Why I Will Get Fat in Italy

First of all, Aj, if you are reading this, I'm totally copying your blog post subject, just switching up the country a bit. Hehehe.

If you have been following my first two weeks in Italy, you may have noticed the rather strange lack of food-related pictures in my social media and blogosphere presence. "What's this?", you may ask, "Is Trula starving to death in Italy, the land of food?".

Of course, I have been doing anything but starving to death, and in fact food is such an important part of my life that I have been refraining from posting about it so that I could dedicate a whole blog post to it. Quick warning: while I chalk it up as devoting a whole post to food because it is special, it is also because I have a lot to say about it. Just letting you know that you're in for a long haul here. There will be pictures, there will be descriptions, there might be salivation, there will be weird sentences that make you question my validity a bit, but if you've gotten this far you might as well plough ahead. Also, all of my generalizations and experiences truly are my generalizations and my observations of my experience, and I'm sure other people have experienced otherwise. If you have experienced something completely different, I would love to hear about it so that we can piece together a quirky picture of Italy. Grazie.

While I am not one to promote stereotypes, the whole hype about Italy's food is 100% spot on. I have very, very quickly become a stranger to the "slightly picky eater" part of me, and I will try nearly anything. Now why are my eating preferences fading away so quickly? Because almost everything that I put in my mouth is delicious. Whether I though I would like it or not, or whether I had tried it and hated it before is completely irrelevant. There are literally no consequences for trying anything and everything since the odds are ever in my favor that it will be great. I'm pretty sure my brain is actually re-wiring it's opinion on trying new foods with each bite that I take.

So good food is one thing, but why exactly will I get fat in Italy?
Before I left I read of Italians and their food that while the food certainly may be rich, carbo-loaded, or something we may generally think of as unhealthy, the Italian portions are much smaller and thus it actually balances out. For example, while they may eat gelato an alarming number of times per week, the scoops are small. Or while there may be pasta for every meal, it is a much smaller plateful than Americans are used to.
I am so sorry to all of the people on the internet that wrote these things, but they are wrong. So wrong. Indescribably wrong.

Let me walk you through a recent(although isn't everything pretty recent? I mean, I've only been here for two weeks) lunch with my host family and extended family.
        We are all sitting at the table, when a large basket of different breads, along with many spreads, meats, and fish are brought out. Of course I have no idea what most of the stuff is, but everyone is swooping it up so I have to try it before it's all gone. At this point I'm no longer hungry. Not full yet, but not hungry either.
        Next, homemade gnocchi smothered in red sauce is brought out, and of course it is delicious. I take a smaller portion than everyone else, but I am still quite full when I am finished. At this point I assume this is the end of the meal.

The freshly rolled and cut gnocchi, courtesy of my host mom.

        Just as the internet writers were dreadfully wrong, so was I. I had barely finished my last bite of gnocchi when a large dish of eggplant parmesan was brought out. And of course, I'm here to experience Italy, and what better way than through the food, so I have to try it. By the end of eggplant parmesan I am absolutely stuffed and very grateful that the meal is over because I am convinced that I would not be able to eat another bite.

The eggplant parmesan in all of it's tomato-saucy, cheesy glory.

        I think at this point you might guess that again, of course I was wrong. Dessert was brought out, which was a delectable chocolate thing(I'm sorry, I really have no idea what it was) which was like chocolate fudge, but much less heavy and less sweet. Still dense and very chocolate-y, though. It was explained to me that it was made with water instead of milk, so that may be why I found it less heavy.

        After dessert I really, truly did think that the meal was over. I mean, usually dessert signifies the end of a meal, right? But of course I was wrong, and ten minutes later a towering platter of fried fish was brought out. It smelled delicious, and absolutely was delicious, but it was all I could to to eat two pieces when everyone else ate far, far more.

Of course this type of thing is not an every-day ordeal, but it's not uncommon either. Far more ordinary are daily happenings such as,

         "Hai fame, Trula?"(are you hungry?)

         "No, non ho fame, grazie"(no, I'm not hungry, thanks)

         3 minutes later..............

         Here, eat this delicious pastry which is huge and rich and definitely filling!

The wonderful pastry in question...the filling was something along the lines of butter+cream+sugar, but.......

Or another one that happened recently,

        "Trula hai fame? Do you want a cupcake?"

        "No, non ho fame. We literally just ate lunch."

        "Ok then, let's go to the Gelateria and eat delicious gelato!" 

I got my host dad to hold my gelato so that I could get a decent picture...and yes, that chocolatey stuff is most definitely large amounts of Nutella. They have the container of gelato, and every 5 scoops or so, they pour more molten Nutella on the top of the gelato container so that each scoop has a ridiculous amount of pure Nutella in it. Heavenly! 

