   I want to go back the first chance I get- it was that glorious.  The weather was perfect too, but the trip there was quite a trip.

The trek to the French Riviera started out dark- literally, because we had to leave at 6 AM.  Actually, make that 6:15, since some leisurely ladies “got lost” on the way to the bus.  The walk to the bus is always interesting early in the morning, just because the time we leave the house is about the times the drunken dancers of Florence stumble their way home from the club.  Fun times.  A guy tried to trip me once, and I totally kicked him.  BAM! So obviously this time, no one messed with this girl. 

So northward we drive, and the road is winding and our bus driver seems to believe a little to much in the accelerator.  Add all that to an easily-upset stomach, and you get the girl in front of me puking her lungs out. At 7 AM.  On a small bus that is full.  She turns to ask me for a plastic bag or two.  I give her the bag, praying that she doesn’t turn around and face me for the rest of the trip.  At this point of the trip, I am extremely optimistic. 

However, once we pull into Monaco all the stomach-wrenching smells from the bus and all of the fatigue I felt from my early rising melted away.  Sun shining and soft breeze blowing, I am in paradise.  The town is literally almost too perfect- cleanest streets I’ve ever seen, no graffiti anywhere, and everyone is well-dressed and helpful.  After exploring the grounds, we stop in a café where I have, what else, but quiche lorraine! Ordered Completely in FRENCH! LOOK:

After this, to Nice we go! I got to put my feet in the Mediterranean Sea, something  I hope I get to do again! We walk around and find the coolest shops, some breakdancers, decorations for carnival this upcoming weekend, and a wonderful open-air flea market.  We found a cute bakery too, where literally almost everything was made with Nutella.  I opted for the brownie, but they had muffins and cookies and even a Nutella Latte! YUMMMM This foodie in France was a happy camper!

Our traditional French meal definitely suffered (err… exemplified?) some Italian influences.  First course a standard pasta, but the main dish and the dessert were unfalteringly French.  I almost felt like Julia Child.  And let me just say, feeling like Julia Child just makes you happy. 

Penne con Pomodoro

Jambon avec pommes frites!

Je ne sais pas. Mais il a ete delicieuse! 

Anyway, next day we went all through 3 towns: St. Paul de Vence, Cannes, and Eze (pronounced Ezzz, mmmk?).  St. Paul de Vence definitely won first place in my heart, with its mountain-top setting, plethora of art work, and just overall cute-n-quaintness.  Cannes was wonderful with the Film Festival memorabilia (check FB for Celebrity Hand Prints!), and I had my FIRST Croque Monsieur! 

And, I’m almost ashamed to say, I went to my first European McDonalds. 

NO! LET ME EXPLAIN! Don’t turn you backs on me, dear readers, let me shed some light on my unforgivable actions.  I needed to use the facilities, in a very urgent sense of the word.  Unfortunately, many places don’t have public restrooms- you gotta commit and buy some stuff.  Well, Cannes is expensive.  McDonald’s, on the other hand, is not, thanks to the one-euro menu. So I buy a diet coke (shocking), and use the bathroom code on my receipt to access the bathroom.  Life lesson learned. 

Eze was beautiful too, and very fragrant.  We went to a perfume factory, and everything smelled wonderful.  It just hurt my head after 15 minutes.  So while most of the other girls were spraying perfume and smelling soap, I was walking up a mountain to explore the town of Eze.  So beautiful.  However, this beautiful locale was the last, and after the final whiffs of perfume were inhaled, we were bus-bound and headed to Firenze. 

In short, I loved France and am finding any way to get back.  Paris during spring break is a very realistic prospect, and hopefully I can iron out the wrinkles in the plan soon.  However, Morocco is almost entirely a go.  Venice next weekend for Carnival.  Two weeks from then, Spring Break.  April will be busy with Tuscan towns and Pompeii, and maybe a trip to Greece…?  And then with May, I have two weekends, finals, and then my ticket home.  Wow. 

Anyway, Lucca this weekend with some wonderful people! And lots and lots of research for some papers! What fun! Have a glorious weekend all, and updates after Lucca!

Buon Appetito,

Rachael

True Life: Stuff They Don't Tell You About Studying Abroad

Don't get me wrong, I am entirely and incredibly grateful and indebted to my privilege of studying abroad. These past two days, however, have been sort of a reality check which shatters the Honeymoon phase of Culture Shock.

