Bag-Ception

So here's the skinny. I like crafts. I craft all the time. I'm not so secretly crafty. And thus is my life while I am home. I have been attempting to work on my scrapbook from Rome (you know, the reason why I started the blog thing in the first place) and it's been an adventure. But there's a point when I can't do no mo pictures. So I decided to pick up something a little more mindless, albeit conscious.  Let me explain.

Michelle (you know that girl) said that she was going to knit some plastic bags together to make a super bag. And I'm thinking, "Huh? I couldn't have heard that right." But then she just looked at me like, "Did I stutter? I'm knitting plastic bags to make a super bag."

Wait for it... Wait for it. Yup. Mind blown.

The goal is to take all of the grocery bags that you annoyingly stuff into corners and then plan to reuse, but usually forget because no one looks in corners for bags every time you decide to go to the store. So you just end up having these mounds of should be reused, sculpted, or donated bags that look lonely and unloved and dingy in the corners.

The process works like this. You cut these unloved crinkle-wads into long strips of super thin plastic and then ball them up as you would yarn. Then once you amass enough of a ball (and/or clean out those corners) (That's where I put that!) (Yum, Halloween candy), you knit. That simple. You know, except for that part where you spend awkward mindless hours cutting apart bags to the strange looks of your friends (or those friends you would have if you didn't spend your Friday nights cutting apart plastic bags).

But here's what I've learned: This could be really cool. So far (and I only have a portion of the base of the bag) it looks sort of legit, and could end up the envy of every Environment conscious pseudo hippie I pass on the street (see, I told you that would make sense later).  I'll be sure to post pictures here when I do finish it, but I'm pleasantly pleased with the reactions I've heard so far (I knit a lot in public.... Hence my single, only child status).

Resounding Message: Go green! Knit more!

Chances Are, You Won't Live to See it Again

What an eventful day. Truly. Did you know that today is an especially unique day? Ava enlightened us all as she informed us about the Transit of Venus across the Sun. Fun fact, so this is the only time this will happen in like, a super long time? For instance, no one alive has seen this happen (until today) and (technology permitting) no one will be alive to see it happen again. Look at that, you learned something today. Boom.

So Mariecus and I hiked up to the tippytop of Olin where some industrious nerds had positioned some telescopes to look at this strange occurrence. It was bright, there were a fair amount of people (I'll be honest, not a lot of them looked like people who would be fun to invite to a dinner party....  but maybe that's just me...) (Or maybe I would be the odd one out at their dinner party.... hmmmmm things you ponder when you see Venus cross in front of the sun).

But more exciting, was that after that I packed up part of my kitchen and ventured down to the center of St. Pete's and forced Cadi to shred zucchini. All in the name of cupcakes. Honestly. First we went for a walk, and I had to get some more fancy-ass cooking things like ground cloves (who cooks with ground cloves? oh well) and the rest of it. Then we made zucchini cupcakes. I realize I should have snapped some pictures, but the important part is that my current attire is covered in a lovely mixture of powdered sugar and cat hair. What a lovely combination? Yes, I thought so too.

Oh other big news, so Cadi has two cats. Ira and Sophie. Ira, is the love bug. He adores pretty much anyone and everyone who will even tolerate him. Consequently, he spends a lot of time climbing into people's laps and begging for attention in anyway he sees fit. Sophie on the other hand, doesn't like any people. She's terrified of everything, sudden movements-and she goes running. So, when any number of people are over, she's usually hiding while Ira laps up the attention in all of the laps. But, since I was over there baking, Sophie decided that it was ok and quiet enough to look around for a bit. So I talked to her for a little bit, and she didn't seem overly concerned by my presence. After a while of cooing and letting her figure it out on her own terms, she let me pet her. What a summer accomplishment. I now know that I'm not quite as terrifying as I originally thought I was. Good to know.

So cupcakes are baked (thanks Grandma for the recipe!) and I think I'm headed to bed.

Switch ending!