As you might be able to tell judging by the last two pictures, Italy has been very kind(or should I say dangerous) to my sweet tooth. Italians are not afraid of sugar, and it is all too easy to get a sweet snack. Speaking of which, on to breakfast!

Before I left for Italy, the one meal that I knew would be very different was breakfast. This is absolutely true, but I am quickly adjusting to it and I love it.

Since Nutella is so popular in Italy(it originates from Italy), let's explain this using Nutella. If you're anything like me, you like to read food packaging, and you might have noticed that funny little illustration and description on the back of a Nutella jar that says something along the lines of "Make Nutella part of a delicious and balanced breakfast!" and it pictures Nutella on toast, some fruit, and I think coffee? Anywho, in California I scoffed at this, as chocolate on toast seems like anything but a balanced breakfast. But as soon as I walked into the kitchen on my first morning in Italy, I discovered that Italian breakfast is very nearly the back-of-the-nutella-jar-breakfast, just Italian style (which is so much better!)

Breakfast in my house consists of some sort of bread-like-thing. Often this is Pinza, a locally made bread which is reasonably dense and slightly sweet, sometimes it is Brioche, which is what Italians call Croissants (confusing, I know), and sometimes it is other random sweet breads. Also small cookies. Anyway, upon these sweet bread canvases we spread Nutella or jam, creating a delicious if not completely balanced bite for breakfast. Breakfast is served along side tea, and sometimes we eat yogurt as well. Breakfast is without a doubt smaller than in the US, and I was a bit concerned as to how that would work out for me, but in just two weeks I have absolutely learned to love it! Like I said, my sweet tooth is happy :).

Pinza Triestina....the perfect breakfast!

Of course Nutella! Also it's in glass jars here instead of plastic. How sophisticated.

Apple jam....delicious on Pinza.

Brioche...when I bought this one, (for €1) it was warm, and I know I'm not in France but it was without a doubt one of the best that I have ever tried (although for my family: the ones in Laos were pretty darn good......).

Yes, there is a lot of pasta. Of course the pizza is amazing. I am absolutely in love with Italian food and I look forward to enjoying every bite while I am here. I'm sure that I've forgotten something that I wanted to say in regards to food, but that's what future blog posts are about, right?
Ciao, and enjoy the delicious food wherever you may be!

   

Touring Trieste

My first week in Trieste has been an absolute joy. My wonderful Italian family has taken me to see many of the defining tourism features of Trieste, and every day I love this city even more. Of course this can only be explained through photos (plus, who really wants to read a bunch of words without pretty pictures anyway), so here we go. I have been taking far more photos than I ever have in my life, and I am lucky to have a family who loves photos just as much as me, so they have taken quite a few photos as well. There are A LOT of photos here but most just have short captions so hopefully you don't fall asleep.

The Opicina-Trieste Tram+Trieste Exploration
Trieste has a historic tram that is used for transportation from the hill town of Opicina down into the town of Trieste, so we took it into town to explore.

The tram at the station in the center of Trieste.

Canal Grande!

Selfie Time! This is with my dad and my aunt.

My mom and I near the Canal Grande.

In the days after the Trieste tour by Tram, my wonderful zia(aunt) Raffaela has taken me, my sister Alice, and my cousin Greta on several tourist adventures which have been so much fun, and a great way to explore the area.

First up: Castello di Miramare, a 19th century castle in Trieste.

The next day we visited Grotta Gigante---the worlds largest tourism cave...it's even in the book of world records! Luckily for me, it happens to be very close as well.

A humorous sign warning tourists about the fact that if you have to walk 500 steps down to enter the cave, you also have to walk 500 steps back up. 

The largest stalagmite in the cave.

The pictures don't do it justice, but the inside was absolutely fantastic!

The next day, we visited the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale......Trieste's natural history museum. It was filled with impressive creatures large and small.

Giant lobsters.

A replica of an ancient giant bear.

Spooky scary skeletons.

And finally today we went to a quaint town quite near Trieste, Muggia, as well as the Temple of Monte Grista, which has an excellent view over Trieste.

A beautiful church in Muggia.

Boats boats boats!

Isn't Muggia cute?

Transition time....this is the top of Monte Grista. I love the pattern.

And the view! The closest city you see is Trieste.

Hope you enjoyed the little virtual tour of some of what Trieste has to offer. I have plenty more to tell you, but this post is already far too long as it is, so see you next time! Ciao!

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Sono in Italia!

