My Mom Does not have a tattoo, but I DO!

Tattooed Mom at 5th and South Street is a place I have long been curious about, but somehow had no idea that I could get food and drinks at...well I discovered this when I walked in with my friend. It was a Wednesday and luckily there was a special on burgers! Three dollars for a regular burger or in my case, for a vegan burger. What a deal! It's the coolest when you walk in and are surrounded by these teal-colored walls and crazy different decorations.

We weren't sure what to put on our burgers, but the server made it simple by giving us an order sheet where we could check off exactly what we wanted on our burger and see how much the extra I would be charged for certain things. I went for a vegan burger with Veganaise, lettuce, tomato, fried onion, mushrooms and of course I would do the honors of topping it off with spicy mustard, ketchup and hot sauce once it got to the table. The server brought out a basket filled with these condiments and toppings- it was incredible! The burger patty was filled with bits of veggies and that made it feel like a true veggie burger. I really liked how different the service was and the food fit the creative atmosphere that takes you in once you walk in the door.

There are so many other specials listed for other days during the week like Thursday night 50 cent perogies- delicious! The food specials are fantastic and the regular food menu includes tons of vegan items like the vegan steak sandwich, falafel with tahini and various apps and sides. I will certainly be returning to Tattooed Mom's maybe even next Wednesday for my three dollar burger or maybe I'll try the perogies?...I'm getting hungry already!

The Slammer

No I'm not talking about jail (even though this place is across from the Penitentiary)...I am talking about "the slammer" I ate at MUGSHOTS yesterday. Yummmm...my friends and I walked up to the door and right away I noticed the sweet smell of veggie bacon seeping through the vents. Once I went in, I felt like I stepped into California, West Coast land. Amazing. It is a pure taste of West Coast living in the coffee shop setting. The environment is really chill with a whole lot going on both sides of the counter.

Ordering was a little hectic because it was loud and people were crowding the counter, not to mention there were chalkboards all over the place for customers to order from, so I had a lot of trouble deciding what to order and figuring out what was vegan and what wasn't. I settled my mind and decided on "the slammer" that had veggie sausage, guacamole and salsa stuffed in a whole wheat wrap. I expected the wrap to be warm for some reason, so when I bit into a cold wrap my taste buds were a bit confused. I eventually adjusted and enjoyed the creamy avocado and chunky tomato salsa that melted in with the veggie sausage chunks. To wash down the wrap, I drank the Peanut Butter and Strawberry soy shake. It was so smooth and creamy and vegan! The strawberry flavoring was a bit strong, but the peanut butter goodness came through as an aftertaste. There were quite a few items on the menu that I wanted to order, but with only a certain amount of money in my pocket, I'll just have to wait till the next visit to try out another menu item like the BLT or REUBEN...

I had waited to visit Mugshots for a long time and I was satisfied because not only did it give me the West Coast vibe that I've been craving, but it also gave me the tasty, vegan food that I needed to get me through work Saturday night ;)

Falafel Fever @ Maoz

Do you want to "Veg Out?" (as the sign outside of Maoz says) Who wouldn't want to, especially if a "Veg Out" type of meal consists of falafel, salad bar specials and fries! Yum Yum. I was walking around the city today taking pictures of what I consider to be the "Top 10 Vegetarian/ Vegan Places in the City" and when I passed by Maoz to snap some photos for the Philly Mag article, I couldn't resist stopping in for lunch.

I ordered the uuuusual- Junior Maoz Meal Deal. It comes with falafel on a whole wheat pita. belgian fries, a drink and the option of putting whatever one wants from the salad bar. Well I did not let those veggies go to waste on the salad bar line. I loaded up on carrots, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, chile salsa, tahini sauce, hot peppers and of course KETCHUP. My tummy was overly satisfied by the time I took the last bite of the pita and stuffed the last fry into my mouth. Absolutely a lunch that Philadelphia foodies and curious wanderers have to try, especially because of how inexpensive a meal like this is!

Check out the other items on the menu- you can get anything from hummus to eggplant to avocado added to your falafel for a few cents more!

Maoz has two locations in the city:
11th and Walnut and 2nd and South

ME...WANT...PIZZZZZA!

I have had a craving for a nice, hot, steamy, cheesy, ooey, gooey (need I go on?)...slice of pizza for TOO long. I decided to satisfy this craving a few times in the past two weeks actually. (It was a recurrent craving, what can I say?)

The perfect place for me to satisfy this pizza craving was at Blackbird Pizzeria on 6th and South Streets. Not only was it a convenient location for me (because of how close it is to my work), but it also happens to be owned by a former Horizons employer!

Now coming from a family of pizzeria owners with sauce and cheese oozing from our blood, I'd say the alternative to regular pizza at Blackbird comes pretty darn close. Sure it's a whole different texture, but in a good way. You don't have the greasy cheese piled up on the crust that sometimes causes the slice to bend just as you lift it to take a bite, but rather this pizza stayed perfectly still so I could snag that first bite (which in my opinion is the best).

The dough was quite amazing and reminded me of my uncle's pizza- classic Italian pizza dough- fluffy with a bit of a crispy edge. The sauce was a simple tomato base and the cheese, though vegan, blended perfectly with the rest of the slice. Some people prefer slices without the vegan cheese because they don't think it comes close to the regular cheese taste, but I prefer to leave it on. The Daiya cheese that is used for the pizza is not soy-based which is great for people with certain allergies to soy products. I say it wouldn't be a classic slice of pizza without the whole sauce and cheese combo!

One thing that is very important to any pizzeria, but a vegan pizzeria in particular is the TOPPINGS! Blackbird has such a wide array of topping choices for their pizzas- veggie meat, veggie pepperoni, sauteed veggies, Philly cheesteak, avocado, potato, etc etc. The list goes on and the deliciousness lives on through every slice. My personal favorites are the plain, veggie meat and broccoli rabe and the potato (though it's not the same potato pizza that my parents make at home ;) ).

So if you have a craving for pizza and are in the mood to try something new and different head down to 6th and South and indulge in vegan pizza heaven. Who knows I may even run into you there!

Confusion of the Corn

Yessss corn bread. The delightful smell of the corn bread, the appealing look of the corn bread, the tantalizing feel of the corn bread, the addicting taste of the corn bread and the influential sound of the corn bread calling out for me to eat it. The joys of corn bread. Vegan corn bread. or should I say: Vegan corn bread?

I was at Whole Foods this past Sunday buying groceries and I went past the bakery to buy some corn bread to compliment dinner for that evening, so I picked up a loaf of corn bread that had the vegan sticker on the front. I chose the cranberry corn bread this time because I wanted to try something a bit different and a bit more seasonal. I went for it. Bought it. and began eating it with my dinner. Well, about 1/5th into the actually log of corn bread, I flipped it over to read the back sticker of what ingredients were put into it and lo and behold I saw the ingredients listed were not vegan. This is precisely the moment where I began to flip out. I threw the corn bread down, analyzed the wrapper flipping it front to back, front to back and realized that the vegan sticker on the front didn't match the non vegan ingredient list on the back. Wow I was confused! I thought I has just picked up the non-vegan corn bread by mistake and had eaten the one with whole eggs and milk. I passed pieces of it around to my family members and had them taste test it to see if there was any difference in the taste compared to vegan corn bread (because none of them are strict veg like me). Well, no one said really said it could or couldn't be vegan, so I decided to call Whole Foods to tell them about it.

The lady from the bakery was completely outraged by it and confused and unsettled about the fact that the labels were different and they were confusing customers. She made sure the items were pulled and changed. She did mention that the bread was vegan and there was no doubt about it- they just put the wrong back label on it. I wasn't really that sure still, so I asked about three different ways if she was sure about it. She kept saying yes, so I finally believed her and spent the next 10 minutes finishing the corn bread :) I was happy! Yay to cranberry corn bread (when labeled appropriately)!

