Tid Bits #2

It's March and lots of changes are on their way. 

First of all, Spring is on it's way. This week the temperatures got up to the low 60's with lots of sun. Everyone is feeling the change in the weather and the streets and parks have exploded with people. 

The other week Luca and I were out shopping and it had been raining. When we walked out of the store where we were - the sun had come out. I knew there had to be a rainbow around somewhere. Sure enough after we got in the car and turned the corner there was a big rainbow. As were driving back home the rainbow just kept getting bigger and bigger. I  think it was the biggest rainbow I have ever seen. I don't know how you can see a rainbow and not be reminded of God's promise.

 A student at the elementary school brought in a special treat for his classmates. They were fruit flavored gummy candies. He offered me one and so I tried it and it was so good.  It was above and beyond my expectations for a fruit candy. I have been tempted ever since to buy some at the grocery store but always resisted. The other day I couldn't resist and yes, they are one of the best candies I have ever had. (To be honest I ate the whole bag in two days!) They have different flavors packaged together and the best is grapefruit and peach. 

 March 8th is International Women's Day. In Italy there is the tradition of giving women a little bouquet or mimosas. The beautiful yellow flower pictured below. The days leading up to March 8th you'll see mimosas appearing in shop windows and flower shops and there is even a special cake they make that looks like these fluffy pom pom like flower. 

We don't really recognize this day in the United States so it doesn't seem like an important "festa" holiday. But I have the feeling that many Italian women see this kind of like Valentines Day. ALL the ladies are walking around with little bouquets of flowers so if you don't get one you feel left out, not recognized. 

 I told Luca I would like some flowers but we were out all day running around, doing errands, and so I knew that he didn't have time to get flowers. However, at the last minute in the car driving back, there were men selling them in the street at the red lights and Luca bought me a bouquet. We later stopped at a bakery  and inquired about a mimosa cake but after learning that it would cost 33 euros we decided against it. 

It's been incredibly nice being able to drive to work now. I save around 40 minutes on my commute compared to when I have to take the bus. 

Our puppy is growing and is becoming braver each day. We started taking her outside to the gardens and every time we take her out, the braver she is at home. After a week now of walking her outside she's happy to go out, wags her tail, and loves meeting other dogs. We took her to the vet and she did surprisingly well. A week ago we would have to drag her everywhere, now she's roaming around independently! 

Standing outside the vet 

One of the first trips to the gardens. So scared with her tail behind her legs! 

Italian Driver's License

Yay! I passed my driving test and now have my Italian driver's license! 

I knew that eventually I would want to drive here since I'm living and building my life here. At first it wasn't so important since most of my life revolved around the center of Bologna. Work was within walking distance along with the grocery store, the doctor, and really any other place I would need to go. Not to mention that the bus system here works really well (except when they go on strike which is at least once a month).

But at some point having a valid license would be helpful and probably necessary. So we went and inquired at a few different driving schools. The first thing to clarify was if my American license would have any validity. Unfortunately it didn't. It was as if I didn't even have a license so I would need to start from zero. I had to take both the written test, six behind the wheel lessons with an instructor, and then the final driving test. 

Getting your driver's license in Italy costs much more than in the United States. I remember in high school taking the theory during the school day as another class and only 3 lessons with an instructor so everything was already cheaper. Here all driving schools are private. Each school asks a different price and you can find groupon deals but in the end you'll end up paying around 700/800euros. Along with paying the driving school, for the theory exam, the driving exam, and the driving lessons you must also pay some taxes through the post office and get two separate doctor visits. And if you fail a part of the exam you unfortunately have to pay again to take it which is around 200 euros. 

So I enrolled in a school and received my books. One book with all the rules and in and outs of driving and the second with just quizzes. Of course having gotten my license when I was 16 I already knew how to drive but I needed to learn the terminology, the new road signs that we don't have in the US, and also mostly master how the quiz works. In fact, the book for the quizzes is twice as thick as the driving manual. I didn't attend any classes and instead just did quiz after quiz after quiz. Out of 40  true/false questions you can get four wrong. 

