Just a little update

Ciao amici!
I don't have too much time to write right now, but I'd thought I would fill you in on what it is that I am studying here and what the classes are like.
The university that I am attending is called Florence University of the Arts, or FUA. I only have classes three days a week! On Mondays, I have Religion and Women and Italian. Tuesdays I have Foundations of Painting from 9-2:30 (yup, 5 1/2 hours of painting!) and then Food, Culture and Society from 3-5:30. Wenesdays I go to Ethics in a World Context and then Italian again.

Can you guess which class is my favorite? If you know me, then you know that anything to do with Food fascinates me so yes, Food, Culture and Society is my little afternoon in heaven. The first class we got to make Crepselles alla Fiorentina, a dish that was actually introduced by Catherine de Medici, a woman who loved food and who practically introduced the French to Italian ways of cooking. Crepselles alla Fiorentina has 3 basic parts: the crepeselle, or pasta shell (which is made in the same way that a crepe today would be made), the filling made of ricotta and spinach, and the bechamel sauce, a creamy sauce spiced with a little bit of nutmeg. After making the crepe, filling and sauce, you stuff the pasta, pour the sauce on top, and bake it....Bon Apetit!
This past week, we had a "market" tasting. We learned about several Italian cheeses and cured meats which you can find at the local fresh markets. Out of the 4 cheeses we tasted, I thought that Taleggio was the best. It is a soft, rich cheese, that his rich in fat but absolutely delicious! Of the meats, Finocchiono was my favorite. Finocchiono is a salami that has been spiced with fennel (finocchio means fennell in Italian). Least favorite meat: Lardo, or LARD. Italians actually eat it by itself sometimes, although they use it for cooking as well.
As far as my other classes go, surprisingly painting is the most difficult so far. It's pretty exhausting, not to mention time consuming. One small piece of work can take 5-6 hours, especially because I am so new at this! I've never really painted anything before in my life and it is taking some time getting used to how all the materials work. I guess that is how a lot of things are here. It takes practice, patience and an open mind to really grasp something you've never experience before whether it be something like painting or living in a whole new environment.