P.S. I was going to ask for my $2.87 back from Whole Foods because of all the confusion and upset I had to deal with (still planning on seeing a psychiatrist), but my mouth was too full with corn bread to bother asking ;)

The corn bread lives on!

Fajitas for the Veg

Yummmmmmy. I went to eat at Las Margaritas yesterday and had vegetarian fajitas for lunch. I was impressed with how cheap the prices were, especially because the portion sizes were the normal dinner size! I couldn't even finish my meal and with the side of corn tortillas, as well as the refried beans and rice, there was absolutely no room left in my stomach for it all!

The vegetarian fajitas came out sizzling. The plate was filled with mushrooms, peppers, onions, guacamole and more! I rolled up the warm corn tortillas with the vegetables, topped off with beans, guacamole and hot salsa. De-li-cious! Absolutely tasty and authentic Mexican food.

The seasoning of the vegetables and the spice of the salsa gave my mouth just what it deserved- a tasty sit-down lunch meal for about half the cost of other lunch dishes. Las Margaritas food has it going on, not to mention the ambiance is perfect to really feel the Mexican vibe.

Whoever said that Mexican food was filled with pork, beef and chicken?! Not true when there are so many vegetarian dishes and sides to choose from- just make sure to ask for no cheese or sour cream on anything if you are vegan because sometimes they forget!

Back in Business

Phew...I am back and ready to go. No, I didn't fly off to Italy again or go on a mini road trip this weekend. Mentally and physically I feel whole again- maybe it was that early morning workout today or the sleepover I had at my house with the fam. Hmm...whatever it was or whoever it was, thanks. I am ready to take on this week and when I say take on, I mean really get on my grind.

As academia would have it, I have about 5 million (or just 5) things due this week and I have little time left to finish it. But in the meantime, I am working on grad applications, studying for the GRE AND writing for my new internship at Philly Magazine. I am officially (they added my name to the contributors page) a writer for the BE WELL PHILLY.com website! I am starting a vegetarian/ vegan special blog on the website to welcome readers into the veg world. Not to mention I am using my job at Horizons to give me an inside look on what people want to know about the veg world and what I know enough to tell them. Very excited...check the site www.bewellphilly.com for updated blog posts and articles on healthy living tips, events going on in the city, new fitness advice, etc etc. It is honestly something worth looking at!

Who knows maybe I have a future in this vegetarian counseling/ writing thing huh? :)

Lyric of the week: "Can't stop, won't stop"---young gunz

Spriggin' Delicious!

WOW! I took a drive with my mother and sister to New Hope on this gorgeous, autumn Sunday and we stumbled upon this fairly new vegan restaurant called Sprig and Vine. Our original intent was to go to a bridal shoppe to browse through for my mom's mother-of-the-bride gown, but we made a detour to the restaurant once we saw that it was in the same Union Square Shopping Center. Upon walking into the restaurant I fell in love with the woodwork and the small, intimate dining space it had. When we were seated in the booth in the back of the restaurant, we noticed that the New Hope train passes through. This just added an even more unique flair to the space!

Let me tell you though...when the waitress brought over that Sunday brunch menu my jaw dropped and I was salivating like crazy and was surely not thinking about that train anymore! There were options like biscuits and gravy, grilled peach and green zebra tomato salad, french toast, breakfast burrito, chocolate chip pancakes, caraway-crusted tempeh reuben and...and...and...so much to choose from! We decided to order a few things and sample each other's plates. My mom ordered the biscuits and gravy and home fries. The biscuits tasted like pure buttermilk biscuits from KFC or something- definitely not anything I've been able to eat in quite awhile and the gravy was dead on- thick and creamy just like it is on Thanksgiving Day. The home fries were crispy and seasoned lightly and topped with caramelized onions- YUM! I can still taste them. Now my sister ordered the french toast. The dish was covered with berries, apples, nuts and this sweet vanilla cream. The toppings were delicious and weren't too sweet and actually the tarty berries calmed the sweetness down a bit, but the one thing I didn't like was the bread they used for the toast. The most important thing for french toast is the bread! I was annoyed by the chewy, hard to cut baguette bread that was used and would've like maybe a softer, grainier bread instead. What I had in front of me was the complete opposite of the sweet dish- it was a savory dish. The breakfast burrito was filled with scrambled tofu, potato, black beans, avocado, salsa verde and smoked paprika aioli. The flavors came together so well and having the potatoes in the burrito definitely helped- While I was eating it though I was waiting for a creamy sauce to surface, but it didn't come through until my last two bites and I was disappointed that I hadn't tasted it from the beginning. Also, my sister and I agreed that maybe it could have been made without the black beans, but then again it would be hard to call it a true burrito-wouldn't you say?

In the end, we didn't leave one bite on any of the plates! Everything was super delicious with a few personal critiques here and there, but it is definitely a place I'd go back for brunch and even try it out for lunch or dinner. Those menus had more options and could satisfy many different palettes. The prices are so reasonable and for the amount of food and quality of food- it is very much worth every penny.

P.S. we checked out the dessert menu even though we knew we couldn't fit any more in our stomachs and there were a few simple dessert items on it- nothing that really caught my eye, especially because I had just eaten the sweet french toast and savored every last bite of that burrito.

What a great way to spend the day in New Hope. Oh yea...we did end up going to the dress shop- once we digested our food!

Hut Hair

Seriously though what is up with eating out lately? I go to South Street today to try the Loving Hut that just opened up and it's the only one in Philadelphia, so I'm totally stoked because the one in New York that I went to was pretty cute and the food had a pretty decent taste. Well I ride my bike on down before work and go in to order something inexpensive and with as much food included as possible...the Vegan Burger.

I ask for the eggplant patty instead of the soy patty and I end up getting the soy patty anyway. Listed on the menu description was organic fried tofu as well, but that never made its way onto the burger. Anyway, I ask for the vegan cheese, which ended up tasting like cream cheese. Basically I had a beautiful bun filled with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onions, a soy patty, vegan (cream) cheese and some goopy sauce that was a mix between a BBQ sauce and a plain old goopy sauce. :P Somehow it had a delightful taste and I actually enjoyed it- I may have enjoyed it even more though if I ate it with my eyes closed because a lot of what was in the burger looked weird. The worst part came once I bit into the soy patty in the middle because I noticed a white hair! GAH! The server was so nice and helpful I couldn't get up the courage to tell her about it though. Obviously she was young with black hair and I'm sure she wasn't graying yet, so the hair must not have been hers so who could it have been! YUCK I was definitely turned off. I finished what I could of the sandwich and drank up my iced water before heading out. I'd have to give Loving Hut a 4 for service, 3.5 for food because some looked a little limp and not so appetizing and 4 for options- the desserts and drinks did look good, but a bit overpriced, so pricing would get a 3 ( all on a 1-5 scale).

I'm going to be making it my goal to try a new restaurant every week or so I can blog about it and you can read about it :) but really just so I can keep eating different foods all around the city...hopefully without the hair included!

Vegan Brunch? Are you serious?

