Thursday I was up pretty early, and went to a couple offices to try and get my student number, password and libretto. A libretto is a little book in which you write all of your courses, and when the date of the exam comes you write the date, and your professor signs it and records your grade. Grades here are on a scale from 1-30, where 18 is the lowest passing grade. Exams are also different; instead of being written many of them are oral, in which you have a conversation with the professor about the material you learned to prove that you understand it. Hopefully mine are written, because I can’t imagine having to do that in Italian. Anyways, after a lot of waiting and going to the wrong offices, I found out that my libretto and password wouldn’t be ready until Monday.
On Thursdays there is an open market in the centre. Many little stalls fill the piazza and streets with vendors selling fruit, vegetables, fish, flowers, clothes, and shoes. It was so cute!! I finally found free internet in the centre at this hotel called Aquila d’Oro right off the main piazza. I went in and had to give them my passport so they could make me a free card to have internet access. The main floor of the hotel has a pretty big bar and an area with tables and booths to sit down. It was very nice and modern. When I sat down a waiter came up and asked if I wanted anything, I figured I should probably be polite and get something since I am using their internet so I got a caffè and aqua minerale senza gas.
After a little while Eduardo (one of the Portuguese students who lives at Roncafort) and Joey and some of the others found me. Joey, Gina (from Portugal), Marie (from France), and I went shopping. All of the shops were open again, after being closed from noon till 15,00. After shopping Gina’s boyfriend, Alè who is from Italy, met up with us and insisted on taking us to have the best coffee drink in town. We went to a small bar right in town and ordered Nociolatto, a drink that originated in Naples. It was served in small glasses with a small spoon and small glass of water. It was a little foamy on top and dark on the bottom. To drink it you have to stir it really quickly to blend everything. Alè said you are supposed to drink the water first to cleanse your palate or something, but someone else said that you wash down the drink with water. The drink was excellent. It was pretty sweet and tasted a tiny bit like hazelnut. I asked what was in it and they said caffè and “pure nuts.” I have no idea what pure nuts were, and I asked peanuts? Pine nuts? Hazelnuts? Plain nuts? Hahah, but they kept saying pure nuts so I guess I’ll never know what it really was.
We all went out to dinner for Eduardo’s friend’s 22nd birthday again at Padevena, the restaurant with the glass floor. I had a pizza with artichokes, mushrooms, and ham (prosciutto). I cant 
remember what it was called but a few of the guys ordered a dish that is very typical of the region. It was some sort of meat served on the bone and it was huge! It looked like it came straight off the animal out back or something. I tried it and it was really good though, a little salty but very flavorful. I could never eat the whole thing, but maybe I’ll get it sometime.. my dad would have loved it!! After dinner we stopped by a wine bar, and I tasted a local drink called spritz. The bar was underground and the walls were rocky like we were in a cave. At the bar you can buy little cards for 5 euros I think, and then you walk around and stop at little machines along the way that dispense tastes of a bunch of different wines. I didn’t get to try that though because we only had about 20 minutes there if I wanted to catch the last bus home. The busses stop running at 23:30 every night, so if I want to save money and avoid taxis I have to call it an early night.
remember what it was called but a few of the guys ordered a dish that is very typical of the region. It was some sort of meat served on the bone and it was huge! It looked like it came straight off the animal out back or something. I tried it and it was really good though, a little salty but very flavorful. I could never eat the whole thing, but maybe I’ll get it sometime.. my dad would have loved it!! After dinner we stopped by a wine bar, and I tasted a local drink called spritz. The bar was underground and the walls were rocky like we were in a cave. At the bar you can buy little cards for 5 euros I think, and then you walk around and stop at little machines along the way that dispense tastes of a bunch of different wines. I didn’t get to try that though because we only had about 20 minutes there if I wanted to catch the last bus home. The busses stop running at 23:30 every night, so if I want to save money and avoid taxis I have to call it an early night.
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