FINALLY I GET TO EAT SUSHI!

So, first and foremost I finally got to eat things other than friggin pasta. These included Mexican and... SUSHI!

So, anyway, when my dad was here we got to go Venice and Milan. Venice was a group tip that was scheduled by the school, but he got to tag along on all our exciting adventures. Venice was pretty, and it was neat to finally get there but to me it was nothing particularly special. Dad, Jake and I had a fantastic meal on Friday night, though, probably one of the first "gourmet" meals I have had since being here, full of tuna tartar and rabbit and lamb. We also got to sample a delicious plate of italian cheeses, which may have well been the best part of the meal.

The next day we were on our way to Milan! Dad had to catch an early flight out of there the next morning, so Jake and I decided to tag along. So, first off-I loved Milan. It was so modern and chic but it still had this wonderful old, european city feel to it. So, we just HAPPENED to find this really cool sushi place that had sushi on plates going around a conveyor belt and it was just about the coolest thing I have ever seen. Even better than seeing the Spice Girls in concert. I'm pretty sure my excitement level was about the same.

I then proceeded to get lost in the multiple h & m's on the most wonderful pedestrian only shopping street in milan while Jake and Daddy contemplated their manliness and had some caffe'. Glowing with the success of my shopping ( a new shirt and a hot pink dress, WOOT WOOT), my father then informed me that he would not be joining us for dinner as we had originally planned because he wanted to get enough sleep before his flight. I then proceeded to lose it in the middle of Milan and tried to stop myself from crying like a two-year old as is processed that my daddy would soon be leaving (yes, I still cry when my dad leaves and no, I do not care what any of you think, and yes, my daddy felt very badly and gave me lots of big hugs and no, i am not a 5 year old I am just in a foreign country and miss my family a lot. I make up for it by drinking lots of wine). So, we took some more pictures of the fabulous Duomo (and do I mean FABULOUS), and then dad was on his way. Jake and I decided we wanted Mexican, so we found some Mexican as well as about 10 bars that were all decked out for ALL HALLOWS EVE! I completed my night with some margarita's, guacamole and enchilada's and then sipped a bloody mary while watching Italians drunkenly celebrate the silly American holiday. Overall I rate the weekend a 9 on the 1-10 scale.

Tired, if I don't write before Thursday, I hope you all eat a lot of Turkey for me (if they serve me pasta at our group dinner I'm flipping the table).

Ciao!

FINALLY continuing....

So I believe I left off on my morning in Montepulciano...

We wake up and have our breakfast with our lovely hotel host, Alberto. Strangely enough, well eating breakfast, Jake and I notice Alberto has the Siena Contrade flag of the Porcupine. So we ask him if he knows someone in Siena. At this point Alberto becomes very excited and proceeds to tell us that he is actually from Siena, belongs to the Porcupine contrade, and actually knows our program director. After finishing breakfast and whatnot, he ends with giving us his card and tells my dad that if we ever need ANYTHING in Siena, we can just call his family and to not worry, because we are in very good hands.

We then continued on to wander around the very small city square... BUT IT JUST HAPPENED TO BE WHERE TWILIGHT WAS FILMED OH MY GOD EVERYONE SCREAM! But really, it was still pretty cool. I took lots of pictures and was really excited, it was a really nice day and we were up on a hill so we got some really great views, and then we did some wine tastings.

Dad (obviously) bought some wine, the italian man running his winery told me "sei bella" and touched my cheek and gave me a free corkscrew, and then we were on our way to Montalcino!

Montalcino was absolutely FABULOUS! It was a medieval town on a hill, MUCH smaller than Siena, but was full of charm. We had a wonderful lunch, and then were privileged enough to be there during the town's medieval festival, which included the four sections of the town (each had a different name and color) setting up booths with homemade wine, food, and other items, an archery tournament and many, MANY parades with everyone in the medieval dress. During the day we went wine tasting again (duh) but at this modern little place off a side street. You put money on a card, and then put the card in a little slot over the wine you wanted, and then put your glass underneath and it came out a little spout! Very cool, and we were able to try so many wonderful different wines AND I GOT SO WASTED MOM.

Anyway, we spent a night there and left in the early afternoon the following day, and that Sunday was spent wandering around Siena trying to find the Siena/Juventes game on TV, but strangely enough not one bar/pub had a station that only played that game. They would play ALL the football games going on that day, going in and out and in and out so we just eventually gave up and went back and took naps and then went to dinner (boring, blah, but you guys are the ones that wanted to know what I was up to so I guess I'm obligated to fill you in).

And next time on Jordan's blog....

Jordan, Jake and her dad do Venice and Milan! The Duomo! The Shopping! The Sushi!

Then... Tom Cafmeyer celebrates his 21st birthday! And in style... Jordan gets food poisoning! Develops a taste for Energade!

