girlingoleitalia

[girlingoleitalia]

When you're writing and you suddenly realize you don't know what happens next

[girlingoleitalia]

6/25/21

My final blog post!

Ciao, and welcome to my final blog post for this wonderful journey that has been my virtual study abroad Italy program.  with no class today, there’s not much that I have new to talk about, but we did have one more final morning segment to end our learning journey. One of the lovely faculty members from the Institute we are partnering with went to a Mozzarella cheese factory and recorded a video of the cheese making process. When the cheese has been sitting at room temperature for 14 hours at the correct ph level, it then gets mixed with hot water that starts to cook the elastic.  when mixed, it should turn out smooth and dough-like, and is made into rings and put in cold water. Machines will stretch the cheese, but the rings are always made by hand. The cheese can also be made into braids or tied with a little rope to make a holder which will hold the shape- all of which are done by hand. An interesting fact is that it takes over a year of learning to become a cheese maker. 

Above is a picture of the cheese maker stretching the cheese before shaping it, and below is a picture of the cheese being molded by hand into a beautiful flower ring.

With the end of the video, that concludes our class, but I want to take the rest of this post to give my own final reflections. Below are my top 5 aspects of the course:

I love anything to do with food, especially learning recipes to make for myself and for others to enjoy, so one of my favorites was the tiramisu cooking class. I have yet to try making it myself, but I am sure that I will absolutely do so soon.

I have to say that I’ve also been super fascinated with the city of Pompeii, and Ilaria did such an amazing job telling us a story of the society that had once lived and thrived in an ancient city which leads me to my next favorite thing-

The Archaeological Museum of Naples! All of the artifacts were beautiful to see, and even if I wasn’t able to experience them in person, I still feel a great appreciation for the preservation of it and it’s importance to the history of Italy and its people.

The first module was by far my favorite one that we had gone through because I felt like it taught me so much about the culture of Italy and what it really means to be Italian. I don’t have a single Italian blood cell in me, but going through this course and learning the cultural niches of the Italian people helped me to build my confidence in the fact that when I go there, I’m more likely be a temporary, honorary citizen rather than just an average tourist.

The last aspect I have to mention it’s just the act of meeting with such a great group of people every day that are still willing to learn and immerse themselves just like me. My professor has been such an amazing instructor, and the things that I have learned in the courses will carry on with me for the rest of my life, and that is exactly what I was hoping to gain from this experience along with so much more.  A huge thanks to everything you’ve done and shown us about your beautiful home country! It makes me feel that I have a little bit of companilismo for Italy.

The cooking classes grave me the needs to be able to experience Italy in the most immersive way even at home. The lectures and activities gave me insight I probably wouldn’t have known without them, and the art allowed me a glimpse into the beautiful history of such an amazing country. And lastly, getting a chance to meet all these wonderful people along the way, even if it was virtually, just help to expand my horizons and escape the bubble I live in here. It really helped to show me how much there is out there and the amazing people that are a part of it as well.

Finally, thank you so much for joining me on this journey, and I hope that one day I will be able to share my experiences when I’m finally able to visit Italy. Ciao!

[girlingoleitalia]

6/24/21

Ciao! While technically there is still 1 more day after today, only the morning segment will be happening, so today is technically the last full day of the virtual study abroad program. While it is bittersweet, I am glad that it is finally coming to an end, and I can start my summer knowing all of these wonderful things.

Much of this week has consisted of learning about the mafias of Italy. Today we start to wrap things up with the organized crime syndicates, focusing on the four different organizations, as well as the interconnected tenants are seriously considered. These are family, power, respect and territory. All of which are interconnected in many different ways and configurations all throughout the nation.  we watched many videos about the history of each of the mafia syndicate as well as what they are willing to do to ensure business profit and power in their territories. There was a video that we watched that highlighted a reporter who is outspoken against the mafia that has police protection because of the threats that she has received from the mafia. Another video talked about a blogger who was in a similar situation. My professor says that she likes to keep this segment of the course for the end so that way we can learn all of the beautiful things of Italy and everything we should go there for, and end the course with what we should be careful about. I definitely feel like this module has been the longest one of all, as well as the one we have gone into the most depth with, but I can understand why because of how important it is to stay safe and how critical it is to not get involved.

