Today was my second cooking class at school. I signed up for an extra-cirricular activity, and what - you thought I'd choose volleyball or guitar lessons? - nope, I went with food. Last week we made gnocchi (delicious Italian potato dumplings) which was rather enjoyable. This week we learned the art of vegetable carving. Intaglio, as we call it here in Italy. While delicately sculpting a radish this afternoon I was reminded of my mother's exceptional abilities in this particular medium. She used to make all kinds of squash animals and much more adept versions of what I created today:
This week was still rough around the edges, I think I needed to communicate with home more than usual, but I anticipate everything smoothing out. Yesterday was one month since my arrival in Torino, and I have to say it feels as though I've been here much longer. I've gotten into a routine, I know my way around, and my life is organizing itself accordingly. My evening habits have changed somewhat dramatically and - allow me to pull this directly from my journal entry last night - "I can't believe I'm getting in bed before 11pm, am I old already? (Note: find out when this happened.)"
I am becoming more and more busy as the weeks progress, and it appears as though midterms are in a few short weeks. You'll all be happy to know I'm in the process of kicking Accounting's butt. I've taken it upon myself to enlist the help of my friends Nutella and Butter Cookies as study partners in addition to studying an hour every night, specifically the material that will be discussed the next day. I don't think I've ever been playing homework defense like this. Mom will be so proud. When I find myself stressing about the amount I need to read and study, I remind myself that the roommates from Germany and France are studying hard just to understand the basic information. (Sidenote: The more I'm here the more I am thankful English is my first language - we really are blessed to have the world's language as our mother tongue.)
The Student Services Coordinator has asked me to apply for a job teaching English for one hour a week to Italian adults in Torino. I obliged and sent him an updated CV (that's fancy-European-speak for resume, everybody) in the hopes of being chosen. I think it could be a great opportunity to interact with Italians, create interesting dialogue and further my understanding of the international way of life. I'll let you know if it pans out.
In the meantime, lots of love from your veggie-sculpting virtuosa.
Damn, that looks tasty! How can you resist eating your vegetable sculptures?
ReplyDeleteBrava! Food can be so pretty, we should take more time enjoying it. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you are keeping the family tradition of puns alive as you carve out your future. It takes a sharp wit to come up with comments such as that. The work you do is certainly appealing.
ReplyDeleteUncle Landon, i'm happy you're enjoying these slices of life. And thanks for making me smile :)
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