And finally... Jordan and Jake get stranded in London!

Ciao!

Where are we?!

I am the worst. Truly, I can't believe I have deprived all of you of the ever-valuable information of my life. I'm sure you have all been wandering around for the past few weeks, constantly reloading this web address and frantically asking yourself, "WHERE IS A NEW BLOG? IS JORDAN OK? IS HER LIFE PLAYING OUT LIKE THE MOVIE TAKEN?". If you got so far as to actually become concerned about my well-being, chances are many of you took to calling my mother and got a response somewhat around, "Of course my daughter hasn't updated her blog. I didn't expect her to make it past a couple of weeks. Oh, and yes, she is fine, I talked to her on the phone the other day. And all she talks about is drinking, drinking, drinking! I hope she realizes she's still 20 when she gets back." And after this point, your conversation would continue on about some sort of gossip or the deal my mom got at Dick Sporting Goods just the other day, you really should go, because they have all this great NIKE and Underarmor gear for 75% off and yes, if you have a Dick's card like she does, you get an ADDITIONAL 10% as well!

I kid. I love that my mother finds deals at Dicks, since I tend to receive a lot of said Nike gear from these excursions. ANYWAY, now on to the boring stuff.

So, I left you off with the gym experience. Since then I have learned to only go during the day, but not on Wednesday's because the creepy man in the tight pants goes on Wednesday's and will continually, without fail, try to spot me when I bench. I have also learned it is not safe to go at night, as Italians do not believe in deodorant and it is too crowded and smelly to achieve anything. The same goes for the community pool on Monday nights. Not only does everyone in freaking Siena want to go swimming, but they also have the water aerobics class going on, although I can't complain about this because they play some sweet German techno music to get them pumped up and working hard.

But, for more exciting news... My daddy came! And we had the BEST time. We basically just went wine tasting everyday, I skipped class and got totally hammered...kidding, mom. All joking aside, we actually did go wine tasting but it was classy and involved a few sips here and there. I had my first wine tasting experience when my school (father in tow) took a sponsored trip to the Brolio Castle, a place halfway between Florence(boo) and Siena(CHEERS) where the Chianti Classico (popular type of wine here, look for it in the States, it's quite good) is made. It was my first wine tasting experience, and it was FABULOUS! I actually learned why people swirl their glass before they drink, how to taste the wine with all parts of my mouth, and got to see a real winery in action (but not really because it was 6:00 at night and everyone had gone home, but the machines were pretty tight).

After we got back, dad, Jake and I jumped on a train and headed out for our weekend excursion about an hour south of Siena for a night in Montepulciano and then Montilcino. So, we ride this train, have no clue where we are going because they're not announcing stops, somehow get off at the right stop (we made Jake stick his head out of the window at every stop) and it's pouring rain. Lovely, right? Well, not only is it pouring rain, but the train station only has two tracks, one going north and one going south and no taxi stand. After wandering around and using my crappy italian, we figure out we need to call a taxi. So, we go back to the train station and I talk to them and tell them where we are, in what I hope is correct since I had to use my Italian. The man on the phone says, ok, 10 minutes and I say, ok hurry, its really cold and pouring rain and we hang up. And then we waited.

We waited for about 30 minutes. By this time, its 9:00, we're hungry, a little crabby, and joking about how mad my mom would be at my dad for not planning better. Then this red jaguar pulls up. A man gets out and smiles and says, "Taxi?".

Now, you are probably thinking, WHAT IDIOTS! I hope they didn't get into that car with no taxi sign and with an Italian man they didn't know. Well, we did. And you know what? He got us to our hotel safe and sound and apparently the train station is like a bazillion miles out from the city center of Montepulciano and it was crazy and we were just so tired and hungry.

Whew. Speaking of tired, I am SPENT and need to catch up on my Office Episodes. So, I will leave you all with the anticipation of our encounters with our hotel owner, Roberto, the best meal ever, and pictures of where ROBERT PATTINSON SLEPT WHEN THEY FILMED TWILIGHT.

Or maybe I won't, just to spite you all... Ok, I kid, I'm just really wiped out and kind of delirious. Anyway, I'll try to finish tomorrow.

Until then, CIAO!

KILOGRAMS, not pounds.

Yesterday I had my first experience in the Siena pool. I found out two things: 1) I'm actually not that out of shape, and 2) Sienese people really aren't swimmers. Oh, and 3) they like to crowd 10 people into a lane and then try to swim laps. So I guess I found out three things. Regardless, it was great to get into a pool, and my plan is to convince them all that Jake and I are on the United States National team and that Micheal Phelps is our best friend. I'll let you all know how that one turns out.

Anyway, after swimming I went to the store to pick up some things for dinner. As the man is helping me get some green beans, he asks where I am from. I tell him, Chicago, and he immediately gets excited and tells me a friend of his, who is ALSO from Chicago, is currently visiting him!

