Under the Tuscan Sun

Siena looks like a postcard, it is so beautiful here.

I have learned a lot this past week about the language, about the history of Siena and about Italian boys... 

OK so about school first, I LOVE it! I am loving Italian. The class is a bit chaotic but I am finding that I can understand Italian fairly well, depending on who is talking to me. Some people are harder to understand than others. It helps a lot to be immersed in the language. I have to know more Italian being in Siena than in Rome because there are less tourists and less people who know English, but that has given me a chance to practice. It amazes me that even when I can't communicate with someone in words we can still understand each other through body language. It is so cool to see and be a part of. Especially at church even though I can't understand what is being said half the time I can still feel the spirit and communicate with this sweet ward that way. 

The cooking class is amazing! A little different than I thought it would be but it is my favorite class by far. We had the class on Wednesday and we made so many delicious things. You ready for this?

Mozzarella, parmesan and gorgonzola cheese focaccia.

Spinach and ricotta, homemade ravioli with a sage and butter sauce and a simple basil, tomato sauce.

Veal with a tomato and tarragon sauce.

Floretine style peas with pancetta and onion.

Vanilla, orange panna cotta. 

It was heaven. All of it. So much food though, I had a big food baby after that one. The chef was awesome, he called me a cook because I could flip the peas in the pan and he watched me make the veal dish :) I was beaming after he told me that. That's a pretty big compliment for me.

My humanities classes are going well so far. We are reading Dante's Inferno in one of them, and I am loving it! It's really twisted but very interesting. We take trips sometimes for class and see churches or museums and learn hands on. I learn so much better that way, so this has been a blessing for me.

My host mom is amazing! Her name is Pazit and she is a college professor. She has a daughter and a son and is single and has an amazing apartment. Her daughter is so cool! We have hung out with her a few times already and she is great. Pazit and her daughter speak English really well so it has been so helpful to have them teach us Italian but also know English. It helps a lot. Pazit is an amazing cook. She always has a beautiful dinner ready for us every night. We always start with a pasta dish and then have salad and some sort of main entree and we always end with gelato. It's always so good!! She is going to have me help her cook sometime and I can't wait. 

My roommates and I have been going out to the Campo recently which is the main piazza and a huge part of the social life in Siena. We have become good friends with other students from our school, Joel is Australian and Norbert is Irish. They are both great people and it's been nice to make friends outside of our group. They have been teaching us a lot about the social life in Siena. They have both been here for a while so they have learned all the ins and outs of Siena. They have taught us a lot about how Italians flirt and what to look out for and what to stay away from. So don't worry mom and dad I won't fall for just any Italian guy that talks to me ;)

On Friday and Saturday we took group trips to the Duomo of Siena and to Volterra and San Gimignano. And no they did not film New Moon in Volterra. Stupid right? I guess they filmed that scene where Edward is going to commit vampire suicide in another town close to Volterra. Come on New Moon get it right... Voltera was beautiful though. There we went to an Etruscan museum and then had lunch. San Gimignano was just as beautiful. The town used to be an Etruscan version of Manhattan. All the buildings there used to be tall towers and a few are still intact. There we got "The Best Gelato in the World," it was really good. I got raspberry and rosemary, blackberry and lavender and lemon. They were all delicious! The raspberry and rosemary was my favorite, my sister Lauren would have thought it tasted like soap but I loved it and want to experiment with those two flavors. 

Every day I am feeling more and more like a local here. Siena is a college town so there are a lot of other students here and people my age which is nice. There are a lot of tourists that come through here but they are gone by nighttime. Which is very different from Rome. I have also been taking walks by myself around the city, which is necessary when you are constantly surrounded by your group. I love them all so much but sometimes I need time to myself. I have found a few quiet places that have gorgeous views, where I read or just sit and think. 

All in all Siena is wonderful. I love it here so much. We have only been here for a week but I feel like I have been here for months. Ok now it's time for some picture overload.

My beautiful and amazing roommate Alli

My bed :)

View from the dining room

The Campo. Very different place at night but always beautiful.

This is where we have Sacrament Meeting, Relief Society and Sunday school. We quadruple the size of the ward. 

Entrance to our school and another one of my beautiful roommates Kate.

The beautiful kitchen where we have our cooking class.

