Update!
A quick update before we head out for the day!
-hung out with fellow CMU and aphio alum Karolina and her husband Tom last night... walked around, enjoyed gelato, and compared notes on Rome and Florence! whoo!
-Italian television is SO WEIRD. I know I mentioned this before, but seriously, it keeps out-doing itself. I cannot stress how surreal an experience it can be at times. Obscure old movies, bizarre game shows, and lots (and lots) of sexy barely clothed ladies.
-Damon and I have been trying to cook Italian/ Tuscan cuisine from home.. I've borrowed a few cookbooks from SACI's library, and so far we've cooked:
*sausage and sauce over fried polenta
*chicken cacciatore
*mushroom risotto with a side of pork
*fagiole beans with garlic and olive oil
*gnocchi with pesto
Note, we're trying to avoid wheat in order to placate my stupid migraines. I did cheat the other day, and had some Napoli style pizza (which to my unfortunate surprise, means anchovies and HUGE capers.. bleh) and some bread, and had a migraine yesterday. Other than the gelato cone, I can't say it was worth it to eat the wheat stuff. Sigh.
*Oh my god, the gelato. We've found our favorite shop, which has a really good and exotic selection of flavors (persian! (cardamom and pistachio), Ambrosia! (cinnamon, yogurt and honey), etc) in addition to being affordable and REALLY REALLY good... not a day goes by where we don't sample some different flavor of gelato...
*classes are doing well... I had a bit of a meltdown on Wednesday (I call them "crisis of confidence" moments), where I spent the whole day freaking out about teaching and my art and self-doubting, but I'm doing better now. I think. Tuesday's class was a bit rocky, just being the first day, and having technical difficulties with the wacom drivers and computers, but Thursday was a lot better, starting to go over the program and demo-ing things in Flash. I like the group of students I have- they seem really smart and on the ball...
*I love the art stores here. They're all old-world and full of hardwood drawers full of art supplies, glass cabinets with mysterious art supplies, and shelves and shelves of pure powdered pigment in jars. One art store had more drawing supplies, the other had more painting supplies, but just exploring them is a joy. I got some gouache at one, and some conte crayons and colored paper at the other... having trouble learning the watercolors/ gouache, though... it's been soo frustrating so far, just trying to figure out a new medium
*the people watching here in Florence is so hilarious. It's a big college town, in addition to all the tourists, so there are tons of (mostly American) college kids wandering around, drinking and hooching it up. We saw these two american dudes walking around at midnight, one with a cowboy hat and sunglasses and both carrying boxed wine that they were swigging out of. CLASSY. The steps of the Duomo is totally the young people's hangout, where you see guys and girls flirting and talking the night away- so much fun to watch!
*ok, enough chattering for now... going to get started with my day!
-hung out with fellow CMU and aphio alum Karolina and her husband Tom last night... walked around, enjoyed gelato, and compared notes on Rome and Florence! whoo!
-Italian television is SO WEIRD. I know I mentioned this before, but seriously, it keeps out-doing itself. I cannot stress how surreal an experience it can be at times. Obscure old movies, bizarre game shows, and lots (and lots) of sexy barely clothed ladies.
-Damon and I have been trying to cook Italian/ Tuscan cuisine from home.. I've borrowed a few cookbooks from SACI's library, and so far we've cooked:
*sausage and sauce over fried polenta
*chicken cacciatore
*mushroom risotto with a side of pork
*fagiole beans with garlic and olive oil
*gnocchi with pesto
Note, we're trying to avoid wheat in order to placate my stupid migraines. I did cheat the other day, and had some Napoli style pizza (which to my unfortunate surprise, means anchovies and HUGE capers.. bleh) and some bread, and had a migraine yesterday. Other than the gelato cone, I can't say it was worth it to eat the wheat stuff. Sigh.
*Oh my god, the gelato. We've found our favorite shop, which has a really good and exotic selection of flavors (persian! (cardamom and pistachio), Ambrosia! (cinnamon, yogurt and honey), etc) in addition to being affordable and REALLY REALLY good... not a day goes by where we don't sample some different flavor of gelato...
*classes are doing well... I had a bit of a meltdown on Wednesday (I call them "crisis of confidence" moments), where I spent the whole day freaking out about teaching and my art and self-doubting, but I'm doing better now. I think. Tuesday's class was a bit rocky, just being the first day, and having technical difficulties with the wacom drivers and computers, but Thursday was a lot better, starting to go over the program and demo-ing things in Flash. I like the group of students I have- they seem really smart and on the ball...
*I love the art stores here. They're all old-world and full of hardwood drawers full of art supplies, glass cabinets with mysterious art supplies, and shelves and shelves of pure powdered pigment in jars. One art store had more drawing supplies, the other had more painting supplies, but just exploring them is a joy. I got some gouache at one, and some conte crayons and colored paper at the other... having trouble learning the watercolors/ gouache, though... it's been soo frustrating so far, just trying to figure out a new medium
*the people watching here in Florence is so hilarious. It's a big college town, in addition to all the tourists, so there are tons of (mostly American) college kids wandering around, drinking and hooching it up. We saw these two american dudes walking around at midnight, one with a cowboy hat and sunglasses and both carrying boxed wine that they were swigging out of. CLASSY. The steps of the Duomo is totally the young people's hangout, where you see guys and girls flirting and talking the night away- so much fun to watch!
*ok, enough chattering for now... going to get started with my day!