Monica had a few couches reserved for us and we sat around talking and listening to music. The BEST activity was the cheese making day. At the very beginning of the semester we went to this shepherd’s house (Francesco) to eat his cheese and drink his wine, and he ended up inviting us back to make cheese with him. So, two weeks ago we went to his pasture, herded his sheep, MILKED his sheep, HELD BABY SHEEP, and made cheese (pecorino and ricotta). We had such a great time! The best part was the holding baby sheep part.
It had been our dream since seeing all of the baby sheep in Ireland. He had such an amazing operation. He milks the sheep, well a machine milks his sheep, two times a day: in the morning and at night. They herd the larger sheep into the machine, where they are excited to go because they are fed while they are being milked. After about 30 seconds of milking, the next 8 to 10 sheep come up to be milked. It took quite a while to milk all of his sheep, but they were very quick and efficient. Then in the morning and at night he takes the milk and makes cheese, two times a day! The entire process of making one batch takes about three hours. He begins by heating up all of the milk in a large pot. Then, once the milk reaches a certain temperature he adds this chemical, which actually is made from part of the sheep’s stomach. This chemical causes the milk to ferment. After about 30 minutes of fermentation the cheese separates into a liquid and a solid form. He takes the solid form and makes pecorino. Then, he reheats the liquid that is left and lets that set, and that becomes the ricotta! Some people eat fresh pecorino cheese, but most of his cheese is aged from about one month to a year. At the end of the evening he gave us a ride in his van; but this was unlike any ride that I have had before in my life. We climbed into the back of his dark, dirty, farm van and stood up as he drove us home. It was disgusting and scary, but so much fun! 
The day after our cheese making experience I set off for Florence, where I was going to meet Steve!!!! My friend Rich and I went to Florence on Friday and met up with our “3 City” friends, who were now studying in Florence. As soon as we got there we went to a huge grocery story and got enough food for a Mexican feast. Rich and I prepared a fabulous menu! We got so much food! We ended up spending 50 euro, but between 8 people that was an amazing price for dinner. We had salsa and guacamole for starters, and then our main dish was a tortilla with rice, black beans, and sliced steak with a fabulous yogurt, cilantro, and pepper sauce. We were in heaven.
However, we ended up getting escorted out of Dan and Cory’s apartment at 11 pm because the woman downstairs was having a fit. At 9:30 pm the landlord told us that we were being too loud, even though we were just making dinner, and that we needed to leave by 11. Well, by 10:30 we felt uncomfortable and were practically whispering at dinner as we ate, and at 11 she knocked on our door, came in and told us that we had to leave. It was the weirdest experience of my life. Never before had I seen a landlord shooing people out of their own apartment. But, we are in Italy.
The next day (Saturday) Steve arrived in Florence by train around 2:30 pm. From there, we went to our bed and breakfast, which was SO nice, and we dropped off our stuff. He had slept on the plane and the train so luckily he wasn’t tired, despite just getting over a terrible, week-long sickness! But he was feeling great so we walked around Florence for a while and ate some lunch. That night we found a great place for dinner, went to the Ponte Vecchio, and later met up with my friends for a few hours. Later that night, we got a call from Lindsey, my best friend, who told us that Ryan had just proposed! We knew it was coming but we were so excited for them!
The next day (Sunday) was the best day of his trip! We had a leisurely morning, went to see the statue of David, had a great lunch, and toured around Firenze. After lunch we walked from piazza to piazza, saw numerous churches, walked along the Arno River, and began our hike to the Piazza de Michelangelo.
This piazza sits on top of a hill and overlooks all of Florence. You can see hills outside of Florence, the river, all of the bridges, the Duomo, and many other numerous buildings. When we got to the top it was extremely crowded and full of venders, so we went down some stairs to a less crowded viewing point. There it was much quieter and we could enjoy the romantic view and the sun that was setting over the hill. We had a really sweet, romantic moment and then Steve began talking about Lindsey and Ryan. Then these words actually came out of my mouth: “I know…if only you had a ring”. Then, he handed me his camera, which I turned on to take a picture, but then I noticed that he was pulling a little box out of his pocket. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!! I kissed him, said “YES!”, pulled him up, and he put the most beautiful ring on my finger! 
We proceeded to take happy pictures and enjoy the beautiful walk back to city center. It was a great walk back. That night it was so cold that we went to dinner at the restaurant on the corner right by our bed and breakfast. It was THE BEST day! The next day (Monday) we made our long and difficult trek to Tuscania. We left at 11 am and didn’t arrive until about 6 pm. Public transportation in Italy takes quite a while, especially if you don’t really know what you are doing. But, we made it! Unfortunately, when we arrived in Tuscania it was dark, cold and rainy. Then once we made it to my street, the street was muddy and covered with wooden planks to talk on. So, in the rain, Steve carried his huge suitcase down the street while balancing on wooden crates and planks. That night, Maria Carla made us a fabulous dinner! There was a great fire and we just sat in the kitchen for a while with them and warmed up. She made amattriciana and pork and mashed potatoes; it was certainly nice to stay in the house.
I forgot to mention that on Monday I woke up with a sore throat. Well, on Tuesday morning I felt like I was going to die. I could barely open my mouth, I had a head ache, and my stomach did not feel great. So, I guessed that I got whatever Steve had the week before, just to a much lesser degree. So I didn’t go to Italian class that morning (which I wasn’t planning on anyways), and we just spend the day around Tuscania. I took him around to the park and walked through the streets. That night we went to a trattoria for dinner and went back home pretty early. I felt very badly for him that I was sick because I think I was a bore. On Wednesday I felt a little better, I went to class, and Steve stayed in the library and worked on some homework from the week before. That night we hung out with my friends and began preparing for the next day: THANKSGIVING!! Rich was in charge of dinner, and he made CURRIED HORSE over rice with mushrooms! It was absolutely amazing. The kitchen was a fiasco. There was one oven for many, many pies: apple and pumpkin! Ashley made 6 huge pumpkin pies and Melissa made 3 huge apple pies.
The next morning I felt a little better again, but decided to go to the doctor’s anyway. It was a good think that I did because I had strep throat. So, I began taking my medication and felt better that evening. So after the doctors I skipped class and began making sweet potato casserole. That evening we had a great thanksgiving meal!
We invited all of the Italians and they had such a great time. We were expecting about 30 people and we made three huge turkeys!! We had all of the authentic thanksgiving food and everything was delicious! 
Friday morning we woke up extremely early because I had a field trip in Rome. We went to the Borghese Gallery and a few famous churches in Rome. When it was over, we stayed in Rome to do some touristy stuff. That night we walked around Rome and saw the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, and the Trevi Fountain. We stayed in this bed and breakfast right by the train station, and the owner’s family has a restaurant right across the street. So we ate there for dinner and it was a great meal! The next morning we went to the Vatican Museum so that Steve could see the Sistine Chapel. Then, we rushed back to the train station so that he could catch the 2:30 train to Milan. I eventually made it back to Tuscania at about 7 pm that night.
Steve had an awful time getting out of Italy! But as I write this, Steve is on a plane home!!
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