Food, lots and lots of food

This morning I woke up in Italy.

*Thursday, January 13*
I don’t think this will ever sink in. I woke up, looked out my window and realized that I was in Rome, a city founded in 750 BC (BC!!!). I was in the same city as the Colosseum, the Pope, and some of the best food found on Earth (not to mention some of the most distinguished fashion designers). I am so lucky, it’s hard to even find the right words to describe the emotions this city can pull out of a person.

Due to excitement and a slap in the face we call reality, I knew that sleep was no longer going to be an option for me. I climbed down the tiny ladder on my bed as carefully as I could (I’m on the top bunk so chances of me stepping/falling on Caitlin are pretty high), went down to the basement, where the Mensa is located, and bought an espresso from the coffee machine (€0.60). It was amazing. No, the word ‘amazing’ isn’t suitable. Perfect(o) is more like it. I have never tasted espresso as rich as this one in the United States, and keep in mind, this was out of a machine! Now this I could get used to, but who would want to?? After another shot of espresso my head started to feel smaller and I could respond to staff members’ greetings (‘Ciao!’ instead of a slurred “sshhiaao” while very ungracefully wobbling down the stairs in my best paint-stained sweatpants). This espresso changed my life.

At twelve the group I was placed in had to meet in a classroom… to fill out paperwork in order to become legal residences in Italy, something that I hear people who have been at the JFRC (John Felice Rome Center, aka J-Force) for 6 months still haven’t received…this is, so I’ve learned, the typical Italian way of business, “I’ll get to it when I get to it, no problem!” The paperwork was painless and given the importance of it, the staff basically held our hands the whole way through it. After this we went to the lecture on “how to speak Italian to the locals” which somehow turned into “how to order coffee from the local bar (café)”.

Knowing that we would be indulging in a full-course, legit Italian meal later that night Cait and I decided to eat a light lunch. I had a stacked eggplant, tomato and mozzarella salad and a bowl of blood oranges, absolutely delicious, and she had an apple and a bag of stolen snack mix from the plane (classy). We met up with our friends Austin and Christina there in the Mensa and decided to explore the neighborhood and pick up a few things from the little shops around town.

So far I’ve learned not to smile as much as I do in America and not to greet people. Both of these actions can get women in trouble. Advice from one of our leaders, “Put your best bitch face on and you’ll fit right in”, haven’t been bothered since. Instead of spending money on a coffee maker and, with that, coffee and filters, Cait and I decided to buy €2 coffee mugs and just “borrow” a few shots of espresso from the Mensa during dinner, put it in the fridge and heat it up in the microwave (in our lounge) in the morning. We were raised to be efficient. *We later found out that we are not queens of the microwave here in Europe like we are in the US, they are much more complicated here!*

That night we went to Capperi for dinner, about 100 of us in total. First course was the antipasti (of course) little bruschetta with three topping combinations; tomato/basil, tuna/artichoke, and one with a black olive spread. I had an artichoke/tuna and it was delicious, a perfect combination, drizzled with fresh olive oil. Vini bianco e rosso were available as well as aqua naturale (still water). After the bruschetta the servers brought out huge plates of little sandwiches; tuna and artichoke with fresh olive oil, gorgonzola cheese, prosciutto, and Italian salami. All of these were perfect but the Italian salami seriously made my head explode. Its flavor was rich, perfectly spiced, and amazing. I’m never leaving this country. The pasta course was penne pomodori con pancetta affumicata (bacon), it was slightly spicy and the bacon gave the dish a subtle smoky flavor. All of the dishes are so simple, yet the thought that goes into them are intense. There is never an ingredient thrown in for the hell of it, they all have a reason for being there; this is what makes Italian food amazing, no fuss, just love. Dessert was intense. We were all so full from dinner but just couldn’t resist being tempted by what the servers brought out to us. It’s hard to describe what it was, the only way I can think of describing it is to say that it was a parfait that seemed deceptively light. On the bottom was an airy sweet crème covered by crumbled phyllo (filo) pastry and finally topped with a rich cioccolato ganache dusted with a tiny bit of powdered sugar. The texture was incredible.

After dinner Katie, Spencer, Christina, Cait and I all went out to the Cubbyhole, a tiny bar just down the street from campus. The girls all had prosecco while Spencer had a tequila sunrise. We went back to campus after one drink, still feeling the effects of jet lag….lame.

*Friday, January 14*

Today has been another one of those Loyola orientation days. We’ve had meetings all day, ‘how to order coffee in Italy” and others on rules (guidelines really… :)) along with some helpful stuff, and some not so helpful stuff. I didn’t even make it outside until about 7:30 pm when we all went down to la citta del Vaticano. Our reception dinner buffet was very nice! Cait and I downed a bottle of prosecco before going and had a great time!! I think we should start doing that before all of our meetings. There were a bunch of little finger snacks (which I’m soon coming to realize is THE way to eat Italian food), little sandwiches with prosciutto and a creamy cheese (we’ll say mascarpone), flat disks of chewy bread with asiago cheese baked on top, delicious roasted potatoes (tossed in rosemary and pork fat…really, does it get any better than that??) Well guys, it does! Dessert. Fruita de bosco (fruit of the woods, aka mixed berry) tart. Again, words fail me. Let me put it this way, I stole almost half the tart and put it in my fridge (Christina stole the other half). Halfway through our lovely dinner, Cait drops a ravioli down her shirt, cleary upset (not sure what upset her more the fact that she messed up her shirt or that a perfectly delicious legit Italian ravioli was now on the floor) and then proceeded to have a 10 minute conversation with our Dean of Students, Cincy Bomben. Drunk and sloppy. She then turns to me and asks, in all seriousness, “You think she knew I was drunk?”…

Da Roma, con amore.