Sorry Dad, I Think I Have Converted

All this Philly energy has got me excited... we'll try again tomorrow!

Sorry dad.

Owls for the Cure: Temple Football

The official word isn't out about how many people attended last night's football game to benefit the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia affiliate, but I was there! So was alumnus Bill Cosby for the coin toss, and more supporters clad in pink for the "Pink Out" than I have seen at most Temple games. And the best part is, we won with a fourth-quarter comeback, making the final score 14-10. Read the official game notes in "Comeback Is The Cure For Owls In 14-10 Win Over Ohio."

I guess I'm a little biased, in that I did a group project about how to promote the game using social media, but I'm really glad to see everything turn out well, and for such a good cause. I'll let you know when I find out the official stats, and maybe I can even post the marketing plan our group did.

So happy right now :-)

This Weekend, and Last Week

Since my past two weeks were quite eventful, now that I think about it, here is a second post for your reading pleasure...

So this Friday (two days ago), we all met at school to buy tickets for Saturday night's soccer game at the Stadio Olympico. You need a passport when buying the tickets, according to a new law. So we waited in a long line to pay our £25 each. Some of us were too hungover to wait on line and sat in the sun instead?

After that, I went shopping, since we were already out on Via Del Corso. I ended up buying sunglasses for £8, a Sandro Ferrone shirt for £15, a purple necklace from Rossa Fish for £15, and a black dress from United Colors of Benetton for £15. It was a great day to go shopping because the period of Saldi, or winter sales, was ending so everything was marked down even more than it had been during the month of January. Of course it wasn't the cream of the crop selection-wise, and the dress and shirt need minor repairs (I bargained for an additional £5 off the dress because of this, in broken Italian yay!) but overall, I am very happy with my purchases and the fact that I restrained myself up to this point shopping-wise. Arianna was also very happy to see my Sandro Ferrone shirt, and showed me the jackets she owns by him in her own closet.

Friday night, no one was answering their phones so I didn't have dinner plans and I rushed to the GS Supermercati which closes at 20,00 (8 o'clock), to buy some fettucine and tomato sauce. Probably not the best combination but I was desperate and pressed for time. The fettuccine was dough-like, made with eggs but not cooked all the way through, and instructed me to cook it for 4 minutes. It sounded good. It tasted good. But the next day, it didn't sit too good in my stomach.

Anyway, that night we went to a lounge/bar/club called Radio Cafè which, in all honesty, I thought was called Radio City when we arrived because of the distracting blue neon lights. You go in, pay the £8 entrance fee, and descend a stone staircase. Down below you find a space which might be best described as dungeon-turned-runway. On either side of the glowing runway are low tables and many cusions and ottomans, which lend it that NYC lounge-y feeling. A little further down the runway, passing underneath stone archways, is a dance floor with a DJ booth for the apse. We grabbed two tables and many pillows, and had ourselves a seat. We talked, danced, drank, and went home around 3 am. A good time was had by all.

Until I woke up Saturday with the worst stomach ache / nausea ever. Not hungover. Just "mal di pancia" which caused me to not even hold water down until later that night. However, I did force myself to go to the partita di calcio (soccer game) which I had already bought tickets for. I didn't even stay for the halftime show, but was able to catch the end on TV with the kids. Roma won!

Lo Stadio Olympico

I drank some tea. I ate some crackers.

Today I felt better, and had pesto and pasta with the family for lunch around 14,00. Then I went to school, made another print, worked on some Spring Break plans with Sara. We went to dinner near the metro stop by school - thanking goodness something was open at 20,00 on Sunday - and had a great chicken with rice for £7 each, while sitting outside of the Piazza del Popolo. I also learned how to correctly pronounce rice ("riso" with a rolled "r").

Outdoor Dining with Sara

Came back home, Arianna wasn't here but the kids were watching another soccer game on TV. A little after midnight, she came home all decked out and perhaps a little ubriaca (intoxicated) because she said she'd been at a feste (party) for Acquario because it had been her birthday on the 3rd, and a few of her friends were also Aquarius(es?). She looked great and didn't stop smiling - it is so nice to see her healthy again, since she has been recovering from her two eye surgeries for the past few weeks. She scampered off to bed and on that note, I must do the same.

Last Weekend, of Last Week

Okay so I'm a little late on updating, but I have had an interesting 2 weeks... and soon to be an interesting 2 more because mom and dad are coming to visit, and after that we have Spring Break!

