Mi Dispiace, ma Sono Tornato!

Hello again!!  Sorry about the delay!  I did it to remind you all how much you miss me and so you would realize exactly how much you love my blogs!  (Acutally, I burnt myself out a little bit on writing- when I start writing, I don’t know when to stop, then I resent it for taking up so much of my time.)  I would say that I’m going to prevent this from happening again writing less, but I don’t know what to cut out!! (No, Dan, I am not going to cut out the food part- I will want that record when I’m trying to decide what to cook when I’m not feeling inspired)

So, I left off with Jenn and the Aussies coming to Naples.  I was expecting them to get in that Monday afternoon, but I never got a call.  Later that night, I got an email from Jenn saying that they had made it in, and we made plans to meet up the next morning.

As I waited for them at the metro stop by my place, I did some reading from a Naples guidebook that I got from Michael- Naples is pretty intense- it’s had a very interesting history- you all should look it up.  I also read about foods I needed to try- they said the classics are actually hard to find in common trattorias etc., and your best shot at getting them is ordering ahead of time, or trying to snag a home-cooked meal (check!).  I’m pretty sure I’ve had all of the suggested dishes at the Villalta.  However, I had not tried sfogliatella- a pastry stuffed with cream or ricotta- but I got that later in the day as we were walking around.

When they arrived, I took them to the Villalta to show them where I live and so they could drop their things (like Natalia- they were very impressed with the grandeur and cleanliness of my palace, and they didn’t want to leave the view on the roof).  We headed towards the Castel Dell’Ovo, and stopped at my favorite stand along the beach to buy one of the giant, nutella-stuffed croissants to share.  We went to the top of the castle and relaxed for a little bit, then came back down and got a table at one of the nice, sea-side pizzerias next to the castle.  We ordered lunch, but I had to leave before the food came out because I had to go to class (however, I was there long enough to get the complimentary glass of champagne and the excellent bread with oil).  I probably would have skipped my class, in order to be a good host, had it not been the first day of that class. 

So I left very unwillingly before the plate of various fried sea foods and the 2 types of pizza came out, and realized that I was going to be extremely late for my class, so I power-walked/slightly jogged the 30 minutes back to the metro stop near the Villalta (it was the closest one), which was incredibly frustrating because Napolitanos don’t know how to walk in a straight line, walk very slowly, and stop to look in store windows, clogging the small sidewalks.  I finally got to the metro- very stressed out- and had to wait 10 minutes for the next metro (they normally come every few minutes).  Once off the metro, I continue my tiring pace through the frustrating streets, and get to class only 20 minutes late.  When I got there, I apologized for being late and sat down.  The teacher said that it was quite alright and that we were still waiting on 2 of the 5 students in the class.  We sat there for 10 minutes before the Professor tells us that we aren’t able to have class that day anyway because the course had not been officially approved by the department yet and the meeting to discuss the matter would be held that afternoon… so we were dismissed.  So then I started the frustrated, rushed trip back to the restaurant that I left the girls at, because I was hoping to meet back up with them before they ate all the food.  I finally got a hold of them halfway through my journey and found out that they had already left, so we met up in Piazza Peblecito, and I snagged a giant piece of stuffed pizza (stuffed with parmesan and spinach) from a little café.

I showed them the beautiful shopping center near the piazza, I got my sfogliatella, they got their gelato, and we were pointed in the direction of the Archeological Museum (it has the artifacts recovered from Pompeii- I hear it’s amazing, and it was free that week!).  We power-walked another half hour, and when we arrived, we found out that it was closed because it was a Tuesday!  I was very disappointed and was feeling very pressured because I felt like it was my duty to make sure that they had a good time in Naples and saw everything that they should see, and we only had 3 more hours before their train left!  So I decided to take them up to Vomero to see the view from Castel Sant’Elmo.  However, I made the mistake of trying to follow the signs on the street that pointed us to the castle (do not try to follow signs for attractions, or bathrooms, in Italy…absolutely find a map and navigate your own way with it).  After wasting 30 minutes of our short time hiking up the small mountain to Vomero, a lady finally pointed us in the direction of a metro (which we had been passing up in order to follow the street signs). 

