Day 2: Cowering

Currently in Earphones: Nothing, Deepti's Italian iTunes settings were hijacking my iPod.

So after sleeping for an ungodly amount of time, Deepti took me to the Supermercato so that I might actually have some food. I can see why folk gush about the cuisine here, based upon what I saw, at least. All sorts of fresh meats, including Rabbit, tons of fresh bread, and something I've never set eyes on before, fresh pasta. Wonderful pasta of all sorts, looking like they just came from from the kitchen, sealed and stuck in refrigerated racks right next to the meats. I went with some "safer" fare (using the old college cuisine sense), bread, apples, Italy's version of instant soup and pasta dishes, chips (olive oil flavored!), and some yummy, yummy nutella.

Deepti's been good about getting some Italian vocabulary into me, though so far a lot of it has been of the "into the deep end" variety. Luckily, she responds well to my quailing looks, and to her credit, it hasn't been terribly difficult. Lets just say that I was never so relieved to see the price display on a cash register before.

Since I was still getting over jet lag, spoke only english, and was feeling quite a bit like Leonard Shelby when it came to reading a map, I decided to hole up in Deepti's apartment and equalize while she was in class. But though I'd decided not to say hi to Italy today, Italy decided to come in and say hi to me instead. Partway through the day a young man came in to fix some broken glass on Deepti's door. Having not met any of her apartment mates, I immediately went and introduced myself on instinct, though I quickly found out he was only there for the repair. He seemed to understand that I was at least the boyfriend of someone, but conversation was limited. It was only after he left that I found I could have dredged up enough Spanish to hold a basic conversation (if he indeed spoke it), but I at least made a saving throw of a "grazie!" as he was on his way out, and was rewarded with a grinning "prego!"

I'm still getting over jet lag, and found that I was quite ready for a long nap around 3pm, local time. When I did get up (and Deepti had returned), I had a really good combination of (apparently) veal ravioli and some tomato sauce that had diced olives in it. It almost seemed comical that something that tasted so good was thrown together the same way we'd boil pasta and add sauce back in the states. I guess I can see why folks get so worked up over the local cuisine here, and I can't wait to sample more of it.


Enough, More Later.
- James