Bloggy mc Bloggerson! Ok here goes nothing.

Accomplishments for the day: Make zucchini bread. And dinner. What. The bread turned out delicious. (there was some extra batter so I had to make some adorable heart shaped muffins) and dinner (more zucchini in a red sauce with red pepper) was also pretty good. It felt good to cook for a friend too. And I'll have plenty of bread for a while.

Ava shows up tomorrow, so that'll be an adventure. One more person moving into the apartment! Huzzah! And that's about all that's happened. OH grocery shopping. I went grocery shopping. Quite the feat considering the dough (get it? I made bread) I spent on it.  Woof. St. Peter you're killing me. To be fair I bought spices and sugar and flour and all that basic cooking ingredients that allow you to make anything. So it needed to be done. Still!

Let us chat for a few moments about the interests of "Stumbling." No I'm not talking about just falling on your face, although that's amusing too. I'm talking about the website that allows you to mindlessly search the internet for days without you noticing the clock. I try to avoid such habits during the year, but this summer, I'm made of time. (I mean come on, cooking, stumbling? What else do I have to do? NADA). If you've got the stamina and you have the crave for all kinds of random information, do it. You'll be entertained at the very least.

And with that, I think I'm gonna go read a book.

Yep, just like that, advocate for the internet and volunteer to read instead. I'm a tricky one.

Off to the Races

Fact: I should start blogging earlier than 10:30pm.
Fact: I should probably finish my readings before I blog.
Fact: I have yet to do either.

So disregarding my need to actually read for my class tomorrow, I 'm going to tell you about my adventures for the day.  May day began with the decision to grab some espresso from Giovanni (we learned his name a week or so ago) at the coffee place down stairs and picked up some tickets for the tram/bus.

Feeling good that I had 30 minutes to get to the Pantheon, I waited by the stop for the tram with a bunch of other people. I'm thinking, hey, I'm taking public transportation to get to my class which is being held by the PANTHEON. I'm awesome. La dee da dee da. Why aren't there any trams coming this direction? Maybe they're just behind today. La dee da dee da. Why are there still NO trams headed in the right direction? HMMM!!?! *watch check* Ok, so I've still got 20 minutes. No big deal.

Enter: Italian man thinking I speak Italian.

From what I think was going on in this little 'exchange' he was telling me that cars are no supposed to drive on the tram tracks. There is a part of the road designated for cars, and another for trams. Cars driving on the tram lines defeat the purpose. At this point I was kind of laughing because my long awaited tram was behind this taxi who was going against these stated rules. Yay it's here!

False.

That tram wasn't taking any passengers. Bad news bears. *now frantic watch check* I got places to be in 15 minutes. It's a long walk. Uh... Bus? Too late. Answer: book it.

At this point I'm going to show you a little map. Please notice the time designation to the left of the picture.

Correct. That does say '26 minutes'. Yes, I needed to be there in 15minutes. Other questions include, oh yeah I don't have a map on me, and I haven't exactly been to the Pantheon yet. I knew that it was past 'Argentina' which is where the tram would have taken me, and I had a vague idea of it being straight from there. That's it. That's all I've got. So I take one last look at the funny Italian man trying to convince me to wait for a bus, and get going.

I'm dodging past people, walking in the street, paying no regard to crosswalk signs, leaping over baby carriages, knocking over postcard stands, and foaming at the mouth.  It was a trial. Once I got to Argentina (again, this is the end of the tram line/piazza, not the actual country) I began to worry which way I was supposed to go. With no map and no signs, I pull out my cell phone in what I realize is probably a futile attempt to reach Kate, and just pick a street.  At this point I'm just praying, please let this one lead me to somewhere I can actually see the Pantheon, that way I'll be able to walk in that direction.

HUZZAH! I'm such a good guesser. Sheer talent. I've got a profession here. In short, I made it to the Pantheon. ON TIME (that means that I made that 26 minute walk in 15 minutes). So we walk in to the Pantheon talk about Raphael for a moment, then head over to Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Talked about art there. It was tight. It was awesome.