So there's this fairly new place called Mi Lah Vegetarian on S. 16th Street near Rittenhouse Square that I had the opportunity to eat at this past Saturday. I didn't think it would be a full out vegan place- I only thought it was vegetarian so when I walked in and sat down to read the Saturday/ Sunday brunch menu in front of me I noticed all of these cheese items listed, as well as creamy sauces on the dishes. I was insanely disappointed and sat there staring- thinking about how I would have to go through the whole "I'll take this, but can you not put cheese on it please" deal. However, I asked the waiter if they used real cheeses because on the top of the menu it said "vegan brunch," so I was like "yo Mr. waiter dude- are these 'American cheeses' real cheeses or vegan cheeses?" and he's like "yo Miss customer- they are rice cheeses" and that was when I fell in love...with vegan brunch at Mi Lah Vegetarian.

My world opened up to all the choices I had.

My decision became harder to make.

My stomach began to growl louder...

so I decided to order the veggie sausage meal with biscuits, mushroom gravy, fried portobello mushrooms and red bliss/ sweet potato home fries....WOW- among the other choices though were pumpkin pancakes, veggie breakfast burritos and more. I just couldn't decide! Once the dishes came out I dug right in and was a bit taken back by how smokey the veggie sausage tasted. I was not happy with that part of the dish, however I did enjoy the red bliss/ sweet potato home fries and the mushroom gravy atop the biscuits. I kept questioning the fact that it was all vegan because normally places don't serve vegan brunch this way...oh but it was surely vegan. The breakfast burritos my boyfriend got was incredibly delicious and all of it was filled with spice and flavor beyond compare. I could've probably eaten his whole dish of seitan taquitos and tofu scramble burritos. It was very colorful and down right delicious! Both dishes were great and something different to experience, especially for brunch on a Saturday afternoon. One thing that kind of bugged me was the difference in food portions between my plate and his plate- his plate was completely filled with color and life and mine was sort of boring and sparse with the food. That may be something they'd want to try and keep an eye on next time they plate the food. On the other hand, I was impressed by the menu options and found it to be an intriguing place to try for dinner and for the regular lunch menu or just to go back for those pumpkin pancakes!! YUM so SSSSEASONAL!

don't be afraid to try different things...you may be pleasantly surprised at what you'll find...especially cause at Mi Lah they start you out with a plate of fruit- totally rad :P

Thai!

This is my first attempt to review a restaurant in the city and I'm just going for it. Lately I've been going to weekly girls nights with some close girl friends and we decided to try this Thai place near 2nd and South Street called Tamarind.

Let me start off by saying the place is small, but somehow looks like it could manage a busy weekend night and still manage to make the customers happy. The decor is a bit outdated, but gives one the right quaint feel one needs to sit and have a cost-efficient, delicious meal.

One thing I can say is that is BYOB, so most customers take advantage of that, especially because there is a Wine and Spirits Shoppe a few blocks West on South. The second thing I'd like to point out is that it is incredibly vegetarian and vegan friendly. I had many choices laid out for me on the menu and I didn't have to pay a lot for it either!

The ladies and I enjoyed a tasty meal together and with the fast and friendly service we could have been in and out in less then an hour, but there were five of us, so we weren't in a rush. My meal consisted of spring rolls (the vegetarian alternative to egg rolls) and though they were a bit greasy and I had to pat them down a few times, they were filled with flavor and had a nice crunch when chewing the cabbage and vegetables stuffed inside. The orange sauce on the side was so sweet and a perfect match for the rolls. Next, my entree was the tofu and vegetables sauteed with garlic and Thai red chiles and served with rice on the side. Well, I asked the waitress to make the dish fairly spicy for me and gave her the rating of a 4 out of a spicy scale of 1-7, so I didn't expect it to be that spicy. Apparently, a 4 is more like a 40 and the spiciness of the sauce burnt my tongue a few times and made my eyes water. My mouth was on fire! I wish I would've known how the scale worked- if my dish was a 4 who in the world could manage to eat a 7 dish?!?!

I was delighted and definitely pleased with my meal at Tamarind and would recommend the restaurant to those interested in a different spin on Asian cuisine right on South Street. Just make sure to be very specific of how spicy you want your food!

Gettin' back into the food

Recently I have been experimenting with different flavors and foods, especially with working in the vegan restaurant kitchen because I am able to see how professional chefs put ingredients to work and create fantastic dishes! It is so amazing to be able to work in a kitchen of a restaurant in the city and to be able to make desserts for them and prepare foods for the main dishes. Just being in the kitchen gives me a feeling of comfort. I am inspired to cook, to be creative and to do research about new recipes.

I worked incredibly hard this week and after each shift, I feel completely exhausted, but also like I actually did something with my time. Serving people might not be the most ideal position for some, but for me I enjoy analyzing the customers and watching for their reactions to the food. It can be very emotionally and physically draining and I think that's what affects me most at the end of the night.

This past Saturday night was a bit rough because I had to learn all of the new desserts features on the menu and I had gotten so accustomed to the old desserts that I had to rewire my brain to make the new cheesecake dish, chocolate tart dish and the others. Though they are so incredibly delicious and totally fun to prepare and present to the customer, it takes mental and physical power to successfully create the dessert dish. Up until now I have been working on the desserts, but I just got news that I will be promoted to working on cold appetizers because of my ability to quickly prepare dishes and accurately time out the prep work. How exciting! Sweet deal! Time to get my fingers dirty in food other than powdered sugar and chocolate- hmmmmmm. Also, I learned where not to touch a knife. I got cut twice at work because my fingers slide across the sharpest point on the knife and that is right near the handle. It's the sharpest because it is never used! Apparently my fingers were drawn to this point and I had to wear two band aids and two gloves to shield my cuts. I thought it was pretty funny, but the pain and annoyance of sprinkling granola and scooping pear slices into the desserts while wearing gloves was not so funny! :P

Talk the talk, Walk the walk- Blog, Blog, Blog

I have been blogging for about three years now and every time I post a new blog I have a feeling that it isn't good enough or interesting enough or I ask myself why would someone want to read this? Then I remember why I started this blog and I realize that it doesn't necessarily matter how many followers I have or how many people actually like my blog posts, but more that I am able to do this freely.

Blogging is become such an art form for people interested in writing and who are technically savvy enough to create a user name and type up some thoughts onto the compose page of the site. It has become a way for people to express their feelings toward specific things or in some cases general day to day events and things that he or she comes in contact with. I enjoy blogging about my life and food and my travels. A lot of what I write about may not seem focused, but my mind never really is, so it is a true representation of my thoughts and feelings.

I recently spoke to a journalism class that I actually took last school year and I stood in front of the class to talk about my blog and give advice to the students. Initially I felt honored and couldn't believe that I was actually asked to talk about this blog. I made sure to explain my background in journal writing and why I wanted to start this blog. It was interesting to hear the reactions and see how some people were bored with the whole idea of blogging. It was then that I realized how I was the same way. I never wanted to start blogging and was so annoyed by the idea of it, but once I started I got hooked. It's a matter of knowing your objective and adding your creativity to the mix of all the blogs in the world.

The one thing I would say to someone thinking about blogging is to do it if you want a way to express yourself and a way to be creative and don't mind people reading about it. I surely don't mind and I will continue to post about my travels, about my food encounters and about my lifelong journey. So continue to enjoy if you have been reading and if not, welcome and I hope you will continue to read my blog.

Student I am once again!

Well well well...I am officially a student once again. It has to be a dream come true now that I have been reassigned as a student, but this time a graduate student. I am not full-time yet, but I hope to be in the spring. Some may say I am all over the place with my ideas and my plan for life, but really I am experimenting with some things and settling on some more. I have decided to go back to school because I feel most comfortable in the academic setting at times, especially when it comes to advancing myself in the career world. No jobs were circulating my way, but what was circulating in my head was the idea to pursue my newly found career path through graduate studies in Public Health.

