Week 11

This week was a much more calm week for me. There weren't many plans outside of the classroom. I had my Drawing on Location class on Monday and I got to do a collage representing Fall. It was a simple assignment but I enjoyed having total freedom over it. That night we had an early wine Wednesday at our favorite market. Emily's family was in town, so they kindly treated us to a few drinks, bread, and cheese. It is always so fun when people visit, because we get to take them to the local places and show them traditional food. On Wednesday I had an Archeology Mid-term, this was my 1st ever exam for that class. I felt really confident after the exam but haven't gotten a grade back yet. That afternoon, I took another History of the Mafia mid-term which I got an A on! I have really enjoyed taking this class, and I have learned so much from my professor. Later that evening, I went night swimming with my friend Emily and her sister Ava who was visiting for the week. Our other friends were the "lifeguards". Nobody is ever really on the beach at night, so we always enjoy going for a swim and having the place to ourselves. Down at Marina Grande, even at night, the water is so clear. When we are in the water, we can see our school behind us, and Mount Vesuvius in the distance ahead. It is such a peaceful view and I always feel refreshed afterwards. The next day was a typical Thursday with both Archeology and Marine Biology. In my Marine Biology Lab, we worked on our presentations and made pamphlet about any marine invertebrate of our choosing.

After a "hard" day of classes, we went to the market again, and got the usual. After the market we ended up going to a pastry shop, because I had been wanting to try all of the local Italian desserts. We got 5 different desserts: tiramisu, delizia al limone, black and white cookie, merengues de coco, and torta ricotta e pere. All of the desserts were so good, but my favorite was the torta ricotta e pere. This dessert is made with ricotta and pears that have been whipped into a cream form, similar to a cannoli. I didn't know there were pares in the dish at first, I just thought it looked pretty. But I was so glad I tried it! I would have never gotten that dessert if I knew it had pears, because I would have assumed I didn't like it. After this, I have been trying more foods even if I don't typically like the ingredients.

This weekend we weren't going to be traveling, and our original plan was to go somewhere near Sorrento, like Ischia. However, we had bad storms all weekend, so it wasn't a great time to be walking alongside mountains. So we spent most of the weekends inside just resting, because we had been traveling a lot and we were all a bit exhausted. Most of Friday, I spent the day catching up on my work, watching TV, enjoying the streets of Sorrento, and just hanging out with my friends. On Saturday, we did a lemon grove and mozzarella farm tour. This took place in Massa Lubrense, which is on the Amalfi Coast near Sorrento. We got to learn about the Sorrento lemon from how it is grown to how it is used in Limoncello. Many people think it is the inside of the lemon that is used in Limoncello, but it is actually the zest. The reason the Sorrento lemon is so famous is due to its size and zest. You can smell the lemon fragrance all around you without even cutting open the lemon itself. After the lemon tour, we went to the mozzarella farm. I got to see how mozzarella is made, and how the scraps are used. I didn't know this before but burrata cheese, is made from the scraps of mozzarella and many people use it in pasta. It was very weird to see how all the cheeses are made, but it was also very interesting. I especially thought it was cool how they use every bit of the milk, even the scraps, to avoid waste. Another part of this trip I really enjoyed was riding in the small vehicles! I always see people driving these because the streets are so narrow, so it was really fun to be in one finally.

The next day was another quiet day. We all hung out around the dorms and also went to all you can eat sushi. Most of my friends love sushi, and the fish is very fresh where we are in Italy. Since I'm allergic to seafood, I can't get the sushi, but I enjoy all the other vegetarian dishes like rice, noodles, soup, and spring rolls! After sushi, my roommate Megan was sick, so we just hung out in our dorm together.