It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Since Halloween and Thanksgiving aren't really celebrated in Italy (for some obvious reasons) I really haven't had that impending feeling that Christmas is coming. But recently things have been getting much merrier around here!

A few days ago a few of my friends and I ventured out towards Pizza di Spagna (the Spanish Steps) to go to Pompi: il regno del tiramisù which is the absolute best place to get tiramisù in Italy. Ask any Italian, they'll tell you the same thing. On our way we crossed Via del Corso, the main shopping street, and found it lit up with christmas lights! There was even a giant christmas tree from Mercedes-Benz with their emblem as ornaments. On the street connecting Via del Corso and Piazza di Spagna, the Via Condotti - one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world, we found it decorated with christmas light chandeliers. It was absolutely magical. Add the tiramisù and it was perfect!

It had just rained and the street beautifully reflected everything.

The next day, as a break between writing my final papers for my courses I went with my flatmate Wendy to check out the Christmas market that had sprung up in Piazza Navona. What was normally an austere piazza filled with sculpted fountains by Bernini had become a sort of carnival complete with games and a carousel. 

They also had a ton of shops selling ornaments. What was interesting was that there were a plethora of witches being sold as ornaments, on stockings, as figurine, etc. I finally learned that she is la Befana - a kindly old witch. The story goes that the magi stopped at her house on their way to see the Christ child and invited her to come with them, but she declined. When she saw the star of Bethlehem heralding the child's birth she decided to try go to him with gifts as the magi had done. Unfortunately she never found him, so now she seeks him every Christmas and ends up leaving the gifts at the homes of other children. This explains the abundance of broom ornaments that also are said to bring good luck.

Another wonderful part of the market is the ciambella - a large doughnut-like sweet that is warmed and pressed in a panini maker and covered in sugar and sometimes nutella. Wendy and I each bought one and they were fantastic! Warm and sugary carbalicious magic! 

Piazza Navona

A carousel with the horses of hell on it

Me and la Fontana dei Quattro Fiume

Sparkly things!

Brooms of la Befana

It was so adorable I almost died...

But what I am really excited about is that these decorations means christmas is getting closer and so is the arrival of my mom and sister! They're coming out to visit me and together we'll spend about a week here in Roma, the next week including Christmas in Paris, and a final week and New Year's in London. I cannot wait. It is going to be so beautiful!

I also just finished all of my papers for this semester (30 pages total!) so I decided that yesterday was a good day to relax. I ended up drinking an entire bottle of my favorite wine alone (over the course of 6 hours) and watching The Holiday and Love Actually. I may or may not have bawled my eyes out. It was just so cute and christmas-y and I have nobody... I'm not pathetic. I'm just in touch with my emotions!

Maybe I went a little gif crazy....

Thanksgiving Without a Family

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!! 

 Obviously since Thanksgiving is an American holiday we don't celebrate it here in Italy. Everyone here is busy getting ready for Christmas, but I'm missing out on what is going to be a rather epic Thanksgiving for my family. 

    First off, my family is full of amazing chefs. We generally spend holidays with my mom's side of the simply because we're on the same coast. We've got the southern cooking gene en masse. We have recipes that have been in the family since the flood. And then you throw my British uncle into the mix who makes the best Yorkshire pudding. The result is the best food you have ever eaten: creamy mashed potatoes, savory turkey, green beans that have been cooking all day, the best stuffing in the world, and the coveted cherry cheese pie. It's so good that there are fights over who gets to take leftovers of what.

    Another great part of the holidays is that my family is absolutely crazy. Honestly, we need our own reality show. It's like a tele-novella in there. But they're my kind of crazy. It's like watching the Kardashians all day. We would have our own catch phrases. But I do feel bad for my brother, he's the youngest and the only male grandchild. My family functions as a matriarchy, so this might be rough for him.

    Alas, I am rather homesick today. I want to cuddle with my dogs and hug my family (which is something I hardly ever do - I'm not much of a touchy-feely person but right now I just want a hug). I'm not sad, but I do wish I could be there. Instead I am having Thanksgiving dinner with my flatmates. I am so blessed to have ended up in this flat where all of the girls click on some level. We all get along and have formed a support group for one another. We celebrate each other's birthdays and have regular family dinners. So each of us are making a dish in our ridiculously small kitchen and will have as close to a real Thanksgiving as we can. A lot of the ingredients we use in the States are hard to come by over here. I spent an hour today going to Chinatown to the international market at Piazza Vittorio Emmanuale II by Termini (the train station) hunting down brown sugar. I'm making my favorite Dutch apple pie! But because they really don't have turkey here we'll be eating chicken. You make do with what you've got.

