If I had the opportunity to study abroad twice I think I would definitely consider taking the route that these two have taken and study abroad in two different places!
Upon arriving back home from my week long trip in Venice with my Dad, I was happy to find my final article for Tuscia Times posted on the website. My final story is in a Q&A format focusing on two students in my USAC program who have studied abroad in Italy TWICE, but in two different cities. This was a fun article to write and I learned a lot from both Emily and Yeo about how this unique experience has impacted their study abroad experience, view of Italy and life overall. If I had the opportunity to study abroad twice I think I would definitely consider taking the route that these two have taken and study abroad in two different places! Even though I wish there was more time for me to write stories and cover events in Viterbo, the opportunity to apply my journalism skills and be a volunteer writer for Tuscia Times has been a great experience and addition to my study abroad journey here in Viterbo, Italy!
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The Last Supper: Final Italian Cuisine and the Mediterranean Diet Cooking Session: Medieval Cuisine12/1/2014 Purtroppo, Oggi è stato il mio ultimo giorno a lezione di cucina! (Translation: Unfortunately, today was my last day in cooking class!) We ended our fifth and final cooking session on a high note creating delicious Medieval Cuisine! Our menu consisted of: 1. Ceci E Spinaci (Chickpeas with Chicory) 2. Gnocchi di Spinaci e Ricotta al Burro e Salvia (Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi with Sage Butter) 3. Polpettone Bizantino (Byzantine Meatloaf) 4. Ravioli Dolci di Nostradamus (Sweet Ravioli with Jam) And to add to this already delicious menu, our professor and head chef Renee treated us to a classic Italian dessert for Christmas time called, "Pandoro." Wrapped in huge boxes, it's a traditional cake that she dusted with powdered sugar before serving to us. Very fluffy and light, il Pandoro reminded us of the sweet Hawaiian bread rolls sold in the supermarkets back in the States. The ceci e spinaci reminded all of us of our favorite hummus back home. We ended up spreading it on our bread to eat it. It tasted like a interesting combination of mashed potatoes and hummus but it was delicious. Very healthy, especially with the added touch of spinach on top! The gnocchi di spinaci e ricotta al burro e salvia was my absolute favorite dish we cooked today. After creating the mix, rolling all of it into small balls, cooking them and tossing them in the sage butter sauce, all I can say is I had no leftovers. The fresh sage used to create the butter sauce complemented the flavors of ricotta and spinach very well. It's safe to say that this dish is on my list of top dishes we have cooked all semester. The meatloaf smelled the best as it baked in the oven. While preparing, I rolled it into a yuletide log formation after we placed carrots and two hard-boiled eggs in the middle. It was a little drier than we expected but the addition of the white wine that Renee added made the taste - molto buono! Last but not least, we created our own homemade sweet ravioli dough which we then filled with orange jam and deep fried for a few minutes before sprinkling powdered sugar and orange zest on top! I think the next time I make this recipe I will use strawberry or raspberry jam, but it was nonetheless delicious and the deep fried dough and powdered sugar tasted like one of my favorite fair foods - funnel cake! I'm certainly going to miss coming to the restaurant on Monday afternoons to cook. This was probably my favorite course I have taken this semester and I can proudly say I've become a better chef thanks to all the techniques Renee taught us as well as just practicing cooking homemade meals at my apartment.