"OH MY GOD," he says (but not really, he just exclaimed something in italian with a big smile on his face). He then pauses, and asks me, "Do you sleep with your window open?" Puzzled but mostly weirded out, I reply "Yes, sometimes if the weather is right." He then shakes his head and tells me how his friend from Chicago sleeps with the window open and just, how STRANGE that is and he can't get over it. Well, I got over the conversation pretty quickly after that and stammered a quick goodbye and went to pay for my items.

Then I decided I was feeling super motivated and trodded downstairs to the gym to lift some weights. WELL, I forgot that they don't use pounds here, and that kilograms is what is written on all the weights. So, I pick up my squat bar and put 10 pounds on each side. Well, it was really freaking hard and by my 30th squat I thought I was not going to be able to get back up and that I was going to die in the terrible smelling b.o. of the gym (italians don't like to wear deodorant. Either that, or they just don't put on enough). Luckily (and unfortunately embarrassing for me) an attractive italian man comes over and says, "Wow, I am impressed. That is a lot of weight for a girl." And I reply, "Well, no, it's only 20 pounds. I am very much out of shape." Well, he starts laughing and then his face kind of turns a little panicky as he describes to me that I am not lifting 20 pounds as I had originally though, but probably closer to 35 or 40. He helps me lifts the bar over my head, I stupidly stammer out a grazie and make my leave of the gym so tired, so embarrassed, and wondering how I am going to make it up the stairs to my apartment.

Ciao!

A little bit of culture shock...

So it's been a week since my last post, but that's OK because nothing exciting has happened. Well, actually, that's a lie, but the exciting thing that did happen happened yesterday night so I think that allows me a free pass. Anyway, last week was boring and filled with classes and the only fun thing I did was go to cooking class. We made homemade gnocchi (so easy, and so good), zucchini with ragu' inside, and homemade tiramisu'! For those of you who know me, you know I can't cook for squat, but Italian cooking is honestly so incredibly easy! It just takes a little bit of time, but I'm willing to sacrifice if I can come out looking a little more self-sufficient.

So let's see... classes (no one wants to hear about that), cooking (done!)... ah, yes, we took an excursion on Friday. We went to Assisi, where St. Francis was born and died, and looked at a lot churches. There is a reason I am not more excited. While it is always amazing to see places like the cathedral of St. Francis, or the church of St. Clare, it is not amazing to wake up at 7:30. take a 2 hour bus ride, walk up 20 million hills in 85 degree heat with not a cloud in the sky, and by the time you were allowed to eat lunch at 1:00 you got stuck with overpriced, nasty frozen pizza.

With that said and done, it was quite moving to be in some of the churches, and the art history behind many of the paintings was truly fascinating.

I was then lucky enough to be visited by two of my friends from Oberlin (SHOUT OUT KATIE AND HILARY) and we then took a quick bus to Florence the next day, where we visited the HUGE outdoor market (did a little damage to our wallets), and I think I have had some of the best gelato since being here. BUT, this is where the interesting part comes in...

So 4 of us from the program take the train back from Florence to Siena, which requires to take a bus from the train station to the main bus station which is inside the city walls, and saves you a cab fee. So, we get on, stamp two tickets each two times (for the four of us) and sit down. About two seconds later, a man comes by to the check the tickets. One of the guys in our program, not sure if we were able to use one ticket for two people, stamps another ticket (remember he still has a stamp on the original ticket from when he got on the bus). The man, in italian, immediately asks to see his passport. Well, our friend obviously doesn't have his passport on him, and asks the man why. He then gestures at the next stop for him to get off the bus, and we all follow. They then tell our friend that he has to pay 40 euro for not stamping his ticket on the bus (mind you none of these men speak any english). Of course, our friend tells them he is not paying 40 euro as he has a stamped ticket here. We then try explaining what happened on the bus, but the mean italian men will not listen, and tell us if our friend can't produce the 40 euro they will call the police. So, I get on the phone with one of our program coordinators, and tell the men they need to talk to her. So they talk, in fast italian, about the situation. After about 20 minutes of us arguing with the men, the men arguing with us and threatening to call the police, another bus guy comes that can speak a little english. I show him right away the two bus tickets with 4 stamps, and he then tells the other two mean men that we are more than free to go. They continue to argue, the men that speaks english tells us he is sorry and that we can leave, and we are free to go.

Now, as crazy/bad as this situation was, I am reminded once again of how different Siena is from the rest of Italy. If this would have happened in any other city (i.e. Rome, Florence, ect). We probably would have been taken to the police station, and they sure as heck wouldn't have taken a call from our program supervisor. All in all, everyone was fine and we didn't have to shell out 40 euro. But, it reminds you that you are in a country where you can't speak the language and don't know the customs, and I guess that europeans like to target the stupid americans for some pocket wine money.

