Yesterday was Jeff's 21st birthday so after our test in CLIDA, we celebrated with some mimosas, cake and lots of other junk food until 1 pm. When class ended, we got lunch and then Grace took me to a place she had recommended to get my hair cut. I think I got one of the best haircuts I've ever had. It was a breath of fresh air to get it chopped off. She took so much weight off by giving me tons of layers. I still have my length though! My hairdresser was awesome because she was Canadian and obviously spoke perfect English. She explained that she has dual citizenship, which was really cool, and that she's living in Italy for a few months and then going back for a break. Then, she'll be coming back for a longer span of time. Kind of weaning onto the idea of living in Italy, I guess.
I was excited to have my new hair for Jeff's birthday dinner, which we celebrated at Borgo Antico, his favorite restaurant. His mom (who is still in America) treated us to the whole thing!! We had a great time. Andrea and I split these amazing ravioli and spicy spaghetti, because we both wanted both. So, it worked out perfectly. We drank lots of wine and had amazing cheesecake for dessert. We were in food heaven despite the fact that the owners were being hardcore creepers on all the girls at the table. Apparently, according to Grace and Carla who frequent Borgo often, they are always hitting on them.
After dinner, one of the owners came out with us and brought us to this really cool bar/club, called Slowly. However, the atmosphere wasn't right for the kind of dancing that we wanted to do because everyone was just sitting around and the music was terrible. So, we decided to leave. We'll probably go back for a drink some day, but not for dancing. After Slowly, we went to Cafe Bigallo and sat there for a while. Elmer came to hang out with us and did some more insulting of the American culture. Here's how our conversation played out.
Elmer: Yea, every American is fake.
Me: What do you mean exactly? I know there are some fake people, but I really disagree about them all being that way.
Elmer: Well, even you're a little fake.
Me: Excuse me?
Elmer: Well, you're the least fake out of all your friends.
Me: Thanks, I think?
Elmer: Yes, but even you are still a little fake. For example, when you see a person you don't like, why do you talk to them?
Me: Well I'm not just going to pretend they don't exist if all my friends are talking to that person or something. I'm not going to hug and kiss them, but I'll be civil of course.
Elmer: And see, that's a little fake because it's not the way you really feel.
Me: Okay, Elmer.
I let him say what he wanted to say because he doesn't really have a filter on anything. However, I just always remember to not take anything he says seriously. That's the only way to deal with him. He's very socially strange, but a nice kid when you get past that.
We all called it a night around 2:30am, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
Today was an incredibly memorable day. At 11am, we met Maria (our teacher from CLIDA) and her husband, Piero in front of CLIDA to drive to a restaurant called Mac Dario, in Chianti. I was so excited to be a passenger in Maria's mini cooper as we took the curves, climbing up the Tuscan countryside. She's a pretty good driver, for an Italian, but I'm not sure how much that's actually saying. Anyway, we arrived at Mac Dario around 12:30 and it was the coolest little place! There was a long picnic table set up and two smaller picnic tables tucked into the alcoves in the wall. In the middle of the room on the wall was a huge charcoal grill and all these cool appliances. The bathroom was made too look like a closet among the series of real closets, so I had a hard time finding it.
Apparently this place and this man are very famous in America, but I had never heard of either. Naturally, Maria and Piero are great friends with the owner, so we were their special guests. I wonder how they come to know so many classy people in high places. Mac Dario came out and greeted us all, and I told him that he was a genius. The waitstaff was also great, and one of the waiters had the most amusing sense of humor. He kept saying "Oh you young people, beautiful like the sun." When it came time for the food delivery, he put bowls out on the table and each of us had an individual one to ourselves. He proceeded to throw this amazing spiced salt mixture into each of our bowls, launching it from a spoon. He only missed once! Then, they brought out the "Accoglienza," which consisted of raw vegetables dipped in the aforementioned bowl with the salt, and olive oil and vinegar. There was also sushi of Chianti which I can't believe I liked. It was completely raw ground beef with lots of seasonings. I am shocked at how good it was. Unbelievable! There was also tuna of Chianti, which was grated chicken that had cooked in some kind of broth for 10 hours. It was delicious. The following dishes included rosemary pork and some kind of amazing meatloaf with a sweet and sour sauce. The meatloaf was my favorite of all the starters.Our main course was the famous "Mac Dario," which was probably one of the best hamburgers I had ever tasted. It was the perfect size and cooked exactly the way I like it, about medium-well. It had a light bread crumb covering and a side of rosemary steak fries, onions, and boiled vegetables. There were also three amazing sauces. One was spicy and thick, the next was sweet and sour and had a marmalade consistency, and the last was honey mustard! We were pleasantly surprised about the last one, considering it's nowhere to be found in Italy. Maybe Mac Dario got the idea from his wife, since she's American and is obviously familiar with honey mustard. I ate as slowly as possible to enjoy every bit of it. For dessert, we had a delicious, light cake, called Schiacciata alla Fiorentina. There was also espresso, of course.
