Saturday, September 22th, 2012: Siena, Italy

    I don’t really have anything specific to talk about, so I thought I’d just do a summation of some of the things that have happened this week.

    Every Wednesday in Siena there is a market. I’ve been hearing about it quite a bit, but hadn’t been able to go until this week. It’s right by the bus station so that was convenient since I go there every day anyway. I had heard that it was really big, but I was still surprised when I got there. It is seriously huge and they sell all sorts of things: clothes, makeup, bags, shoes, plants, decorations, fruits and vegetables, even bunnies! Yep. If I wasn’t in Italy on an internship and could have pets, I probably would be the proud owner of a pet rabbit today. I wasn’t able to stay very long because I was afraid of getting lost in the market (it is seriously that big) and missing my bus. Anyway, I wish I had gotten one of the bunnies.

     This week I also went to my first kebab restaurant. I don’t know what it is about Italy, but a lot of my friends who served in Italy have mentioned how good the kebabs are. Normally when I think of a kebab I think of a skewer with roasted vegetables and meat and maybe some pineapple, right? Nope. It’s a big skewer of meat, and you can order a sandwich or wrap thing and they’ll cut off some of the meat and make it for you, sort of like Tucano’s. And they sell fries! I seriously miss all fried potato products. I think kebabs might be my favorite thing to eat in Siena so far (minus the food we get from Fiorella/Federica).

    I went on my second run this week. Yep, I’ve about doubled my calorie intake and only run twice in the 21 days I’ve been here. Bets on how much weight I’ll gain in Italy? Jk, don’t answer that please. It was a really good run though! The first time I went running I wouldn’t go on this seemingly busy street because I was too nervous, but after experiencing Italy and they’re approach to pedestrians in general, I decided it would be okay. And sure enough, I found some other pedestrians on the side of the sidewalk-less road. So, I’m still being safe (obviously), but it does take some faith and courage to go running in this town. 

    Lastly, I went to Florence this Saturday. Amber and I just wanted to go to check out the shopping there so it was a really casual trip. We went to the market and looked through all the purses and jewelry. I haggled my first purchase! It was for a turquoise ring and the man wanted 15 euro, but listen, it was so not worth that, so I said I wanted to pay 10; he said 12 and when I started walking away he was like “Okay, okay, 10 is fine.” Yes! I was pretty proud of myself. I wish you could do that in America. I think karma paid me back after that though. I saw an advertisement for waffles and I really wanted one. I asked the lady how much they were and she said “Depends on what you want. What do you want?” So I said one with Nutella and she made it (aka, microwaved a premade waffle) and charged me 8 euro! What?? Italian vendors have this tendency to immediately ask you what you want if you even glance at a store and they get so much money out of me that way. Lesson learned, I will never look at anything in Italy again. Or I’ll just be more assertive and not let people take advantage of my attempts to be nice.