Ciao!

PROST!

Continuing with my crazy weekend...

So, the tent was amazing, the beer was amazing, the atmosphere was amazing and while we were leaving Abby paid for 10 dollar nuts (needless to say, none of us cared enough to realize we were being ripped off terribly). So we get back to the hotel, check-in, and promptly passed out for a 4 hour nap. Upon waking in a terribly disoriented state, we realize it is now 8:30 and we are hungry.

So we walk to a Lebanese place by our hotel, and hot damn did we have a good meal. It was so fresh and delicious and the best part was that IT WAS NOT PASTA OR A PANINI I AM SO SICK OF PASTA AND PANINI's.

Ahem. Anyway, our friend Tom also caught up with us, and with a little detective work by Jake we found out they had hookah (although what Lebanese place wouldn't?). After a little of that, we were all filled with food and tired, and went back to the room to sleep, but not before we found out that Chicago didn't get the Olympics. I mean, seriously, what is up with that? Doesn't Rio have the World Cup in like 2014?

Well, the next morning Tom awakes early to get to the beer tents, but we slept in and ended up wandering around the city center and eating at the Rathskeller. By the time we got to Oktoberfest they weren't even letting anyone into the tents, so we went to the original Haufbrohaus in the city center. And man, it was like Oktoberfest all over again. So we had some more beer and some really really really good sausage. At this point, we also became concerned for Tom's well being because it had been about 12 hours since we last saw him.

We then had some starbucks (they do not have them in Italy!!!!!!!) and took the U-bahn (I love the efficiency of German... everything. I guess something good came from WWII) back to our hotel. It is now 8:00 and still no Tom. We decide to go get drinks at a bar down the street, and after a half hour Jake decides he doesn't feel goo and goes back. Well, ten minutes later he returns with the lost boy! Tom quickly fills us in, and it turns our he had quite the out of mind experience on the U-bahn (you know, came directly from drinking since 9:30 and rode the wrong train for a while). Regardless, he was back to us in one piece and we celebrated with, yes, some more beer.

Sadly, the fun eneded as Jake and I had a 8 AM flight this morning. But, the day ended well as I am typing this to you all from the Irish bar in Siena where I enjoyed my evening with a Cider, free appetizers and some NFL football. I will now be doing this every Sunday.

Well, I am quite tired and Jake wants gelato (SO GOOD), but I promise to record any other exciting adventures I may have.

Ciao!

OKTOBERFEST! and other things, but I think we all know what matters most

So, first things first-OKTOBERFEST! Pictures and videos really don't do it justice, it's truly one of those things you have to experience for yourself. BUT, continuing where I left off...

My cooking class was unreal. As most of you know, I wasn't allowed to touch the stove at home without parental supervision after I set off the smoke alarm while boiling water when I was 13. So, the fact that I made biscotti, and pasta from scratch (yes, scratch) was more than a huge accomplishment. My parents still don't believe me. Anyway, along with those delicious dishes, we also made eggplant parm, which was AMAZING! I don't even like eggplant, but now I have the urge to try and make this recipe the first chance I get.

So blah blah blah, boring things happened and I had school and none of that's really exciting so I'll get to the good stuff. And by good stuff, I mean lots and lots of beer.

The Oktoberfest experience began at 5 last Thursday when Jake and I made our way to Pisa for an overnight stay since we had a 5 AM flight to catch. Long story short, our hotel bed was two twin's pushed together and I swear the mattress was made out of uneven lumps of potato's. Whatever, we slept, and woke up at 5 to trek to the airport. Long story short, we BARELY made our flight (our taxi driver insisted on picking up more people to take to the airport, putting us 20 minutes out of our way and would not listen to my angry english slurs (probably didn't understand them, either).

So we get on the flight, get to the airport, and take this damn bus to Munich (hour and a half, I was so sick of traveling, and I really had a taste for a big fat burrito. Besides the point, but its not like they have chipoltle here).

Finally, we arrive at our hotel and see my friend abby! We couldn't check in right away, so we (of course) went straight to Oktoberfest.

Man, oh man, I can't even tell you. We went to the Houfbrauhaus tent (the same as the famous restaurant) and ended up seeing some of abby's friends who let us sit at their table. We immediately got some Steins and celebrated the German's and their beer. We made several friends at our table, including more americans, and man from australia, and my new best friend John from Austria, who was dressed in traditional liederhosen and excitedly expressed his love for Las Vegas while showing his calling cards (complete with pictures of naked women) to anyone who would listen.

My internet is running out so I have to stop here, but the good news is I figured out how to put up pictures and THEY WILL BE HERE BY THE END OF THE NIGHT!

TSCHUSS (I am in Germany, afterall)