sit back, relax, enjoy

Note on the D&G ad: it's everywhere in Milan, in all the Metros, on all the streets... World Cup madness continued.

Just when you think you've gotten tired of this place, you discover that you are indeed taller than almost all the cars in the city and that today is friday. I am so glad that week 2 at the ol ufficio is almost over, this weekend there's a free Sting concert, a night when all stores are open all night long, a referendum on the Italian constitution, and the visit of Carly a PSYL friend from 4 years ago. The weekend is waiting to be enjoyed, and it starts at 4.30pm.

Yesterday at 4pm, over the sound of my iPod singing continuously in my ears, I heard the blaring of a TV and more specifically a soccer announcer. The office had come to a standstill for the deciding match in the World Cup which would determine whether or not Italy would advance. It was a sort of bonding experience, yelling at the TV, swearing in Italian, rooting for the home team. It's kind of amazing how involved the Italians get, jumping up and down, yelling and cursing at the TV, and then, at the end, going back to work and moving on with their lives as quickly as they switched on the TV. It was nice to have a day at work that did not end with me being frustrated or pissed off, I actually stayed until 6 yesterday but, granted, I was watching a soccer game for the last two hours, ma dai (but come on)!

Two new things on my lifetime menu last night: pasta with nut sauce (sounds so much better in italian salsa di noci) and carpaccio (with the usual lemon juice, rocket lettuce and cheese). The pasta was quite nice, reminded me of the addition of chopped almonds my mother had made to our pasta at home. She had thought it a great invention, but, sorry mom, the Ligurians had a one-up on you. And the carpaccio, I was apprehensive. Raw meat. I've never had raw meat before. Hm. But since I've been in Italy, really I have no clue how to say no or to refuse any sort of new cultural experience. And it wasn't so bad, a light cool estival dish. I think it made me a bit nuts last night because I was thinking that every slightly uneasy feeling I was having must be from the raw meat. I don't think I'll be trying that stuff for a while, raw meat makes me nuts. Or perhaps the nuts made me nuts. You know what, I think I am just nuts to begin with, food excluded.

So I should get back to work, turns out that it is actually time consuming now that they've given me new tasks to do. Glory be, things may be turning around on this side of the world. Ciao.