Troppo Cibo

I Watched Bruno this morning and I showed him to watch movies on the internet. I am pretty sure he thinks this is the most incredible thing to ever exist. He absolutely loves Pokemon, I mean LOVES IT. He loves to watch it on TV, play it on the Wii and of course he has the cards and little figurines. We also worked on reading comprehension in English. He really is an extremely bright boy and teaching him is so easy and enjoyable. Later in the day Rita returned home and we drove him to basketball. Watching little Italian kids play basketball is certainly entertaining.

The best part of my day was dinner out with Rita. We meet Andrea, who is one of Armani’s assistants. Andrea speaks faster than any person I have met in my life. Of course, our entire conversation at dinner was in Italian so I got lots of practice! Mamma Mia! Andrea told me his life story after knowimg me for 5 minutes. Basically, he is gay, but he was formally married until he realized he was gay, and has a son of 8 years old. This man has so much passion for life, merely having a conversation with him was inspiring.  Andrea is a hilarious person but also a bit critical. He had something to say about the outfits of everyone in the restaurant, but this only made for an incredibly fun time. I assume most of this has to do with the fact that a) he is gay, b) he is Italian and c) he works for Armani. Everything that come out of his mouth made both Rita and I burst into laughter.

We ate at a restaurant called Il Vento di Sardegnia- The Wind of Sardegnia. After eating about two pounds of bread, we had had a huge plate calamari and an even larger plate of french fries. Italians eat French fries all the time at nice restaurants! I find this both odd and assuming. To me, french fries and Italian food do not go together at all, but here they certainly do. I actually have not seen the family order salad at a restaurant once, instead we get a giant plate of French fries. After our “antipasti” of French fries and calamari I had risotto and shrimp covered a wonderful cream sauce. I was so full…but then Andrea decides we need to have cheese. So I think to myself that I am so full but I could probably eat some cheese, I mean how much could we be ordering? Then the waiter brings out A GIANT wheel of cheese. It was a the size of a pizza, I am NOT exaggerating a bit… I have never been served so much cheese in my entire life. Apparently this giant cheese wheel is very common in the south of Italy. I estimate it was at least 5 pounds of cheese… and only Andrea and I were eating it.  You spoon out pieces of the cheese and eat and eat and eat. Thank god we didn’t have to eat the whole thing…I think I would have thrown up if the waiter had not taken what was left over when he did…. Many times I wanted to stop eating, but I have noticed Italians will get offended and think something is wrong with you if you don’t eat an excessive amount and completely finish your plate. So many times Rita and Agnello have said to me “are you sure you are alright , you hardly ate anything!” Mind you they will tell me this when I have ONLY one bite of food remaining on my plate and after I have eaten so much bread, French fries, pizza and pasta. I honestly have no idea how all Italians are not 500 pounds, I am not kidding. I am pretty sure I am going to gain ten pounds…by tomorrow. I really don't understand it...I have not seen one overweight person since I have been here- instead everyone just looks like a model. Even the kids here look like models for Baby Gap. I suppose the Italian genes are just fantastic and I should be thankful that I am part Italian :)