And then I got groceries.

That's my life.

All of it.

And Sam is my lover.

Make banana pancakes-pretend like it's the weekend

Let's talk for a moment about how flipping pretty Rome is when you're not bathing in your own sweat.  It's actually b-e-a-u-tiful.  For serious. Example: It was only in the 70s today and that means wearing things like jeans and boots! It also means things like my hair doesn't have to be piled on top of my head and away from my neck. If it was up to some people I would have a Barbie ponytail at all times, and it would be curly and funny and potentially very distracting (to both me and the people sitting behind me in class).  But that's all besides the point. I finally got to wear things that I would like to wear to class rather than scrounging for things that don't need sleeves, or could just do without sleeves until I sew them back on later (I brought a sewing kit, whatevs) (that one is for you Cadi).

After a lovely walk to school at the G campus, I spent a lovely two hours watching a movie in my Italian Cinema class (still no real recommendations? I'm disappointed in all of you. Come on people.  Bethany is the only one on my solid gold list. Digipho for the win. And potentially my mother with her recommendation for Greek Art and Archaeology: Gaga.) and loving all of it. I mean what other kinds of class can you possibly take that allow you to sit for two hours and watch a movie EVERY OTHER CLASS.  That's one a week. And the other one you only have to attend half of because it's just a discussion. Winner.

After class I leisurely walked to the grocery store because I was hard up for some grub. This meandering involved me listening to Jack Johnson and enjoying the light crisp breeze and the sunshine.  Do you envy me yet? You green with it! (Mike Wazowski!) (For those of you who followed that, we're best friends now). So I shopped, didn't make a fool of myself (it's hard, but actually possible) bought another I Puffi glass (We're going to see it this weekend. Fact.) and toted my newly purchased foodstuffs all the way home. Wee Wee Wee. It was a good time.

Made some lunch. At the recommendation of Michelle I made a grilled mozzarella and tomato sandwich.  Very good.  May need something else to it, but I'm content with how good it was for the moment. Talked to some beautiful people from home.  Missing them hardcore. And read a little bit of Philosophy. Actually reading Philosophy is not quite as conducive to dreaming of Moua as class.  But I tried. Watched Down With Love with Erica and Kate (Molly will attest to how adorable we were on the couch), and finally making dinner for Erica and myself. (Just going to say it, my red sauce is going to be perfected by the end of this semester. I'm throwing down the gauntlet now-Bring it Mc Saucyson!)

And now I'm giving up and going to bed. The End.

Hideous blisters, and How to Get Them

First of all, I would like to say that I am typically very cautious about what kind of footwear I put on in the morning and how it will affect the rest of my day.  That being said, I (falsely) assumed that having orientation activities (and by that I mean the activity of sitting) all day, my choice of foot wear would not be nearly as important as what was supposed to be communicated during these lectures. So that was a dud of a plan. John Cabot University is divided into two separate campuses-the Tiber (about 15 minute walk from our apartment) and the Guarini (another ten minutes after that one--25ish total).  The first activity of the day had to be to find some coffee/breakfast, but mostly coffee. So on our way to the Guarini campus, we stopped at this little coffee/pastry shop and each had a croissant and a macchiato.  Now for those of you who know my coffee preferences, I like my coffee black. No cream, no sugar, no nonsense. This 'coffee' was not that. It was all nonsense. Now if you like steamed milk, this is the drink for you. This isn't to say that it wasn't good-because it was.  It's just now my style.  Tomorrow, I'm up to expresso. No more of these shenanigans. And the croissants were d-e-licious. In fact, Kate asked me to pinch her.  Not wanting to be a bad friend-I did.