If you study abroad and they offer a cooking class, take it! Not only will you learn a lot about the cuisine of your host country, but it's a fun way to be interactive and hands on in the classroom AND you get to eat delicious meals that you cooked throughout the semester! BUON APPETITO! One of my favorite aspects of studying abroad is how many different opportunities there are for students to get involved in their host country. Yesterday evening from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. I helped host International Day 2014! Myself, my roommate Keeghan and Austin all volunteered to help host this annual event under the direction of Simone, Stefano and Luisa. They are our USAC Advisors here in Viterbo. As a host my duties included welcoming the students to the event and passing out name tags, along with taking photos at the photo booth! The purpose of International Day is for students studying abroad within the programs USAC, Erasmus and ESN to meet and interact with each other because there are several students studying in Viterbo from all around the world. It was a fantastic way for students to immerse themselves amongst other cultures and create new friendships. We planned a variety of activities for the event including:
We were also going to have International Karaoke but the system wasn't working so unfortunately that event didn't take place! The night started out with International Trivia. This was a great way for all the students to get to know each other and work as a team because everyone was mixed with students that weren’t in their same study abroad group. In order to ensure that students would not be on the same team as their friends we had five different colors of name tags and randomly wrote their names on them. Before International Trivia actually began, Stefano announced to the students that they needed to find the students wearing the same color name tag; this is how we formed the teams for trivia. Trivia consisted of two rounds: 1) Name the Monument and Country it’s in 2) Name the Food and what Country it’s from Teams got competitive but it was a great way for all the students to bond with one another. Afterwards, everyone was free to enjoy the potluck and take photos at the photo booth, get their face painted or even chat with the local radio station. Throughout the night I took photos for the photo booth and the event itself and it was really exciting to see students mingling with one another and having a great time. Thanks to events like this I now have friends from Georgia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and more places all over the world :)
In between attending classes, traveling all around Europe and soaking up all that this experience has given me, I have managed to keep writing. Not only for my blog, or in my personal journal, but for Tuscia Times - Viterbo's online magazine. I am a volunteer for Tuscia Times and this past week my first story was published on the website! I wrote a feature story on Kimberlee Manzi. She is an Italian local and English as a foreign language professor who knew her heart belonged in Italy after studying abroad in Rome for a year. (Note: A tab might pop-up that says, "This page has been translated from Italian to English" and if it does hit SHOW ORIGINAL (a button that should be right next to that text) if you don't the article will not appear in its correct format with my original article and the italian translation beneath it.)
I'm so thankful for the opportunity to continue doing what I love while in Italy! Happy Reading! An average Monday studying abroad might equal the only two classes you have combining together for an olive oil field trip and a night time archery session, just saying. My Explorations class combined with my Italian Cuisine and the Mediterranean Diet class to travel to Bomarzo. We spent the afternoon at an Olive oil factory viewing the production facility as well as sampling the factory's various olive oils and, as all my cooking field trips end, of course there was a wine tasting segment! Thankfully our professors and Simone provided us with lots of delicious breads, cheeses and meats to sample with the oil and wine. Monday night was rather spontaneous! Right after the field trip I joined my friends Risa, Jen and Eugenio for an archery session in Viterbo. I had done archery as a unit in P.E. when I was in 8th grade, so I hoped to remember some of the skills when we arrived. I'm no Katniss Everdeen but after two rounds of shooting I can successfully say my last arrow hit the bullseye (yellow) right on the edge. The instructor informed me of my shot by saying, "Bene. Yellow!" I hope to participate in more of the archery sessions before I leave. It was quite the adrenaline rush and after shooting a few arrows I wanted to keep going.
I have never cooked with so much eggplant in my life. From frying to baking to chopping into the tiniest cubes possible, it was one of the main ingredients we used in this week’s cooking session on Sicilian Cuisine. Our menu consisted of: 1. Melanzane Parmigiana (Eggplant Parmesan) 2. Caponata (Mixed eggplant, olives, celery, garlic cooked in oil) 3. Peperonata (Yellow and red bell pepper salad) 4. Lamb with Fennel The eggplant parmesan is on my list of the top 3 things we have created thus far at each lesson. The flavors of the sauce, eggplant and cheeses blended together so well, that it left all of us eating rather quietly as we enjoyed each bite. Renee, the head chef, explained step-by-step the layering process of the eggplant parmesan allowing us to finish after she demonstrated. Steps are listed below followed by a gallery of the steps in the correct order: 1. After drizzling olive oil at the bottom of the dish, spread an even layer of the tomato sauce over the bottom of the dish. 2. Align pieces of the eggplant on top of the sauce covering most of the cracks and crevices. 3. Sprinkle a little bit of salt on each piece of eggplant to add flavor. 4. Cover with another layer of the tomato sauce. 5. Sprinkle parmigiano reggiano over every piece of eggplant. 6. Sprinkle some of the diced mozarrella over the first layer of cheese. 7. Repeat the process starting at step #3, aligning the dish with more eggplant and continuing to layer the ingredients. The last layer should be sauce, parmigiano reggiano and the mozzarella cheese so that it melts creating a cheesy top. I had never eaten lamb before and I don’t think I will be eating it again anytime soon. The flavor was rather rich but I only helped myself to one piece, opting not to go for seconds.
