L'Intervallo Breve

Hello, all. It is Thursday morning here and I am leaving for spring break in just about an hour, so I will skip all introduction or even a semblance of an overview at what I'm about to write, as I haven't the foggiest, anyway. When we last I wrote, it was Saturday. That evening, Micki and I walked to the grocery store to buy beers, since we were feeling extra-manly and beer is super cheap here. To fortify ourselves for the eight-minute walk, we stopped and got gelato (chocolate, lemon, nutella), which drew the judgment of many Italians as we were walking in Arctic conditions. Made it to the GS (that's the name of it, I'm not obnoxiously abbreviating grocery store...although come to think of it, maybe that's what it actually stands for. Hmm, just another of life's mysteries) and promptly decided to buy a whole box (pallet? I really don't know what it's called) since it was so cheap. While standing in the check-out line, Micki burped. She was also wearing plaid and carrying 20 beers, at which point in time it struck me that her visage suggested quite strongly I was standing in line with a living, breathing lumberjack. Which is pretty cool. Bought the stuff, and then contemplated how to carry home an entire brewery between two delicate young ladies. We hobbled home, me still with my gelato in hand, because I am the slowest eater in the history of existence, trying to eat some while still juggling the drinks every time it seemed as if the whole thing was going to melt right out of the cone. Probably broke my elbow in the process, but these are just the things we do for Italian delicacies. Took the drinks back to Katherine's house, where we were going to teach an Italian how to play power hour. All told, it was quite successful, even though he was a baby about it because he doesn't like beer (what a pansy, amirite). It became even more successful when we experimented with mixing orange juice into the beer, and more successful still when we made two pots of pasta and Micki found a Snuggie (which then remained on her person the entire night and through to the next morning since she slept in it). Overall, I find power hour a little stressful, since everything has to be so punctual, and am I decidedly not so. In any event, we finished the night off with Eurotrip, and that was good enough for me. Woke up in the morning to go to a brunch at one of the downtown apartments. Not as easy as it sounds. First, we were aiming to be there at 12, which meant we had to leave the house at 11, which was going to be no big deal since we woke up at 10. But whoops, someone misread the clock, we actually woke up at 11 which was vaguely problematic. More so when we discovered we had to find a grocery store open on a Sunday (not likely, stupid God-fearing country) to buy champagne and orange juice (and chocolate chips, this was my top priority). Also, it was snowing and quite cold. So we took a bus to Pam, which is open every day, only to find that even that was closed. Drama. Then decided to walk back to the bus stop, at which point we were being followed by a creepy man in his car...sketchy. Got back on the bus and decided to go to Blockbuster, since we heard a rumor that they sold champagne. No. We found barbecue sauce, Oreos and guacamole, but no champagne. Pressed onward, contemplated finding orange juice at the kebab shop, until we discovered that they didn't sell it either. Finally decided to give up and just head over to Porta Nuova train station to catch the Metro, at which point one of those among us remembered that Porta Nuova actually has a grocery store that is actually open 7 days a week... PN is about 10 minutes from my house, but we had just spent over an hour taking buses in circles in the snow, which was just the coolest. But we did find everything that we need..except the chocolate chips..I had to substitute with Smarties. Anyway, got on the Metro, my first time in Torino. LOVED IT. Totally clean, fast, perfectly perfect. Walked the rest of the way to the downtown apartment, arrived at about...2:30. But, we had made it and that's probably all that really matters. First up was pancakes (with Smarties, and blueberries) with strawberries and cream cheese sauce and REAL maple syrup, a genuine rarity in Italy. Then had a bit of mimosa time to digest the pancakes, which had already made us full, in order to make room for the second course. Diana (in whose apartment we were eating) and Stephanie (a super nice British girl) made us seriously DELICIOUS food. Mushrooms, baked beans with peppers and onions, sausages, BACON, scrambled eggs, and I think something else that I'm forgetting. It was glorious, as well as my first regular breakfast since I've arrived here, which made the hours of trudging in snow totally worth it. Came back and did...probably something? It was only four days ago and I already don't remember what I did. But I'm sure it was delightful. Monday was spent at the internship, slaving away. I feel like I'm finally making some progress with my research, so that's heartening. I did something else Monday that I've forgotten. It was also the Fesa delle Donne, which is a national holiday in Italy, basically just a Women's Day. Chicks tend to get free stuff, that's about the core of the idea. Tuesday was spent doing errands and other important-seeming things. Booked my trips to Sicily and Amsterdam, which is good fun. I also had my first Conversation exam. I think it went pretty well, although I probably should have studied more than half an hour or whatever, but I suppose I know for next time. Started snowing again during my exam (Tuesday evening) and I swear to God, the snow didn't stop until a couple of hours ago (Thursday morning). So, weather has been miserable. And yesterday I needed to go to the open market to buy a bigger backpack for spring break. Snow made it brutal, but I found my way and also found a backpack. Went to International Affairs (love that man) and did other stuff that is now irrelevant since I have to leave for spring break now!!!!!! So.....talk to you later, guys. CIAO!