Finally we got up to the top of the mountain to the castle, and we passed the shop that carves and sells the cameos (the one that Natalia and I discovered after meeting the nice owner on the way to the castle) (also, there are a couple of pics on facebook of cameos in my “Dove Vivo” album, now) and we spent quite a while there reveling in how amazing the cameos are.  We finally made it to the castle and got to enjoy the impressive view for a solid 30 seconds before we had to turn and head back to the Villalta so they could get their things.

After some confusion with finding the correct metro, we got back and they made it to the train station in the nick of time, and I was exhausted and famished from my intense workout.  I ate nearly a whole bag of cookies and laid on my cot for a little while, then wasn’t hungry for dinner.  I still ate plenty, but I can’t remember what it was.  I know the first course was pea soup with little noodles in it- but I couldn’t tell you what else..  I don’t recall tertulia that night either… it was too long ago.

Wednesday breakfast-

I’ve finally accepted that I’m addicted to the coffee here.  Every night before I go to sleep I get excited because I know that when I wake up, I get to drink the coffee!  The coffee is really strong and black, but what you do at breakfast is put just a little bit in your cup, then fill the rest of your cup up with milk, and it’s soooooo good.  (sometimes the other girls do this, then put cornflakes in it…I’m not sure I’ll try that one, I’m quite content with it how it is)

Wednesday Lunch-

I stopped at my favorite sea-side stand on my way back from my Italian class and I got a panino, which had a lot of potential…but I think it was several days past fresh.  It was a giant slab of bread with hardboiled eggs and hunks of ham baked into it.  This is one that I’m going to try to make when I get back to a kitchen that I know how to manage because I want to see what it tastes like when it’s not stale.

Wednesday snack-

I guess this is still a part of my lunch, since I ate it before eating my big, fat, stale panino:  homemade coconut cookies, dusted in powdered sugar, juice, sparkling water, and hunks of dark chocolate

Then I wasted a lot of time researching places to stay and what to do in Sicily (and cancelled my car rental since Dan and I are not of age).  Later at dinner, as they were setting up the TV to watch the movie typical of Wednesday nights, the news was on and was showing some pretty unimpressive shots of Sicily right now, with all the Libyans piling in.  I wonder if it’ll be like that when we go next month.

Wednesday Dinner-

Croissants with either ham and eggplant, or cheese and ham, or cheese and other cured meats, some pasta that seemed like the Italian version of mac n cheese (penne with some oil and lots of parmesan, and it was slightly orange, so there had to have been some sort of tomato additive, but it was apparent in appearance or taste), salad with olive oil, chips, some hunks of beef that were really good.

Dessert: pineapple, kiwi, peaches, blood oranges, and mandarinos. 

The movie was Disturbia.  When you don’t understad the language that the movie is in, you are more sensitive to the mood-setting, and I was getting quite nervous!  But because I know how it turns out, I was able to keep my calm, and it was funny looking around the room seeing how nervous everyone else was.

Thursday Lunch-

1^st- small penne, oil, parmesan. Delicious.

Main- Meatloaf and some more honey-glazed carrots, which were incredibly orange.

Dessert- A blood orange

Post-lunch tertulia: Lots of interesting topics were brought up- the Italian Prime Minister has mad a law to keep him out of (a pm can do this?, I am thankful for the American system.  We could have Gheddafi as a leader!  Or Berlusconi for the matter).  Also, we discussed Sicily and the refugees that continue to pile in. Also, the night before, one of the heads of a mafia family had been killed- he was “dissolved with acid”. Intense. I’m excited for our trip there! (I probably should’ve gotten a couple of tickets to Venice, instead.)

Thursday Dinner-

1^st- Some sort of pasta, I can’t remember.

Main- huge, round slices of what was once a giant eggplant, with marinara and slices of mozzarella melted on top- sooooo good. Also, a plate of what seemed to be the Italian version of tater tots (not near as good as ours- more dull tasting, and filled with mashed potatoes instead of potato (chunks?)) Also, some vegetable- I have no idea what it was- when I asked, the only answer I got was “vegetable.”  It had a giant stalk and what used to be a leafy top, but was cooked and was mushy, and for some reason was really good.  I’m going to have to figure out how to cook vegetables before I leave here (especially eggplant! When I tried to cook it, it was a disaster, and theirs is so good!)

