You can take the girl out of....

You can take the girl out of the US, but you can't take the US out of the girl.

Although Italy shaped and influenced me a lot, there were certain things about my US lifestyle that I just wasn't willing to part with.

2. Starbucks = better than Italian coffee.

3. PDA still makes me uncofmrtable.  People straddling people in parks.  Making out on street corners in broad daylight.  It's very special that you love each other so much. Get a room.

4. Cookies for breakfast. It's awesome.  But I can't do it on a regular basis. Too weird, and it sucks starting your day off feeling fat from cookies.  (I have self control issues)

5.
Football > Soccer

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6. Peanut butter, mac & Cheese, Ranch, BBQ, fried appetizers, pancakes, hashbrowns, and a Ian's pizza will always be delicious to me.

You can take the girl out of Italy, but you can't take Italy out of the girl.

Well, like I said.  Italy has influenced my life and my lifestyle a lot.  Coming back to the US, I have found a few habits hard to break.

1. Even when I speak English, my hands fly everywhere and I use the Italian hand gestures. Makes me look SUPER cool.  My dad and brother love it because they make fun of me hardcore.

2. Coming from living with a family who ALWAYS have fresh parm, I'm not sure how i can survive without it.  And I DEFINITELY can't afford the real stuff, so we'll see how this goes.

3. I say boh. a lot. 

4. I miss speaking Italian.  So. Sometimes when I get drunk enough--- I just start rambling.  Even though nobody can understand me. 

6. Although I say football is better than soccer.... I still became a soccer fan.  (ish)  I watch Italy play and scream at the TV in both languages and watch AC games.  I never thought I'd see the day.

6.

The Best Things About Airports

So I know that a lot of people aren't huge fans of airports.  They can be stressful, you usually have to hang out there for an extended period of time, and it's expensive. Then you have to get on the airplane where you have no leg room, you're confined to a small space for x amount of hours, and sometimes the pressure/altitude messes with your head.  But there are also a lot of AWESOME things about airplanes and airports.  As I have just returned from a 19 hour travel, my ideas on airport/airplane travel are fresh in my mind.  Please note that this should have extra significance in the fact that I love it because I have a very non-existent ass which therefore makes traveling/sitting for long periods of time in general painful.  So you MUST know that is awesome.  You should also know that this discludes both London-Gatwick and London-Stansted.  I hate you London.  I hate you England.

1.  I always buy magazines at the airport.  I'm always too cheap/never have time to read them in normal life.  But this is a perfect opportunity to catch up on celeb gossip, newest diets, fashion trends, whatever your hear desires.

2. You always see a lot of different cultures and hear a ton of different languages thrown around, which is cool.

3. It's acceptable to sleep on the floor.  I have zero problems with this in real life, but other people judge me; so here I'm good to go.

4. If you pick the right airline, you get free booze on the plane.

5. You learn to appreciate the leg room that you have when you're on land. 

6. I also always buy braingames and puzzles and stuff, which are fun to do, but I never buy books or anything for them.

7.  I always watch movies I'd never watch normally, and they turn out to be awesome.  Latest example: The Blind Side.  It had never interested me before, but it was AWESOME.

8. Airport food. Expensive, but legit.  And it's okay to buy it, because you don't have any other choice.

9. Two words.  Moving. Walkways.

10. You get to see cities from above on takeoff and landing.  Super cool view.

11. People watching is PRIME at the airport.  Just sit back on your territory that you've claimed on the floor, with your airport food, your magazine that you're pretending to read, and just enjoy the show. There's always something good going on.

12. Going to the airport means you're going somewhere.  Whether it's leaving for a vacation (exciting) or going home (good to see everyone again), you're going somewhere different. Even if you're flying for a sad reason, there will usually be someone you love waiting on the other end of that flight.

Happy travels folks!

Pasta!

So, you can't write about Italy without talking about pasta and how awesome it is; and how it being awesome has made me a GIANT since I eat it night and day.  So- thought I would make a list of my favorite pastas--- that way you all can be informed about which ones are the best and I'm even throwing in there the 4 that I think are the most overrated. 

Delicious Pasta: 
1) Cartoon shaped macaroni and cheese.  I know this immediately discredits this list according to Italians, but I don't care.  Cartoon shaped mac&cheese tastes significatly better as shapes than actual macaroni, and I ONLY buy the shapes.  Maybe it's because they're thicker and bigger?  (Who doesn't like big thick things? :-P) but for some reason, Scooby-Doo, Blues Clues, Spider-Man, Spongebob, and all the other characters out there--- are delish.

2) Cavatappi.  Super fun.  Nuf said.

3) Penne.  Dude, this pasta you can eat with like, ANY sauce and it works.  It's diversity renders it awesome.