Upon completing all of the assignments for this module it really got me to thinking while I was doing them about how I perceived the mafia for this module, and then how I perceived it after. Much of my before perceptions are to blame from the American made mafia movies and the film industry for portraying these crime syndicates as not as dangerous as they truly are. In a discussion about our favorite mafia movies (I don’t have a favorite because technically I haven’t seen any in It’s entirety), I made a comment about the character of Mr. big from Zootopia. An interesting thing that I thought about when I was making the comparisons between Don Vito and Mr. big, is that now the mafia depiction has made it into children’s films. The portrayal of Mr. big and his crime syndicate is nowhere near as dangerous as the mafia truly is, and can be very misleading in terms of the mafia having forgiveness and mercy towards people who can’t give them what they want. This fact can be potentially dangerous to a child who is in danger of wanting to be associated with the mafia because of its appeal that is given through movies that romanticize the mafia- now in children’s movies like Zootopia.  One of my classmates had commented on this saying that it’s strange how to reference to the mafia could’ve found its way into a children’s movie, as well as thinking about what kind of impact could possibly have on younger audiences. They also said that Mr. big is not as severe as a depiction of Don Vito in The Godfather, but it’s still interesting to think about the intentions of the creators at Disney who worked on this movie. It’s definitely some thing that I will be looking out for in the future. 

Until tomorrow, ciao!

[girlingoleitalia]

6/23/21

As we get closer to the end, we get into increasingly excessive detail about the Italian mafia. But along with the crime syndicate, we get a special tour, virtually of course, of the archaeological Museum of Naples.

The end is in sight, but the morning segment brings along a very interesting Tour of the archaeological museum in Naples. This museum is where many, if not most of the artifacts from the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum are restored and put on display for the public. Of the many artifacts there are walls of paintings and frescoes, beautiful tile mosaics and exquisite statues.  what I thought was interesting about the museum was the history of the building that is located in. When it was built back in the 16th century, they were used as cavalry barracks, later turned into a stable, and even later turned into a University, housing the University of Naples. Somewhere along the way, a second story was built, and during the 19th century it became a museum. 

The afternoon brought more into the Italian mafia and their influence that they have in the cities they occupy. Much of the business they conduct is highly dangerous, and they won’t risk an innocent person witnessing and getting away with the information. Many of the videos we watched had police raids of certain buildings or complexes, which in many of them were successful in capturing members and bosses. A lot of them also included children of these members and bosses being apart of the business as well. When these children are arrested, they are actually send to a special holding facility until they are 25, where they are then transferred to jail.

The more I learn about the mafia and their businesses, the more concerned I become for their families and the ones involved, especially the ones that want to get out. Reporters who become outspoken about them get threatened and even killed. Prosecutors and judges that have convicted members of the mafia and bosses have been killed over their convictions. It’s a difficult module to go through, but I can understand the necessity for it and knowing about the dangers of the mafia. But at the same time, it’s also important to examine these events in a historical context to perhaps understand how to learn from the past to bring the mafia in and end their regime.

That is everything I have for today’s post. Ciao!

[girlingoleitalia]

6/22/21 (pt. 2)

A continuation at the previous post that covered the morning segment of today. This post will cover the afternoon.

After learning about the myths and Catholic stories, we proceeded on to our introduction to the Italian mafia and crime syndicates.  after completing a segment over this weeks grammar, we moved on to learn about the basics of the Italian mafia, such as the clans and families and their territories. Italian organized crime is known all over the world, to the point that the term mafia is now understood across the globe as referring to the organized criminal underworld. Outside of Italy mafia has become an all inclusive board that encompasses the various unlawful organizations active in crime. In Italy however, this is not the case. The term mafia in Italy refers to one specific organization: the Cosa Nostra. We went more in depth about the hierarchal system of these families and how they are structured. Other syndicates include the N’drangheta (Calabria), Camorra (Sicily), and Sacra Corona Unita (SCU).