Some questions were so ridiculous such as: 

" Obese people don't need to wear seat belts" 

"The crosswalk stoplight is for an escalator"

"Helping an injured person could save their life"

"A person's license can be revoked if he loses his morals"  

Or they're ridiculously hard because they ask specific questions regarding trailers, weight, and speed. Along with having to know rules for scooters and the weights, speeds, and license classification for all other vehicles. For example:

"The BE license allows you to drive trucks made up of an authorized maximum mass of 3,500 kilograms with an attached trailer that has a mass up to 3,500 kilograms." 

"The B license allows you to drive a scooter if you're at least 21 years old and the scooter has an input higher than 15kW"

"With the A2 license you can drive a scooter with or without a side car with an input up to 35kW with a power to weight ratio not more than 0.2kW/kg given that there isn't another version of the same model that has developed double the maximum power" 

I enrolled in September and in early November I told the driving school I wanted to book my theory exam. I had to wait until mid-January to take the exam which of course was frustrating.  You take the theory exam at the Department of Transportation and it's for the whole county of Bologna which means there are a lot of people and there was of course a waiting list.

Thankfully I passed the theory exam the first time around. I was extremely nervous knowing how difficult the exam is and not wanting to have to wait another month or even longer and more so not pay another 200 euros! I don't know how many questions I got wrong since it was all electronic/touch screen. But it didn't really matter, as long as I passed! A week later I received the "foglia rosa" (driver's permit).

Afterwards I immediately started going to my six behind the wheel lessons. Thankfully the instructor understood that I already knew how to drive and so he took me to the area where they test you and so I felt pretty confident knowing where the one-ways were, and the do not enters, and any other tricks that might get you on the exam.

You have to wait a month to take the driving part of the exam from taking the theory part. The first available date for the exam was in the last week of February. There were five of us taking the test. I was third in line. It was nerve-racking having to wait in the bar for my turn and seeing the first person come back - passed, the second - passed, and then it was my turn.

The instructor sits next to you in the front and the examiner in the back. The examiner mumbled when she gave directions and so I missed her first instruction to start the car and had to ask her to please repeat which of course made me more nervous than I already was. You need to drive for 20-25 minutes straight. Within a matter of no time we were back to the starting point after doing corner backing parking, merging onto the highway, and driving around some roundabouts and side streets. It felt super fast and when I was back the other two girls that were waiting said it also went fast. I later found out that the examiner only had me drive about 12-15 minutes since it was obvious I knew what I was doing. 

You receive your license on the spot if you pass. The examiner passed me my license and asked me to check to see if my name and birthdate were correct. I was shaking so much that I could barely even read the card, but it was all ok!

It feels incredibly good to finally be able to legally drive in Italy. Since September it has felt like a long time coming and I had hoped to have this all over with before Christmas, but of course that was very optimistic for Italian timing. But now it's over with and I'll always have my license.

Tid Bits #1

The weeks are flying by- I can't believe it's pretty much the end of February! 

With time passing, spring is approaching. It feels pretty much already late March here with the highs in 50's and sometimes even the 60s! As strange at it feels, I can't complain about this warmer weather. On Mondays I have to leave early in the morning to get to work on time to teach at 8:00 am. Last week I think I caught one of the last mornings with the town lights still lit in the morning- It was a beautiful eery scene so I couldn't help but take a picture of the main square in Castel San Pietro. 

Speaking of work. On Fridays I take the same back bus to Bologna as one of the students in 7th grade. She enjoys talking to me, so we sit next to each other on the bus and I listen to all her stories about school and studying and getting bad grades. Yesterday she asked me if I get to go home every few weekends. And our conversation when a little like this: 

Me:  "You mean if I go back to the United States every few weekends?" 

Her: "Yeah, don't you visit your family?" 

