Roma!

Haven't had much access to the internet since landing in London on December 19. Since then I have spent Christmas in Calabria and then I literally just set foot in Rome 15 minutes ago!

This may sound crazy but my favorite place in Rome just might be Roma Termini train station. You know you've arrived when you get off the train and see the hustle and bustle of Italians in action.  The layout is exciting and to me it's the heartbeat of the city. 

I'll give you a quick recap of how lovely Italy is in every single way. My boyfriend and I flew from London to Rome, had a quick dinner at his brother's house, and then hopped on a night train to Calabria. We had to change trains in Lamezia and upon arrival my boyfriend asked me if I would like a quick "colazione" or breakfast. We popped into the bar below the train station where the smell of espresso and "cornetti" was heavenly. We each had a perfectly made espresso and a chocolate cornetto (croissant) all for under 5 euro. Even at a train station at 5 in the morning Italians don't settle for anything less.

When we arrived at my boyfriends house, La Mamma had magically timed stovetop espresso to be ready right as we walked in. Breakfast #2 was another espresso, some amaretto cookies, FRESHLY baked that morning panettone, and pear juice. Already I was spoiled.

Then we showered, put our clothes in the bureau and I went downstairs while my bf took a quick nap. The fresh ricotta delivery arrived ( I know!) and my bf's brother went out with a huge pot so the lady could scoop some fresh, steaming hot ricotta in it. 

His brother then said I had to have some fresh ricotta with some sourdough bread for breakfast. This would constitute breakfast #3. The ricotta was sooooo creamy and tasted soooo rich and delicious. Obviously I didn't say I had already had breakfast an hour earlier. I knew I would be in trouble when lunchtime came around at noon.

Only in Italy does a little old lady come to the door with ricotta cheese she made that morning from her sheep at HER farm. I love this country.

Introduzione

I think I'm an Italophile because on paper I lead a very boring life. My day job as a copy editor is not exactly glam. Correcting grammar for textbooks gets really old. I am not proud that I know the Chicago Manual of Style pretty much by heart. This is a very sad skill and is not something I would share with strangers nor put on my resume. Can you spell L-A-M-E?

I started taking Italian classes in college to spice up my curriculum. It's not a secret that being an economics major is one giant snooze-fest (not that economics can't be interesting, but seriously, everyone agrees with this). After learning about curves, inflation, real GDP, and lots and lots of statistics and greek symbols for math (gross), going to Italian class was very refreshing. It was like going to Kindergarten. We had circle time, show and tell, snack time and pretty much everything a five year old would do in school except for nap time (I wish!).

Learning about Italian is also really fun because Italians are fun people. After I graduated I missed this. Having an Italian boyfriend is still fun, but he thinks speaking English is more exciting (a total drag...but understandable from his perspective). He gets annoyed with me when I tell him to teach me the hand gestures. He thinks I am insane because it's like asking someone to teach you how to blink or swallow. Those hand gestures are so cute though!

I decided to enroll in an Italian conversation class to get my weekly fix. I was the youngest person by about 30 years but I still enjoyed practicing my Italian and meeting people just as crazy about Italy as I am.

When my class ended a few weeks ago I looked at other options for winter session and Italian Film got my attention.

I came to my senses when I got tuition sticker shock. $200 to watch 10 movies and discuss them just seemed outrageous. I calculated the cost of a Netflix membership for two months and then the toll it would take on my family to force them to watch the movies with me. It didn't even come close. One movie at a time subscription is $8.99 a month with a two week free trial.

I'll simply watch an Italian film a week and then torture my boyfriend in Italian and my family in English to fulfill the conversation and discussion component. The writing component can be my blog. For the next ten weeks I'll do a write-up of each Italian movie I watch, give a mini-critique and then post it on my blog. I'll also throw in Italian recipes and restaurants I try, fun words to learn, and then share my travel experiences. Everyone loves Italian food and I'm sure everyone will grow to love hearing about me making a complete ass out of myself while travelling (I am really good at this).

Until then, ci sentiamo presto (we'll talk soon).