Siena

So before I delve into the topic du jour, I want to note how the weather here is crazy. It isn't bad, just crazy. Tonight the low is a balmy 1º C, and by the time I am walking to school it will have hit all the way up to 3º. However, I will be wearing a t-shirt under my jacket and sweater, because by the time I'm walking home from school the temperature will have risen all the way up to 16º (60º F, if you're wondering). Oh, and weather for the upcoming weekend? Sunny and a high of 23º (73º F). And despite the low temperatures, mosquitoes are still eating me alive....

So yesterday I was eating lunch with my family, and they asked me if I had plans. I said none for the afternoon, but was thinking of going to a concert that night if any of them wanted to come with (or at least that's what I tried to say. I know they understood the part about me not having plans for the afternoon). They replied that for the afternoon they were going to go to Siena to see the Duomo there, and would I like to join them? (Jane got this one right) Yes!

On the way there my host mother complained about the roads. There were a few bumps, and she said that it was inexcusable for an Italian road--this was as bad as Africa! I laughed because in Chicago these roads would be praised for how smooth they were. She also asked if we have 10-lane highways in America.

This was a really beautiful duomo, and the first where I didn't have to spend the time staring up at the ceiling. While the ceiling was beautifully decorated with a star pattern, and the walls adorned in Siena's characteristic stripe, the most interesting parts of the duomo happened to be on the floor.

This was my favorite section of a floor image, pulled from a grand depiction of an intense battle. These guys are looking away from the fight, and there is something very intense about their eyes.

However it wasn't all floors. They also had a little "Library" which was not only full of illuminated manuscripts of gregorian chant, but had a beautifully decorated ceiling which absolutely made up for the lack of any other decorated ceiling in the building. I like this photo because you can see both bits of amazingness at once.

Siena was a beautiful city, it was lovely to feel included in the family, and I am so happy I went with them. Of course, after Bologna the day before I was very tired upon returning home, but at least I could keep this image in my head, of the wild pig with a sign around his neck saying "Porchetta Oggi" (Roast pork today)! (PS. More pictures in my blog album, link is at the bottom of my main page)

Torta di banane

I did my grocery shopping for the week and got bananas. Surprisingly, though they were green at the stems when I bought them yesterday afternoon, they had already begun to brown by the time I got home last night. So I did what any sane person would do with bananas going brown too fast, I decided to make bread when I got home from school today.

Generally speaking this wouldn't be anything to write home about (literally, in this case), but the only recipe I had was my mothers, and it had words like "cups" and "sticks of butter" and "sour cream", which are all words that don't exist in my neighborhood grocery store. So I had to improvise my recipe, adjusting the amounts as I thought they might work, playing it by ear. Did I mention that I also had no mixer? I am just glad I figured out how to cream butter with a whisk...the secret? Time. Luckily I have too much of that!

Also, I baked them off in a silicone muffin pan, because I wasn't sure my family had anything for baking cakes and such in (they didn't, as far as I could see) and so I needed to borrow something from school which was easy to transport, and this won.

So how did it work? Well, they were too sweet because the yogurt was sweetened (couldn't find 100% plain), and they were more like cake than bread because the batter was too thin, but they still had that moist banana texture, and my host family likes them, apparently. They find the concept a bit strange (bananas aren't for baking here), but it didn't phase them. My host mom asked me for the recipe, at which point I made up some weights in terms of grams and some volumes in terms of milliliters, and I wish her the best of luck in reaching anything approximating my approximation of the real thing!

My New Home

I finally found a place to live, and am really happy with it. Its living with a mother and her three daughters, seems like the mother is separated from their father. The girls range in age from 12-17, and the house is well-lit, large, and very comfortable. My room is about the same size as my dorm room was at school, but without the need for as many things here, it feels like I've got a lot more space! The neighborhood is quiet and residential, but there are enough small shops and little restaurants nearby that I'm quite happy.

I'm glad to be living in an Italian home, as it is really forcing me to use my language skills. They invited me to join them for dinner last night, which ended up being them grilling me with lots of questions about my past (I haven't learned past tense yet, so that was a little tough!) and eating delicious food. Thank goodness they noticed when I was worn out and unable to speak anymore--I had just moved in a few hours previous to it.

While this definitely isn't as difficult as adjusting to China, there is definitely some adjustment to be had. For one, there was a mosquito feasting in my room last night, and it even managed to bite me on the tip of my  nose, which has been driving me a little crazy all day. I haven't figured out how I'm supposed to use the shower. Its set up to just have one of those hand-held nozzles, and while there is  a  place on the wall for it, there isn't a curtain. I'm terrified of shooting water off to every part of the bathroom if I lose focus!

I also haven't yet figured out how to get the internet to work. They have wireless, and while my computer is picking up that the wireless exists, it refuses to connect (or they can't figure out the password), or maybe doesn't recognize that there is signal. I'm going to be posting and using their computer to connect to the internet for now, until I can figure out exactly what is going on. It might take a while for me to discover whether they got the password right or not (we've tried several ones, to no avail), as I haven't gotten the language part down yet.

Tonight at sundown Yom Kippur begins, and I plan on going to temple for a little bit tonight, since I'll be missing most of tomorrow. Of course, in this grand world of irony, I'm missing temple because its the first day of classes, and while I would be happy to miss class in general for something like this, I feel like I really need to attend the first day. So I will be going to culinary school while fasting, and then change into more appropriate clothes for the afternoon services. I'm just hoping that someone will invite me over for break-fast, as I can't imagine walking home (20-25 minutes) on such an empty stomach. There wouldn't be much point anyway, as on Sundays all the shops are closed, meaning that I have no food in the refrigerator. Oh well, we'll see what happens. Anyway, next post will be all about my big day tomorrow! I hope I have enough sharp pencils for class!