Laundry, for one thing, was a major frustration, because our washing machine does not work without 15 hours worth of spin cycles.  Our internet has also been on the fritz, and the man who came by to fix it spoke ZERO English.  He switched to French so I could comprehend a little more, but I'm still doubting that he really said "I painted this apartment myself" (that's what it sounded like, I'd bet someone else's dog's life on it).  Then there are money matters, which I'm not running out of money, it's just that things are expensive.  And, myself being a mild to medium worrier, do not want to head back to the States come May 14th with a non-existent savings account.  There is also the issue of my potential spring break plans, whose concerns deal mainly with financial means of experiencing an enjoyable free week in Europe.

However, a trip to COOP (my favorite grocery store here- it's huge, and has TONS of stuff, like whole wheat pasta and no-sugar added muesli. And this week, smoked salmon was on sale! NOM) with my no-class-on-mondays buddy Laura helped cheer my up and put my anxieties at rest.  Also, surprisingly, having the routine of school work now helps alleviate some of the stresses.  Oh, and that new gym membership I got has allowed me to "work out" frustration.  See what I did there? Clever. 10 points to Griffyndor.

Oh, and last night, I won a trip to Morocco. FREE TRIP TO MOROCCO. FOR REALZ. This would make anybody's night! And today was that pesky mandatory trip to the chocolate festival.  We tried cioccolato peperocino (chocolate with pepper) cioccolato aranche (chocolate with orange!) and chocolate with almonds (I don't remember the italian, sorry).  All those bars came from the stand I've been from only 49487987 times.  When we walked up, the girl who's worked there all week told me hello and asked how I was.  I got some stares.  I told them we were pretty much on a first name basis, because it's true.  Anyway, I also got to try a pistachio truffle, chocolate covered coffee beans (the best I've had- Dad, these were WONDERFUL), and a 100% cacao bar. And I learned a ton about chocolate and coffee.

Allora, I've gotta get to reading for my Pre-Renaissance Art and for World War II.  A Presto!

Buon Appetito!
Rachael

Like Chocolate for Chocolate

Confession: I've been to the chocolate festival every day since it's been here.
Spoiler Alert: This will be a revealing and embarassing blog entry.

The first day was strictly for educational purposes, promise.  It is MANDATORY for me to visit the chocolate festival on Tuesday for my Food of Italy class, so since I am the student that I am, I of course did additional research to prove myself a worthy scholar.  Amongst the traditional chocolate fountains and fruit/marshmallow kabobs, I found some of the most exotic chocolate I've ever seen.  Chocolate flavored with natural extracts of pear, apple, violet, cinnamon, and pepperocino (my personal favorite since I've been here- I love the peppers and chocolate concept, it's heavenly).  I saw a 100% cacao bar, and it looked intense.  It was literally staring me down.  If Chuck Norris were a chocolate bar, this would be him.  I also saw various chocolate moldings. Chocolate shoes, chocolate tools, chocolate animals, and chocolate shot glasses.  My photo thing is not working here, so I can only show you the wondrous chocolate creations via Facebook. Or as my mom occasionallly calls it, The Facebook.

So second chocolate festival visit was not so academic.  I went to the same place we went the first day, and they totally recognized me.  MLIAWKWARD moment numero uno.  Getting recognized at a chocolate festival when it's only been going on for two days is not something to be proud of.  But it didn't stop me from buying chocolate from them- three bars to be exact, which are gifts for my Arkansas friends (I did that for Cassie, because I know how you don't like to wait for presents).  Note that there are but three different chocolates, but I expect you to be good people and share!  And I might just go back there and buy more for presents, because who doesn't love getting high-quality chocolate in the mail from Italy?

So after my second trip to the chocolate festivities, we went exploring.  To the other side of the river we went, and it was beautiful. Possibly, my favorite place in Florence up to this point, and technically some consider it almost outside of Florence.  We're talking seeing the stereotypical Tuscan countryside of the movies in all directions.  Bella! Went atop the Palazzo Michelangelo, where we looked down upon the city to see it right at dusk.  Check it out:

So now for MLIAWKARD numero due: At this fine place with the spectacular view, I saw this:

Not kidding. I felt like I was back in my grand state of Oklahoma.  The whole time, I was just confused. Native Americans in Italy. It still makes my brow furrow typing that. Despite the utter sense of inappropriateness and displacement I felt, I bought a dreamcatcher from them.  It now hangs over my bed with pride.

The rest of the night was chill as can be. Leftovers from cooking chicken and pasta the night before, and also a wonderful gelato run, to a place that is now my favorite in Florence.  I only remembered to take a picture of it after I finished it...

My diet starts tomorrow. I love myself and I hate myself.

The remainder of the day results in reading, picture-uploading, cleaning, and skyping.  Also, mentally preparing for my trip to NICE this weekend! Is it bad that I'm excited, because I will understand more in France than I do here? Je suis en Italie, mais je parle et pense francais tout le temp, tout le jour, et tout la vie!

Buon appetito!
Rachael