Scholars

Last night, the whole group taxied our way over to a disco called Gilda. The cover was 15 euro for girls and 20 for boys. That is so expensive, but we thought since it was our first experience out we may as well spend money. It was raging! We danced and chilled with some Italians then once a few members of the group got kicked out, we thought it was time to leave. A bunch of us took a cab back to our apartment and hung out until 5am. We had to be somewhere at 11am, so it was very difficult waking up this monring with only 5 hours of sleep. My roommate and I stayed in our beds until about 10:40am, and then managed to get dressed and meet the group for our activity.

Today was a pretty relaxing day especially since most of the Italian restaurants and shops close early on Sundays. (as early as 1pm!) Our adventure today was to make an Italian style pasta known as Spaghetti al Pomodoro with basil. Each apartment was paired up with two Italians and we were supposed to go shopping with them to find the ingredients to make the dish. Each Sunday, there is a huge market right outside our apartment. Everything can be bought there such as leather coats, shoes, oranges, purses, jewelry etc. Literally anything you want to buy and its cheap! We went to our local super market to buy the ingredients. We went back to our apartment and made the pasta dish. It was amazing! Italians love to make things from scratch, so the sauce was a mixture of cut tomatoes, olive oil and salt. So delicious! I finished my entire bowl!


After eating, the Italians left and Kelsey (my roommate) and I took a 2.5 hour nap. It was a much needed nap. We passed out. The Bears were playing today, so the group decided to watch the game at an Irish pub called Scholars. It was packed with every American who wanted to watch the Bears game or soccer game. It was a very chill and laid back pub. We plan to go back at least once a week, and we are definitely going back on Sunday when the Bears play again. We ordered some food and watched the game. We really liked this bar because it reminded us of home/America and made us feel comfortable. We also became friends with one of the staff member's, Bernard. This is going to be a very fun semester, especially at Scholars. I got tired and was not in the mood to stay out late, so I went back early with a few people.

Tomorrow we have a two hour orientation about school and our program, then a 3 hour break, and back to school for Food and Culture from 3-430. It will be a very busy day, but I cannot wait to start the program officially.

Ciao!
-Marisa