Lovely Lazio!

This is me in front of the Palazzo Chigi, where we have classes!

Bongiorno, tutti!

I haven't been able to update in a couple of days because we're always really busy and the internet is spotty at the hotel. Finally, I found an afternoon where I could spend some time updating pictures and the blog! It's a really long post because so much has been going on! I’ve been eating a lot of meat. I had prosciutto so many times in the first few days. I also love the porchetta, which is pork with spices. Last night we ate Chinese food! It was way better than the Chinese food at home. It was cheaper than most of the other meals we’ve had. I got chicken with mushrooms and bamboo! That and bottled water was €4,80. Did you know that they switch the comma and period when talking about numbers and money? It can get sort of confusing.
My teachers are really cool. They’ve all done so much in their lives. Our Italian teacher and History teacher are married. Their names are Mario and Mary Lou Antonini. Mary Lou is from South Africa. She sounds like she has an English accent. It’s fun to hear her talk. Mario is old and kind of hard of hearing, but he knows so much about the history of Italy, Ariccia, and Rome. He just sits and talks, and he always has a problem with his Powerpoint. Their son is Maurizio. He is sort of a director. I’m not totally sure what his job is, but he’s around a lot and is very helpful and nice. Jessica is our liaison. I think she’s from New York originally, but she is amazing at Italian. She helps us figure out how to get around and get what we need. Cynzia (pronounced Cheen-tsee-ah) helps Jessica. She is gorgeous and so sweet. We are always asking the two of them how to say something in Italian.

Yesterday we took a tour around our area. First we went to Frascati, which is a beautiful town with an interesting mascot. They have lots of pictures and figures of a woman with three breasts. Apparently, two breasts are for milk and one is for wine! Then we went to Nemi, a small town with a beautiful lake where the Emperor Caligula used to stage mock sea battles. They are famous around Italy for their tiny strawberries called Fragolini, which are delicious! We ate lunch there, and I had lake trout that was served whole! It was delicious. Our final stop for the day was Castel Gandolfo, the place where the Pope has his summer residence. Since it’s not summer, he wasn’t there, but it was interesting anyway!

La mia pesce buona!

We had an interesting experience today. On Thursday afternoons most shops and stores in the small towns close for the afternoon. A small group of us needed stamps, so we went looking for a Tabacchi, which is a small convenience store. We passed a lot of closed shops but we couldn't find one that was open. Finally we spotted a tabacchi with a ton of people standing in front of it, so we decided to check it out and see if it was open. I asked a guy standing there if it was closed and he said no, so we went inside. All of a sudden there was a man yelling at us in Italian and pushing us out the door. We quickly exited, and the man started barking at us! The people around the store were laughing as we came out. We were kind of discouraged about it until we realized how funny it was!
Tomorrow we’re going to ROMA! I’m very excited to see all the beautiful and interesting things there. I’ll update about that soon. Ciao!