I officially feel Italian; I know my favorite gelato flavor!




Host Family in Ascoli Piceno's People's Piazza



Today marks my 21st day in Italy.  Wow.  I am torn between feeling like it feels longer or shorter than that amount of time.  I have never been away from my parents for this long and it defiantely took a toll on me earlier this week.  I miss them, understanding what is going on more than 25% of the time, and being independent.   I felt like living in another country without my parents was going to make me feel more grown up, but it has done the opposite in a lot of ways.  I don't know the norms and schedules of this culture completely yet, so I feel like I can never make an educated decision (even on getting dressed! It takes me way to long to pick out an outfit in the morning because I always debate if it is appropriate or not); I can't communicate very well in Italian, so I rely on the assistance of Antonella or a friend; and I can't drive, which is not a major problem in itself, but there is a level of independence that comes from not asking for a ride everywhere and now that is gone too.  Along with this child-like dependency, though, has come child-like excitability.  I get excited about going to the most basic places, like the supermarket.  More often though I get excited about understanding or saying something correctly in Italian.  Last night, I had the first completely Italian conversation with my host dad and I stayed up for about an hour thinking about it and replaying it in my head.  Of course, the source of most of my current excitement is our quickly approaching trip to Roma:)  Either next or the following weekend, Antonella and I are taking a bus to Roma with a group of French exchange students who are staying in San Benedetto.  I can't wait :)



Gelato



In other news, Antonella and I have started cooking almost every day together.  Sometimes it is just a pasta sauce (which their sauces are amazingly simple), and other times, it is a delicious dessert. My favorite is thus far is Tiramisu. So very good! I sent the recipe to my mother, and my family back home likes it too:) I will put the recipe at the end of this post.  PS my favorite gelato flavor is Cuore Matto (translates to 'heart of the matter').  So yummy! It is a cream based ice cream with fresh strawberries, chocolate sauce, raspberries, and crushed up cookies :))



I find it somewhat strange the novelty item I am here.  Everyone wants to meet me and touch me, just to see if I am real.  I went out Saturday night with a group of new friends, and I met at least 50 people.  Every time I turned around a new person was standing there with their hand outreached.  They are very friendly here and I love meeting everyone.  I am even starting to get used to being kissed all the time...it was strange in the beginning because I didn't know these people, but they were still kissing me! Now though I have accepted that it is just part of their warm, friendly culture.



Last note, I will be attending my very first strike on Monday! There is a new school reformation this year which makes the school days one hour longer, which the Italians do not like.  So there have been petitions floating around and meetings occuring, but Monday we are not going to school.  I feel like I am getting to witness every part of the Italian culture now! My host mom told me that strikes are very common here; usually there is one a month!

Tiramisu

1 package lady fingers (a big package)


1 tablesppon white sugar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

I tablespoon anice liquor (my mom used Sambuca instead...works the same!)

2 tablespoons of strong instant coffee

2 cups of boiling water

1 cup of made strong coffee

100 grams of Mascrapone/1 egg  (we used 3 eggs...I would recommened 4 for a family :)



 Mix together sugar, liquor, coffee, and water into a seperate bowl.  Seperate the eggs (whites/yolks) into two bowls. Add 3 spoonfuls of white sugar to both bowls of eggs. Then beat together into creamy (still in seperate bowls).  Add one half of the mascarpone to each the white and yellow creams.  Beat for 30 seconds.  Dip the lday fingers into the liquid mixture and cover the bottom of a 8X8 (ish) brownie pan with them.  Then layer, starting with the white mixture and alternating at each level.   Add a layer of cocoa powder before the next layer of lady fingers.  Lat layer is of lady fingers facing up and a sprinkle of cocoa powder to coat them.  The longer it stays in the fridge, the stronger (better) it gets.

Okay so the layering is written confusingly, but it goes lady fingers, white, cocoa, lady fingers, yellow, cocoa, etc!



"Working, working, working.  I prefer the noise of the sea."