An Italian Lunch

12:32 AM, GMT+1

A week ago, my neighbor Claudio invited me to his hometown of Brescia to show me around. He also invited me to lunch with his parents. How could I ever refuse food?

I hopped on an 8:15 AM train to get there, and he picked me up and drove me around the place.

It was incredible there, and I felt, truly felt, like I was in Italy. He took me to a small castle in Brescia where he used to study, and he knew every room and such in there. It wasn't anything like the Castello or the Duomo here, but it was somehow even better. It had a feel of... well, of Italy. It's hard to describe.

He also took me to a little church that was stunning on the inside, near his house. Its walls and ceilings were painted, and it had a beautiful altar. And I lit a candle for my family.

Anyway, we went to his house afterwards, and his parents were more than happy to cook for me. His mom kept shoving food in front of me (she cooked about four pounds of meat for me alone) and his dad kept shoving wine in front of me. It was great, and truly one of the most fun experiences I've had while being here. Not to mention genuine.

As far as this week goes, I've been holeing up in the library here in the Collegio and studying for finals. Hooray. I'll post one last time after my last final on Tuesday. For now, Ciao, Arrivederci.

Snow, turkey, and Inter Milan.

12:18 AM, GMT+1

It snowed last Friday. It was cool. For someone who's never been in snow before, well, that's super-exciting. We built snowmen, romped in the white fields, and hucked snowballs at each other.

But seriously. Two days prior, we went to San Siro. This was a pilgrimage for me. It was like my Mecca. Inter Milan was playing Panathinaikos (team from Athens), and it was one of the most fun (and coldest) experiences of my life. The Panathinaikos fans showed up in force. It was pretty unbelievable. I ate a sliced hot dog before the game, too, and contemplated a beer, but I was so cold that I didn't think introducing liquids into my body was a very good idea.

Anyway, these crazy Greeks were rocking the stadium every time they would cheer. When they would cheer, it looked like a wave was rippling through their entire section because they were all jumping up and down. The Inter fans didn't put on a very good showing. Maybe that's why Ibra and their team lost.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and Brittany and I had found a restaurant run by a Texan that offered a full Thanksgiving meal. It was... interesting, to say the least. Many of the materials were improvised. For instance, I've never had a blueberry-cranberry sauce for my turkey. It wasn't bad, it just was not what I was expecting at all.

This past week has been pretty uneventful too. I'm just ready to go home... changed my seat so I'm next to Ms. Samantha Robeano on the flight home, so I can harrass her for ten hours before we actually make it down. Yay! Unfortunately, I have a paper and four finals to get through before I actually do that...