Public Health will give me the opportunity to learn about health communication, health education, sending messages to people about health risks and creating new programs to reverse the negative affects. I have high hopes for this program, especially for what I want to do. It will open me up to learn more about health related problems, social behaviors among people and so on and so forth. I have two classes this semester, so let's see how they go!

More to come...

New Recipes for Success!

Ciao! I have been getting the ball rolling with my newly realized goals in life, so I have been trying to cook up interesting recipes and do a lot of research on my own for alternative ingredients and tips on healing methods using foods. Working in a restaurant has allowed me to be more aware of what I eat and how others eat. It's so interesting to watch the different types of people come into a vegetarian/vegan restaurant some having never tasted tofu or seitan, but still enjoying every last bite of their meal. It's the talent and skill that comes with being a chef and being a "foodie." If the customer is satisfied, well the job is done and done quite well.

I have been shadowing some of the chefs and workers at my job and it is great to see how they prepare the ingredients to make exquisite dishes. The time that goes into making an appetizer or entree or even dessert is so precious and so exact that they mass produce the food, but also give each dish a special touch for the individual customer to enjoy. It's as if they were cooking for a close friend or family member.

The restaurant has a lot of fantastic people who are totally passionate about food and the business. It is a tough industry to work in because customer service jobs can be testy at times. Customers don't make the servers' lives easy, but if you know how to work with them and get the job done it will be a very easy and successful shift. I enjoy every minute of preparation and service that I have to do at my job. It is a comfortable environment for me and I can't believe I'm just discovering that right now. I go in to my work shift with a positive mindset that I will have a great night serving people and helping them to enjoy their dining experience, as well as helping my co-workers with their jobs. By the end of the night, even if my feet are sore and my brain is fried, I am able to say I had a great night and made people happy all the while getting experience in a vegan restaurant!

Oh the possibilities are endless in this industry and I am willing to test almost all of them. With time and the proper footwear I'm sure I'll be able to do so. I still have many ideas and plans in terms of culinary school and different master's degree programs, but I'm finding a way to mix some things together...

Dish of the week:
Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup sold at Horizons on South Street in Philadelphia
The light flavors of cucumber mixed with the dense and hearty consistency of avocado make this soup so delightful, especially after being chilled and topped with cumin oil, mint and toasted pumpkin seeds. It is a great dish for this time of year as we escape the heat in search of a refreshing dish to satisfy our taste buds.

Walking With a Purpose

After a topsy-turvy month of August, I am beginning to settle down to a way of life that I am pleased with and that I need desperately. It has not been fun and August has just thrown obstacles and decisions and even opportunities at me, but overall it has stressed me out! I came back on August 1 from Europe and since then I have been trying to figure out where my next step is and I believe I found it. After long hours of thinking and many sleepless nights tossing and turning with ideas and plans for the future, I have finally settled down.

Well, I love food and cooking and giving people advice on healthy living when it comes to dieting and changing one's lifestyle, so I have decided to pursue a career in the food and health industry. It's not your average career choice though because I will blend my journalistic skills with my culinary skills, as well as my knowledge of all things vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free/organic etc. etc., and most prominently Italian.

I have found myself exactly where I guess I had been hiding for years now- deep within. This dream has always been in the back of my mind, but for some reason I was intimidated by the fact that the industry is hard and demanding and I could never be as good as some of the top chefs or health professionals, but really I was only denying my deep rooted potential to do great things.

Though being back had it's negative effects, I feel I have tried as hard as possible to turn them into positive things. I have applied to jobs in and around the city involving food and places that will help me get the food experience I need to test the waters. I may have found just the right place for me and now I can take on as much as I want and take advantage of the experiences that await both in the kitchen and out of the kitchen.

It's taken many hours of yoga to slow down my mind and calm my body of the stresses that have been inhibiting me to see clearly what is and has been right in front of me. Finally this life of the Italian vegetarian who loves traveling blog has become the foundation to a lifelong career that I will continue to establish for myself.

P.S. Traveling was a possibility this fall, but I had bigger ideas in mind and going back to Italy seemed to be a sort of regression back to my old way of thinking and wanting to escape reality, but not I have discovered a sort of purpose for my life right now and that is to explore food and health, so I am going to do it. Let's see how it goes...

Let's Get Saucey!

Every year my family and I go to a farm in Jersey to pick tomatoes for our annual sauce making event. Well, because the rules have changed since I was little, we are now forced to go to the farms and just buy crates of tomatoes that have already been picked. It is a bit disappointing especially because it was such a monumental event that I looked forward to as a child. We would get up bright and early and drive out to the farm and get down to business in the fields. It was a bit easier for me to crouch down and pick the tomatoes because I was O so tiny, but it would get a bit difficult for my parents to crouch and bend and crouch and bend, so I would do most of the work ;) (at least I made it seem that way). So every year we would get itchy and buggy in the tomato field and drive on home with crates of tomatoes in the back of our van. A few days later we got going with the sauce making process.

This year, though we didn't pick the tomatoes ourselves, we still loaded up the van with crates of tomatoes and headed on home to lay them out on the porch. The tomatoes were simply beautiful! We gave them a few days to fully ripen and then it was ready to get saucey! My parents and I prepped the jars, the pots of boiling water, the tubes and the tomato machine and we got going. I was the squisher (as I have always been) and when my dad would put the tomatoes at the top of the machine, I was there ready with the wooden spoon to squish them down into the machine so it could do its job of separating the sauce and the skin. Once the tomatoes go through the machine, we take the skin and put it throw the machine two times to get any final tomato sauce out. What we're left with are tubes of red, freshly squeezed tomato juice that we turn into sauce once we jar them, boil them and wait for the seal to pop.

It's quite a lengthy process with little steps in between the actual steps of picking the tomatoes and jarring the sauce, but it is a process that has been in my family for generations. The annual sauce-making day is quite a venture and a bonding experience for the Sellecchia's. No one can deny that having fresh, homemade sauce with your pasta is the best thing an Italian can hope for, as well as those who eat the food ;)

Can't wait to cook up some sauce and get going with the spaghetti. I think the water is boiling now, so I better run and put the spaghetti in! Buon Appetite!

Post-Dream World

This has been interesting to say the least. After spending time in Rome and then spending a week in Longano there was no way I could imagine going back to Philadelphia. How would I manage with the different weather, the different people, the different living situation and the different lifestyle overall?! Was I crazy for not staying in Italy? Of course I was, but really it was time for me to go home and reunite with my life back home. The time away was just what I needed to reevaluate things and help me decide what my next move will be...

I was alone a lot of the time in Longano, but it was something I had wanted for a long time. It allowed me to write and read and do things I never have time to do at home. It was relieving not to get cellphone service 95 percent of the time in the mountains, as well as Internet service. I was literally not connected to anyone except my family and my boyfriend. Space was limited and time seemed to fly by. My stomach was definitely always growling and the steep hills up and down the mountains kept me in shape. Most importantly time with my Nonno offered a feeling of acceptance and connected me back to my family. It was beautiful to be living with him and keep him company as he lived the summer away from all of us back in the States. I even decided to do an interview with him and get some footage of the town so I can make a documentary when I return. Exciting! Creative! Journalistic!

The flight home was sad, especially because I was leaving my Nonno and after our time together we formed a special grandfather/granddaughter bond that we probably wouldn't have formed if we were just hanging out at home. Longano brought us together and gave us an inside look into how each of us thinks and acts. It's funny how living with someone for just a short time makes you that much closer.

The first time I saw my family it felt like a year had passed. I knew that it had been a long time, but I didn't think it would feel that awkward. :) I was glad to be back home hanging out with my family even though I felt like a new person. This experience has definitely changed me a lot and I have been opened up to a lot more opportunities as a young woman and young journalist. Though I was looking forward to dinner upon arriving home, I was looking forward to showing pictures and telling stories for the next week to everyone. We ate Chinese food for dinner because I was not about to sit down and eat another Italian meal! I needed a change!

