A Roman Holiday: 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.