Last Friday (not 2 days ago, but before that), I had a class trip to the Printing Museum on the "Via del Stampa" - literally, the Street of Printing. It was easy to get to, located right next to the Trevi Fountain. We spent a few hours reviewing many beautiful prints from famous people such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Then we all got cappuccino compliments of our professor Mario ("And you ask me, 'Why, Mario, must we do this?' and I tell you, 'Because you must always keep your tools clean so that we get a nice print.'" Allora, I digress). We also sampled some Carnevale treats. Then 4 of us explored the Jewish Ghetto, made our way into a museum in the basement of a Synagogue, and got some falafel before going home. That night, I went to a pizza place in Trastevere called Dar Poeta. At first, they didn't understand the concept that we wanted two salads and one pizza for two of us to share... so we got one salad and one pizza. Perhaps our "due" was not clear enough? The pizza was fabulous, though.

Dinner at Dar Poeta

After dinner, we ran to a chocolate shop nearby in the pouring rain, and everyone had a Bailey's shot in a chocolate cup, topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. The woman was explaining how to take them...

How to Eat/Drink a Chocolate Shot

After the rain died down and our stomachs were settled (When in Rome, Drink as the Romans Do, right?) we made our way to a bar called Stairs which was remarkably close by. It's as though we had planned it. But we didn't. I think this was one of the first nights where dinner and after-dinner festivities continued within walking distance of each other. Yay :-)

The next day, I had another class trip for Anthropology to a smaller city called Rocglione, which is utterly difficult to pronounce correctly. It's just outside of Rome, and we got there by metro, train, and then bus, which took in total just over an hour. Maybe two, with the waiting. Before our bus ride we grabbed some pizza, and my friend Caroline was belittled in Italian for not having the correct change. They are not a fan of £50 bills here. No one ever wants to break them for you. In Venice, we each wanted to pay separately for our cappuccino one afternoon, and the cashier was very upset with me, being the last one to pay, thus hurling all the change left in the drawer onto the counter and telling me that it would just have to be good enough.

Anyway, after the pizza incident we made it to Ronciglione for a horse race, Carnevale-style. Like the Palio races of Sienna, which only happen 2x a year, this was kind of a big deal for the town. Pictures, and a video, tell all...

Carnevale Dust

New Desktop Background

The marching was slightly more risque than what we had in High School, haha.

So although I understood little of what the announcer was saying in Italian, except "Do not use flash photography," and "Hold onto your kids," the atmosphere was great and the race was exciting albeit very short! We'd had to give up our "illegal" spots about 3 times although Italians ended up crowding there anyway closer to the start of the race, and we couldn't see what was going on until the horses turned the corner. Apparently the bare-backed horses sometimes do not want to go into their pens, or start at all. There were 3 heats of 6 horses each, and a few horses fell on their way around the corners, which is why everyone had to hold onto their kids, haha. The race was almost called off a few weeks before as some animal rights groups were hassling the town. However, the horses were fitted with orthopedic horseshoes and all was well in the world. Following the race, I had the best cup of hot cocoa EVER made, pretty much pure chocolate topped with pure cream, hehe. I also bought £8 worth of Carnevale candy (nuts and dried bananas and such), unintentionally of course. After we had walked around a bit, basking in all the decor and atmosphere of Ronciglione, it was time to catch the last bus back to Rome.

(For more info on the Ronciglione Carnevale, in terrible English, click here).

That night, I went to Art Cafè a.k.a. Babel, which proved to be very trendy and un-American on Saturdays, unlike the Fridays I'd been hearing about. When they play American pop and "Commercial" music, drawing swarms of American students and non-natives.

HOUSE

Soooo after all this, you would think I'd be tired. But then came Super Bowl Sunday and since the GIANTS made it, why shouldn't I? Even if the game started at midnight here...

Ok, Abbey.
(at Abbey's Irish Pub)

Must...stay...awake...

Ohmigosh we WON!!!
(Don't scream)

A fabulous ending to a fabulous weekend.

GO GIANTS!

This post is for GIANTS fans! And my dad :-)

In honor of the Super Bowl, I thought I'd post a few older pictures which demonstrate my true fanhood of the New York Giants. This was before they had made it to the playoffs, during one of the coldest games ever versus the Redskins, when no one even wanted their season tickets. And what a poor game it was. But look at them now. Eli Manning all grown up!!! To the Giants and Giants fans, tonight I tell you "In Buocca al Lupa!" (i.e. "Break a Leg!") I will be watching from the Hard Rock Cafe here in Italy, beginning at midnight!

Update: This post sums up our late night of Super Bowl spectating with pictures taken at 6 a.m. when the game ended in the Central European Time zone!