Me: "I can't go back for the weekends- it's far away and expensive" 

Her: " Well, then when do you see your family?" 

Me: "I go back once a year. Either for Christmas or during the summer" 

Her: " You celebrate Christmas in the United Sates?" 

I also had a moment of great satisfaction when I went to do a private lesson with another student who is in middle school. The week before his mother told me he just got his report card for the term and his grades were below average. He had an English test that week and wanted to make sure he was well prepared. So of course I helped him prepare for his test and when I went back this week and asked how it went.... he got an A+ ! 

Our puppy, Macchia, is slowly becoming more adventurous around the house. We took her to Poggibonsi so she could spend some time with another dog, Zorro. Unfortunately Zorro didn't want to have anything to do with a new puppy in his territory. 

Macchia is so funny. She has quite a character. We think she spent some time with cats in her first few months because often she seems more like a cat than a dog! 

Of course last Friday was Valentines Day. Valentines Day isn't very big in Italy compared to the United States, but Luca knows that it's somewhat important to me, probably because it's always been a recognized day for me. He got me a bouquet of Ranunculus which are one of my favorite flowers and prepared a three course meal along with a bottle of Rioja! 

Welcome Macchia!

Yes, we got a puppy! 

We have talked about a getting a dog for quite a while. As everyone knows, a dog is a lot of work, takes up a lot of time, and it never becomes independent. So we know it's a big commitment. 

We had been looking for a long time however there was always something that didn't work out with the timing. So we decided that after we returned from our Christmas holiday we would start looking seriously. 

We wanted to "rescue" a puppy instead of a buying a puppy that's a pure bred. We looked on sites like subito.it and bakeca.it which are similar to craigslist, but we also looked at ilcercapadrone which is a website run by volunteers who find abandoned dogs. Unfortunately this website has pages upon pages of dogs that have some sad story of abuse or abandonment, usually from southern Italy.  We  started to look daily. We also believe that some of the volunteers do this as a way to earn money and aren't very honest and don't treat the dogs well. We wanted to be careful in where our dog came from.

One day we finally saw a puppy we both liked, a two month female mut, so we contacted the volunteer. She seemed honest and to have good intentions. So it was a go - we just had to meet with another volunteer within the Bologna area since this puppy was near Napoli. 

We had an interview in our home to make sure that we were good people, who wouldn't mistreat the dog, or leave her locked up all day long and care for her. We were little bit nervous not knowing how passionate these volunteers are and if we said the wrong little thing maybe they would think we weren't good enough.  

The interview went well and she said that she would call the other volunteer down south immediately to give the green light.  However, we still had wait since she had worms and needed her second vaccination.  

We waited almost a month and we finally got the phone call saying our puppy would be sent up in a van on Friday night and would arrive at 8:15 am Saturday, February 8th. 

We were in the car on our way to the meeting point, which was an exit off the highway between Florence and Bologna when we received a text message saying they were running about an hour late. So we had to wait even a little longer! 

Finally the big white van arrived and there was a group of people waiting to receive their puppies. The van was full of all different kinds of dogs from puppies to adults, small to big, and even some cats. 

We asked for Macchia, which was the name given to her by the volunteer, and she was pulled out of a cage that had 4 other puppies in it. She was absolutely terrified. The poor thing has had a rough life so far and doesn't trust humans. We don't know exactly what happened, but we know she was found in a shed. 

She's slowly gaining her courage. She found her spot behind the couch and will come out just to eat. After day two she's added to her territory the seat of the couch. She is very timid and takes three tries for every move she makes. We have to keep her in the house for now, which is a little unpleasant for potty training, but she's too afraid to even go further than a 6 inches away from the couch so taking her out on the crowded streets of Bologna would be traumatizing. 

It's so much fun watching her explore our home and slowly shed her fear. We're definitely happy to have Macchia in our home! 

