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Mark

Campus: Orland Park
Program: Hospitality Management
From: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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So, you want to know more about me?  Well by now you know my name is Mark.  What you may not know about me is that I am passionate about food.   

It all began two years ago when I was driving myself to my mundane banking job.  Now don’t get me wrong the job was okay, it just wasn’t for me.  That day, traffic was terrible, I was miserable, and I thought there has to be more to life than this.  I decided it was time for a change.  So I left the banking industry (after working in it for eight years) and started my new adventure into the world of food.  That’s how I got to the Bobby Mo.

Previously on Real Life...

Under Your Skin and Into Your Blood
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Florence is an amazing city.  Did I mention that already?  The Italian way of life has a funny way of getting into your blood very quickly.  It must be something in the water…

 

How I Have Spent My First Week Here:

 

I spend my mornings exploring the city.  I wake up about 6 o’clock, throw on some comfy shoes, and head out the door.  It’s really the perfect time to see Florence.  All the tourists are still in their beds, all the locals are heading to work, and the onslaught of mopeds hasn’t yet begun.   It’s also a perfect time for taking pictures because absolutely no one is around.  Unfortunately no shops or tourist attractions are open at that time, but it did help me get orientated to where everything is.  I usually grab a cappuccino or espresso and head to school.

 

My afternoons are spent at Apicius.  I have an Italian language class (Monday through Friday) from 9 until 12:45.  For anyone planning to spend any sort of time here, I definitely recommend learning Italian way before you get here.   However, being immersed in it has definitely made me pick it up a lot faster than I thought I would.  After the first class, there is a two hour break.  Siesta time!  I love siesta time.  I wish the U.S. would do it.  Maybe it would make us a less uptight people.  Anyways,  I’ll either pick up a quick bite at one on the local café’s or  buy something from the grocery store.  I head back to the apartment to chill out and watch Italian MTV.  Italian MTV is great because most of their music is imported from the U.S. so it feels just like home.  The best is watching Hogan Knows Best with the Italian subtitles.  Not only is it entertaining, but educational.  Did you know “body slam” in Italian is “body slam”?   So I head back to school for a cooking class with Fabio from 3-5:30.  Yes his name is Fabio.  No, he is not that Fabio.  I have to give “props” (Do people still give props or am I officially an old fogie now using outdated 90s slang?)  to say that all of the staff and instructors at Apicius are so nice, helpful, and really care about the students.   So good job to Robert Morris for picking such an awesome sister school.

 

My evenings are spent wandering the city and hanging out with the other students from Robert Morris College.  We’ll grab a drink, get gelato, make dinner at someone’s apartment, or go out to eat.  We have a good time.  That’s all I’m going to say because I’m not going to get myself or anyone else in trouble.  Hee hee….

 

So What’s It Really Like?

 

The mosquitoes right now are terrible.  Some of the girls have dubbed them “Birds of Satan” They are big and vicious.  They sell this Glade Plug-In type thing called a VAPE which is awesome. You plug it in and it emits some sort of chemical that kills them.   In the process it also gets you a little buzzed.  We’re told its completely safe.  No one is complaining.

 

This city is really expensive.  (All of us students were caught off guard as to how expensive stuff is out here.)  So we’ve become bargain hunters.  The only problem with bargain shopping is that you can’t get everything at one place.  You go to one store for cleaning supplies, one for pasta, another for produce, etc.   And they charge you for plastic bags out here! (Which double nicely as garbage can liners)  Crazy.  I did find a store that sold Duncan Hines cake mix from the U.S.  It was 7 Euros for a box.  So I feel like I’m back in college from my younger days living off of Ramen noodles and Mac & Cheese.

 

My ass is getting a workout.  We live on the fourth floor of this apartment building and it does not have an elevator.  In Italy they like stairs, so we have to climb eight flights.  Approximately 90 stairs (I think someone counted) to get up to our apartment.  Makes for an interesting climb when you’ve had a couple drinks.  So lookout Chicago.  When I get back, I’m going to be able to bounce a quarter off my backside.

 

Of course we’re having roommate issues.  I won’t get into it, but needless to say there is no way you can get 17 people to get along all of the time.  It has made for some interesting drama.  I’m not a fan of reality TV, but this stuff beats it by a mile.

 

Well, I’m off to do some wine tasting.  There is a festival here where you pay 10 Euro, get a glass, and are able to taste 20 different wines from over 150 local vineyards.  Should be interesting. 

 

Ciao

 

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Enjoy The Silence

Ciao regazzi.  Sorry I’ve not blogged in a while.  I’ve been living the Florentine life and it’s been pretty good.  Wine, pasta, discotecs, and trips to other parts of Italy, could it get any better?  Oh wait, there is that school part of this whole experience.  That’s kind of a bummer; it’s really cramping my social life.  Adding to the cramped social life is doing laundry, shopping for food, constantly cleaning the dusty apartment, making sure your chef clothes are pressed, sweeping the floors of the constantly dusty apartment, wiping up after your roommates because they don’t know how to cook without getting pasta sauce all over the stove…UGH!

So, yeah, life is pretty good.  Except for a few minor “bring you back down to earth” chores, I’m living my dream. 