Home home home! Reality is about to hit really hard, but I'm ready for it. I've been mentally preparing myself for a few months now for what was to come once I returned from Europe. I have a few ideas of what I where I want to start on this journey to discovering my career...I just need to get started!

Pompei in a Day

I did take a two-day excursion back to Rome and then to Pompeii with Peter and Anneke from the program just to break up the time in the mountains. We spent two nights in a camping villa outside of the center of Rome. This place was fantastic! It was like a whole other world and not nearly what I expected. We lived in a chalet all alone with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a porch and even air conditioning! This was so foreign to me I had trouble controlling the temperature in the room and seemed to always make it colder than it should be. The camping villa was filled with chalets and bungalows and various bars, restaurants, a pool and even an Internet café. I was in love with all of that, but it got even better when we could see the stars and the moon shining so brightly in the sky above us. This place was perfect and we took advantage of its beauty every night. There was also a supermarket across the street, so we raided that and bought a bunch of food so I could cook us dinner. I fried up some potatoes, zucchini, peppers and eggplant, as well as fried up some lemon-peppered catfish. Delicious. I was so excited to sit down like a family out on the porch and enjoy a home-cooked meal together with a nice bottle of wine to go along with it.

The next day Peter and I spent in Pompeii because we wanted to take a day trip further south and we chose Pompeii. We had no idea what to expect and though we did our research on how to get there, we still managed to get lost. Hey! It wasn’t our fault because we specifically asked a “worker” at the mini train station (that brought you directly to the Pompeii archeological site) what track the next train for Pompeii was leaving and he told us so we trusted him. Well, we waited for about a half hour and fought to get seats on the train and lo and behold it was the wrong line. We kept riding in the wrong direction and decided to get off at one of the stops that we could transfer onto the right train. We backtracked a little, but we met this nice English woman who took us under her wing and showed us the way. We finally reached Pompeii and walked toward the site together. Our stomachs were growling and since we now knew the way, we stopped for a small pizza just to fill our tummies. We did the wrong thing and stopped at a touristy place, but really we had one of the best pizzas we’ve had in awhile there and enjoyed all of the other tourists around us. There were true Italian old people sitting behind us, so it gave us a bit more reassurance that it wasn’t completely touristy J Of course I ordered my pizza Neapolitan with fresh tomato sauce, basil and anchovies. Yum!

When we finally made it to the archeological site and paid the 11 euro entrance fee. I tried getting the student discount but when they asked for an EU student ID I had nothing to give them…oh well it was worth a shot. The map was only help to us later on our journey through the site because in the beginning we kind of just followed roads here and there and stumbled-literally- upon different sites and things to see. We followed the main road and it was fascinating how much we could see how the old city used to be. The street was so well preserved and so well excavated at that! We followed the road down and there were houses on either side of the street and it was as if it was still a functional city! Pretty amazing! We peaked in a few houses and some were still filled with mosaics and paintings on the wall and even barrels and pottery still sat at various rooms of the houses. It was totally how everyone describes it- the eruption came and preserved everything exactly in the way that it was functioning that very day. No one had time to escape and there was no time to move anything. Incredible. When we walked into a house, we noticed that it was set up like a kitchen. The information panel explained that it was the “fast food” lunch hall that people used to visit for a short time, grab their food and drink and then head back on the road to go about their day- it was just like the Romans did it and pretty much how we do it today.

The day at Pompeii ended quite sooner then we originally planned because we got a phone call from our Italian friend Renato. He was leaving to go back home to Sicily and there was no way we were going to let him leave without a proper goodbye at Roma Termini! SO Peter and I power walked our way through the rest of Pompeii, even though we didn’t see all of it, and caught the next train back to Napoli. Once at Napoli, we ran to the train to Roma. We planned on taking the 5:30 train, but somehow even after making a long stop in the bookstore, we made it to the track in time to catch the 4:30 train that just so happened to be leaving 15 minutes in ritardo (late). How crazy! We ran and got a seat and sat in with some older guy who must have thought we were nuts. We got comfy and though my ticket said leaving Napoli to Rome at 6:30, the ticket lady let me go and Peter had his 7-day pass, so there was no problem there! Perfect.

We made it to Termini with even enough time to browse the bookstore there and get lost in the aisles. Renato called us and we met up with him for a quick dinner before he left on his overnight train. It was so sad to see him go because he was the one Italian that we all bonded with so much. He was a computer-engineering student and just about one of the brightest kids we’d met. He doesn’t have a Facebook because he knows how evil it is J He speaks English really well and always helped us when we wanted to learn new words in Italian. There was no way we wouldn’t have fun or go on some sort of adventure when we were with him- he is so full of life! This guy is one heck of a person and friend. If there is one person we will always remember from the trip it would have to be Renato.

Then there was me and Peter yet again and we were off to our camping villa outside of the city to meet with Anneke. There was the three of us left and we had nothing left but memories. I cried when we looked at pictures on Facebook and talked about all the crazy things that happened in the past month. But I always remember having a smile on my face while the tears rolled down my cheeks. There was never a thought in my head that could deter me from feeling so happy and in high spirits about my time in Rome. I will surely miss the neighborhood, the kebab shop and our favorite café and gelateria, la residenza, the workers in la residenza, the Italian students, the professors and professionals we met, the ponte 2010ers and the whole feeling of being in another country- a country I call my home- with so much to do and so much to learn and experience. Most importantly though I will miss the long, sweaty, hot, congested bus and Metro rides that we had to take nearly every day and sometimes twice a day to get around the city…NOT!

Il Fine :(

Need sleep. Five days of four hours of sleep or less. Need sleep.

The final week of the program was surely not spent getting much needed rest and relaxation. Heck no. The days were filled with final class trips and final meetings with professors and writing sessions in the computer lab. The nights were filled with a bunch of late night computer lab dance parties, gelato group outings, ping pong challenges using flip flops, trips out into the city and much much more. There wasn’t any time to sleep! We were enjoying our final days altogether and all the time. I couldn’t help but just want to go to bed at 9pm every night and when I actually tried to once my room got raided by all my friends and there was no way I was going to call it a night.

I’m so excited to have made new friends and especially grateful for how incredibly caring and supportive each person was to me. There is not one person that I didn’t get along with and not one person that I wouldn’t do anything for. I thank God every day for giving me this opportunity to spend a month in Rome alongside such fabulous people and giving me the chance to meet professionals in Italy and spend time in my home country. There are a lot of things that could have been different and things that I didn’t really enjoy that much, but in the end who really wants to focus on the negative when 99% of the trip was one heck of a positive experience.

Everyone began to leave at different times and it was starting to hit me that the end was here. Unfortunately there is an end to everything and now, at my age, I’m finally realizing that it’s true and that I need to accept everything as it is and let things go when it’s time, but at least I have new friends and amazing memories forever.

Matt left. Anneke left. Chris left. Sunday morning Jordan, Lucy and Brittany left. Then there was Pete and me. The final two standing and the final two left to hold down the American fort in la residenza. None of us had slept the night before because we wanted to pull an all-nighter altogether. The Italians spent the whole night with us as well and I have to say the final week was spent more getting to know them than anything. We did a lot of things together: ate in the mensa, got gelato, played in the computer lab, played ping pong and foosball, went on mini adventures in the city, rode bikes in Villa Borghese, and simply enjoyed talking with one another and practicing our language skills. Oh there was also joke-telling exchanges, but for some reason we didn’t think their jokes were funny and they didn’t think ours were either…so we scratched that whole things out. Who doesn’t think Knock Knock jokes are funny anyway?! Apparently they didn’t find “orange you glad I didn’t say apple” to be very funny…damn language barriers.

