Pringles Delight Original

So, I just came back from Di Per Di (one if Italy's supermarkets) and I'm eating some Pringles Delight Original flavor. First off, what kind of flavor is "Delight Original"? I figured it was just Original, but I have to say they are significantly less salty than the real Original flavor. They're still good though, but i'm disappointed. I'm also drinking some mango juice, which is probably filled with preservatives but I'm going to pretend that it is healthy.

I don't think I've ever written about the supermarkets in Italy, so here it is: Supermarkets are not as popular with Italians as the open-air markets. Open-air markets are open every morning from 7am-1pm. Local farmers sell their products at the open-air market for cheap/competitive prices and in general the food is probably healthier. However, I'm too lazy to get up at 7am and by the time I do get up, it is time to rush to class. I usually shop at Di Per Di or Todis (another supermarket). When Americans think of supermarkets, we think of Safeway or Ralph's. Lots of aisles, lots of selections, lots of everything. For Italians, it is a one way winded path that zig-zags around the store to maximize space. Literally, there is only ONE WAY you can go. You must pass everything they offer in the store before you reach the checkout. By the way, they usually only have one or two checkouts open. (What's that all about?) You might think be thinking "that sounds like a big hassle" but Italian supermarkets are ridiculously small. I would say, probably a fourth of a Ralph's. Another thing I noticed is that they do not eat tv-dinners. They also do not sell pre-made cream sauce because you are expected to know how to cook. So far, I have also not seen any canned soups, which I have been craving (cream of mushroom? chicken noodle?).

In other news, I've been trying to upload photos but the internet in my apartment is wishy-washy at best. I better not insult it too much on my blog because it might stop working again. I am VERY excited that Mandy is coming to visit me for my birthday. We're planning on going to a ballet, Peer Gynt, and hopefully I will be able to bring her on my site visit at Hadrian's Villa.

In an ode to Mandy and her greatness, here are some pictures from London that are long overdue. She's been hounding me about these for a while, so here are a couple:

This was taken shortly after a lady was taken away in an ambulance. The little boy kept eyeing the guard until finally he told him to come over for a photo. However, the little boy looks rather unhappy. Taken at the Tower of London.

One picture for now, the internet refuses to upload any more photos. I promise to post a lot more soon, probably on Tuesday.

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Marcus, from downstairs who I just met today, just came up to our apartment and played guitar for us for 30 minutes. It was pretty much the most entertaining thing since I've been here.

La Notte Bianca and Photos

Every time I read Sarah's Spain blog, I feel like I must update. I'm getting pretty behind on the updating, but here is what happened in the past week:

-Kate and I went to this delicious Indian restaurant in Rome. It's far away from our apartment but very close to a metro stop. It was really cool because there were tons of Indian stores around there as well, kind of like a Little India. I had Rogan Josh, Raita, Naan, Mango Lassi and Rice. It was delicious. (Although pricey.)
-We went to a soccer match: Roma v. Siena. Rome won 3-0 and it was really fun. The Rome fans sing songs, cheer loudly, overall just fun. I don't really understand soccer beyond kicking the ball into the goal, but everyone was so energetic that it was fun. There's a match against Manchester United at the end of the semester that I want to go to. I'm sure that would be intense!
-Booked my flights and hostels for my one week break (Sept 15-23). I'm going to Paris, Glasgow, and London. I'm excited to go to London and see Mandy! Possibly get some delicious Indian food and some fish and chips?
-Visited two museums (pictures will be in the next post, I haven't downloaded them off the camera just yet).
-We tried another Indian restaurant near our apartment which was decent, but not amazing. It was pretty cheap so we might go back there.
-Last night was La Notte Bianca, where the entire city stays open/awake until 8am. Many of the museums were free and there were performances by various artists or groups. Friday night we also went to a light show commemorating the beginning of La Notte Bianca. We started with Piazza del Popolo but everyone was waiting for some performance to start so we walked around Villa Borghese for a while. We went to this contemporary art museum in Villa Borghese and saw some strange bell and boat performance on a lake. We headed back to Piazza del Popolo and there were acrobats performing. Afterwards we went to the Spanish steps, wandered around, sat on crates full of grass with tons of other tired Italians. Finally, we got food at 1AM and walked around some more. There was a lot to see, but there were too many people and we were a little bit lost. Overall it was fun night and a great experience! (Pictures to come in the next post.)
-My mom visited Rome and she took Kate and I out for dinner. I had Ravioli with Spinach and Ricotta Cheese AND Lamb Chops!