Well, well… I’ve got to get you caught up on the last four weeks of my so called Italian life.  Where to begin?  Let’s start with the boring stuff first. 

SCHOOL

So, I finished my Italian language class!  Thank god.  That intensive four week boot camp gave me nothing but bad dreams involving words like “il”, “la”, and “gli”. One more week and my head would have exploded like a Dora the Explorer piñata at a little girl’s birthday party.   On the positive side, I do know how to order an espresso in Italian.   (I know that some RMC faculty members may be reading this so let me put this note in:) It really wasn’t that bad.  I did learn a lot, but not enough to hold an actual conversation with a local.  I can get what I need, but I’m probably saying it in a not-so-pretty way.  

Hopefully I will get at least a B in the class. I got a 100% on the midterm, but I decided not to study for the final.  Umm...I didn’t do so well on the final.  However, that night I should have been studying, I was out and about in Florence having fun with friends that flew in from Chicago.  So I regret nothing.  Besides, this is my last quarter of school and the brain is on shut down mode.  Five more weeks and I turn the thing off.

I did manage to get an A in Italian Regional cooking.  It wasn’t too terribly difficult.  I learned a lot though and have some awesome recipes for cow’s brains and testicles.  Maybe I’ll post those next time.

I started my internship last Monday.  Man, did I hit the jackpot with this place.  I am working in a five star hotel here in Florence called Relais Santa Croce.  Here is the website for you to check out.

http://www.relaisantacroce.com/en/index.htm

Pretty shwanky, eh?  I was telling people that if Oprah were to come to Florence, she would stay there. 

The restaurant has two different menus.  One is the traditional menu that has things like risotto and ribollita (an Italian bean and bread soup) and the other menu is what they call molecular.  It’s a more innovative menu that uses things like bread foam, potato foam, apple air, and more scientific ways of cooking food.  The chef is a genius.  He was explaining to me the reason he pairs foie gras with passion fruit and caviar and bread foam.  I really couldn’t do it justice right now, but you have to trust me that this guy is a genius when it comes to food.  So I’ve made some really cool things, tried things I would never in my life try, and took a bunch of pictures of beautiful food.  Oh yeah and I got to see one of the guys from Depeche Mode.

There was a big party on Thursday at the hotel for some magazine here in Florence and Depeche Mode was there.  On my way out I ran into one of the guys and I was like…wow, Depeche Mode.  Then, I tried to remember some Depeche Mode songs and all I could remember was I Ran So Far Away.  Then, I thought…that’s not Depeche Mode that’s Flock of Seagulls.  So for the rest of the night I couldn’t think of any Depeche Mode songs.  Oh the 80’s…I miss that decade of being between 2 and 12. 

That’s it for school.  I’m tired of talking about it. 

THE TRIPS

Unlike the rest of the RMC students here in Florence, I have not traveled outside of Italy.  I’m on a very strict budget.  My budget only allows me to go to discotecs and drink plenty of alcoholic beverages.  Yee haw!  No seriously, things are more pricy out here than I thought they were going to be, so I’ve decided to save my money and try to stay within Italy and see everything it has to offer.

I did get to go on two day trips thorough the school.  The first was to the city of Lucca.  It’s a very old, walled city that was so picture perfect.  You can actually rent bikes and ride along the top of the wall.  Awesome city.  I highly recommend it.  The other trip was to a spa an hour outside of Florence.  Since Italy is a volcanic country, there are a lot of natural hot springs.  This spa had an outdoor pool that is heated by some of those hot springs.  So basically I spent the day laying out in the sun on my deck chair sipping champagne.  My life is so hard.

Took a day trip to Siena.  Neat city.  It was cloudy and kind of cold so it wasn’t such a great time. But, I finally had some awesome Tuscan food.  I had the best beef stew type thing with potatoes.  Yum Yum give me some.  I also climbed to the top of this incredibly tall and not so sturdy bell tower.   That was some claustrophobia in there, let me tell you.  I would like to go back when the weather is better.

I also spent a weekend in Venice with my peeps from Chicago.  I didn’t think I was going to like it, but I actually loved it.  I think I like it more than Florence (just don’t tell the Florentine people).  I can understand why the younger residents leave Venice when they get to that "college age".  There really isn’t anything to do late at night and you pretty much can’t go anywhere because of all the water.  It’s a beautiful city, though, and has some good food.

So that’s all I care to discuss today.  I’m hungry so I’m going to make some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese that someone (Brian) smuggled into the country for me.

Before I go, I was told I need to give a shout out to all the GMAC people reading this.  WHAT UP GMAC??  Woo woo woo…  Sandy, Allison, Tracy (maybe?  I dunno if she reads this), Stacie, Kevin (You da man Kevin.  Thanks for working for Brian for 2 weeks), and anyone else I missed.  Stephanie?  Does she read this blog?  Well if she doesn’t someone needs to tell her about it.  THANK YOU GMAC FOR PROVIDING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WITH A WONDERFUL PLACE TO FINANCE THEIR CARS!!!

And thanks Georgina for e-mailing me.  It’s because of you I got off my lazy ass and wrote this!  Hope this made you smile.

CIAO