Anyway we bonded. Of course we bonded the final week, however it happened and they said that it was unlike any other year for them because those ponte people in the past had nothing on the 2010 group- socially I guess. There was something about group that was overall social, funny, personable, intelligent, HALO talented, as well as overall incredibly fascinating to the Italians- I won’t argue the truth.

We gave our final speeches at a dinner we had together in an old Church located near the Fontana di Trevi.

I started to cry then but then really started once Chris left because it was really bothering me that the hallway was getting emptier and emptier and there was such an imbalance. So I just cried. And then I cried some more. I seemed to be the only one crying though so then I just stopped- for a few minutes until Brittany started crying then it was all downhill from there.

We exchanged contact information and decided to visit each other as often and as soon as possible. The northeast group was surely going to make that happen, but the South group, as well as the Cali girl might need to put some more effort out to make it happen.

The rest of my time in Italy was spent alongside family members and old friends. I spent many afternoons cooking lunch for my Nonno and me and many nights sitting in bed writing and watching Italian TV, but that was exactly how I wanted to spend my time anyway. I had spent over a month and a half traveling and always on the go that I couldn’t imagine doing it for another week after the program. I wanted time to myself to relax and mentally prepare myself for going back home.

The final days are upon us

NOooooo...we are spending our final week in Rome together writing a 7-10 page paper! The past few days have consisted of very late night work sessions, gelato runs and a lot break out dance parties in the computer lab. The pressure of writing a long paper in a foreign country can do a lot to American students.

Aside from the late nights and early mornings we have enjoyed more meetings with professionals and professors of agriculture in Italy, art history, labor unions, and even the European Commission and the Parliament. The program has such great connections with prominent people in the country and through it we are able to meet with people and potentially get jobs or internships through them. The knowledge I have gained throughout my travels in Rome has stunned me! I came to Rome with the thoughts that it was going to be a big, dirty city with too many people and too many confusing transportation lines and though the latter two are quite accurate, the first two have been altered.

Upon reading the METRO during my ride on the METRO, I came across an article that actually said that Rome is one of the greenest cities in Europe in terms of green space. I am still on a hunt to justify this statement and plan on visiting Villa Borghese, which is filled with gardens and a museum that is said to have the most green space...the city is not necessarily dirty but I guess with the heat and the non-air conditioned public spaces comes sweaty people and the trash seems to shine more as the sun reflects off of it...it really depends on where you are because the closer you are to the tourist attractions, the more clean the area seems to be. Oh the politics of it...

The city is huge. Maybe not as big and complex as New York, but it is a pretty big city that with time one can memorize a lot of the hot spots and having only been here for three weeks I am already getting used to the public transportation stops and I can recognize the sites and some streets, but at first it seems to all hit you at once and can be overwhelming. There are people everywhere. No matter what time or where in the city. Everywhere. From all over the world and all with different intentions in mind. Each person has a story and it is quite amazing. I just sit and watch people pass by and try and guess 1. where they're from 2. who they're traveling with and for what reason 3. what they're planning on doing for the day and 4. just how much fun they're having in Rome. It's quite amusing and passes the time when sitting on 45 degree Celsius buses and on the crowded-germy METRO or even just while taking "una pausa" by a piazza. There is a huge difference with people watching in Philadelphia and in Rome because here there are so many more interesting people and people come from ALL over the world.

The nights have gotten longer and hotter and actually more fun because we have been spending more time talking and procrastinating with our work. It's just what Rome does and what it will continue to do until we hand in our final papers and give our final presentations. We're delaying our thoughts of actually leaving and we already established that tears will be shed and numbers exchanged. It's inevitable. Each of us has a life to continue after this journey we shared and it's pretty amazing that each one of us has come from different places with different outlooks on life and with different paths to follow in life.

One of the most life-changing things I have read this whole trip is THE ALCHEMIST. It's funny because I was making a list of all the books I wanted to read when I return home and on the list included THE ALCHEMIST. I walked into the bathroom one day and there it was on top of the windowsill. Someone from the program had received the book as a gift for the trip and I ended up borrowing it to read. I started on the beach on Saturday and finished the book on Tuesday. I just kept reading it: whenever I rode the METRO, in between classes and every night before bed and as I read, I kept notes on the beautiful sayings in the book. The book spoke about one's Personal Legend and love and truly touched my soul. I couldn't have read a better book at this point in my life. It has given me the confidence and motivation to move forward in life and it has helped quell the fears that have been holding me back. I am ready to take on the next step in my life and this is exactly what I wanted out of this trip.

This experience. This book. This time to myself has been one of the best things I could have given myself. I still have some time left here in Rome and here in Italy in general, so I am ready to continue on this path to discovering myself and refining what it is that I want to do though this will keep changing as time passes and as things around me change.

Just know...food is involved. ;)

OH yea...new word of the week= gelatare-v. to get gelato.
conjugations= gelato, gelati, gelata, gelatiamo, gelate, gelatano

more to come...the saga continues.

Un Buon Weekend

This past weekend I took two of my friends Lucy and Peter a.k.a Lucia and Pietro from la programma to visit Longano- where my family is from in Italy. We took a nice early train Saturday morning (after a late night out in Rome) to get to the train station where my grandfather or "Nonno" was waiting for us. It was so exciting to bring different people to the town because it is my second home and a place where I go to escape the stresses of life.

Longano is a town of only about 800 people that lies 700 m above sea level in in the mountains of Molise. The history traces back to the 13th century and medieval structures still stand today atop the mountains. Those that live in Longano spend their time sitting in the piazza, hanging out in one of the three bars in town and cooking and eating meals together with their families- among other things. The town is not somewhere you go if you want to do touristy things or go places. It is a true vacation spot with the perfect environment for true European living: eating, walking, sleeping, spending time with friends and family, relaxing some more and enjoying the good life. One can get spoiled for staying too long, but it is well worth the visit especially in the summer when it is most active with festivals.

Our weekend was the typical restful experience that each of us needed after weeks of hustle and bustle in Rome. We started off by breathing in the fresh mountain air and cleansing our lungs of the Roman pollutants. Lucky us that we made it into Isernia, the bigger town near Longano, just in time for the weekly Saturday mercato. We wandered around the market and Lucia bought a dress and Pietro bought a pair of shoes. It was a very hot day in the city, but I knew once we got to Longano that altitude would change, as well as the temperature. We met Nonno at a gas station after having bought some food for the weekend at the most popular supermarket in the area- Conad and were off to get some pranzo.

For some reason two of the restaurants we stopped at were closed because of a matrimonio that was taking place Saturday, but the third place was definitely the winner. We sat inside this beautiful round room with windows all around overlooking a lake and mountains in the distance. I was so impressed and the location operated as a agriturismo and place to have weddings and parties. Gorgeous! We took pictures after our amazing lunch. I ordered frutti di mare that included squid, shrimp and more and for my main dish I ordered seafood risotto. It was all so tasty but a bit rushed and the waitress barely paid attention to us because of the wedding that was going on in the next room. We discovered that everything went full circle because the previous places we tried to eat at were closed for a wedding and the wedding at the restaurant was for those same two people- pretty funny.

The time had come for us to drive up the mountains to get to Longano and I was so pumped to show Lucia and Pietro around! I told them stories about the land as we made our way up and we had a great time driving past mountains and breathtaking landscapes. Once we got to the top and Nonno parked his car we got to the house and left within 10 minutes to go for a hike.