Teaching English Part II

Teaching English is hardly ever boring. Of course every job has it's ups and downs and sometimes you may feel like you're stuck in a rut. Thankfully though, often my students make teaching a lot of fun. Here are just a few of my funny stories. I should really keep a little notepad of these comments because I don't remember them all. 

• I tutor two 8 year old boys. For every lesson they bring their bi-lingual picture dictionary for kids. One day these boys were all riled up and they wanted to look up "cacca" in the dictionary which is translated as poop. So they look up this word and just how has this dictionary translated cacca? ---> Shit. So these boys are sat at the table giggling while they repeat shit over and over again, not realizing what they're actually saying. 

• I gave an assignment for my 1st year high school students to write about a time they broke the rules and what the consequence was. This boy I'd say had a rather funny story.... 

• This wasn't my student, but a colleague of mine, and I just have to share it... In Italian the word for niece/nephew is "nipote".  So in this class they were discussing what they did over the weekend. This student shared that she had visited and talked with her nephew, however she was mixing nipote and nephew which came out as nipple. So she told the whole class about visiting her nipple. 

Some moments are funny but also very endearing.... drawing pictures of me and giving me small handmade tokens. 

Such as the time while eating lunch with 2nd year middle school students. Two different students asked me if I used to do TV commercials or if I was a ballerina. 

And this girl was supposed to write 50 words about my presentation on Minnesota and myself and the she had understood 50 sentences. So either she really likes me or was running out of ideas. 

This is only a fraction of the funny things that I experience at work. I think I am now determined to write these catch phrases down. 

Cakes, Cupcakes, Cheesecakes Oh My!

If you know me, you know I love baking.  

For my first cooking contest I had very difficult time deciding what dessert I wanted to bring. I had finally decided on a brownie mosaic cheesecake. It was my first cheesecake ever. I had never been such a big fan of cheesecakes and so I don't know what inspired to go with that particular recipe. But in any case it was a good choice because I won and it has ever since been  highly requested. I've made that cheesecakes for birthdays, dinner parties, and just because Luca asks for it. 

Unfortunately I don't have picture of the infamous dessert. 

However, over the past year quite a few cakes have been made. Here are just a few photos of my work in the kitchen. And from that very first cheesecake a little over a year ago, I have now attempted to make many more cheesecake recipes! Some are keepers, others not so much. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Valentines Day

Alce Nero- Berberè - Pizza

We discovered our new favorite place to grab a pizza. 

Of course, in Italy, you can find a pizzeria on practically every corner and sometimes pizzas can be more or less the same. 

We of course have our favorite "pakistani" pizza shop that only does take-out/delivery. We are very loyal to this pizzeria and without fail, if we order a pizza in, we will call them. So much so that they recognize us on the telephone, have added Luca on facebook, and sometimes we get  some extra perks. 

But ordering in pizza is different than going out for pizza. You are willing to spend more in order to get a better tasting and higher quality pizza. 

If anyone knows about pizza- it's definitely an Italian. Every time we go out Luca has a critique to make about the dough, the tomato sauce, the toppings, and how well cooked it is. 

Since he has recently changed cities for work, he and his colleagues decided to go out for lunch at a new place. They went to Alce Nero Berberè and ordered pizza. Luca came home that night raving about how good it was. 

So the following day we went to their other location in the city center- Via Petroni 9. 

We ordered 2 pizzas- and sure enough it is definitely one of the best I have ever had in Italy. 

Bacon / Pecorino Cheese/ Balsamic Vinegar

Sausage / fiordilatte cheese / sweet onions

First of all, the whole restaurant is organic and promote and use local ingredients. The topping combinations are unique, flavorful, and all very savory. And the crust is light, soft and crispy (just like Punch Pizza  if you're familiar the famous Minnesota pizza chain).  You also have the choice of changing the dough for a more digestible one, or with different kinds of flour such as kamut. 

We liked this place so much that we went back just 4 days later! However the only down side is the price, but you definitely pay for what you get. 

Check out their website to learn about their philosophy and definitely stop by to eat a pizza sometime!