For the N’drangheta, business is still very much a family affair.  it has wider international ties, but it is still a family business at heart. It’s blood ties are strong, therefore very few are willing to turn and collaborate as police informers. No one betrays the family. They control the Gioia Tauro port, which is known as the European entry point of cocaine, with total seizures for 2016 accounting for 1.7 tons of the drug, mostly arriving from South America.

The Camorra is a much more violent organization compared to the N’drangheta because of the continuous fights for territorial dominance among its factions.

There were two government officials, Who worked towards successfully convicting hundreds of mafia gang members, including some bosses, that were killed as the result of their sentencing back in the 1990s. More than 25 years later, these crime syndicate businesses are booming.  with the COVID-19 pandemic impact in the country in ways that have been unprecedented, the syndicates stepped in for the state was not able to, and actually were able to help struggling businesses by loaning them money which they expected to be paid back in a certain amount of time with interest. By also becoming involved in the business of selling masks, they have taken advantage of or the state had a locked and I have now become stronger.

As someone who lives outside of Italy, the concept of mafia was extremely romanticized from the film industry and the glorification of the term. This module in particular has been a little bit difficult to wrap my head around, but it is still just as valuable knowledge to learn about the country because it is such a huge part of what it is. Even though it is dangerous, it’s essential to know about in order to keep yourself safe when you visit. But if I take away one thing from this module so far, is that you should always be careful, and that it is much more dangerous than it is shown to be in the movies.

That’s the last of it for today, ciao!

[girlingoleitalia]

6/22/21

Buon pommereggio and happy Tuesday! Here is another blog post with what we have learned today, including myths, a little bit of fascism, and the introduction to the Italian mafia.

Starting with this morning, The morning segment had a virtual lab on the Sorrento coast between myth and mystery. This probably had to be one of my favorite morning segments that we’ve had, even though it was shorter, because of the fact that we learned about some of the legends and myths that surrounded the city of Sicily. There were two categories that we have learned about: Greek and Roman mythology, and Catholic stories. By definition, a myth is a traditional story, especially when concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. In Greek mythology, many of the myths include the lives and activities of gods, heroes, and mythological creatures.

Starting with the first myth, we begin in Naples. While there are a lot of myths on Naples, there is one thing in common: it was founded with love and for love. The story begins with Ulysses, who was at sea on a ship and knew of the sirens that occupied the waters. To avoid being killed by them and their song, his men tied him to the ships mast upon on his request to avoid being lured out into sea. When the legendary siren Parthenope came closer to investigate why he wasn’t lured in by her song, she was really impressed and fascinated by Ulysses.  she tried to seduce the hero with her beautiful singing but she failed, and never accepting the rejection, she ended up taking her own life in the sea.  The sea dragged her to Megaride, where some fishermen worshiped her as a goddess. Here, Parthenope’s body dissolved, taking shape in the city of Naples. Desperate after her death, her Siren sisters turned into rocks, creating what are now the Li Galli Islands, in the shape of a dolphin.



The next tale takes place in what is now Sorrento. A young, beautiful girl named Sirentum, Who is the daughter of a farmer and Mirone (one of Parthenope’s sisters). She later became royalty when a prince had visited Marina grande and fell in love with her. But when Sorrento was invaded by Saracens, Sirrentum was kidnapped. In order to free her, the people from Sorrento gave all they had, and their city was then named after her. 

For the Catholic stories, every city in Italy has a saint patron. This story, called the miracle of Saint Anthony, is one that is very popular. One day a mother and her little boy were at the beach, when suddenly the boy, who was playing in the sea, was eaten by a mythological sea creature.  in her desperation, his mother prayed to the gods and to Saint Anthony, who actually heard his prayers. He had sent some fishermen down to where they were and the fishermen proceeded to catch the sea creature and free the boy from its stomach. 

Those were the ones that I could remember best, but there are so many stories out there, that it wouldn’t be hard to find upon conducting more research.

