Friday night I hung out with my Italian friends. I ended up spending the night on the couch of an American friend, Mark, a fellow student. I woke up relatively early (considering the circumstances) and headed back to my apartment so that I can catch up on laundry. I had loads. Literally. I had plans in the afternoon to meet with a fellow student at the center, a Slovak girl, Michaela, who is in my economics class -- I told her that one of my Italian friends offered to help us look for bikes, Maurizio. I arrived a little later than planned (and likewise, she was a bit early) and she had already checked out a few of the shops that were were to go to. Turns out they were all closed and the happened to be the same shops that Maurizio was going to show us. SO the plan to actually be productive and buy a bike was thrown out the window.
It was pretty hot and humid outside; on par with Texas. Michaela had other plans and Maurizio and I were tired of the heat and he wanted to do an exchange of languages, so we headed over to his place to practice Italian and English.
After a few hours, we got a hold of Mark. Maurizio then showed us how to make a traditional Italian dish, Bucatini all'Amatriciana. He wanted to show us something that would be really easily to replicate in the States -- it uses very simple ingredients and spices, so I don't think it will be difficult. In any case, despite its simplicity, it was great -- incredibly tasty and full of flavor. I regret writing this during my lunch break because now I can't stop salivating.mmm...
Afterwards, Mark was tired and wanted to catch a game, so we parted ways and Maurizio and I went to meet some of his friends. I was introduced to Christina, who is apparently famous, (or perhaps infamous) for being Italy's first SuicideGirl, and has a big following both here and abroad for her various exploits in media -- she is an establish musician and writer. She also spent some time in Austin a while ago, so it was interesting to share stories and had something to relate to. We spent some time at a bar and, afterward, a park, just talking about whatever it was on our minds.
Once everyone was tired, I headed back to my apartment. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I live outside the city center, so it's typically a long walk to my apartment. I walked some 45 minutes before I got home. It was late, but for the most part, the city is relatively safe. It wasn't like Moscow where I had to watch the corners.
On Sunday I studied for a bit, but I simply wasn't in the mood. Fortunately Maurizio distracted me with a phone call to see if i was interested in having some Naples-style pizza, which differs from the Roma style pizza that is prevalent throughout most of Northern (and perhaps all of) Italy. Roma-style pizza, from what I can tell, is typically flat, thin, and with lots of sauce, cheese, and topics. Napolese pizza is more simple -- the center is thin, but the crust is thick and puffy. There is less sauce and cheese, but plenty of oil. I don't think most Americans would like it as much (somewhat ironically, considering how much grease we eat) but myself, I was in heaven. I think I might actually prefer it. It sort of reminded me of the pizza they serve George's, the Greek restaurant in Corpus Christi.
After that, we went to his place to watch a movie. He is obsessed with horror films -- especially apocalyptic zombie type films. In fact, that's part of the reason why he started learning English and has been a major source of his learning. We watched Doomsday -- which was pretty entertaining, it was a tribute to many of the post-apocalyptic films of the early 80s. There was a little more action than necessary, but for the most part I was entertained. I left after that and went home and pretty much studied all evening long with a short distraction when my friend Magsud, the Azerbaijani student who showed me this apartment showed up and wanted to share some of his Russian candy. Despite all of these distractions, I've been studying hard and it is nice to have so many nice friends.
Today I had an Italian class and I'm currently waiting for my economics class. I'm not really looking forward to it -- I already know the lecture is about my least favorite topic in micro -- production factors...I hate dealing with production fuctions and isoquants....but I will get through it. I'm sure I'll be up late tonight studying. Fun fun fun.
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