View from a balcony just off the kitchen.

Represent!

First day of school :)

The Duomo

The Duomo has the most gorgeous marble floors I have ever seen. This month we were lucky enough to see them uncovered. They only uncover the floors one month out of the year.

View from the unfinished part of the Duomo

The Campo from the unfinished part of the Duomo.

Mexican food in Italy? Not so bad. Way better at home though.

Yes she is actually sitting in the bush. This is my favorite picture ever.

We had a Hurcules moment :)

This is what I look like when I am tired and really hungry and I don't want to be in a museum anymore.

Long live the King

San Gimignano

I am a sucker for a pretty view

Delicious gelato!

No wonder my happy heart sings

Friday night was our last night in Rome, and I was sad to leave it... until I got to Siena. 

To recap the last few days in Rome, we basically went to museums and churches. They were all beautiful and I learned a lot.  

Tuesday we got to sleep in! It was much needed. Rome wiped me out! Then we went to the Capitoline Museum, which is fairly close to the Colosseum. The museum was interesting and there were many beautiful pieces of art but after a while everything started to look the same. But at the top of the museum there is a gorgeous view of Rome! After the museum a few of the girls and I went on a quest to find a bakery and pizzeria we found online. They were both were incredible! The pizza was the best I've had in Rome. And I always love a good pastry. 

It was closed so this is the closest I got.

 Wednesday my roommates and I were supposed to meet the group at the Villa Borghese but ended up getting very lost and had our own little adventure instead. The Villa Borghese is the equivalent to Central Park pretty much. It is very beautiful! We spent some time there just people watching and enjoying the beautiful day. There was a guy sitting on a bench close to us playing beautiful classical guitar. It was a nice little moment :) We then started talking to the owner of a gelato place in the park for a very long time and ended up making plans with him for dinner that night. So we met up with him later that night at his gelato cart and little caffe and had appetizers before we even got to the restaurant we were going to, it was a lot of food! He also owns a golf cart business so he had this big eight person golf cart to take us to dinner. It was so magical driving through the streets of Rome on that thing. It was the closest thing to riding a vespa through the streets. Very cool way to the see the city especially at night, Rome is so pretty at night! The restaurant he took us to was one of his favorites and he knew the owner. This place was everything I wanted it to be and more. I felt like I was going into someone's home, the food was amazing, the restaurant was quaint with romantic lighting. I was in heaven. It was nice being able to talk to an Italian about the culture and the food. We also got to talk to the owner of the restaurant. Her name is Fatima and she told me I can come back and cook with her anytime :) This was exactly what I wanted to do here. Enjoy great food with a local and be able to learn more about their culture. It was such a perfect night! I am so glad we didn't end up with the group for the day. I don't have pictures of the dinner but here are a few of the park.

Thursday and Friday we went to some beautiful churches. And Kaity and I went back to that restaurant. Fatima remembered me (she told me I have her cat's eyes) And we enjoyed another fabulous, delicious meal. It took us three hours to eat! We had four courses but we took our time enjoying each dish and talking with each other and just enjoying life. I love that people enjoy meals here and don't just try to rush through a meal. I am definitely going to do that more especially back home. After dinner Kaity and I went to the Colosseum to see it at night and just enjoy something beautiful from Rome one more time.

Saturday morning we all loaded on a bus and drove out of Rome and into Tuscany. The drive was beautiful! We drove past sunflower fields and wineries and olive trees. Tuscany is so beautiful! On the way we stopped at a little Tuscan town and had some lunch and then Kaity, Forest, Stormie, Dr. Stanford and I took a tour of a medieval castle. The view from the top of this castle was breathtaking! The whole town looks like a postcard. Everything is so cute. We came at lunch so a lot of shops were closed and no one was out. So the sreets were very empty, which was a little weird but it was a very nice break from the busy streets of Rome. 

When we got to Siena, we were dropped off at a train station and everyone was just waiting to be picked up by their host families. We all felt like orphans waiting to be adopted. It was pretty funny and nerveracking at the same time. 

I am going to have another post dedicated to my new home and my Italian mom and my classes and my new ward. There is so much to say and this post is already too long. To sum it up for now, I am in love with Siena and I feel at home already! Stay tuned for lots more pictures and stories :)