So, I bit the bullet on Sunday. I borrowed the parents' second--and less shiny--car and drove to one of the "mega-shopping" (that's what they're labelled, honest!!) centers close-ish to the house... Without either of the parents riding shotgun to give advice/lessons. That's right. I drove a manual solo for the first time in a foreign country. And I only came close to getting into a wreck once--which is kind of a miracle considering the amount of terror I had every time I saw another car. Not only did I manage to drive the car, I also managed to safely park the car without playing bumper cars with either the wall or anyone else's car. In hindsight, having my daily cup of coffee thirty minutes before making the decision to go to the store probably wasn't one of my better ideas. I'm pretty sure I annoyed at least three other drivers with my "American driving in a foreign country and not wanting to die" antics, but all in all it was much less dramatic than I was expecting. This whole experience has just solidified my desire to get a manual when I purchase my next car. It's too much fun to pass up!
While I was at the store I found the one book I'm willing to buy in Italian.... Harry Potter #1. The parents have a copy, but I don't think I will be able to finish it in my remaining time here, and I want to have something that I can use to keep my Italian at least somewhat sharp (because my cookbook is not going to have "dài!!" in it). After finding the book--and doing a small victory dance in the middle of the book section--I decided I was also going to go search the wine to see if I could find pinot noir/nero. Either my eyes have gotten worse in the time I've been here, or the Italians label their wines way differently than I was expecting, but I could not find an Italian label with pinot nero. I found a French label, but since this is a gift I want to get an Italian label. Though I did come across a few bottles of Yellowtail wine while I was searching. I started chuckling at that.
I ended up grabbing what looked like a good bottle of red wine and went next to look at the beer--since I've found at least one kind of beer that I'm willing to drink. It took me a while here to find McFarland Red, but I eventually found a three pack of 33cl bottles. The next time I have pizza I'm definitely cracking open a beer.
So I go to check out with one children's book, a bottle of red wine, a three pack of beer, and a package of spinach/basil pasta (one of the tastiest things I have ever experienced!). Not only did the cashier not check my ID, she didn't even bat an eye at my purchases. Now, I know I'm 23 and above the legal age required to consume alcohol, but every time I buy booze back in the States I get my ID checked. This threw me off, but I guess I looked old enough to the woman.
In regards to coffee and my general sugar intake, I've been working on minimizing my addiction to sugar while I've been in Italy--which is no easy feat. Slowly, though, I'm starting to see improvements. I used to add a lot of sugar/artificial sweetener to my coffee in order to drink it, and as of Sunday I was able to drink my caffé latté with only 1 tsp (approximately. They don't have teaspoons here, but from eyeballing I'm estimating that the smaller spoon is about 1 tsp) of sugar. In order to make a caffé latté I get about 2-3 shots worth of espresso and half a glass of heated milk and combine. Yes, I'm making it up as I go, but it tastes good to me. My eventual goal is to drink this without having to add *any* sugar.
Thursday night I ended up introducing the ten year old girl to West Coast by way of YouTube. She's been arguing with her parents lately about what sports she does and does not want to do. Her parents want her involved in a variety of sports because they believe it's important that she stay active--since she mostly sits when she's at home. They also want her drinking at least 4 glasses of water with lunch and dinner so she's properly hydrated. She got mad and said that since I wasn't active she didn't see why she needed to be. I laughed as I told her that I am, in fact, quite active: I walk at least 10,000 steps a day, I go on a run 2-3 times a week, and I dance (alone, in my bedroom, to the radio). "O, buono. Danza classica!" She retorted. I told her no, I did not do danza classica (ballet); I did ballo liscio (ballroom dancing) and West Coast Swing. Neither she nor the parents knew what I meant, so we migrated from the kitchen table to the computer so I could pull up an example. In hindsight, while Myles and Tessa's US Open Showcase is quite impressive, it probably wasn't the best choice to give an accurate idea of what happens on most WCS floors. She saw the lifts that they were doing and wanted to do those. I couldn't figure out how to tell her that you have to start with the basics and get a good handle on those before moving on to more advanced moves. Though I think I earned at least a little respect on her eyes after she watched that clip. Here's hoping.
As my time winds down in Italy I find myself looking more and more at job postings back in Oregon. I need to remember that I have to replace my cell phone before I can really start applying for jobs (because it's kind of hard to talk to people when you don't have a phone). Anyway, I will be seeing you all in Oregon before you know it. Hope you have a good week!
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