4) Rigatoni.  Also big and thick.  Scoop some sauce in the giant hole in the center and you got yourself some good eats.  Well-- no comment on how that ENTIRE thing sounded. Perhaps pasta has some sexual undertones?

5) Linguine.  Has always been awesome, but I never realized HOW awesome it was until I didn't eat it for a while.  More versatile than spag and I like the shape better.

 6) Spaghetti.  Classic.  Also skinny enough to be delicious raw--- so if you see me eating and  handing out raw spaghetti at the bars (yes, I have done that before), do not be alarmed.

7) Taglietelle. Gotta be fresh. But when it is, and with the right sauce, oh man.

 8) Gemelli.  The acceptable skinny pasta. Twirly, but not in an annoying way.

9) Fisarmoniche. Whoa. just whoa.  Never saw this in the states and I am blown away by its awesomeness. Fun shape that works with everything.

10) Fusilli Spirale. The tightly wound spirals make this yummy.  Yup, said it.  Yummy.  But as you will see later, its GOTTA be tightly wound, the regular fusilli is stupid. 

11) Tortiglioni. This is also delicious with most sauces, and therefore, like rigatoni, a winner.  The shape is simple, but not TOO simple, and not annoying. 

12) Scoobi doo pasta. Boh. It seems exactly like cavatappi and it's got the name scooby-doo. soo, guess that sorta speaks for itself. (Tania--- no smirking at this)

The most overrated pasta:
(sidenote, none of these are BAD, but if I had my choice--- I'd eat those other 12 first. and then all the other ones in between. and then these) 

1) Farfalle.  Otherwise known as bow tie pasta in the US.  It's not awful, but i mean, it's hard to stab and unless it's perfectly al dente--- it falls apart when you DO stab it.  It's just dumb.  However, acceptable in cold pasta salads.

 2) Orecchiette.  Meh. I must admit one of my favorite dishes in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD is made with this pasta, but that should say something--- that DESPITE the fact that I think it's super overrated--- it's STILL my favorite dish like-- ever. They're all small and have a weird texture when you eat them

 3) Trofie. Sorry Genova.  I prefer my pesto on other stuff.

4) Fusilli. Just dumb. I'm not sure why I hate them as much as I hate them... they never did anything wrong to me, but whoa. I think they're useless and small and have a weird shape and just, don't do anything good.

Ok, now go eat some pasta!

The Things I've Learned

So, as promised, this will be a continuation of posts about Italy/my time here in general.  While I didn't find a real job here--- the time here was not lost by any means.  I had some awesome times, met some of the most wonderful people, and I learned a few things here and there.  So- today I've put together a list of a few of the things I probably wouldn't have learned if I hadn't had come--- at least not at this point in my life.   Again, these are in no particular order.

1. Changing diapers.  While I've had a teeny bit of experience before I came here-- I now fucking ROCK at changing diapers. 

2. The true meaning of patience and responsibility.  I knew that I wasn't the most patient person in the world.  I stare at the microwave waiting for my potatoes to be done, I pace back and forth while waiting for water to boil, I get SUPER annoyed when I have to stop for a red light.  But whoa--- since being here--- patience has taken on a whole new meaning.  I have had to use every single ounce I have in me to control my patience when around little children.  And I used to think responsibility meant getting good grades, showing up to work on time, and making sure chores get done.  Now--- after being responsible for two lives--- making decisions for them and being in charge of their general well-being--- being a responsible person now has an entirely different and more important meaning to me.

3.  Cooking.

The family has been super awesome.  As you may or may not have read in some of my fb statuses-- throughout my time here the family has been teaching me various Italian recipes. We've made fresh pasta, pizza, piadine, gnocco fritto, foccacia, carbonara, cacio e pepe, ragu, and various other things that are awesome and I'm for SURE going to attempt to make upon my return.

4. Italian.  While I'm still not perfect--- I've improved a TON. And while I should be a million times better--- it is still nice to be able to see the progress I've made since I arrived.

5. Just Do It.

It took me a very long time, but every time I didnt feel like doing something in the past, I'd make up some excuse and just not go or not do it.  But, it seemed stupid to pass up opportunities here-- since there have been SO many---I didn't fly across the Atlantic to sit on my ass --- and almost every time I've actually done things, they've turned out well.  So, I hope I can keep that up back home.

6. Sunglasses never need to leave your face.

They always serve a purpose, whether they are blocking the sun during the day, or making you look like a badass while wearing them on the metro--- Italy has taught me that for every occasion they are appropriate.

7. How to communicate using only hand gestures, facial expressions, and body movements.

Except now I do it too much and for SURE will look like a fool when I go home.

