An up and a down.

One thing I keep being thankful for every time I go to the grocery store is the price of food. Grant it, I've only recently started doing a lot of hard-core shopping at the grocery store, but I generally know the prices of things and food at the grocery store here in Italy is so much cheaper than in America! If I want to buy a box of Barilla pasta it will be about 50 cents, a single hamburger will be about 75 cents, a loaf of Italian bread also 75 cents. There are so many things you can get here for cheap! It's so wonderful and I could definitely get used to this! 

One down I ran into (yet again) today that really stuck out in my mind is the pace of pedestrians on the sidewalks. The pace in Italy is certainly a lot slower than somewhere like New York, and this is quite evident whenever you walk on the sidewalks here. People often stroll, rather than briskly walk, which is wonderful but I must admit when you're trying to get somewhere on a time schedule, it can be a bit difficult to weave in and out of all the leisurely strollers. Today, I was booking it to class near the Colosseum and no one else seemed to be in near the hurry I was. That slower pace is certainly a good thing in the big scheme of things, but it definitely is something that I've had to get more used to.

Anyways, just some random thoughts for the day. Buona notte, tutti!

Love and Style,

L.M.

In the midst of history.

It's so interesting being here in Italy during the economic and political change that is going on. I believe it was three days ago now that Burlusconi resigned and two days ago that Italy got a new government, which is absolutely monumental. Sometimes you don't even realize all that is going on because you get so wrapped up in school and your daily activities and seeing the city that you forget to envelop yourself in the true culture around you - the establishments of the country in which you are living.

Walking around Rome, you see political buildings with guards outside of them all the time, and we would always walk past Burlusconi's old palazzo when passing to a certain area. When you really stop to think of it, there is so much that goes on that you don't even realize and here in Rome we're fortunate enough to be right in the center of it.

One has to realize, however, that with political and economic change comes unrest and this is also something that I actually feel very fortunate to be witnessing here during my time abroad. As you may or may not know, the Euro currency is facing much difficulty right now - Greece being arguably the most affected and Italy being one of the next most.

This issue, along with all of the political issues taking place right now cause many riots and protests. We witnessed a demonstration on Thursday during our Italian class. We paused class to open the window and watch the protesters that were right on the street outside, along with police and many, many journalists. They were all university students our age, which made it all the more fascinating. Here in Italy there seem to be a lot more public demonstrations regarding social, economic and political issues and I, personally, think it's fascinating to see. Below are two pictures I took outside of our classroom window, overlooking the university-students' demonstration.

I don't know what the future holds for anything regarding politics or the economy, but I know that I truly feel lucky and privileged to be witnessing so much history in the making.

Oatmeal and apparently looking Italian.

Ciao amici!

I'm writing today with two completely unrelated topics on my mind. The first is one that is now stuck in my mind and it's frustrating because I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it.

I have a craving for oatmeal.

This started back last week when my roommate and I were in the supermarket down the street and a fellow American from another study abroad program came up to me and asked if I knew the Italian word for oatmeal. I didn't but wished him luck and that was that. However, the thought of oatmeal stuck with me.

This has only been intensified by the fact that, for the past few days now, my boyfriend has been eating oatmeal during our Skype conversations. The way the time difference works out, we usually talk during my night/his morning. He has just woken up and is eating breakfast, and his breakfast for a while now has been oatmeal.

It sounds so good!!! But I don't know if they have it here! I was looking for a little bit in the store yesterday and didn't see anything and I definitely haven't seen it out and about anywhere else but I'm going to look up the word and actually go talk with someone next time. We'll see what happens there, but I sure do hope they have it somewhere in Rome! :)

Then the second experience on my mind is the fact that my roommate and I have now been confused for Italians and been asked directions three times. One time we were going for a run and two ladies on a Vespa asked us where something was, another time a guy walking down the street asked us how to get somewhere and another time this couple asked us where something was. The couple was the most interesting, because, as was also the case with the ladies on the Vespa, we're new here and don't know where too many things are. Thus, we didn't know where the place they were looking for was. The ladies on the Vespa were totally fine and said o.k., no problem, but the couple had a different reaction. The lady of the couple got so frustrated that we didn't know where the place was and even made this frustrated gesture. Not quite knowing what the crazy problem was, we simply said "mi dispiace" and continued walking.

So that was funny, but the cool thing was that we have definitely been mistaken for Italians that know where they're going and know where things are three times now! There's a certain type of awesome feeling that comes with experiences like that. :) It feels rewarding and makes you feel like you maybe do actually fit in a little bit.

Love and Style,
L.M.

Oh me, oh my, oh time.

