One week down...

Well my first week of classes is complete! I only had one class this morning which was Living Rome with Prof. Nina Rothenburg (sp?). It seems like another intense yet interesting class. It is a social class with an urban focus and she said that we are going to see all of the messed up, unromantic, dirty side of Rome. Our first fieldtrip next week is to the Ghetto. Crazy! The class is 50% fieldtrips which will be nice.

After class, which let out early, I started to think about what I wanted to make for dinner, because tonight was my night to cook for the four of us. I already had a few zucchini and I love tomatoes so I wanted to get some of those as well. I went to an outdoor market by school but clearly the protocall is different than the produce market by our apartment because I got yelled at in Italian. You are not supposed to touch the food or fill the bags yourself and I did both! You are supposed to just tell them what you want and they fill up the bag and weigh it, but considering that I don't know enough to be able to do that...its pretty difficult! So until I learn more I will stick to the produce market, where you grab your own bag on the way inside and fill it and then they weigh everything. Much easier! So I decided that I would just go there to get more zucchini. But on my way there I passed a bakery...ahhhhh...

It smelled so good that I walked back. I grabbed a number outside (like getting a number at the deli) and the moment I walked into the 6 by 8 foot space, filled with many other people, they called my number. The choices were overwhelming and you can't just ask for 'pane' (bread) because they would just laugh. So I looked at a chalkboard to my right and asked for the first thing I recognized: 'pane olio' (olio means oil). I figured you can't go wrong with bread! So I ended up getting 5 fresh rolls, which were the size of hot dog buns, but much much better!
I used one of them for my lunch and it was sooo good! After lunch I looked at some recipes online and decided that I was going to make Ratatouille! So after I did some homework and took a siesta I went back to the produce market and got eggplant, peppers, and onions. Then I went to SMA (opposite direction) to buy some rice, sugar, and olive oil. Leah and I started chopping up veggies around 5pm and I started cooking around 7:30. I cooked for well over an hour while the others sat in the kitchen and talked. I felt like an Italian momma! But by the end there was a whole pot of a Ratatouille stew with: zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, red peppers, onion, garlic, wine, and basil. I served it over brown rice and we had the bread I got with dipping oil Leah and I made. It was extremely filling and yummy. And there are leftovers! After dinner I made fresh Moroccan mint tea (with the mint we bought yesterday!)...it was sooo good...and it definetly brings back some good memories.

Ahhh...Today was a very nice and relaxing day. Most of it was spent in the kitchen, not just cooking but also enjoying the company of my roomates with serious conversations as well as goofy laughter...good times.