Lezioni

Classes have started! woohoo. I am taking Ancient Greek- reading "The Odyssey," Italian, Mediterranean Cultures (aka History of Sicily), and Baroque Art History. Thus far, they look like they will be really challenging, but worth the effort. All of the professors are cool and there are only 2 people in my italian class, which means I should really improve my language skills.

In other news this week, I have continued to do lots of exploring throughout Catania. There is a big festival for Saint Agatha going on that started on and goes through this weekend. I have been woken up or classes have been interrupted by fireworks numerous times, but despite the disturbances, the energy of the city is really cool to experience. People walk around in these all-white robes and schools and businesses are closed to celebrate.

In my exploring, I try to eat lots of different things. There is an awesome fish market here in the city every morning. It is essentially a farmer's market because besides fish it also has all kinds of fresh meat, cheese, veggies, fruits, olives, bread etc. Unfortunately for me, I don't have access to a kitchen, but I like to go and find things to eat that are already cooked. I ate some really really good cheese yesterday and some fresh mussels (yum!) with a side of some fresh baked bread. I followed that up with some gelatto. I love going out and getting gelatto. 1)It's cheap. 2) It's really tasty. 3) The main reason- it gives me a lot of opportunities to strike up conversations with random Italian people and people watch as I devour my snack. I'm starting to be able to pick up on a decent amount of Italian and have small conversations. But we grabbed our lunch and ate it in la Piazza Duomo (the square) and watched old men joke around, little kids chase each other through the streets, and such. This is pretty much my favorite thing to do. Eating time always brings about forced interaction with Italians which I love. I'm even becoming friends with a little cafe owner. At first she hated me because I was so indecisive, but now as my Italian skills have improved, she loves me and laughs and chats with me when I come in. She also has great food, which she cooks (the meat at least) in a giant wood-burning roaster. The roasted chicken is to die for and so are the veggies and shish kebabs.

I have really started to notice how much attention my blonde hair gets. Yesterday on the way to school an old man (probably about 70 years old) was driving in his car and continued to honk. Usually people here honk when they are turning just to let you know there is a car coming and you better hurry your little butt up and cross that street- but I wasn't anywhere near a crosswalk. After the man passed me, he stopped his car in the middle of the road, leaned out the window and waved at me. All I could do is laugh and wave back. I have had several similar expereinces. There aren't really any Americans here in Catania so I REALLY stand out. The people are really nice though. They never harrasses me- they just stare for several seconds and then move on.

Tonight we are going to part of the Saint Agatha festival so I will have to post soon. Until then, ciao!