I took a second to realize I was back home and I took in all that was around me and in the meantime realized that years can pass and things still remain the same, but its me that changes more and more every time I visit. It's a pretty crazy thing that happens every time I go to Longano. I get sucked in to all its beauty and the wonders of the mountains and just how isolated it is.

Our two hour hike was quite worth it as we found bones and seashells and various other things native to the land. It was great to wander off path a bit and discover places I've never been. It's funny how I open others' minds up to the town, but they also help open me up to new things as well. We took pictures galore and got a great workout climbing up and down the hills. It was time to take a nice long nap so we headed inside and slept for a good two hours.

The rest of the weekend was spent in the house munching on homecooked food and local favorites like fried potatoes and peppers and pasta and general dishes. We also sat and talked to nonno and he told us about 50 stories in two days. Things went really great and Lucia and Pietro got a whole tour of the town in the short time we were there. The best part of all I think is when we were at the top of the mountain and we could look out to see the star-filled sky. We could see constellations and so many stars twinkling- I have never seen this many stars before! It was a perfect way to end the weekend in a town that has so much history, but also so much potential for a thriving future.

Playing Catch-up

So I haven't written in a bit of time because I have been on the move non-stop since I parked myself in la residenza in Rome. There have been days where I don't even use the Internet, which really a bad thing because everyone needs a break. I am on my way to catching up and I have confidence that it'll happen slowly but surely. To make it easier for me and you I will break some things down in categories...

TRANSPORTATION:
The past two weeks have been filled with rides in and out of the city on both the Metro and the bus. At this point we have sweat off the equivalent of our body weights and continue to do so just with sitting in our rooms. The humidity varies, but it is mostly high and unbearable. The worst part about it is getting on the Metro and the bus and having to squish in between other sweaty people and rubbing body parts with complete strangers. We make it through in one piece most of the time but it is not pleasant.

The only way we can get into the city for class, for shopping, for fun is if we take the hour long transportation adventure, so we deal. Each of us complains just about every minute and by the time we get back to la residenza we fight for the showers and don't go near each other until we're washed up.

ACADEMICS:
The discussions we have been attending are absolutely incredible. Each professor that speaks to our group has a way of engaging us in a way that includes each of our interest and each of our backgrounds both culturally and academically. We have two classes a day- one starting early in the morning and one starting right before dinner around 4:30/5. Each is two hours long. Each is right before a meal, which makes it hard to concentrate. There have been times where one or two of us start to doze off and totally zone out of the whole Italian speaking thing. It's not an easy thing to do. My Italian will definitely improve after this month though, so that's what I'm looking forward to.

We have met many important people thus far including US Embassy people, political advisers, media affiliates, Roman history experts, etc. The list goes on and it will continue to grow through the end of July.

FOOD:
Let's talk about how great the food in the cafeteria is here because we are crazy obsessed with the choices and how consistent the deliciousness of it is! We look forward to our pranzo (lunch) and our dinner meals in la mensa (cafeteria) and make sure to always be on time. They know we're the Americans because somehow we end up getting to the mensa 10 minutes before it even opens. Our stomachs need to be fed!

For me, they always serve a vegetable, salad, fruit and sometimes even rice and of course the usual pasta dish. There are always options and the little olive oil, vinegar and seasoning table helps the dishes come to life. We can add whatever seasoning we want and make our dishes personalized. For me, I usually blend together a carb, a salad and some fruit and mix it all together in one huge bowl and chow down until not even oil and vinegar is left at the bottom. Pretty amazing...don't worry the workout routine I have here keeps me fit and the food doesn't affect me I make sure to keep on top of it.

RECREATION:
Although we walk a lot and get our exercise that way, there are other ways we can work out and stay healthy to counteract our consumption of a lot of pasta and gelato. There is a fantastic gym in the basement of la residenza, however I like to call it the unofficial sauna because every time I work out in there regardless of the length of time- I sweat. I sweat as if I were sitting in a 120 degree sauna...as if I chose to sit in a boiling room with no ventilation and no relief whatsoever. The positive effects is that my pores are nice and clean and my body releases plenty of toxins while working out- it's a 50/50 experience.

The other students want me to start an exercise regime and teach an exercise class, so I said sure why not! We'll see if that works out...

The World Cup has been one of the main forms of entertainment for our group. We get together in one of the coolest rooms in the building to watch the games and sit with the other Italian and international students living here. It's fun to argue about teams with them and to cheer even if there's no reason. Now that it's getting toward the end, we have been taking our viewing parties outside the building. We watched the Holland and Uruguay game at a Piazza in the city with about 500+ people. It was so exciting! They had a huge screen with a stage and concession stands all around. We witnessed the Holland victory and celebrated with the fans after with a nice dance party in the middle of the piazza. It was priceless.

Other forms of recreation and fun available to us:

1. trips into the city
2. checking out the historical sites of Rome
3. taking a walk to get gelato
4. exploring the nightlife in Rome
5. enjoying the music and discoteca scene that Europe has to offer
6. taking trips to nearby beaches and hot spots near Rome

MUSIC
Speaking of music and the discoteca scene...

So far the top 5 hottest song of this summer are:

1. "Waka Waka"- Shakira
2. "Stereo Love"-Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina
3. "Alors On Danse"- Stromae
4. "We No Speak Americano"- Yolanda Be Cool and DCup
5. "Fight for this Love"- Cheryl Cole

PIctures from la programma

<<<----our trip to Lago Bracciano our trip to Villa Adriana---->>>

La Programma parte due

From now until the end of July I will be living in Rome. The program that I am participating in is not only something that will improve my language skills, but it will also expand my mind in terms of politics, culture and religion with both Italy and America. I am now an official bi-cultural ambassador. Pretty sweet right? Well, with that title comes a lot of responsibility and a lot of work that is well worth the experience. We are staying at a residenza that offers living and three meals a day- vegetarian friendly and all!

The meals are consistently delicious and that seems to be one (just one) of the most important things for me- of course. Everyone in the program is fantastic and we have already established a bond among all of us. It feels so great to be with people who are just as passionate about the Italian culture and language. Each of them is very different and we are all learning so much from just talking and hanging out with one another.

The work load is light and though there are papers and readings to do, there is tons of free time that we take advantage of by either napping, going on Skype, working out, or just perusing the Web. I can't help but love this feeling of being in college again and it's got me a bit upset because this is the last time that I will have this sort of experience. Never fear though- I have one month of it, which is plenty of time for me to take advantage of it and hopefully not miss it that much by the end.

These days are going to be filled with classes, food and here and there we'll also be visiting sites in and around Rome, as well as in Italy in general. Our schedule is fantastic and we have so many meetings with government officials and even journalists and professional historians. This is such a great bridge for me bringing me from college life to reality. I guess you can say that I'm bridging the Italian-America cultures on the outside, but then bridging my life on the inside.

For holiday, we went to Lake Bracciano for a day on the sand and in the sun. It was great because I got to build on my already existing tan, as well as get time to relax and chill with my new friends. It was so fun until I lost my favorite heart ring in the lake. I was in shock and everyone was looking around in the water for it, but no luck. It was sad to lose it because I had been wearing it for so long and it was my favorite ring. A part of me is missing now, but my saying now is...I left my heart in Italia.

Very nice right? Well, I literally did.

I probably won't write as often now that I am in class and getting work done, but I will keep you updated on where I go and what I eat. :)

La Programma

We woke up at 6:30am and headed out to Rome to drop Kaitlyn off at the airport, however she lost her passport and she couldn't leave on the plane home for today. She had to stay in Italy for a few more days, which really isn't a bad thing but it surely is when you don't have any of your ID's or your credit card or your passport to get you home. So she has to do a run around and get those things before heading home to America.