Dessert- a mandarino

For tertulia, we went out to get gelato!!!! The gelateria was right next to my church!  It was incredible.  For 2 euro, I got 3 flavors piled onto a cone- café, bueno bar, nutella mousse.

Later that night I got to skype with Dan and his roommate.  It was nice, like I was in Rolla, just hanging out.

The next morning I was up before my roommates had a chance to wake me up with their loud Italian music! (well, actually most of their music is American, but it’s loud all the same), and was off to campus for the second real day of my Advanced Metallic Structures class.  I actually loved it- I can’t remember the last time I loved a class (other than the psychology or history classes that I’ve taken… did I pick the wrong major?).  The previous day (our first class) we talked about the basics of steel building design, and Friday we moved onto limitations, and extraordinary examples. I started getting really into it when he was discussing structures in Paris since I had just been there.  And since there were only 3 of us in class that day (there are 2 more- Turkish students- but they weren’t there, and the other two are Italian grad students, but I don’t think they understand what he is saying most of the time (I know what it’s like, don’t blame them one bit), so the Professor normally just ends up talking straight to me, since I’m the one that understands what he’s saying), it ended up being pretty much a conversation between the professor and I- I told him about my visit to Paris, the buildings I saw there, and I was able to chip in on things I knew from what I’ve studied in the past. 

I was really glad that I had gone to Paris- it made this lecture so much more interesting!  However, I was kicking myself for all of the buildings that he was discussing that I didn’t see while I was there…  I can’t believe I didn’t go see Centre di Pompidou! Also that I didn’t have time to duck into Musee d’Orsay for at least just a few minutes on free day.  He went on to discuss buildings in London (check!), Madrid (my next stop!), Chicago (check!), Hong Kong (perhaps some day?), Pittsburg, etc.  I enjoyed it.  It was interesting hearing him describe buildings (being a steel structures expert) because finally, someone wasn’t just bashing on all the modern buildings (I prefer the classic building types myself (how can you not love all these huge, impressive, gorgeous, detailed buildings that are more like art work that structures that are scattered everywhere over here?), but there’s nothing you can do- everything in the building industry is so different now, the classic style cannot even be replicated, because as Professor Mazzolini said- it would be a falsity, a fake, almost an insult to the image that you were trying to mimic- so you might as well accept that, and embrace the new, impressive structures that can be possible with the new technology in building.) 

Also, every now and then he would throw in the comment- “And I designed this one,” which was pretty crazy.  I had heard that he was a pretty big deal, but I was very impressed actually seeing it!  My favorite was his story about the commissioning of covers for all of the soccer stadiums in Italy- his design for the stadium in Rome was chosen (it was very fancy), and it was even the image printed onto the stamps that were printed in honor of the new stadium designs!  But then “the greens” (I think it’s like the PETA of the construction world- the party who has assigned themselves the responsibility to make sure that everything is eco-friendly and blends into the environment, and has the power to stop production in its path) decided that his design was “uneconomical” (even though it was the cheapest bid) because it was too modern and flashy, and didn’t blend in with the surrounding buildings.  So the next bid was chosen and approved. (But his still made it onto the stamps at least!)  Anyway, I hope every lesson is as interesting as this one was- the class does have the potential to be very boring.

As for the rest of Friday, I don’t remember much other than being homesick for English.  I went to class that morning, then met with Professor Serino about my research and was given typical base-isolation homework problems to get a better understanding of the subject matter so that I will be able to assist the grad students if they ever ask, returned to the Villalta for lunch, went to tertulia and didn’t understand what they discussed, and took a nap.  When I woke up from my nap, I really wanted to watch a movie in English, so I went out to the great bookstore down the street and bought 3! (Across the Universe, An English Wedding, and Sabrina- with Harrison, not Audrey.)

I made it back in time for dinner, and after dinner, for tertulia, we all watched Across the Universe in English!  It was great.

On Saturday, I went to Pompeii!  I was invited by a couple of people from my Italian course to go to the Amalfi Coast that day to do the “walk of the gods,” but we decided to go a different day since it was supposed to be raining and cold in Amalfi.  That morning, however, I got an invite from them to go to Pompeii instead, which ended up being perfect because it was free that day because of “Setimana Cultura,” whereas it’s normally 11 euro from non-EU students such as myself.