Here are some photos from last time's post:


PANORAMA! The Italian version of Wal-mart plus Costco.


Rogan Josh, Naan, Raita, Mango Lassi.


Roma v. Siena soccer match

Panorama!

I recently got an Italian cell phone. If you do not have the number and would like it, please email me. It's really old and looks like a phone I had in middle school. It's a Nokia with a non-color display and no camera. However, there is Snake in the games section which I am excited about. I get free incoming calls (local or international), so feel free to call as much as you want.

Today Kate (my roommate) and I went to this store called Panorama. It's kind of a mixture of Wal-mart and Costco... It was huge and crazy. I will upload photos later for this. I ended up buying some snack/breakfast food and some other things I needed (like nail clippers). It was pretty cheap, but we had to take the metro there. It's not really a store that is worth the trip, so I probably won't go back for a while. It really has almost everything -- from tools to clothes to frozen fish, and even a hair salon.

Last night, I went to my first "discoteca" called Coyote. It was pretty far from where we live -- I live in Prati and it was in Trastevere (these are all neighborhoods within Rome). It was half foreigners and half Italians. Most of the people in my school were there last night. It was fun because they played a lot of American songs so I knew the music.

Lately I've been missing American because I miss American food. Not "American" as in hamburgers and hot dogs -- although I do miss hot dogs -- but restaurants that exist in America. There isn't much variety here (surprise surprise) because Italians eat Italian food. However, Kate and I tried to get Mexican food and it was very bad here. They don't really have cheddar or American cheese, so everything is with parmesean or mozzorella. In fact tortillas are really expensive here, so the food isn't very good. Definitely no Cotixan's. Tonight we're going to try Indian food, so I'll let you know how that goes.

Pictures in the next update!

Flight and First Day in Rome

My flight from San Francisco to Rome consisted of 3 parts: SFO to Chicago, Chicago to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Rome. My flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was delayed for 2 hours so I missed my connecting flight unfortunately. This was a huge hassle because I needed to check into my program before 7PM (in Italian time). I made it alright and checked into my apartment. By the way, hot dogs at the Chicago airport are not that impressive. It's the kind of hot dog you'd put together at a BBQ with nacho cheese. I also got a meal voucher from the transfer desk at the Frankfurt Airport and they only had nachos and strange food. I saw their hot dogs and they looked pretty plain as well. I live in Residence Candia in an apartment. Candia is very close to the Vatican and many street markets. My room is very IKEA. My bed is the top bunk and there are 3 people in this room. There is a lot of closet space which is nice. This morning my roommate Kate and I walked around rome and ended up seeing the Trevi Fountain, many high end designer stores, and the Santa Maria del Popolo. The Santa Maria del Popolo was this beautiful church with lots of sculptures, painting, etc. in side of it. They had individual chapels inside the church that were donated by families in the past. My roommate Kate is an Art History major so she knew a lot about this stuff. I took a couple photos of the church (which are below). The piazza outside, Piazza del Popolo, wasn't as impressive as some of the other piazza's but I took a panoramic photo which I suppose I will compile later to make a full shot of the piazza. In the afternoon, there was an orientation for ACCENT -- one of the groups that organizes this EAP program. Afterwards, I had fettucini con gorgonzola and apple and lemon gelato. There is another orientation tomorrow from the UC affiliates and an italian language placement test.