I on the other hand have to go to my program that I came to Italy for, which is centered in Rome. I arrived bright and early and was greeted by the other members of the program who arrived yesterday and Friday from the states to participate in the program as well. I received a scholarship to study in Rome for a month and learn about the Italian culture, language, politics and more. It is going to be one heck of a month. I am anxious to get started and can't wait to spend more time with the people here in Italy. There is a lot more that I need to learn about my culture and this is the perfect opportunity and the perfect time in my life to do so.

The first thing I did when I got into the residence hall was put away all of my clothes and organize my belongings and then of course it was time for a nice, long nap. I napped until it was lunch time and we ate together in the cafeteria. Alongside us were other students from around Europe who come to the institute to study as well. We ate a classic Italian meal with spaghetti and salad and ended with fruit, but we still managed to take a walk together to il mercato to buy things for our rooms and the essential items to live in the hall. It was like being back in college again except now I wasn't in North Philadelphia, but rather a beautiful, historic city in Europe- what a difference!

Since the World Cup is still going on and USA lost yesterday, we managed to watch the England vs. Germany game together in the TV lounge and spent some quality time together before hitting the books and preparing for our first lesson domani (tomorrow). Each of the students I'm studying with has a great personality and we are all very different, but have so much in common. I think because the group is so small we'll be able to learn more about each other and really form a strong bond. Our instructor is a great guy from the South in America and he is so enthusiastic about having us in Rome. He is so ready to take us around and show us all that Rome has to offer, as well as other places in and around the city.

I spent the rest of the night settling in and watching soccer with some residents of the university. The work started after my hour workout in the crazy cool gym in the basement. That's about all we did for the first day of the programam- Buona notte.

Una bella famiglia, una bella vita

This weekend was spent visiting my relatives in Italy. I am from a small town about two hours southeast of Rome and it's a town with massive mountains and a beautiful landscape. It is truly a hidden gem in Italy that has yet to be discovered by tourists and such- but I have some plans on how to do this...

I don't think I went more then three hours without eating something- my diet consisted of potatoes, zucchini, bread, pasta, certain dolci and just anything my family fed me and forced me to consume. I wasn't complaining much because I still managed to get my runs in up and down the mountains and burn off a few calories here and there.

Every time I visit the town I fall in love with it all over again. I don't know if it's the mountain air or what, but the pull that the town has on me is quite strong. Kait and I went for the usual Saturday morning market run after getting a great night's sleep and we shopped for coffee and chocolate and she stopped for a quick cappuccino. The day was still young and we headed back to the house to clean up a bit and prepare for departure tomorrow. There's not really much to do in the town during the day, so it was perfect for us to lay back and not have to be somewhere at a certain time. I took advantage of the time by writing and catching up on some reading. We went for a long hour run and workout through the mountains and farm land and checked out some new dirt roads. It was great and I felt amazing after! All those carbs have me going strong!

Once we settled a bit and showered especially, we got ready to visit more family members and head out for a bit, but mother nature had a different plan for us. It poured and hailed for two hours straight and everything was flooding. We watched the water pour down the cobblestone hills and and down to the bottom of the town. The temperature dropped about 30 degrees and we were forced to wear our jackets! It goes from being 80 degrees to 30 degrees phew. Well, we enjoyed a cool (for lack of a better word) night out on the town, but managed to make it back in time to head out for Rome.

Home is where the food is...

Good morning- went for another run early to get my body going and to digest the late night pizza. I felt even better because I went even farther and got to the top of Piazzele Michelangelo and looked down at the city below. I remembered how much I truly love the city and what I had missed since last year. Just looking down at the sites and the beauty of the city itself without the poverty, the rude people and the sometimes dirty streets- from above all of that doesn’t matter and you get to appreciate all that was in the early centuries.

We had to leave today and I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around leaving Florence again. Ugh. We went to the train station and got some breakfast and waited for the train to Rome. Once we went to Rome, we got off and waited for the train to Isernia. The city where my grandfather was waiting for us. J I couldn’t wait to go and meet him there. It was so exciting! I wanted to go and relax with him and the rest of the family and do what I usually do- walk up big hills, eat about every 2 hours, visit family and get forced food into my mouth, walk up some more hills and go shopping! It couldn’t get any better. OH yea and I forgot- SLEEP. The town of Longano- la citta del vento (the city of wind).A place where all your dreams come true- good food, good views, great bars, fun people and the perfect sleeping weather.

When we arrived it was time to go to the market and stock up on food to eat for the weekend. I definitely bought more than I could eat in a day and a half, but I couldn’t control myself! I cooked up a great dinner of potatoes, zucchini, rice pasta, tuna sauce, fresh bread, and salad and olives. What a great dinner- we stuffed our faces! It was great catching up with my grandpop and we decided to go into town and visit more family and hang out outside, but it was cold! We went from hot hot hot weather to cold cold chilly weather.

and looked down at the city below. I remembered how much I truly love the city and what I had missed since last year. Just looking down at the sites and the beauty of the city itself without the poverty, the rude people and the sometimes dirty streets- from above all of that doesn’t matter and you get to appreciate all that was in the early centuries.

We had to leave today and I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around leaving Florence again. Ugh. We went to the train station and got some breakfast and waited for the train to Rome. Once we went to Rome, we got off and waited for the train to Isernia. The city where my grandfather was waiting for us. J I couldn’t wait to go and meet him there. It was so exciting! I wanted to go and relax with him and the rest of the family and do what I usually do- walk up big hills, eat about every 2 hours, visit family and get forced food into my mouth, walk up some more hills and go shopping! It couldn’t get any better. OH yea and I forgot- SLEEP. The town of Longano- la citta del vento (the city of wind).A place where all your dreams come true- good food, good views, great bars, fun people and the perfect sleeping weather.

When we arrived it was time to go to the market and stock up on food to eat for the weekend. I definitely bought more than I could eat in a day and a half, but I couldn’t control myself! I cooked up a great dinner of potatoes, zucchini, rice pasta, tuna sauce, fresh bread, and salad and olives. What a great dinner- we stuffed our faces! It was great catching up with my grandpop and we decided to go into town and visit more family and hang out outside, but it was cold! We went from hot hot hot weather to cold cold chilly weather.

and looked down at the city below. I remembered how much I truly love the city and what I had missed since last year. Just looking down at the sites and the beauty of the city itself without the poverty, the rude people and the sometimes dirty streets- from above all of that doesn’t matter and you get to appreciate all that was in the early centuries.

We had to leave today and I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around leaving Florence again. Ugh. We went to the train station and got some breakfast and waited for the train to Rome. Once we went to Rome, we got off and waited for the train to Isernia. The city where my grandfather was waiting for us. I couldn’t wait to go and meet him there. It was so exciting! I wanted to go and relax with him and the rest of the family and do what I usually do- walk up big hills, eat about every 2 hours, visit family and get forced food into my mouth, walk up some more hills and go shopping! It couldn’t get any better. OH yea and I forgot- SLEEP. The town of Longano- la citta del vento (the city of wind).A place where all your dreams come true- good food, good views, great bars, fun people and the perfect sleeping weather.

When we arrived it was time to go to the market and stock up on food to eat for the weekend. I definitely bought more than I could eat in a day and a half, but I couldn’t control myself! I cooked up a great dinner of potatoes, zucchini, rice pasta, tuna sauce, fresh bread, and salad and olives. What a great dinner- we stuffed our faces! It was great catching up with my grandpop and we decided to go into town and visit more family and hang out outside, but it was cold! We went from hot hot hot weather to cold cold chilly weather. What a great night's sleep up in the mountain air!