...Lazy weekends and Carnivals?

Okay, so I know it's been like 2 weeks since I posted anything, but I've been busy! Last weekend there was a fair in my town. It was just like a fair in the USA, but there weren't any farm animals. Just fried food and rides. Instead of animals they had a giant street market. Kind of like the ones they have every week but bigger and with more than just clothing and shoes. I went on Saturday night with a friend from school and then again the next morning with my host mom and sister. I had a successful day of shopping though. I finally bought myself a jacket because I am freezing here. Also, I got a sweater, wool socks, and cargo pants. Cargo pants, Camouflage print, and graphic t-shirts are really popular here right now, so I was trying to embrace the Italian style. Here's a few pictures!

 

So I also went to another Rotary meeting. They are every Monday night at 8 o'clock. First, I just want to say Italian Rotary is completely different than American Rotary. I don't think they actually do any service projects (the other students and I haven't heard our clubs talk about any). I think its more of a social gathering. So we all got to the restaurant that the meeting was being held at dressed in a black dress with heels. We sat down at our tables and we were served our first dish which is always some kind of pasta. So I read the menu and I saw that the first dish was risotto con frutti di mare. Now I thought this meant like risotto with fruits found by the sea on the side, but no. The plate placed in front of me contained Risotto with muscles, calamari, and baby octopus mixed in. I was a little hesitant at first, but I eventually ate everything except the octopus. I just couldn't handle eating them, they were still whole with just the head chopped off. Anyways, so we had about three more dishes and coffee which took a little over an hour. So then, the meeting finally started. There was a famous Italian writer at the meeting and they read his stories with music in the background. I was extremely bored and on the verge of falling into a deep sleep. You see, the music was really soft and soothing and I couldn't understand anything. I've become really good at just tuning everything out because sometimes my head just needs a break. So this went on for another hour. By the time the meeting was over and it was almost 11 o'clock. I am just shocked that I had to stay for the whole meeting on a school night.