I absolutely cannot forget to mention our lovely neighbor who sat himself next to Maria at the communal table. Lord only knows what his name was, but he was sooooo annoying. He was an American from Chicago, and spoke only English. From the brief background that Maria gave us, we learned that he goes to Mac Dario EVERY DAY for a hamburger and tries to make conversation with the people around him whenever he is there. At one point, even the waiter walked behind him mouthing to me that he never shuts up and that he's always there. He reached over our section of the table, and even got out of his seat to walk down to the very end of our section to re-fill our waters. I could have done it myself. Such a weird man. When Carla asked him what he was doing in Italy, he responded, "I'm eating." Period. The whole time, Maria was sitting with her back to him and blatantly ignoring anything he said to her. Knowing full well that he didn't speak Italian, she talked about him in Italian to us the whole time that he was seated next to her. Poor Jeff was his unfortunate victim of conversation, so they ended up talking American politics the whole time. Jeff majors in Political Science, and I assume he shared that with the man. Apparently though, all of his ideas and opinions were completely unsupported and nonsensical. I really thought Maria was going to kill him and I can't imagine how he visits Mac Dario every day. All they serve is meat! I imagine he's not leading the healthiest of lifestyles. Maria also told us that last time they had lunch there, the man turned to her and asked "how do you say 'to bleach' in Italian?" She responded with "candegginare" and he said "are you sure?" ARE YOU SURE!? SHE'S THE ITALIAN ONE! We won't even discuss the randomness of that question.
Anyway, when we were done with lunch, we went to the downstairs part of the restaurant where he had his butcher shop. All the meat looked so perfect and fresh. Mac Dario was so excited to have us that he gave us all mini sizes of that salt and herbs mixture. I asked him if I could take a picture with him and he was delighted and hugged the guts out of me for the photo. Then he said "ti sono piaciuti i bruciaculi, giusto?"--> You liked the (literally) butt-burners, right? I had no idea what they were, but I responded positively. So, he wrapped those up for me as another present. When I opened it up later, I saw that they were delicious looking peppers, soaked in olive oil. Those are most certainly coming home to the States. I guess they will be spicy, considering the fact that he calls them "butt-burners." As I walked out of the butcher shop, I saw his meat refrigerator, which was on display to the public. Hanging inside were huge cow legs and slabs of other types of meat. It was very unique, to say the least. Outside, our waiter popped out the top window and thanked us a million times over, blowing us lots of kisses. Then we went to take some pictures in front of the hills of Chianti.
On a side note, while this Mac Dario is a complete genius, I also understand that he is a little crazy. Apparently, he held funerals for the cows during the "Mad Cow" epidemic. Maybe he's a cow-whisperer and that's why he makes such great food. :)
As we were driving back towards Florence, I had such an amazing feeling about my study abroad experience. First off, I couldn't believe that I was living real life. I was in Chianti at a famous restaurant, eating incredible food with some amazing Italians. Maria calls herself our Aunt, and that's what she really is. She loves taking care of us and I will never be able to find the right words to thank her for all of it. I was so perfectly content at lunch, speaking Italian with my friends and experiencing something so totally unique. I felt so included in the culture because the waitstaff was so genuine and fun. Also, Maria and her husband make me so comfortable because everywhere they take us, they know the owners. We are always welcomed with warm hearts and that really makes me feel like a native Italian and not like an American who completely sticks out.
We returned to the center around 2:30 and I met up with my friend Alex, from high school. She is studying abroad in Ferarra and came to visit Florence for the day with her friend Nikki. As soon as I found them, they were sooo ready to go shopping, so I took them to the Ponte Vecchio as per their request. They bought some beautiful pieces of gold jewelry. I was amazed at how beautiful everything was. Then, I took them to Prada, Gucci, Hermes, and Fendi, and I don't think more needs to be said about this, except that they dropped a TON of money in all these places. I ONLY watched, but it was fun. Actually, when we were in the jewelry store Alex reminded me of something that I had done in 7th grade that she'll "never forget." I don't remember this, but apparently I really liked her silver heart link Tiffany's bracelet when we had French class together. She explained that one evening I called her house (this was pre-cell phone) and asked her where she had bought it because I had wanted to ask for it for my birthday. I guess her Mom thought that I was "soooo sweet" because I had no idea of any of these designer things, and I too found the story a little funny. I guess that answers my personal question of when I discovered Tiffany's. As a matter of fact, I'm wearing the bracelet as I type this entry.
Anyway, that's about it for now. I am so full from today and I think I'm going to stay in for the night and watch a movie. I need to be well-rested for homework tomorrow. Yay. Oh, and thank goodness that I had such a good weekend because I just received an email today that I didn't get the Avon internship in NYC. Apparently, they were impressed with my research and writing skills, but wanted someone with "more related experience." I'm sorry, but how much more related can my experiences get when I did Relay for Life for two years with the American Cancer Society?! Avon is a breast cancer foundation! What a lame excuse. Well, there's always more out there, I guess. I'll keep everyone posted.
A presto!
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