After 26 hours of travel (32 if you count the drive to San Francisco), I finally arrived in Trieste. My journey was largely uneventful...though I did not meet any other RYE students along the way, I got to watch the unexpectedly entertaining Delta in-flight safety video, became best friends with a five year old whose mother was an exchange student in Italy, and bonded with my seat mate on my Detroit to Rome flight over the five times in a row that I got offered bottled water without him being offered even once(and of course, once he got his water, he was kind enough to offer it to me...hahaha).

I was more than ready to be done traveling by the time I reached Trieste, however, and it was to my great joy when I was greeted at the airport by a fantastic welcome party consisting of my first and second host families and two rotarians from my Italian club...my counselor and a youth exchange coordinator.

Part of my welcome committee!

Ever since my arrival I have been thoroughly enjoying Trieste! 

Yesterday my wonderful host mom and I ventured into the city center of Trieste in an attempt to get my Permesso di Soggiorno--my residence permit. It has been a bit of a headache, and we spent two hours working on it yesterday, as well as an hour or two today to send off the application packet in the mail. Apparently in October we have an appointment that has something to do with the Permesso di Soggiorno? Who knows.

Trieste is an absolutely beautiful city and I think that pictures say this better than words, so here are a few that I have taken so far:

Please ignore the fact that this is really sketchy and a truck is mysteriously vaporizing (it's a panorama). This is the view from my host mom's office window! 

Roman ruins? I think?

The town center.

Mail flaps for sale in a hardware store!

In the town center.

This is my host dad's scooter shop!

The language is definitely a struggle...I had underestimated how difficult it is to stay awake when you are seated at a table for several hours with people talking nonstop Italian...that you can't understand any of. It also is a little bit terrible to just give anyone who talks to you a blank and slightly apologetic stare...especially when it is your host parents who have to deal with you 24/7! But even in the 2.5 days that I have been here, I can feel myself picking up words. Of course they are no help when trying to understand people, but still...every word counts :). However I have realized that studying Italian while in Italy is SO much more effective because right after I study a word I suddenly hear it everywhere and it is immensely reinforced. So I am doing my best to continue studying so that some day I might hopefully understand a few words at the table.

Ciao for now! (no matter how terrible, cliche, and tacky that is, I just can't help myself).

Blazers and Pins

As I write this post, I am sitting in a hotel room in San Francisco. Tomorrow my family and I will wake up at 4:00 in the morning to catch a hotel shuttle to the airport, where I will catch my flight to Detroit, then Rome, and finally Trieste where I will meet my host family in person after 24 hours of planes and airports. Emotions in the hotel room are running high, and I can't imagine what it will be like tomorrow morning as our sleep deprived brains try to understand the reality of my departure.
But that's not what this post is about....the antics of my departure are for another time. This post is about blazers and pins!

Every RYE student is required to make, buy, or somehow obtain 100-300 pins which somehow represent their home town/state/country. I decided to make my pins out of pressed pennies from a pressed penny machine which I discovered at the "One Log House" near Garberville.

So one sunny afternoon my dad and I drove up to Garberville armed with rolls of pennies and quarters, and spent a solid hour pressing 250 pennies assembly-line style. Once the pennies were pressed, I glued on pin backings to each penny, turning the novelty souvenir into a pin!

The three designs of pennies that I pressed and made into pins.

So what does an exchange student do with all of these pins, you may ask? In addition to pins, every RYE student gets a blazer, which, in the case of the USA, is navy blue. Then, whenever two RYE students meet, they exchange pins which go on their blazers. Many students also collect pins as souvenirs from events that they go to and places they see, and some students go above and beyond by tacking non-pin items such as banners, license plates, and other souvenirs onto their blazers with the help of safety pins. The blazers quickly become heavy, cumbersome, and full of wonderful memory tokens.

I have been lucky enough to meet both the 2014/2015 inbounds to our area, as well as the 2015/2016 inbounds, and I have been able to trade pins with many of them. Thus, even though I have yet to leave the country, my blazer is already baring the trademark chaos of a RYE student. I was also extremely lucky to receive over 25 beautiful rotary-themed pins which have sufficiently filled out my blazer from Terri Clark, a rotarian in my host club. Thank you so much Terri!

 These blazers are worn to rotary events before, during, and after exchange, and are also worn as students travel to and from their host countries. Wearing the blazers during travel allows exchange students to find each other quite easily, and also allows past exchange students and rotarians to connect with blazer-wearing students. Thus, tomorrow I will be wearing my already slightly heavy blazer in the airports as I make my way to Italy.

My blazer pre-exchange!

Finally, thank you so so so much to all of the people---rotarians, family, friends, --- who have supported me in getting this far---the people who have given me advice and good wishes, who have shown up at farewell gatherings, and who have shown me how much support and love I have in this community. It truly means the world to me and is such a wonderful launching point for me on this adventure!