the daily grind

So I thought I should tell everybody what a typical day looks like for me right now. Granted, it's been only a week so my routine has not solidified, but here's the best case scenario of what I've been up to:

-Wake up mid morning, say 10 am. Yogurt and bread with nutella for breakfast. Get dressed and begin the 45 minute walk from the residence to school.

-En route, stop at the Mercado Triunfale, a market that is open daily until 1 pm. Buy 3 peaches or nectarines for a total of about 1,30 euro.

-Stop at a cafe for a cappuccino or a cafe (una cafe is an espresso by default, unless you ask for a less potent variety such as macchiato or cafe latte) for about a euro or a little less. Probably will not understand everything that is being said to me. Freeze when it's time to say goodbye and they inevitably say ciao and I never know if it's acceptable to say ciao back. Sometimes i'll say arrivederci but a lot of times I'll hope that a wave and a smile will suffice.

-Arrive at school, eat a peach, check email. Have Cristiano's Italian class from 1-2, where he makes weird sounds and mouths things at us and solicits us to asks him words we don't know (Come si dice ... ?). Somebody will ask something he thinks is dumb (like how do you say nail polish remover) and he will comically berate us, saying "You do not know how to say window, you do not know how to say door, but you ask me how to say nail polish remover? You know nothing and this is what you ask me?" It's a great class.

-Break until 6 pm. Grab lunch nearby campus, probably a panino full of vocabulary words that I don't know, so I'll have to point and say "questa." Even if it's the wrong one, I'll probably take it. They'll say "Caldo?" and I'll say yes, to get a toasted sandwich. Worst case scenario (which frequently occurs), my sad Italian will prompt the clerk to speak english to me. That's not good practice. Maybe get another cafe. This will all probably cost about 4 or 5 euros.

-Go to the library (really only about two rooms) and do homework, or read the paper. Surf the internet. Eat another peach.

-Economics class, learning about international trade with the demanding but entertaining Dottore Patania.

-Sociology class, learning about Italy's crooked past or Italy's crooked present. Very good class that gets me excited to learn all there is to know about political and social tension in this country.

-Last class ends 9pm, walk home. Cook dinner with my roommates and Jimmy when I get home; typically pasta with sauce, a loaf of bread and 2 bottles of wine. la dolce vita indeed.