Fancy Cars and Scum

Saturday, May 17th

After a busy week and late night yesterday I was happy to realize it was Saturday and sleep in this morning.

Today was just a chill day. The weather forecast was for significant amounts of rain and wind, or else we would have gone to the beach. We didn't want to risk it, especially since the beach is an hour and a half train ride away (I'm definitely not in Carlsbad anymore).

So instead we slept in and took our time getting ready for the day. This morning—a sunny, cloudless morning—in Siena there was a car show, the Mille Miglia, where fancy cars both classic and brand-new drove through the city then ended up in the Piazza del Campo, driving in circles surrounded by cheering crowds.

Turns out that one of the roads the cars all took to get around the city and to the piazza was the street Shauna and I live on. So, as we were getting ready, we stopped every once in a while to look out the window and wave at the cars coming down the street. I filmed quite a few of them. First came the shiny new (cherry-red) Ferraris, then later on the older, more classic cars came around.

A little while later Shauna and I went up to the piazza to meet up with some people from our group and check out the cars. There were so many people all around the piazza, and everyone was excited and enjoying themselves. And the cars sounds amazing. They drove around the piazza showing off. So great.

Most of the cars were Mercedes, it seemed, aside from the Ferraris of course. But there was one—one—American car mixed in, and guess what it was? A 1964 Ford Mustang. Not my car but close enough! It was a moment of pride that "my" car represented America in this awesome event. It was a slice of home. And I didn't get a picture of it.

After checking out the cars for a while and enjoying the atmosphere, we decided to go grab some lunch and then gelato (which was amazing—really, I mean it this time). Then we went over to the house that a couple of guys in our group are staying in and played card games out on the back porch . . . until it started pouring rain. I guess the weatherpeople aren't completely off their rockers, just a little delayed.

When the rain had stopped and we had played enough Egyptian Ratscrew, Scum, and London Bridge to last at least another week (and had played long enough to get me from last to second place! woo!), we all went back to our houses for home-cooked meals.

Tonight I tried eggplant for the first time (without really knowing it at first, since "melanzane" wasn't part of my limited vocabulary) and was pleasantly surprised. Stuffed with mozzarella cheese and with a slice of ripe tomato on top, eggplant is quite tasty. It's not something I'll necessarily be asking for in the future, but it was pretty good.

Another thing: tomatoes. I greatly dislike tomatoes in America. But in Italy they are oh so good. Chop them up, put them on a slice of bread with oil and salt, and mmmm you have a tasty treat. They are also really good in salads and with pasta. Who knew? (Anna says she understands, because the students she has hosted previously all hated tomatoes in America but loved them here. So there you go. I'm normal.)

Moving on. A side note that I keep forgetting to mention: the Tuscan accent. Apparently in Tuscany there is a pretty thick accent that can sometimes be difficult for a university-taught student of Italian to understand. C's become H's. For example: "Ho-ha ho-la" would be the Tuscan (and therefore Sienese) way of saying Coca-Cola. No joke. I've gotten more used to it over the past week, though. I've had to train myself to understand "ha-za" to be "casa" (house) and "Ameri-ha" to be America. It's a struggle but it's fun.

That's it for today. Overall it was a relaxing day with friends in Italy. What's not to love.

Tomorrow will be my first experience going to church in Italy! Should be interesting!

Ciao!