May 27, 2011- "Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” - Andre Gide

Sorry about the delay....there were internet problems but they are fixed now.
This morning we all got up at 8 so we could get to the grocery store when it opened at 9. Apparently that is what every little old Italian lady did as well. We thought we would be the first ones there but were very wrong. We picked up eggs, milk, juice, tomatoes, mozzarella, spinach, bananas, sauce and sponges. To save space and time, I went next door to the bakery while they were checking out. After looking for a bread that I could pronounce, I asked the young (and handsome) man for a loaf. He picked it up and asked me something in Italian. I felt my face go blank as I tried to figure out what he said. He smiles, said it again and made a cutting motion with his hand. “Oh! No, the whole thing please,” I said. He chuckled at my American stupidity and rang me up.
We headed back to the apartment and I had fresh bread and milk for breakfast. The bread- way better than America. The milk- not so much. But I don’t know what kind I got because I cant read the label…I then packed my bag and went out into my beautiful street to head to school. First, I updated my blog and did some homework. Class went from 11:15 to 2:45. We talked about Mussolini and fascism. We broke off into groups and had to write a small speech as if we were Mussolini and had his beliefs and then present them to the class. We watched an Italian movie with subtitles about Mussalini and his mistress. Let’s just say….it isn’t for children.
After class I met Ashley outside for lunch. We went to the place right next to the school. Everyone at the school loves it so we went to see what all the fuss was about. It is a little market like place with lots of fresh food. We decided to order chicken on Panini bread. And then we found the reason for everyone’s love of the place…the man working there. He was a little Italian man probably in his 70’s with a very kind and happy face (he kind of reminded me of Robin Williams). It is apparent that he was attractive in his youth. He didn’t know English but that didn’t stop his excitement as he ran around preparing our sandwiches and speaking to us in Italian. We also found out how the store got the nickname “caiociaos.” Every time someone leaves the store he smiles and very enthusiastically says “Ciao! Ciao!” Ashley and I ate outside and when we were done we decided to go shopping.
We went and looked in all the stores we have been passing for a week. Walking down the street we happened upon a music festival of local student musicians. The jazz group that was playing was very good.
I am in love with Italian style. It is so beautiful yet so simple. They are able to dress up a tee-shirt and shorts with chunky jewelry, a scarf and high heels. They look like they could walk down the runway. Italians are also fearless when it comes to style. Anything goes. And I love that.
I have noticed that I am influenced by Italian style anf have been for a while. So naturally, I wanted to buy everything in sight. We went through many clothing, jewelry, shoe and trinket shops. We came across a shop called “Bubble” which Ashley and I fell in love with. The place is painted bright pink and has very vintage to modern clothing. I want to buy the entirestore. Best part? Everything is reasonably priced. Scarves are 5 euro and earrings are 3. There it was….a dress

that I loved…last one….in my size…..for 8 euro. After leaving the store and coming back again, I ended up buying it and plan on wearing it wine tasting.
We walked around some more and found a shop with nice clothing in the windows, but when we walked in we knew we were in over our heads. You know that feeling when you know you are underdressed and unwanted? Yeah….we took 5 steps in and all the tall gorgeous Italian models looked at us. Ashley turned to me and in a hushed tone says, “It’s too nice, run away.”
When Jill got home that night we made spinach salad with fresh tomato and mozerella with bread on the side. No food was thrown on the floor while making this meal. After dinner we went out for gelato (again). Came back, cleaned, did laundry, ran out to get wine because we were craving it and wrote in our journals. What a great and busy day. Ciao! Ciao!