After falling off of the face of the earth for about a week and a half, I am happy to announce that I survived midterms! My brain was a mish mash of graphs, indifference curves, supply and demand, and trying to wrap my brain around Krugman's economies of scale approach to trade... yeah.
Mixed into that was trying to stuff in Russian vocabulary and grammar (what language needs 6 cases?). Here is an example of the wonderful exceptions and rules we get to contend with while studying the language of the Motherland:
If you are talking about one of something, you use the nominative singular case.
If you are talking about 2,3, or 4 things, you use genitive singular
If you want to discuss 5 or more things, you use genitive plural.
Seriously?
Yana, my Russian language teacher, told us once that maybe big decision makers at various points in history drank too much vodka , fell over, and said things incorrectly but because they're in charge it had to stick. Yep, another exception to the rule! Khorosho!
After completing my last midterm last Wednesday, I rushed home to pack a very small bag so as not to disobey Ryanair's regulations and Thursday afternoon, I flew to beautiful Germany!
As I landed, I could not get a rediculous grin off of my face. The cold air and falling rain were completely lost on me. I simply love that country and being surrounded by the old familliar things I had forgotten how much I adore... Apfelschorle, bars that serve each kind of beer in its own glass, bakeries around every corner, people who walk everywhere (and for fun!), things running on time, oh it goes on. I ran around the airport talking to everyone who would speak w' me. I was happy that my language skills, while horribly deteorated, still exist somewhere in the back hollows of my brain (trying to distinguish itself from the terrible Italian and Russian concepts that muddle my thoughts).
Perhaps the ticket is cheap, but it lands a passenger at Frankfurt Hahn's airport, about a zillion miles from anything but other Ryanair planes. To get anywhere, hop on a bus. Mine took me to Frankfurt's main train station (which is an hour and a half from Hahn... indicating that perhaps the first part of the airport's name is a bit of a stretch...). My bus ride was enhanced by the lady sitting next to me, a Mexican Mormon who had actually done her LDS mission work in Allentown, Pennsylvania... needless to say she had an interesting story to tell :)
Add a train ride to the mix, and finally I was in Stuttgart, walking down the train platform. People around me broke off from the herd as they found their friends and family and hugged them. I knew my hug was waiting at the end of the platform... yep, there it was! Aunt Mary was a willing provider. We took the S Bahn to her car and she drove me to her lovely place outside of the city.
That day, I rode in: A taxi, plane, underground, bus, train, and privately owned vehicle. Put John Candy and Steve Martin to shame ;)
The next day, I got the supreme honor of going onto the base and getting to experience the commisary! Oh the peanut butter! The beef jerkey! The concept that salads don't have to ALWAYS have balsalmic vinegar on them... wonders to be beheld. Dr. Pepper!
We had a lovely evening prepping for the next day, which was dominated (save a run and a trip to the Ritter Sport outlet- holla at ya Knusperkeks!) by getting ready for our Thanksgiving Day, observed. Snow joined us in afternoon and decorated the landscape, enhancing the festive nature even if we didn't have a parade to watch.
I made my first ever pumpkin pies (which I added some secret ingredients to, much to Aunt Mary's chagrin). Three guests joined us for a wonderful dinner party. Our gracious hostess made a champagne punch, and we began with pumpkin soup, followed by salads, followed by a very traditional meal... Turkey, mashed taters, cranberries, stuffing- cornbread and regular, green beans, and just to mix it up, some roasted veggies, Italian style with a balsalmic reduction (wonder who made that...). Oh it was fantastic and the company was wonderful.
The next day brought snow and a return trip, this time on Air France. I returned to Bologna refreshed and ready to take on another half of a semester. This Thanksgiving day, I am shirking tradition with friends... two of my girlies are hosting a middle-eastern themed dinner party. Not to worry, Student Government will be hosting a HUGE thanksgiving dinner on Saturday that will dominate the day... after of course I am out of Russian Politics class. Multi Cultural Thanksgivings! I am grateful to be here and have this opportunity.
I am thinking of each of you and wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving day filled with TOO MUCH of everything: Family, football, food, pie, ice cream, walks, laughs, trivial persuit, parades, and naps!
