Mi ufficio

I tried to upload some videos yesterday, but they refused to cooperate! For now, you'll just have to deal with pictures. Here are some of my office:

Pretty sparse right now. I am heading to IKEA this week to remedy this...watch out!

Notice my "air conditioner" on the table to the left....God bless the inventor of the fan!! Below are some shots of the view from my office window. Once the weather changes I plan on leaving my window open a lot! I love natural light and hearing all of the activity outside. Of course, I will only be able to do this once opening the window doesn't feel like opening the oven door!

Overall, it's a great work space. I am blessed! While the space is smaller than my office at Canyon, let's look at the positives: 1) it's not at Canyon (ha!), 2) the window actually opens, 3) I'm in Rome!, and 4) it's not at Canyon. Hahahaha! Really, I don't care about the size of my office. I don't plan on spending too much time in here because I expect I will be out and about living life with students...and that's the best part of my job.

Pictures

I promise I will take some pictures/video of my surroundings and post them soon!

Mama mia!

I encountered another cultural lesson at the grocery store today and it was a doozie.

I decided that I needed to get off campus for a bit, but didn't want to go too far because it was too hot and I didn't feel like spending much money. I knew that I was about out of fruit and the bread was getting a little old. So, I made my way to one of our local grocery stores.

The store was packed compared to when I'd been there before. It was hard to navigate some aisles because of all of the people. But, I managed to get everything that I needed, and perhaps a couple of items that I didn't. I even weighed my fruit this time! :) I stood in line and was even able to understand a woman when she asked me if she could go in front of me because all she had was latte (milk). I should clarify. I didn't understand her words, with the exception of a couple, but more her gestures. She went in front of me and I unloaded my cart. As the man behind the counter was checking my items and I was placing them in a bag, there was a large commotion at the front entrance. I could hear a woman shouting with such fury that I thought something was terribly wrong. I glanced over, really the entire store had stopped to watch her, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs at one of the clerks. I couldn't believe how loud she was yelling. She proceeded to push her way past him and marched with all the huffiness of a temper tantrum towards the toiletry aisle. She came screaming back to the check out area of the store and slammed down her lotion/shampoo or whatever it was. All I know is it went flying everywhere because she slammed it down so hard that the top broke off. She continued to scream her head off in Italian while the store looked on. I wish I were exaggerating, but really...it was like watching a cartoon. I half expected steam to pour from her ears.

I am sure that my face had turned bright red because I have never witnessed anything like it in my life...outside of a small child throwing a hissy fit. I can't believe they just let her do that. In the States, she would have been hauled out so fast. It shook me a little.

My cashier just looked at me and smiled, muttered something in Italian, and handed me my receipt. Just another day and another high-spirited Italian.

Home alone

I am on my own for the week. Lynda left yesterday morning for a week in Wales. So, it's just me and a couple million other people here in Rome!

Last night, I cooked for myself and made a homemade marinara sauce. It was delicious and since I was the only one here to enjoy it...no one can say otherwise! I did, however, manage to burn my finger pretty badly because I seemed to have forgotten that when pan handles sit above an open flame they become almost like branding irons. That was fun.

I hung out here most of the day because the Sisters made an IKEA run yesterday to get the kitchen items we were still missing and brought back lots of goodies that needed to be washed and put away. Then, we did the inventory of the kitchen so I was finally able to put all of our kitchenwares away. Woo hoo! (Admit it, you're jealous...)

Thankfully, I did not spend the evening alone. A couple that I met in October, they're friends of my boss, invited me to dinner at their place. It would be my first outing by myself. Solo. Alone. Just me and the Roman bus system. The only thing standing in my way was where to get a bus ticket. Unlike at home, you can't really buy your bus tickets on the bus. Some of the newer buses have ticket machines, but not all of them. We used to be able to buy tickets at the corner store, but either they don't sell them anymore or they won't sell them to us....not quite sure which it is yet. So, I decided that what I would do is get on a bus that I knew had a ticket machine, buy a ticket, ride it to the next stop, get off, cross the street, get back on a bus, and then get off at the stop closest to where I needed to get the 310 bus to my friend's house. Sounds easy? Right.