We had made plans to meet up at the central train station, and after showing up a little bit late, then looking for them for about 15 minutes, I figured I had missed them, but decided to just go on ahead with out them.  If I could navigate Rome on my own, I could certainly navigate Pompeii on my own!  And now that I was out, I definitely wasn’t going back without seeing some ruins.  So I found my train, paid my 4.5 euro for the total trip, and was on my way when I got a call from a number I didn’t know.  It was the Belgians! (2 from my Italian course, one was a friend visiting for the weekend)  They were on the train right behind me, and we met up in Pompeii and had an excellent time.  I can’t really describe Pompeii… you just have to look at my pictures on facebook.

While I was waiting for the rest to arrive, I went ahead into the park and lurked behind one of the English-speaking tour groups for a while, and it was incredibly interesting.  Parents, when we go, I suggest we buy one of those people J

Pompeii was way bigger than I was expecting, but we still managed to see just about all of it in a little over 3 hours.  So after a quick stop for gelato, we decided to head back in the direction of Naples and make a quick stop at Herculaneum (the richer town that was destroyed by the same eruption as Pompeii).  Again, it was free because of Cultural week, and I save another 11 euro!  We only stayed in Herculaneum about an hour, though, because it was much, much smaller, and after you look at ruins for so many hours, they all start to look the same. 

I was very tired when I got back, and after a dinner of various, homemade pizzas and a short skype session with Dan, I went to sleep and slept very hard.

The next morning I went back to the beautiful Church of Christ.  I showed up just late enough that I wasn’t assigned a part to read in “The Passion” (they began reading at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem and ended with Pontius Pilate washing his hands of Jesus’ fate), which was fine because they had to stand at the front of the church for about 30 minutes, which I would have found uncomfortable.  The sanctuary was decorated with tons of the biggest palm branches I have ever seen.  After church, I spent quite a while talking to some women who are from Leeds, and then with a family that I met last week.  The mother of this family walked up to me and out of the blue asked me if I ride horses.  I told her that I like to… and she told me that she has 6 horses and is having a hard time keeping them exercised!  She used to have a British trainer, but she left last year, and since she left, Karen decided to keep the horses around because she didn’t want to part with them yet, and it has been a chore.  She likes to make sure they are ridden every day, and I said I would love to help her out with that!  I just need to find size 42 boots… 

Sunday lunch- 1^st: great mini penne with some alfredo, pinkish sauce, and shrimp.  Main: spears of meat- chicken, sausage, etc., and a giant bowl of diced eggplant, tomatoes, etc.  Dessert- little bowls of pudding with slices of blood oranges and kiwi in them

After lunch, I wasted time uploading my picture from Pompeii onto facebook, etc., then went on a pasajar to Castel dell’Ovo with some of the girls.  It was closed, so we stopped at “American Bar” that is next to it.  I got café nocciolo (which turned espresso with thick, chocolate, nutty goo at the bottom, and was delicious) and torta caprese (I giant piece of chocolate cake, slightly warm and gooey, with little bits of nuts in it, amaretto flavoring, and powered sugar on top)

When I got back I had a really cool discussion with a couple of the other girls about Protestantism (they have no idea what it is to be a Christian w/o being Catholic- they were very surprised to find out that I celebrate Easter, that I believe in the holy trinity, that I take communion, that we don’t have to do confession before taking communion, that I know who Peter is (as in Simon Peter..San Peitro to them), that we don’t have a pope or saints, etc., etc.)

After that, I met up with my new, Belgian friends at Piazza Amedeo because I invited them to dinner at my place.  It was a good time- I like having guests.  Again, they loved the roof, were surprised at the cleanliness, and were very exuberant about the fancy dinner (even though it was Sunday, which is paper plates night because the kitchen staff has the night off).  We went back up to the roof one more time before tertulia because they didn’t want to leave it.  Tertulia was fun and lasted way longer than normal- the Belgians were quizzed on Belgium and Naples and many other things.

This morning I went to my foundations class and now I’m off to my Italian class (I don’t want to go………).  I will hopefully post again sooner than I did last time!

Okaaaay, bye!!