Cheers and love to you!
11.13.2008
Chocolate Festival!
There is a sad consequence to my decision to move to Italy... my yearly pilgrimage to Fairfax, Virginia for the annual Chocolate Festival with the beautiful women on my mom's side of the family is a victim of geography.
While I may miss this wonderful opportunity to sample the D.C. metro area's finest confections, fear not, I have found another chocolate festival to fill the hole in my heart (and belly).
Perugia is a populare small city that has its own chocolate company and hosts a big chocolate festival each year. It's most well known product has to be "Baci" (Kisses- yummy chocolate bon-bons that are filled with hazelnut goodness- you can get them at the checkout of any grocery store) 
This year, the event was sponsored by Eurochocolate, a Europe wide chocolate organization that has festivals a few times a year in different European cities. The next one is in February in Switzerland!
The entire small city, a beautiful place, 
transforms to accomodate the massive influx of chocolate craving Italians and foreigners! Special "Choco-Line" busses circulate perpetually taking drooling visitors from the train station up the great hill to the ancient part of the city. Rachel and I wanted to do it in a day, but knew about all our school work obligations so we got up at 5am on Sunday, hopped on an early train, studied on the way there... ok that's a stretch... we began studying when we were spotted by a group of Ph.D. students from Florence who had been partying all night in Bologna. They were from all over Europe and convinced us to join them as they sang Irish and Scottish folk songs... much to the chagrin of the sleepy eyed passengers who were not still drinking Heineken at 7:15 am. We didn't partake in that part but enjoyed the camaraderie on our commute.
transforms to accomodate the massive influx of chocolate craving Italians and foreigners! Special "Choco-Line" busses circulate perpetually taking drooling visitors from the train station up the great hill to the ancient part of the city. Rachel and I wanted to do it in a day, but knew about all our school work obligations so we got up at 5am on Sunday, hopped on an early train, studied on the way there... ok that's a stretch... we began studying when we were spotted by a group of Ph.D. students from Florence who had been partying all night in Bologna. They were from all over Europe and convinced us to join them as they sang Irish and Scottish folk songs... much to the chagrin of the sleepy eyed passengers who were not still drinking Heineken at 7:15 am. We didn't partake in that part but enjoyed the camaraderie on our commute.Once you arrive and take the bus, you make your way up a walkway to an old stone castle where the stands begin. Exiting the establishment, you find yourself completely crowded on each side and herding yourself along in between all the stands by every chocolate maker you can imagine. Some are giving small samples- be ready to push! Chocolate liquor, chocolate bars, confections, spreads (think of 20 varieties of Nutella), crepes, truffles, even pasta with cocoa in it are everywhere you look. It's hard to fully describe the smells, but heavenly begins... It was great to see all the fancy chefs in big hats putting together
plates of chocolate slices and cream or making new bon bons. Live music peppered the afternoon but the majority of the noise came from the masses anxiously ordering their deliciousness! Children milled about with candy in both hands and smears on their blissful faces. Parents juggled balloons and bags of treats and tried to find the time to dabble in the liquors served in chocolate shot glasses. Pictures try to make up for my vocabulary inadequacies:
plates of chocolate slices and cream or making new bon bons. Live music peppered the afternoon but the majority of the noise came from the masses anxiously ordering their deliciousness! Children milled about with candy in both hands and smears on their blissful faces. Parents juggled balloons and bags of treats and tried to find the time to dabble in the liquors served in chocolate shot glasses. Pictures try to make up for my vocabulary inadequacies: 
In addition, there were some specialty food stands set up. I got to sample truffle (the mushroom variety) spreads, truffle cheese and salami, and ended up buying some porcini/truffle spread that made the most incredible pasta and eggs for me for a few weeks to come :)
We hopped on an over-crowded train early in the afternoon and had to stand for over an hour until our connection in an unknown city (the train out of our normal connection city was completely sold out by the time we tried to get our tickets that morning- this chocofest is serious business) and found a wonderful street market where we found wonderful mediterranean dried fruits and olives that provided some real substinance to the day.
