Tuesday,
February 06,
"Living Italian"
finally comes to
The
ANNOTICO Report
This
young student took a while, but she DID get it!! :)
Carefree in
The
Brown and White
By
Elizabeth Callahan
A
broad abroad, Columnist
February
5, 2007
I
ate one of
No, it wasnt pasta, olive oil or wine.
It was cow intestine.
Yes, thats right, beef innards.
It was my first experience at a real Italian restaurant where no one spoke English
and the menu was in Italian.
I was in an adventurous mood, having spent the day perusing the Italian city
that I now call home. I decided to branch from the familiarity of pollo (chicken) and order the Trippa
alla Florentina.
Its a
Everyone around me in the restaurant had plates of wonderful pastas and meats.
My roommate and I were anxiously awaiting whatever we
had ordered.
Our waitress finally emerged from the kitchen, and out came a giant slab of
bleeding meat for my roommate and something that looked like tentacles for me.
Not exactly what I was expecting.
I thought it was some sort of sea urchin at the time, but only later did I
learn that it was actually cow intestine.
I was more okay with it being sea urchin.
I actually managed to order the strangest thing on the menu and attract a lot
of strange glances from middle-aged Italians as I laughed hysterically while I
tried my best to eat the tentacle-like food in front of me.
In a country where you dont speak the language or know the customs,
everyday things like ordering dinner, paying for a panini or finding your way to school become
challenges.
Those challenges usually end in me making a fool out of myself as I try to
communicate in a pretty pathetic mix of Italian, English, Spanish and hand
gestures. I rarely get what I want or end up where I want to be, but I always
see amazing sites along the way.
In
Things Ive studied in art history classes are
suddenly in front of me. Looking at a photograph of a Michelangelo painting or
a building by Brunelleschi is nothing like standing in front of the real thing.
And the Tuscan countryside is even more beautiful than it is in the movies.
I am trying to take my cues from the Italians and live a more care-free life,
to really take time to enjoy the sites instead of just rushing around all the
time.
Even though Lehighs campus is beautiful, as I run to class with my coffee
in hand and iPod on full blast, I rarely take the
time to look and enjoy it.
Here people just enjoy their walks to work or school, and take in the beautiful
city around them as they walk instead of talking on their cell phones.
Cafis in
So, Im doing my best to have this same menta lity.
If I get lost, or order the wrong thing, I just laugh about it and enjoy it for
what it is, an experience. ...
http://www.bw.lehigh.edu/story.asp?ID=20383
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