I just had a funny experience. Time zone-wise, Italy is seven hours ahead of Southern Illinois and nine hours ahead of my school in Los Angeles. However, sometimes these numbers get jumbled in my head and very often I don't feel as if I'm very far away from the States at all. I feel like that's a really good thing, actually, because it doesn't make home feel like such a long distance. It does, however, sometimes mess with your brain.

I got an e-mail on my school e-mail account saying that I needed to renew my parking permit, otherwise I would receive a ticket. Thus, wanting to avoid a ticket at all costs, I thought to myself, "oh, well they're closed now for sure, but they probably have some sort of answering machine so I'll leave a message!" I dial the number, fully not prepared to talk with a person, and after two rings I hear "welcome center, this is ___." I probably sounded so silly because I had to take a five second pause to figure out what was going on! Did they extend their hours to have someone there during the night? Ohhhhh... then I realized. While it may be 1:50 a.m. here in Italy, it's not even 5:00 p.m. in California.

Time differences are so bizzare to me. It's so crazy to think that at pretty much any given moment, some people are waking up while others are going to bed; to think about how we, as humans, can overcome jet lag and adapt to a whole different time schedule. And really, the whole concept of time zones fascinates me in general - how they exist and where the dividers are. They sure can be confusing though! It makes things a bit challenging when you want to talk to family and friends, but it's so, so interesting.

It's late though, so now I'm off to bed. :)

Love and Style,
L.M.

One of the best compliments ever.

This past weekend while in Venice, I had an extremely cool experience and received one of the best compliments ever. I was standing in the doorway of a shop while my friend was inside looking around. An Italian girl who looked to be just a few years older than me came up to me and asked if she could take my picture.

At first, I had what I assume would be a typical reaction, and asked why she wanted to take my picture. After all, it's a bit of a strange request from a stranger. She said she really liked my hair (my big, poufy hair) and that she would like to take a picture. At that point I figured it was pretty harmless so I said it was o.k. and she took the picture.

After she took it, though, she then told me she studied fashion and was out looking for cool things and inspirations. I thought about that for a second and realized how much of an awesome thing that was! I think it's so cool an Italian fashion student liked my hair and wanted to use it as an inspirational piece. Such an amazing compliment and I felt truly honored. :) 

Love and Style,
L.M.

Italian yogurt.

I just wanted to say that Italian yogurt is amazing. And European yogurt in general for that matter. I don't know why it tastes so much better, to me at least, than yogurt from the States, but it's so much thicker and it's just so perfectly sweet. It makes yogurt eating even more desirable than it already is.

Off to Venice tomorrow! I can't wait to see what fun this weekend will bring. :)

Love and Style,
L.M.

Suitcases and airport trips.

Hi friends, 

Apologies for my vacancy in the past couple of weeks. I feel like life is spinning on turbo speed, which is not a bad thing at all, but it certainly makes for some fast-passing days.

I can hardly believe that I leave for Italy tomorrow. I've spent the past week and a half after my fantastic Boyfriend left getting all of the details together and making all of my stuff fit into one, not two, but one suitcase that must be 50 pounds or less.

Needless to say, this has proved to be quite the difficult feat.

All of my fellow style mavens will understand when I say that packing is always one of the most fun, yet most difficult and frustrating parts of traveling. :/ It's always so fun to think of where you're going, what outfits would best fit there, etcetera, etcetera. However, when you're so limited, it's so difficult!!

For instance, right now as I write this I'm sitting in the terminal on my way back from Las Vegas for a three-day weekend trip. Packing for this trip was easier than a sinch! I simply picked out five outfits, even though I only need three, in case I didn't feel like wearing one on a certain day, got my toiletries together and voila! Even with the extra outfits, I had to put a pillow in my suitcase so that it wouldn't cave in from being so empty! Now that's awesome. 

Yet, fast forward to my trip on tomorrow? No. At an average of $60 for a second bag to fly with you over seas, there is no way I'm spending my precious travel money on a suitcase. I'm determined to make it work, no matter how hard that might be.

So far it's working out well - I weighed my bag the first time and it was 40 pounds, but that was without shoes, toiletries and jewelry. Thus, I had to take out my precious long, brown winter trench for the sake of removing at least three pounds and I added in the rest of my belongings. My scale at home said 50 pounds...I'm hoping the airport scales agree. :/

At any rate though, the point is, I have successfully fit all of my stuff for the next four months of my life in one 50-pound suitcase and a large backpack carryon. I have never done that kind of an efficient packing job in my life! I'm pretty proud. It's a whole other story once I buy anything at all abroad, however, but I'll worry about that later. :D

Love and Style,

L.M.