Let the orientation activities begin! And by this point I firmly believe that if I had had an expresso, I would have found these to be interesting and enlightening.  But, alas, no. We've all been there. That speaker who just kind of went through the motions, the non-interesting, the non-excited version? So all enjoyment was derived from the incredibly corny pictures that appeared on almost every slide. We're talking the kind that makes you mildly uncomfortable, but laugh for a good long while instead of sacrificing your mental capacity to the watch-the-paint-dry-speaker. TWO HOURS LATER-I'm drooling onto my shirt because that's more fun, and I'm beginning to notice the blisters forming on the backs of my heels-turns out steamed milk doesn't help that either.  So I use the nifty new JCU lanyard to mop up the drool, and move on because there's nothing to do about the shoes or the blisters now. We move on to take the pictures for our IDs, fill out some paper work which involved something about a sport's team.  It wasn't exactly a universal form, but everyone filled it out none the less.

After that we knew that we had to be at the Tiber campus for some more sparkling adventures with orientation. But that wasn't until 3 (or 15:00 if you're using the clock on my cell phone), so Erica, Molly, Kate and I all went out to lunch at this delightful little place that was tucked back in some of the itty-bitty streets between campuses. Everyone got something different.  Personally, the lasagna I had was divine. All melty cheese and just good feelings all over.  We laughed and talked and eventually headed back toward the Tiber campus. Side note- the Tiber campus is so named because it is on the street that runs along next to the Tiber River. Fun facts for the day. Go over there, drool some more... kind of... the US Embassy representative had a presentation that was decent. Props to him for making that kind of stuff sound easy, and light. Also, Rick Steve's son (Andy) was there.  So that was fun? Unfortunately, he was only handing out discounts and not his number...  Alas. But we survived it, with maybe only a few cellphone game-Snake Masters to prove it. More paperwork, followed by Kate and I heading back to the apartment. We found Erica there, with her feet propped up on the dashing blue trunk.

At that point, I was nearly limping because of these blasted blisters. For those of you with light stomachs, skip this part. My right foot was definitely bleeding from this all day excursion. A little Girl Scout first aid involved washing both heels off with soap and water=stingzilla. Got that done, ointment (to parry off of Michelle's blog, let's focus on the 'oi' sound of that word for a moment. Oi? Oy. Oy-vey.) bandaids, and tennis shoes for the rest of the day.

Once everyone was home from their extravagant paperwork spree, we decided that we needed some of the necessities: Toilet paper, dish soap, food.  These are things that one finds useful in an apartment. Granted, we do have a bidet (fondly called Buddah, no offense intened-just a slip of the tongue by one of my darling roomies, and it stuck), but we 'Murican gurls just haven't master that cultural experience. So off we went to find a grocery store!

Most people would refer to this place as a "maze". It just keeps winding back farther and farther. And passing shopping carts? not really an option. The aisles are narrow, everything is compact-some of the shelves are even shorter. We decided to split all of the things that we thought we would use together-TP, paper towels, detergent etc-but get anything we wanted just for ourselves. It was a hectic experience considering all of our limited Italian skills and that almost everything was written in Italian.  Some things were familiar-some softeners, some labels with brand names, but most of this was done through experience and clever cognate association. None the less, we figured it out, got some grub, and hauled it home. And I do mean hauled. I guess I forgot to mention that the grocery store that we eventually found was between here and the Tiber campus, but was in a block or so-so that's about a 10ish minute walk. But on the way back we were hauling things like large bottles of detergent, and potatoes=heavy things. But we made it back without incident, and promptly put things in the fridge the HAD to go find dinner. Of course it was 8:30pm at that time, and we were starved. So we went back to the same place that Kate, Molly and I had dinner yesterday (I have a feeling that they'll be seeing a lot of us this semester) and just relaxed and ate for a while. I feel like it was well earned.

After being home, Kate and I facebook video called Sam, and got to see part of the team room!!  Huzzah! Seeing the beautiful faces of Sam, Hannah, Sonja, Shelby, and Mariecus was wonderful. Like a little taste of home even in the cobble stone streets here. Keep it up team! Work hard!

Anyway, we have a long day a head of us tomorrow with a walking tour and such.  But that's for tomorrow to talk about. Ciao!