    A tradition with my family is to go around the table and say what you are thankful for. So, I would like to say that I am so thankful for this opportunity in my life: that I am able to live my dream of studying archaeology and art in Roma. I am thankful for my wonderful family who supports me in good times and bad, for my friends who never waver and bring out the best in me, for my teachers who have not only taught me academically but also given me life lessons and spurred me to work harder, and for my dogs who see me as the best person on the planet and make me think that maybe I could be. There were times a few years back where I was almost certain that I wouldn't see my twentieth birthday, but to have made it through all of that and to be not just living but thriving is what I am most thankful. I know it may sound arrogant but I am most thankful for my strength (which is in part given to me by my parents and tested every day by my siblings). 

    So here's to you! I hope you are having a wonderful day with the people who matter to you. Family isn't just about blood, it's about the people who love you unconditionally and who make you feel safe. I know I have adopted family members all over. Take the time to tell those people that you are thankful for them, because although they may know it, it's always nice to hear it!

I'm such a nerd... Couldn't resist.

It's The Little Things...

I've just spent the last week being rather sick, so regrettably I haven't been able to get out much. I was just so frustrated and then I realized that I have reached the half-way point in my study abroad program. Then my brain just started whirring. Holy cow, I'm almost done here and what have I accomplished? My Italian isn't as good as thought it would be by now. I haven't gone as many places as I intended to by this point. How on Earth am I supposed to go back to living in California after this? Am I really experiencing and appreciating every moment of this trip. And on and on...

But then I was able to talk to some of my friends from the States (Elaina, Olivia, David, etc.) 

and when telling them about my recent adventures and the ones that are upcoming - Budapest, Bucharest, and Transylvania - I realized that I am making the most of this. I'm doing what I want to do in the ways I want to do them. I didn't want this trip to be a whirlwind tour of Europe where I spent a day or two in massive cities. I wanted to integrate myself into Roma. I wanted to learn about customs, gesticulations, and places that only Roma has. As much as I want to travel the world I also want to know it intimately. It really boils down to my 'be a traveler not a tourist' campaign. 

I've decided to start planning little weekend excursions to places in Italy and working on my Italian a bit harder. But as for now I am completely content adhering to the Italian idea of 'la dolce far niente' - the sweetness of doing nothing. So I am sitting in my kitchen eating some delicious grapes - their skins burst in my mouth and I am overcome with a sweet, refreshing but also slightly tart flavor that makes me think I can taste the sunshine on them - and I am reading my first birthday card. It's from my paternal grandparents whom I adore. It says, 'Do what Granny does on her birthday... get "gussied up" and give it your best shot!' It shows an old lady with a rifle which reminds me of my Great Grandma (Gigi) Brown. My dad told me how she used to take an air rifle and pump it a few times before shooting BBs at the squirrels in her backyard. More importantly it is a reference to how my Grandpa Peterson took me out and taught me how to shoot a rifle... which I picked up rather well. I spent a week of my summer spending time with them. It was wonderful. Sometimes I'm amazed by my family. Their ability to love me so much after a lot of the rougher parts of my life is incredible. But I guess that's what family is supposed to be for... to love you unconditionally. They collectively teach me everyday how to be a better person and push me to go after what I want. The only reason I'm here is because of all of their love and support. I know, I'm getting sappy, but what's a girl to do? It's not everyday she realizes that she's where she's supposed to be doing exactly what fate intended her to do. I am so grateful for being privileged enough to be able to study here in Rome while at the same time having my family's unfailing support.

I am amazed that this made it through the Italian postal system!

If anyone has any tips on Hungary or Romania of just wants to say hello, leave a comment!

I'm spending my birthday in Budapest and Halloween in Translyvania!!

Cibi d'Italia

This weekend Roma is hosting the Mercato di Campagna Amica's Cibi d'Italia festival. This is Campagna Amica's first actual festival. Campagna Amica is a farmer's market in Italy that meets every weekend to sell fresh, locally grown and produced products. The Cibi d'Italia festival took place in the Circus Maximus (Circo Massimo in Italian) and highlighted local farmers and other food businesses. They had everything from fresh fruit to giant roasted pigs being carved in front of you to local viticulturists offering samples of their wares. I went with a good friend from UCSC who inspires me to become more of a foodie, Danielle Worthy.

