Non si fa?

This weekend, Marta and I decided to cook dinner for several of our friends. We're not exactly culinary experts, but we decided on something that sounded pretty dang good to us - our own invention: Pasta Caprese!! This consists (or more accurately, would have consisted) of pasta with pesto, tomatoes, and mozzarella. We ran into a snag when our three Italian roommates informed us that this is just not acceptable. Non si fa were their exact words, the rough translation of which is "one doesn't do that."

These are three words that I've grown quite accustomed to hearing, actually. For example, I learned that "one does not" order a panino with a cappuccino. Non si fa. I asked my roommates to further explain, because I happen to like drinking a cappuccino with my panino. They explained that "one does not" mix breakfast items (cappuccino) with lunch items (panino).

Well, "one" may not not mix meals, but Kalen certainly does. Haven't Italians ever heard of brunch? Or, even better, brinner?! (I'm going to wait awhile before suggesting that we have weekly pancake dinners...)

Anyway, back to our could-have-been magnificent Pasta Caprese. Andrea, Pierluca and Giada insisted that we at least leave out the mozzarella. Tomatoes were acceptable as long as we promised to sauté them, not just toss in diced tomatoes at the end... which is what we were planning to do - once again, non si fa. So, the recipe was agreed upon - but we got off to a disastrous start when we accidentally bought two different types of pasta. One required a cooking time of 11 minutes, and the other required a cooking time of 12 minutes! I thought Andrea was going to have a heart-attack, especially when I explained to him my normal U.S. pasta recipe:

1. Buy pasta
2. Buy sauce
3. Cook pasta for somewhere between 10-20 minutes
(yeah, that one really got him...)
4. Combine pasta and sauce
5. Enjoy, usually with a glass of milk, sometimes directly from the pan. Haha!

After much ado about everything, and much help from our roommates, our pasta was finally complete. If you ask me, it was perfect. If you ask Andrea, Pierluca or Giada... you know what, just don't ask them! :) Marta and I are extremely proud of our very first Italian culinary masterpiece!

Oh, speaking of firsts: on Monday, I attended my first courses at the University of Bologna!

Beginning Latin Grammer: first, I went to the wrong building and waited in an empty hall for... well, probably longer than most people would have. Then I went to the right building but the wrong hall. Then I went to the right hall in the right building and after a very confusing hour, realized that Beginning Latin Grammer is not, in fact, a beginning course in Latin as I had been led to believe. It is actually a beginning course in literature and translation. This obviously requires some knowledge of the latin language, of which I have none. Note to self: Drop latin class.

Contemporary Italian Literature: right building, right hall! Yesssss! I was so excited about this that I wasn't even phased by the fact that I'm expected to read over 1000 pages of Contemporary Italian Literature by December. Okay, I was a little phased. In fact, I was terrified and am still terrified and would prefer not to talk about it any more. Note to self: learn speed-reading.

In all honesty, I'm excited about the class. The theme is "confines of humanity" which seems interesting, the professor seems really passionate and the books are long. I mean, the books are fascinating.

History of Photography: Finally, a class which doesn't scare the crap out of me. The professor is engaging and seems to know just about everything there is to know about photography. He's really easy to understand. We have two books, one about photography in the 1800's and one about photography in the 1900's. They seem a little dense but I think that I'll be alright if I study a lot and get on Professor Marra's good side. Note to self: bake cookies for prof.

Since I'm only taking two courses right now, I decided to take a photography course at a nearby community center. It's a 36-week long course, during which I'll have unlimited access to two different darkrooms and also to a professional studio equipped with lighting, backdrops, etc. This is incredible, because it can cost hundreds of dollars per day to use a studio like that and I'll have unlimited access to it for the entire time I'm here.

Well, that's about it for now but I want to leave you with one more thing!

An American photographer living here in Bologna organized a photo shoot today in Piazza Maggiore, for all the people who want to show their international support for Barack Obama. Here we are, in all our glory:
Can you find me? Hint: I am (unintentionally) doing the "rock on" symbol... not sure how that happened. Ah well... rock on, Obama!

:)