The texture of the caponata was surprisingly rich but I enjoyed the flavors of the eggplant, celery, and olives that accompanied each bite. And the bell pepper salad was deliciously sweet. After baking the bell peppers in the oven we peeled the skin off of each of them and removed all the seeds. Then we ripped them into thin slices and placed them in a bowl to create a salad which included: olive oil, parsley, salt and a clove of garlic for flavor – which of course no one ate! As we were leaving Renee said, “Ci vediamo a Dicembre!” (See you in December!) and that made me sad because even though we will have another cooking session, not only is it our last one but that means my time studying abroad is almost over. Like the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having Fun!” I can happily say I made fresh pasta in Italy! Monday afternoon was my third cooking session in my Italian Cuisine and the Mediterranean Diet class and on top of cooking five delicious Tuscany recipes we also made fresh pasta that we added into our bean soup. Our menu consisted of: 1. Panzanella (Cold Bread and Veggie Salad) 2. Fagioli all'uccelletto (Beans in tomato sauce) 3. Pappa al Pomodoro (Bread and tomato soup) 4. Arista di Maiale (Roasted Herb-Stuffed Pork Loin) 5. Zuccotto (Sponge and creamy cake soaked in liqueur) One of my favorite parts about these dishes was the amount of tomatoes we used. I used to not be a big fan of tomatoes in my food unless they were sliced and in my hamburger or came in the form of ketchup or tomato sauce. However, after living in Italy for a little over two months I’ve come to really enjoy fresh tomatoes in practically everything I eat! Not to mention I think they taste better here in Europe.
I also enjoyed the added touch of grilled bell pepper in the Panzanella and the homemade custard with the chocolate chips that Renee prepared for our cake was to die for! I’m really looking forward to going back home and recreating all these tasty Italian dishes for my family and friends! I have become quite the chef while living here in Italy and I can’t wait to be able to share the dishes I’ve been lucky enough to try with my loved ones. Halloween in Italy is one day I will never forget! From 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. I spent the day at Parco Regionale Della Maremma with my Explorations class for a field trip and the evening was spent at a Villa, within the walls of Viterbo, drinking wine and celebrating Halloween with some of our Italian friends! I was really happy to spend lunch soaking up the sun at the beach and it was great to return to Viterbo and see the Halloween spirit come alive with adults and kids dressed up for the night time festivities! This evening I had my second field trip with my cuisine class at a Cheese Factory! I absolutely love cheese and Italians make the freshest cheese I’ve ever had. We got to watch the production of ricotta cheese, something the small factory was known for and I got to try fresh ricotta. When I say fresh I mean the owner literally scooped the ricotta into its mold and we got to taste it within three minutes of it being ready! An opportunity that my professor Sergio said would and could only ever happen in Italy! The owners Antonia and Francesco were very nice and after we got to tour the chamber where the cheese is produced we all sat at a huge dining room table and they brought out large baskets of pane (bread), different cheeses for us to sample and no tasting would ever be complete in Italy without 4 bottles of delicious red wine. Francesco is a shepherd and he’s one of the last shepherds to produce cheeses with raw milk. We got to sample cow cheese, 6-month-old sheep cheese and the fresh ricotta we watched Francesco produce during our tour. My personal favorite was the cow cheese. It was a much sharper cheese than the others but it really complimented the wines we drank. My professor said that one thing Italians recognize as Harmony is eating good cheese complimented with good wine. I could not agree more with his statement! This past weekend I was fortunate enough to meet my Italian Language Partner Federica!
At the beginning of the semester, during orientation, we were asked to place our names on one of the activity sheets if we would like to practice our italian with Viterbo locals and students. My italian partner reached out to me via e-mail and before I knew it we were planning our first get together! We met at a fountain located very close to my apartment and walked around Viterbo while getting to know each other. Federica speaks very good English. She's eager to improve her English and is excited that we can converse together because she said conversation is the only way (and the best way) to get better. I told her I agree 100 percent because I have the same attitude in terms of wanting to improve my italian speaking skills. We had a basic conversation in Italian and I conversed with her using what I have learned thus far in my Elementary Italian course. She was impressed which made me feel more confident in my skills. She also taught me certain phrases that I wanted to know how to say in Italian such as:
After officially meeting each other, my language partner and I both realized that we're a match made in heaven! Not only does Federica dance, but she also wants to be a journalist too and write about cultures/traditions while traveling the world! I can't wait to learn more italian and spend more time with my language partner. I'm grateful USAC provides us with so many unique opportunities here in Viterbo! |