Just Me and My Host Dad

Tonight it was just me and my host father for dinner as my host mom was visiting her daughter and Ali was in Sicily for the weekend. My host dad is a character. We joked that with everyone away we would just eat gelato and chocolate for dinner – his favorites. At times like these he can seem like a little kid, joking around with us and yet at other times he can be protective – like the time he made me take a taxi to the train station at 3am because he didn’t want me walking alone. There was also the night where he spent the entire length of dinner telling Ali and me how much he loves his wife, Cristina. “I am so lucky” he told us patting Christina’s shoulder, and Cristina replied jokingly, “Yes, he is so lucky” returning the pat.

Now that Marco is retired he claims his occupation is grandfather. When I come home from school, I usually find him watching the soccer game sporting his bright purple Florentine sweat suit cheering on his team. He is always helping Cristina out in the kitchen and telling us a new animated story over dinner. I know he cares for Ali and me as he pinches our cheeks or touches our hair and smiles in complete happiness – his way of showing his affection. So with all these great things being said, I had a lovely dinner…just me and my host dad.

New Skills, New Foods

With my Italian class canceled, I was able to fit in a delightfully refreshing morning run before heading to school to cook for Sharing Thursday. I love running in the morning, but with early class, I don’t get out in the morning often. Most of my afternoon runs this week have been terrible. With the hot sun and exhaustion from my day I have been feeling as if I am running through sand! But this morning, with that cool crisp morning air I love so much, I felt as if I were light as air!

 Workout behind me, it was time to get in the kitchen. Today, March 29, an Italian host mother, Teresa, led the cooking for Sharing Thursday! She showed me how to prepare “Riso con Carciofe” or rice with artichokes. Do you know how hard it is to prepare fresh artichokes? Teresa spent a good hour peeling and cutting the artichokes for the dish. There’s really only a small percentage of the vegetable that is used. However, I loved learning how to prepare them for my host mom cooks with them often and I absolutely love them!

Another skill I learned in the kitchen today was how to prepare Italian coffee. Italians make their coffee on the stove in a little metal machine. I have seen my host mom do it a thousand times but never knew where to put the grounds (B), where to put the water (A), and where the coffee collects (C). Now I know!

With another successful Sharing Thursday completed, and another Italian recipe to add to my collection, I was not done trying new foods today! After dinner this evening, my host mom pointed to a box on the counter and asked me if I wanted some. It was the same box I had seen in all the grocery stores lately containing a traditional Easter sweet called “Columba”. “Isn’t that for Easter?” I asked in answer to her question. She said yes but that it was already open because Marco couldn’t wait! “So impatient!” she exclaimed. The sweet was very similar to Easter Bread being sweet dough with candied orange peel throughout. The Columba, however, had a sugary coating and was sprinkled with large sugar sprinkles and almonds. Gets me excited for Easter!

Hum Drum

While other people hit up the school bar, or grab a Panini for lunch, I bring mine from home. I usually pack a piece of fruit, a yogurt, some bran cereal, and maybe a granola bar or sometimes I’ll make oatmeal in the microwave at school – exciting right? While it doesn’t sound that great to most it keeps me going, and happy. Lunch is the one meal I have full control over, meaning I can resume my usual eating habits and eat light and healthy.

Today, however, March 28, I was about to break out my super-cool Syracuse lunch bag when I got a call from Maria: “Meet me in the center for lunch!” I happily put my yogurt aside to head to the center.

A smoothie from “Love Life” consumed next to the Duomo while soaking up the sun with Maria was a lovely change to my hum drum lunchtime routine J

Deprived Coffee Connoisseur

Today my Italian professor asked our class what the first thing we were going to do when we got home. I replied almost immediately, “Bevo un bicchiere di caffe Americano grande!” (I am going to drink a big cup of American coffee)

 

I MISS AMERICAN COFFEE.

 Although Italian coffee is suppose to be great, I am not a fan. Coffee here is very strong and thick and served in a little shot glass – how am I supposed to savor that? I tried drinking it plain a couple times but its strength is too much for my stomach and literally makes me sick!

Cappuccinos (equal parts coffee, milk, and foam) were great for a while, but in opinion they have flaws. First of all they are so small. Two sips and there’s only foam left in my cup. Second, they are not hot enough. I like my coffee piping hot. I have been known to burn my tongue multiple times a day back at school. But here, the coffee is served luke-warm. And third, they are not fat-free, low-cal, or healthy. I now have to think of a cappuccino as a “snack” as opposed to my less than 50 calorie cup of coffee at home.

That being said, my host mother does make a mean cappuccino, and I drink one every morning. It is the best cappuccino I’ve had in Italy, served fresh every morning in the largest cup I’ve seen here (but that’s not saying much). When I asked her if we could have nonfat milk in our cappuccinos she replied, “That stuff is like water” – I guess that’s a no?

Oh dear large mug of American coffee with sugar-free hazelnut creamer, wait for me. I will come back for you. With love and adoration, a deprived coffee connoisseur.