Finishing up my four days of class

As I am becoming more comfortable with the area, I am starting to take more risks. I have moved passed the protein shakes and yogurt, as far as meals, and I have been going to different restaurants and cafes. I normally go in, say hello and then point to something in the glass case and hope I like it. So far, my pointing has gotten me in more trouble than I like.

The sandwiches I point to are either all cheese and tomatoes or have mushrooms instead of cheese. But I try it, because it normally costs 4 Euros (which is about $6.50) and I want to try everything before I stick up my nose at it. That is my least favorite thing about American students here, they are so quick to say "eew, that is gross I cannot believe that eat that part of the chicken." Or whatever it is. Because it isn't gross, it is just different.

Anyways, last night my roommate Maria and I went out and I hit rock bottom for ordering. We went to a little pub and sat outside. The menu was huge so I pointed to something on it that looked a little familiar. Ninety-five percent of the menu was sandwiches, so I thought I was safe. Well, she returned with a plate of tomatoes! What kind of dinner is that? Not one that I wanted, but oh well. I guess I will have to start looking a little more closely and learn how to ask questions.

It turned out to be hilarious and not a big deal, I ate what I could of my plate o' tomatoes and we went for a walk. We sat down at an outdoor bar and were drinking our liters of beer when a man, who spoke English invited us to join him and his friend. The two were med students who were taking some time to travel between levels of school/training. They ended up being pretty fun, for a couple of boring med students :). But they were really nice and asked a lot about the art aspects of Florence.

The night ended with Maria and I frantically searching for a bathroom on our way home. We had to run into a bar and buy a drink so we could use the bathroom. We only ordered one and it was 8 Euros. Money well spent for a bathroom though!

The rest of my classes seem very interesting. My non-credit cooking class was great. We made egg plant (which I really liked when we were done) with homemade pasta, mushrooms (in a ridiculously delicious sauce, and a pastry dessert that was similar to a funnel cake at home. It was the best meal I have had here (probably because I didn't have to order it!). And our in instructor had a little bit of attitude and would poke fun at all of us. It was so amazing making pasta from scratch and learning fun little tricks, like how to peal a tomato really quickly and how to cook an eggplant so it has a good texture. The woman spoke my language about textures.

My Tuscany and Its Wines class is going to be great. The professor, Massimo, is a wine professional, has owned many restaurants and now is a consultant for local restaurants and such-basically he knows his wine. He is also very funny and makes jokes all through class. This class is also very small so we will be able to learn a lot.

My food writing class is very different from what I expected. The instructor is 24 and is from the states, went to Berkley for undergrad and is doing her masters here. It will be really interesting, we are going to study food writing as a genre, where and when it started and why food is more than just for eating. I finally understood what the instructor meant about food being more than surviving when she said "There is a difference in eating to live and living to eat." So that kind of gives you and idea of what the premise of the class is.

It will probably be Monday before I update again because the school is shutdown for the weekend. So, I hope everyone has a fun weekend!