Well, I got on the 60 and bought a ticket....got off at the next stop (which turned out to be a bit further than I'd anticipated) and once the bus pulled away and I'd crossed the street I realized...there wasn't a bus stop going in my direction. What to do? I began to walk. I hadn't anticipated having to walk very far and I was worried that I hadn't allowed myself enough time. (I know I could have done this at any time during the day, but where would the fun be in that? Nope...I waited until an hour before I had to leave to make it to my friend's house for dinner on time.) Anyways...I walked and sweated, walked and sweated, walked and...you guessed it, sweated. I ended up walking quite a ways when I realized that I'd forgotten the directions to where I was going in my room. Thank the Lord I was nearly in front of campus. I ran into the villa, up the three flights of stairs, grabbed the directions and a glass of water, and nearly passed out from heat exhaustion and over-sweating. I managed to drag myself back outside and got onto the 310.

I am proud to announce that I was able to navigate the way to my friend's home and enjoyed a lovely evening. The couple works for Campus Crusade for Christ and one of their staff members, Amy, joined us for dinner. Afterwards, she and I rode the bus back together until I had to get off. We swapped email addresses and it looks like I will have someone to do something with. Yay!!!

All in all, my first 2 days by myself have been pretty good....ones filled with adventure and solitude. I don't mind being on my own...then again, coming back to the floor at night alone in a big, dark, quiet villa is a bit creepy. I am sure I will appreciate Lynda a lot more when she gets back!

What to do, what to do...

When I was in Italy in high school oh so many years ago it was a banner day when I got to call home and talk to the family for a meager 5 minutes. The cost of phone calls was enormous and it was before the Internet. I know...it was a lifetime ago. Now, thanks to modern innovations, I am able to call home through the internet, see loved ones through webcams, and keep up with everyone via email, Facebook, MySpace and more. I also knew that I could keep up with my "shows" (The Office, Lie to Me, etc) thanks to sites such as Hulu.

Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that you cannot watch American TV over the internet if you're outside of the States. GASP! What's a girl to do? Now I know that in the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal. I mean after all, I am living in Rome and how often am I going to have time to watch TV? Aren't there more exciting things to do??

Yes....but. What about those down times when I just want to kick back and watch Dwight and Jim go at it? Or what about when I want to see....I don't know...something culturally relevant back home? I don't think that this is too much to ask. So, I've done some research and have found a British website that allows you to access American TV online. From what I have read they do this through US based servers. Here's the catch. You have to subscribe to this service. Meaning: it costs $. Actually, it costs £. When I ran the conversion it works out to be about $8/month. There are no contracts and you can cancel at any time. The question is this: do I or don't I?

Hung out to dry

I washed my first load of laundry yesterday. This was a task that I wasn't dreading per se, but let's just say that I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it.

As I lowered my towel into the washing machine I took a good, long whiff. It still smelled like the dryer sheet from when I washed it before I left. Gotta love Downy. I held it for a moment between my hands reveling in its softness because I knew that when it was dry again later...it wouldn't be that soft. Instead, I knew it would feel more like sandpaper than a fluffy ball of cotton.

We don't have dryer here at the convent. In fact, most Europeans don't own dryers. I think that this is in part because of space limitations, but also because electricity is so expensive over here. Instead, Mother Nature is their dryer. That's right. I will now be hanging my clothes and linens on a clothesline to dry.

I've never used a clothesline to dry clothes and such before. It was a learning experience. I learned, for instance, that you have to fold the clothes over the line just a little and then put the clothespin on them so that when the wind picks up it doesn't carry your clothing down the street. (Thankfully, Lynda taught me this before I was forced to look for a shirt only to discover it in our neighbor's yard) I learned that it's best to hang your clothes out earlier than later because they'll dry faster. And I learned that they still smell good after they've dried outside even though they weren't tossed to and fro with a dryer sheet.

Overall, it was a good experience. Yes, my towel looks a little different than it did when I would pull it from the dryer, but it's not as scratchy or stiff as I thought it would be and my skin is very appreciative. I guess this just goes hand in hand with the reality that life over here is a little simpler and a little more basic. And you know what? That's not necessarily a bad thing....

Kiss the cook

Made dinner for Lynda and myself tonight. So yummy and what's even better...so easy! The recipe is courtesy of my Aunt Barb. She was an amazing cook and wish I could call her to share my experience with her, but she went to be with Jesus in March. So I'll share this moment with you as a tribute to her. Here are some pictures to make your mouths' water.

Before: let the ingredients (tomato, garlic, basil, olive oil, and brie) marinate for at least 2 hours.

After: toss with pasta and manga!