one of my favorite things is after class, thought-provoking or not, we all talk about it. with 25 students and 3 hours per class, we don't always have a chance to speak and share our opinion, but i know each of us have different ideas, experiences, thoughts, questions, and debates squirming around our heads that we would like to bring up. i'm a big nerd and take a lot of notes, but often enough, i'm writing down questions and concepts i'd like to research, explore, or contemplate further after class.
"i love watching food bake in the oven" - jules.
jules, back from his easter break two missed flights, one missed train ride and a missed class later, offered to cook us dinner with some soft stinky-rind french cheese (reblochon) he brought back from the alps where he had been snow boarding. who would say no? the 6 colorno students, team zinzani, were re-united after two weeks over a delicious meal of a creamy-cheesey pancetta-potato gratin (aka tartiflette), warm peppery rucola soup, mixed greens salad, lemony-asparagus & whole wheat penne, fresh toasted focaccia, olive oil & oregano soaked rusks, birra moretti beers (don't mind the redundancy) and some italian ligurian white wine.
since being here, sometimes i feel spoiled and a little "unlucky" that english is my first language. from 16 different countries, other students here are able to practice and improve english as their second language as well as learn italian and whatever other languages they can. i can barely get by on my spanish, pretending that it's close enough to italian that they can understand me. sorry bucknell. (although that one night at the pub, arina and i spoke spanish fantastically. fluently.) but as i learned over our easter break, popi and arina, as they try to improve their english grammar and vocab, help me improve my english. they ask me questions on the correct pronunciation, usage and wording and i have to second guess my first reactions. sometimes the words their dictionaries provide are more advanced and intelligent than i could ever come up with. and sometimes they know english words i have never even heard of. corpulent? yes - an indispensable word of the year - now introduced into my vocabulary, i use it frequently.
i'm way off topic. what i wanted to say was, i love the discussions that our classes provoke and we continue after class and because english is my first langauge, i'm occasionally asked questions for clarification from class. talking about it not only reinforces what i just heard/learned for myself but opens up conversations. so far, we all come from different backgrounds, have different experiences and opinions, but are very open to hear what others have to say and share. we're all here b/c we're interested in the same (food-related) subjects, the same issues and the same concerns - and even more so, we love to talk about it. and what better way than with friends and an excessively cheesey filling meal? i love it.
wait. did i mention we had biskotoloukoumo for dessert? i gave jules a bite of mine and he fell in love too :) mmm
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