homemade pasta, il camino, churches, and more!

When I woke up yesterday morning, I found Marisa downstairs with pasta dough rolled out on the table. She explained that she was up very late making the dough. She began to roll it up and she cut it into tiny little squares; they looked almost like chicklets. She made an amazing soup or "zuppo" for lunch that contained broth and these little nuggets of pasta. We taught her how to say broth....and her translation was hilarious to say the least. She makes fun of the way Allie and I talk to each other in English, and of course this makes me laugh. In the morning Allie and I wandered around Tuscania and stumbled across a cute little pup who seemed alone. He followed us for quite a while but we eventually lost him. There are so many dogs here!! Everyone has tiny ones, except for a huge German shepherd who likes to bark as loud as he can ever ytime you pass his gate ( I try to avoid that street). After lunch, I got on FaceTime for a bit then we headed out with Marisa to San Pietro (church), one of Tuscania's most famous landmarks. It's building began in the 8th century and it was renovated in the 11th and 12th century. It's so crazy to think about the fact that things in America are so young compared to that! Marisa came with us, and she walked up a pretty steep hill. She was so cute and asked Allie and I to hook arms with her on each side when she got tired. She is our Italian MAMMA! The church was absolutely breathtaking. Check out the pics! Marisa explained to us the history, and I surprisingly got quite a bit out of it. She showed us the Etruscan tombs inside the church and explained that the sculptures on top of them were sculptures of the person buried there, which I thought was very interesting. The tiled floor was assembled piece by piece. When we left the church, Marisa grabbed my arm and pulled me off to the side...so I wasn't really sure what she was about to do! She pulled me towards one of the tombs that did not have a head on its sculpture, and she put my head in its place. I couldn't stop laughing! Allie has the picture, but I'll have to put it up soon! After this we went to Santa Maria Maggiore, another famous church. Its murals represented the end of the world and there was also a description of the Annunciation through the art. It was such a treat for Marisa to show us around. We went back home and showed Kelsey our house, then Allie and I went out for our first pizza. We had lots of trouble trying to find a place that was open (strange for a Saturday night). Our advisor told us about the restaurant with the best pizza in the world, but unfortunately it was closed! We started off with the basic cheese and mozzarella pizza, but it was not as we expected. It was more like American pizza. Marisa later told us that it wasn't the best restaurant to go to. Next time....which I'm sure there will be many! Then we met up with our other friends at the "bar" for a drink. It was quite the experience....extremely loud music and lots of Italians! We later went to another bar where people (not me) did shots that the bartender lit on fire and you had to put your hand over the fire to extinguish it and then drink it. It was pretty entertaining to watch....

This morning I went to church with Marisa and Kelsey. On our way...Marisa asked if I played sports. I gestured the motion of shooting a basketball and said the word, thinking she would have no idea what I was talking about, but she nodded with excitement and said "si! si! si!". I also told her that I sing, and she loved that. She asked if I wanted to continue to sing in Tuscania, and she said she will get me in contact with the church choir. I'm excited!!  The mass was surprisingly one of the shortest masses I've ever been to....40 minutes!!! And there was even a baptism! It was neat to hear everything in Italian. I tried to follow along as best as I could, and I did recognize lots of words. After mass Kelsey and I explored some more then I went home for lunch. We had delicious tortellini and believe it or not.....FRENCH FRIES AND CHICKEN TENDERS!!! I was shocked. Allie and I then went for a brisk walk to burn off those cals and discovered the country. There were some beautiful homes. We walked for a long long long long time. We came home and Costantino was making a "camino" which is a fire in the fireplace. That took an extremely long time for me to figure out when Marisa tried to tell me what a camino was this morning. Thank God she is patient. Next.....came probably one of my favorite dinners so far. It started off with homemade BRUSCHETTA! Marisa cut slices of bread, laid them in a little rack, and set them over the fire for a short time to brown them. She took them out and rubbed garlic on each piece, sprinkled salt, and poured her homemade olive oil on them. Best food treat so far!!! We also had shredded chicken with carrots and peppers, as well as salad. During dinner, Costantino came down the stairs and scared us while we were eating. I screamed so loud...not on purpose. Marisa and Costantino, and I....laughed so hard I didn't know if it would stop. Costantino is absolutely hilarious. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a while. After dinner, I sat with Marisa on the couch and watched the news. She asked more about my life and what I like to do. Just a casual night in Italia!!! Well....first day of classes tomorrow. Tough load...only one class and it's not until 3 PM :]. Ah I could do this forever! Ciao!