I’ll add a second part that tells of what we did in the afternoon segment, so that this part doesn’t get too long. 

[girlingoleitalia]

6/21/21

Buona sera! This post will be more in depth about what we learned with Berlusconi and Italian politics, along with more about TV and it’s impact in Italy.

In order to get more into Berlusconi, we have to first examine the history of TV in Italy. The 1950s brought a time of innovative thinking as well as the birth of TV show format that are still used in Italy today. Talkshows and variety shows are super popular in Italy and is also popular for being decidedly celebrity centric, with some of the shows still broadcasting into the 2000’s. The 1950s is also the decade when TVs were brought into Italian homes and the introduction of the public channel RAI, the Radio Audizioni Italiane. Private channels started appearing in the 1970s, which brought along sports and entertainment to the already established educational programs meant to help educate the Italian people on reading and writing. The first game show as introduced in 1955 called Lascia o Raddoppia? (Leave it or Double it?) hosted my American-born Mike Bongiorno and launched the concept of the “velina”, A charming female assistant to the host, which is still evident in many of today’s game shows in the US, like in Deal or No Deal?

Switching to Berlusconi, there were many scandals and allegations of corruption until Italy euro zone debt crisis in 2011. During this his influence contemporarily lessened, but in 2013, he was convicted of tax fraud and ejected from the Italian Senate, along with another conviction in 2015. No he was banned from public office due to his criminal record, he still led his political party, Forza Italia, so success in 2018. His ban was then lifted, and he won a seat in the European Parliament at the age of 82.

He began his career first when he was a child back in the decades after World War II. First he had installing vacuum cleaners until he built a reputation as a singer first in night clubs and then on cruise ships. After graduating in law in 1961, he set up a construction company, establishing himself as a residential housing developer around Milan. Gaining his fortune through his real estate, 10 years later he launched a local cable television outfit called TeleMilano, which would grow into Italy’s biggest media empire, media set, controlling the countries three largest private TV stations. His fortune is invested and other companies, and he used to own the AC Milan football club, which he later sold to Chinese investors for €628 million. His political party was established in 1993 and the following year he became Prime Minister.

There was a video that we watched while we were learning this that had an Italian economist compare berlusconi’s to previous President Trump. Both of them had come from a background of real estate business and the comparison is due to the fact that both had risen to political power through their successes, their charismatic natures, and the fact that they are “phenomenal salesmen”. This part I interpreted to mean that they are really good at selling their opinions, as well as good as getting people to buy into them and their agendas. The more that this video compared the two politicians, the more similarities that I had seen both in their persons as well as their politics. Both of them were also successful at being a catalyst and deeply dividing their respective countries politically as a result. Both Trump and Berlusconi are also high-ranking officials who have been under investigation but it seems that Berlusconi may have a hidden agenda whereas Trump was very open and outspoken about his political plans and intentions (especially with his Twitter account). 

For today, I will step off my soapbox. There is a movie on Netflix about Berlusconi called My Way that you can watch if you wish to learn more.

Until tomorrow, ciao!

[girlingoleitalia]

6/19/20

Buongiorno! Today is Saturday, and therefore there was no class, but I wanted to blog about something I had encountered that I had missed in the other posts for earlier this week. It will be shorter than the others, but I hope it is still enjoyable!

During our lunch break on Thursday, I was really craving some Italian desserts after learning how to make tiramisu, so I decided to go to the bakery that I frequent a lot when I’m home. Now a lot of times when I would visit, it would be later in the afternoon, so the tiramisu would already be sold out for the day. However because I left to visit the bakery around noon there were still plenty of pieces left in the case. When I walked into the bakery, I was greeted by the owner Mike who is actually Italian, and it was the first time I was trying the Italian desserts from his bakery, so I was super excited to try them. I actually told him about how I was taking this virtual study abroad class and how earlier that week we had a tiramisu virtual cooking class and I was wanting to try and make some for myself. He actually ended up giving me tips on how to make the tiramisu, one of which being exactly how long to dip the ladyfingers for into the espresso, and he told me to let me know how it goes whenever I try to make it myself. I ended up walking out of the bakery with a piece of tiramisu and a cannoli, which are now some of my favorites from his shop, and I promised Mike that I would let him know how I liked his tiramisu. 

