An outpouring of thanks

To quote the lyrical genius of America’s sweetheart, today was a fairytale. Right now I am rather tired but just want to express my gratitude to the world! I am feeling extremely lucky right now and there are so many reasons why. Today our program had us be, for the first time, tourists in Bologna. While I love the fact that I was forced to assimilate into Bolognese life very quickly, I must say that I enjoyed today immensely. In the morning we took a tour around the historical center and learned a little bit more about the history of the city we call ourselves residents of. After that I had a lovely lunch with just a few of the charming people I have met on this program followed by GELATO POPSICLES. I am 99% sure I died and went to heaven where they offered me a taste of ambrosia. Yeah. It was delicious. Anyways after that we all piled into a bus and ventured out of the city center to the Italian countryside. I would like to say that drive was the most beautiful thing I have ever been on but honestly it smelled like fish on the bus and we drove for twenty minutes up a winding road that was half the size of our bus. I closed my eyes for fear of projectile vomiting. What I did see was gorgeous though! And then we arrived and jaws dropped. When we got off the bus this is what we were greeted with:

Rolling hills, green vineyards and distant villas. Okay, that was worth the drive, right? Oh but it gets better. After an extensive photo shoot we were given a tour of the winery followed by a pasta making class. That’s right. I just learned how to make pasta from an adorable Italian man at a classy winery in the Italian countryside. Sorry. Just had to lay that all out there because it’s still a little unbelievable to me. It is so fascinating to me how everything that is so good here is actually so simple. With good, fresh ingredients, patience, and a care for what you are doing, the simplest foods can be astounding. I became quite the expert on Tortellini and hopefully can show off my newfound wisdom when I return home. Maybe I will make another post later on about how we actually did the pasta. We'll see. We spent well over an hour learning about this concoction of flour and egg (actually all that we used to make the pasta) and afterwards were treated to a delicious tasting feast of pasta, bread, cheese, meat and most importantly: wine. I am continuously overwhelmed by the generosity and hospitality of the Italians and am so grateful for my experiences thus far.  I would also like to extend my gratitude towards:

1.    .    My parents- without whom none of this would be possible. Their selfless generosity has been with me for twenty years and I only hope to make them proud!
2.       .  My sister because, well, obviously. She is my beating heart hehehhe
3.     .    My friends at home and Northwestern whose adventurous spirits inspire me on a daily basis even when we are miles apart.
4.           My whole, crazy family whose love is ever so dear to me.

Grazie, tutti!

Sorry for the explosion of cheese on this post…. but again, I am le tired and everyone knows that I have trouble with emotional regulation when I lack sleep. I probably should read over this because I am not entirely sure what I wrote but I just ask you to forgive the incoherentness of this one post. Everyone gets one freebie, right? Right.Thank you. 

Ciao, ciao tesori!!