Danielle, my food advisor.

We had so much fun walking around and sampling a lot of great Italian food. The festival was only really attended by locals, so hardly anyone spoke Italian, which was wonderful practice for us. We found a great wine tent and sampled a great red. I asked one of the employees what her favorite wine that they had was and she gave us the red. Danielle and I are normally more prone to get a white or rosé, but we were definitely open to some tasting. This wine was fantastic! It was crisp and fruity with a bit of sparkle. We both were asking each other what the unexpected flavor was, but not being connoisseurs of wine ourselves we just appreciated the taste and bought a bottle. We even talked to the sellers about which foods the wines were best paired with. Living in Roma for a month has really improved my Italian.

We found an interesting booth that was promoting Italy's version of the Biosphere Project that is happening at the University of Arizona. It is called il Parco Nazionale del Cliento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni and is a UNESCO site. They're committed to preserving the natural Italian landscape and biology. To attract interest in their booth they were handing out shish-kabobs of basil leaves, balls of mozzarella di buffalo, and fresh small tomatoes; all of which were produced within the national park. The basil was so flavorful and when I got a bite of it with the fresh mozzarella I almost died. Danielle and I just looked at each other in sheer happiness and could only make 'mmm'-ing sounds and exclaim 'oh my God!' It was the best mozzarella that either of us had tasted and the tomato was bursting with juicy amazingness. Honestly, imagine the best tomato you've ever had and then multiply the freshness and flavorfulness by at least 10. It bursted and I got some tomato juice on my white top, but it was worth it. Caprese salad shish-kabobs at an Italian farmer's market, does it get any better than that? 

Apparently it does. We found a great apple stand that had freshly picked apples that were amazing. I of course had to buy some because I love apples and fall, but they also had out tiny green fruits that looked like less transparent grapes. They were labelled as kiwis, but I assumed that the Italians just didn't really know what kiwis were. (They did as I later discovered at another stand.) So, attempting to be a bit more adventurous with my food, I popped on into my mouth not know what it would taste like or whether it had a pit or not. I was rewarded for my curiosity. It was actually a tiny kiwi without the brown fuzz outside that was actually able to be consumed whole. It was so tart and yet sweet and tasted exactly like kiwi. I was amazed and forced Danielle to try one as well and she ended up buying a kilo of the little buggers. We also ended up getting a citrus fruit that is like an orange on the inside but has a green peel like a lime. The Italians call it melanzawa and it is fantastic.

The food was great, but they hooked me with the petting zoo. There were goats, bunnies, turkeys, hens, sheep, and donkeys. I fell in love with the baby bunnies (even though the albino ones normally give me the creeps). And I got a bit sad for a moment when I saw the goats. I'm not that weird, it's just that my sister has wanted a goat for ages. She legitimately asks for one every Christmas. Honestly, what is a college student in California, let alone the desert that is Riverside, going to do with a goat? But still she remains persistent. At that moment I wished she were with me so that we could argue about how I think that goats are the devil's spawn because their pupils are sideways (really, it's unsettling) and she would argue about how adorable they are. 

And then one of the baby bunnies lunged at a little Italian boy's finger that he had stuck through the cage, and thankfully missed, and we just looked at each other and laughed, because that bunny was on speed or something. It struck like a viper! And then of course I missed my little brother because that would be exactly something he would do. I just really missed my siblings at that point, which is weird for me because as much as I love them, I think I don't show them. And I think that that impacts our relationship, they think I don't care when I just have trouble displaying emotion while at the same time I'm pretty sure they're a bit scared of me. The reasons are complicated and would take way too long to explain... I just worry because we're all living apart and I feel like we keep growing further and further apart. I miss them quite a bit and being away from them is hard, especially because as a military family that moved every which way all the time they were my constant friends and playmates. ...Sorry... wow, who thought talking about farm animals would get this deep? In apology I offer up these adorable pictures of farm animals that might just break your heart too.

Goats for Chels!

Look at their sibling bonds! 

They just love each other unconditionally

Bunny kisses are the best.

I loved the farmers market and Danielle and I found a lot of great things to make a delicious dinner with! It was a great day.

Local wine from the market

Ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach 

Tomato sauce from the market

That's my kind of party.

Danielle adding pecorino romano 

Perfection was achieved.