8.  I NEVER want children.  Kids are cool. They're great and cute and shit, but oh no.  Full time parent? No thank-you.  I do not have the patience for that and I'm definitely too selfish/lazy.  Perhaps once i actually grow up i might change my mind--- but for now I want nothing to do with that. 

9. Thanks to Vince, I now know when Columbus Day is. 

10. Alone time = awesome.  I've always been one of those people who loves to be around other people.  I'm not alone a whole lot, and I never minded it. My only alone time was when I ate.  I'd sit down and watch one of my millions of shows and eat my pasta/potato and be super annoyed if I were interrupted.  But now-- i MUST have at least some time to myself.  Time to reflect or time to sing/dance super loud/dumb or time to sleep or time to eat junk food or to even just time to do nothing.

11. How to be minimally awkward.  This is probably one of the most important things I learned here.  I can be in a giant room with complete strangers, have NOBODY to talk to-- and still manage to not be awkward! I've found myself in that situation a LOT here- and I've learned how to like, keep to myself and not be awkward and pathetic about it as well as how to mingle if necessary and make small talk. Super useful.

12.The metric system!! Kinda.

My Favorite Things About Italy

Well friends, in honor of my last month in Italy, I've decided to make June about Italy, my experiences here, and what I've learned along the way.  So, this week will be all about the reasons I fell in love with this place in the first place, the reasons I came back, and the reasons that it'll always have a place in my heart.  These are in no particular order.

1. The history.  There is a feeling of history throughout the entire country that you just can't ignore.  You can walk around anywhere you go and run into random ancient ruins just strewn about the city.  Each city is unique and has its own story.

2. The Wine.  Oh man.  It's delicious. Even the cheap wine is awesome.  But the cheap wine--- is CHEAP.  Not $7 cheap wine that tastes like sewer water that you find in the US.  It's €1.50 for delicious wine.

3. I'm initially slightly more interesting when you first meet me.  That probably changes 12 seconds into talking to me and actually learning something about me--- but when I'm first introduced to someone, I'm all--- American and foreign and so for a teeny tiny bit, I'm cool.

4. The language.  So purty. And when Italians speak in English--- they have the MOST adorable accents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1TnzCiUSI0

5. The people.  Everybody is super eccentric--- in a good way.  They all have this love for life that you don't find other places and they're not afraid to show it.

6. The landscape.  Here, you can find everything.  The sea, the mountains, the city, the country, the lake, everything.  And in a relatively small space.

7. All my fabulous friends!  I've met some fantabulous people during my time here.  People who I've shared some awesome times with, and who I'll remain friends with for the rest of my life.  Everybody has been super helpful and have really been there for me--- and I love you all for it.  :)

 I'm not putting pics because I just have TOO many and I can't decide which ones to put.

8. The food.  I'm not sure if this even needs an explanation.  The food here is indescribable.  It's literally nothing like you'll find anywhere else. Not only that, but the fact that every single place has its own specialty makes my life--- well--- SUPER DUPER happy.  I've been here for about a year and a half in total--- and I'm STILL trying new things and discovering all that Italy has to offer from a culinary perspective.  And every time I try something new--- it's phenomenal.

9.  The culture.  Although this category is a bit of all of these categories combined into one--- I don't care.  Collectively the culture of Italy is something that's super unique and really what makes Italy stand out from every other country.  The landscape, the history, the art, the language--- with dialects that changes from city to city and town to town, the traditions, the food, and the people.  You put it all together, and BAM.  Italy.

10. The men.  While I was CONVINCED that Italian men were for me the first time around, I came back and realized that I had built it up too much in my head and had a romanticized stereotype of an idea of the men here.  I couldn't deny it.  I missed American boys.  Skinny white boys who wear scarves and colored skinny jeans and own hair dryers--- meh, no thanks. But then I grew up.  Italian men are adorable.  They are real gentlemen who will open doors for you or pay for small things, just to be nice.  Not that I need any of that.  But after years of boys throwing things down my shirt--- I must say, it's a nice change.  The skinny white boy thing has grown on me--- and now --- I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I go back to the US....

(I'm just going to go ahead and assume that Stefano Accorsi is a good guy--- because in my head--- he's perfect)

11. Pietro and Filippo.  My boys. As much as I can whine when they're not on their best behavior, at the end of the day--- they're great kids and ADORABLE.  When Pietro smiles--- everything in the world just stops being important--- anything that has EVER made you mad--- just disappears.  Filippo and his random questions. Why, why, why, why.  His vivid explanations of how super mechanical things work that I had NO idea about until this 4 year old explained them to me.  I now know how a steam engine works.  The hilarious thing is though, you can't ask me--- because I can't explain it in English. Or, I CAN--- but I'm going to have to tell you the names of all the parts in Italian.

12.  The memories I've made here.  Times that I'll never forget and I CAN'T WAIT to come back and make more!