Amazingly, we got a lot of schoolwork done on those long train rides and counted the entire day as a success. My roommates, who bailed at the last minute, were also most grateful as they were rewarded for their absence with treats :)
We hopped on an over-crowded train early in the afternoon and had to stand for over an hour until our connection in an unknown city (the train out of our normal connection city was completely sold out by the time we tried to get our tickets that morning- this chocofest is serious business) and found a wonderful street market where we found wonderful mediterranean dried fruits and olives that provided some real substinance to the day.
Amazingly, we got a lot of schoolwork done on those long train rides and counted the entire day as a success. My roommates, who bailed at the last minute, were also most grateful as they were rewarded for their absence with treats :)
11.08.2008
More about classes
Contemporary Russian Politics is another class around which I am trying to wrap my head. It is taught by a visiting professor who flies in every other week from the University of Glasgow to teach us. Because of this, I only have the course every other week, but two days in a row- Friday evening and Saturday morning. Yes, that sounds dreadful, but since weekends are often consumed by studying anyway, it's really not so different from how one would spend a typical Saturday morning.
Professor White is properly British. He always pronounces the "h" in words like "what" or "why." He makes witty observations- pointing out with a chuckle that "per capita" is like saying "per heads" rather than "per head"and should therefore be "per capot," but doesn't think this will catch on... ahahaha (yes, exactly 3 ha's from him).
He is brilliant and has studied subject extensively- having met with pretty much every influential Russian you could name and has a story about all of them. We are learning about what a democracy really is and whether Russia is moving towards this or away from it. The reading for this coming Friday is all about elections since the fall of the Soviet Union. I find it very interesting but am intimidated by the thought of taking a final on it all!
Hope everyone is recovering from election excitement- people here at SAIS went crazy and there is an air of excitement all about (if you ever wondered about the political sway of higher education... well lets just say this was bigger than the superbowl, world series (go phillies!) and olympics combined!). Cheers!
Professor White is properly British. He always pronounces the "h" in words like "what" or "why." He makes witty observations- pointing out with a chuckle that "per capita" is like saying "per heads" rather than "per head"and should therefore be "per capot," but doesn't think this will catch on... ahahaha (yes, exactly 3 ha's from him).
He is brilliant and has studied subject extensively- having met with pretty much every influential Russian you could name and has a story about all of them. We are learning about what a democracy really is and whether Russia is moving towards this or away from it. The reading for this coming Friday is all about elections since the fall of the Soviet Union. I find it very interesting but am intimidated by the thought of taking a final on it all!
Hope everyone is recovering from election excitement- people here at SAIS went crazy and there is an air of excitement all about (if you ever wondered about the political sway of higher education... well lets just say this was bigger than the superbowl, world series (go phillies!) and olympics combined!). Cheers!
11.02.2008
Paradise
Tuscany... and olive grove... a stone house up a windy mountain road that overlooks the countryside... a brick oven... a hostess eager to utilize said oven... a host eager to share homemade blueberry grapa... I can't say much more than that.
Hard at work!
Each of us was truly blown away by the hospitality shown to us by the c
aretakers. They drove to the bus station to pick us up, fed us homemade delicacies- bread, pizza, cheeses, infused olive oils, apple streudel... it goes on. Wine flowed freely and the weather turned from dreary to cheery as removed our Bologna/SAIS shackles and embraced the kindness afforded to us.
aretakers. They drove to the bus station to pick us up, fed us homemade delicacies- bread, pizza, cheeses, infused olive oils, apple streudel... it goes on. Wine flowed freely and the weather turned from dreary to cheery as removed our Bologna/SAIS shackles and embraced the kindness afforded to us.
The evening affords the opportunity to see so many stars in the clear sky. Its so humbling to see different constellations and patterns than you are used to seeing on the East coast... and comforting at the same time to find the familliar ones from back home, even if they aren't where you are used to seeing them
The home isn't yet furnished so we laid on yoga mats to "sleep." We were also blessed with an extra hour!
We were there for only 20 hours yet I don't think any of us were the same when we left... Sunday, in the library, when we saw one another, we just would share a wistful smile. It was truly nirvana and when I need to escape, I just close my eyes and remember that world far from graphs, essays, and reading lists... ommmmmmmm....
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