Theraputic Tiramisu

Oh y'all...it has not been my favorite week. The house mood in general has been a little blah, people are getting snippy with each other, I certainly have plenty of my own drama to sort out, and the weather (until today) has been absolutely revolting, so, as you can imagine, that's not exactly the best combination. I think part of the problem, too, is that I'm experiencing this weird combination of homesickness AND sadness about having to leave so soon. I miss my family, my dog, my room, familiar things, Wake friends, etc and so I'll be happy to get home to all of that. At the same time, as my professor (David) so appropriately put it tonight at dinner, "I do my very best living in Venice." Now, I'm not trying to be all downer and cynical and say "heck, this is as good as it's gonna get and it's all down hill from here," because I know better than that. But, I live in a palace on the Grand Canal with 19 of the most amazing people who let me cry on them, make me laugh, cook for me, eat my cooking, teach me new things every single day, surprise the crap out of me every time I turn around, regularly sit down and play music of concert quality, and so many other things that I can't even remember right now. Add that to the fact that, on any given weekend, I can get on a train with a half dozen of them and find myself in Switzerland or Slovenia or Lord knows where else in a few hours for a weekend-long adventure ...I really am living the dream. Let's face it, at home, I'm not nearly this cool ; )

Anyways, enough with the little sappy rant there! Yesterday Kayla and I got up kind of early, got coffee, and got to the gym right as it was opening, which was nice because we kind of had the place to ourselves. I tried this weird cardio machine that is kind of like an elliptical, only instead of moving your feet front to back, you move them side to side (you look absolutely ridiculous, in case you were wondering, but it's a great workout)...good times. I got ready while the kids had class, then "helped" Kayla make salsa (and by "helped," I mean "sat on the counter and gossiped") and ate our leftover fajitas from Monday night (amazing). In the afternoon, I packed a little for my trip and did all the boring pre-trip stuff (printing out maps, directions to the hostels, etc). After the afternoon class, Kayla and I went to Bar da Gino AGAIN because the weather was just so miserable and we were kind of dragging a little and it was the perfect day to just hole up in a corner table and people watch. A group of the girls and David went to a local restaurant called Ai Sportivi (know affectionately as "Sportrant" by our group) and I managed to impress/amaze/disgust everyone by finishing the most gigantic plate of spaghetti alla bolognese EVER. Mind you, I was still hungry afterwords...love my metabolism. We had a house party and somehow I got roped in to playing about 300 games of beer pong, all of which were a total disaster because my beer pong skills have totally abdicated. I swear to you once upon a time, I was good. Now, I literally make people laugh. And y'all know how I feel about NOT being good at something... So, I was over it pretty early and ended up spending a good bit of time hanging out in the kitchen talking to Brian's parents/brother who are visiting.

This morning Kayla and I planned to go to the gym early again, but, got as far as Bar da Gino (in our lovely exercise clothes, mind you) and decided that wasn't going to happen. She was exhausted, I was exhausted and in a not so fabulous mood, so, we decided to just go tomorrow. I dragged her with me to Billa instead because I had agreed to make tiramisu for dessert for house dinner. It ended up being a wee bit more expensive than I thought it'd be, bringing me to spend all but my last Euro (before I got paid later in the day today), but, that's ok because it turned out SO WELL. I'd try to be modest, but, I'm just too surprised! I spent a LONG time in David's kitchen...tiramisu is such a process...so many different things to whisk until "stiff peaks form." David's kitchen looked like an absolute war zone...egg yolk and sugar concoction all over his fridge (don't ask), whipping cream all over me and his toaster, cocoa powder on the stove/me/the counters/the floor, espresso dripping all over the place...it took me almost as long to clean it up as it did to prepare everything! I don't even mind, though...I've been craving tiramisu, plus, I didn't want to do practical things (write essays, pack, etc). Probably the best benefit, though, is that cooking and cleaning are some of my favorite ways to completely distract myself, and like that bartender said, "don't think, lady, it's bad for your health." Later in the day, I helped Brian's parents get set up in the kitchen (they generously offered to make our house dinner tonight), then Zach and I went on a "friend date" to have a little chat over gelato and hot chocolate (he's got a lot on his mind, I've got a lot on mine, and nothing says "everything is going to be ok" like a rant while on a sugar rush, right?). Then we stopped by Billa to pick up a few last minute things for dinner and came back to help with final preparations. It was quite the dinner...caprese, fresh bread, chicken marsala, and tiramisu...amazing. Plus, my absolute favorite part was when Brian's dad got us started on "toasting," which involved one person standing up, saying something sappy and sweet about how happy we are to be here and know each other, then calling on someone else to make another toast. Everyone was surprisingly sincere given how impromptu it was and I am already thinking of how much I'm going to struggle when it's time to say goodbye : (

Now everyone is studying (they have a music test tomorrow) and I'm so hopped up on caffeine (I drank a lot of espresso during my 3 hour stint in David's kitchen) that I can't even think about sleeping (despite being pretty sleep deprived and about to start a marathon 10 day break coming down off a cold...sweet). I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get a solid night of sleep and wake up in a better mood tomorrow, because tomorrow at 8pm, I've got to get on a train for 15 straight hours and you just can't be anything but chipper to make it through that! I'm not taking my laptop on the trip, but, please believe I will be making one serious post when I get back to let you know how AMAZING Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich are!