Al Mangiar Bene and Pictures From Last Weekend

Me and Sakeenah in front of the building for Vittor Emmanuale II, favorite building in Rome

Just sitting in the Trevi Fountain.

Trevi Fountain.

The Girls in Rome.

View of Gubbio From Halfway Up The Mountain

The Snowy Appenines I Saw While Hiking

(Sorry, I can't flip pictures on here)

Me climbing "Mt.Gubbio"

The Cages we Rode on to Get Halfway Up

So on Monday evening, I went with about 8 people from my food and culture class to a little restaurant called Al Mangiar' Bene that is a little ways down the main street. While the restraunt, like most places, requires a small hike down an alley it is definitely worth the trip. If any one knows how I am when it comes to food I generally have two extremes: I try to eathealthy as much as possibly and I have certian foods that are terrible for me that are weaknesses. This place was a dream place for me because it has an ideal that you cannot find at most places to eat in the US. They have a "rule" that everything they serve in the entire resteraunt does not come from more than 30 kilometers away. So everything is super fresh and organic basically. I had a wonderful meal of fusili pasta with a truffle sauce over the top. It was absolutely wonderful. I do with that I could've gotten some protein though, but all the meat they had there was meat that I don't eat. Sorry to be picky in Italy, but I stopped eating beef when I was 11, I am not starting again now.

It is February already and I am shocked about how fast time has gone by already. I have been here for almost a month and am still trying to figure out how I got here still... But plans are being made and I have already booked a weekend to go visit my friend Patrick who is studying in Seville.

So as part of my random thoughts of the day I am composing some lists that are sure to continue to grow as my time here goes on:

Things I Just Don't Understand About Italy:

1. No Dryers. Once again, I'm all about good for the environment, but I really like the feeling of soft clothes out of the dryer. I took a cami off of the drying rack and the cami retained the shape it had dried in. Not a pleasant idea always, but its something that you can adjust to.

2. One of the popular songs here currently is a song called "Barbra Streisand" by Duck Sauce. Seriously, watch it on youtube. It is a solid 5 minutes of "ooh ooh oooh" followed by man in a deep voice saying "Barbra Streisand." If someone figures out the appeal behing this, please let me know.

3. Graph paper. Italians love graph paper. I think the only reason the store even carries normally lined notebooks is because of the American students here. I acutally got a graphing notebook in an attempt to be Italian-like and it sucks. There is too much going on on graph paper.

4. The way doors open. You don't think about this alot in America, but mostly I would say, that when you enter a building in America that you pull a door open. Here, about 80% of public buildings the door pushes open which is something you don't think about until you look like an idiot in front of a group of Italians trying to pull a door that you should be pushing.

Needless to say, I still love this place and the new things I encounter everyday. I think I officially have forgotten how to drive and the idea of my meal plan in the fall is a scary thought. Can PC just write me a check every semester? I will say today though, we broke down and went and got "American" food. My roommates got cheeseburgers, Melissa got a hotdog, and I got the Italian version of a Mozzerella stick. While I don't really like fried food a lot at home, we somehow stumbled upon this sports bar the other day and went back for a visit tonight. It was a nice taste of home to go somewhere and see American type things on the menu and see a big screen with some sort of sports game going on. It felt a little like home. No worries, though, you will not catch this American at a McDonalds like many of the students in my program have broken down and done. I don't eat that crap in America and sure won't pay to eat it overseas.

P.S. I'm planning a trip for Spring Break to Dublin and London. Any comments or suggestions are definitely welcome as I am planning this trip! mollyekent@yahoo.com