Getting to interact with someone who is Italian and re-creating the culture in a way that can be shared with many other people in the community was a really neat thing to experience, especially with what I’ve learned so far in this course. Food is one of my favorite parts of culture and getting to experience it, and so it was a very enlightening experience to be able to talk to Mike about something that is so close to his heritage and part of who he is. Food is one of the easiest and best way is to immerse yourself in another culture, so I consider myself lucky to have been able to experience it like that, and I know that in the future I can continue to have these experiences as long as I have the want to go out and look for them.

Something else I wanted to share was actually something that happened today. My family is planning a trip to universal studios in Florida for next Summer and upon choosing which hotel we wanted to stay at, we noticed that there was a hotel called Portofino Bay, which is actually based on the Italian city of Portofino. As soon as my parents had realized that it was heavily based on Italian lifestyle, culture, and architecture, it was an easy decision that we would be staying there during our trip. Upon doing more research on the hotel there are many authentic Italian cuisine restaurants that are within the hotel, as well as a beautiful “port” that encloses the courtyard with the rooms surrounding it having been made to look like the actual buildings in Portofino. I’ve added two pictures below, the first being the city of Portofino in Italy, and the second one being the courtyard of the resort in Orlando.



I am beyond excited to be able to experience the Italian culture again in this way that brings me even closer to Italy, which I promise I will make it to someday. 1 year and counting!

Ciao!

[girlingoleitalia]

6/18/21

Ciao! It’s finally Friday, and this blog post will take you through the beginning of the next module, Italian TV and film, and Berlusconi. We did not have a special guest lecture or virtual cooking class today, but we will resume those next week! I’ll actually be talking about the guest lecture a few days prior, as it has more to do with this module I’ll be talking about.

As an English major who is studying with a film concentration, this module I was very understandably excited for. As I previously stated, we did not have a guest lecture for today, but I want to go into detail about one we had earlier this week since the topic falls into what we are learning about. We had a guest lecture about the history of Italian Cinema, which I had found to be quite intriguing when talking about how cinema had adapted and evolved in a country I had never tried to learn it through. All of my teachings so far have centered around American Cinema and directors, so it was fun to try and analyze the trailers for these films as we were introduced to them to apply or pick out what we had already learned in previous modules.

For example, one of the films that was brought up was It Started in Naples (1960), a film about Michael Hamilton, an American lawyer who comes to Italy to meet his estranged brother’s orphaned son, Nando, and decides he wants to adopt him and bring him back to the US, but the boy’s aunt Lucia (played by Sophia Loren) on his mother’s side protests and gains custody among a heated argument over Nando. Miraculously, the two end up falling in love and staying in Italy as guardians of the boy. Upon watching the trailer for the film, I noticed just how much it romanticized Italy, as well as the portrayal of stereotypes that we had learned about in the first module, stereotypes like Italian boys being rascals, Italian women being portrayed as exotic, and the foreign men being drawn to them because of it. It also shows the beautiful scenes of Italy and enhances the romance by making them more beautiful when surrounded by a beautiful landscape.

Other movies included were Le Mani Sulla Citta’ (Hands Over the City), The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Beat the Devil. All of these films had truths to them about Italy, but many also had exagérations of the stereotypes that are used for entertainment purposes. For the movies in the mafia genre, it definitely glorifies the aspects of money and power in Italian society, but I can also imagine it has negative effects on the economy as well. And I might not know a whole lot about the Italian mafia yet, but I do know that it’s not something you would want to get involved in. The romanticizing those mafia movies do for the mafia could have the flip side of making it seem like a good occupation to have, but I can imagine that it very well isn’t.

In the afternoon, we moved on to the next module, first focusing on Berlusconi, but before that we needed a little more depth in how the politics of Italy worked. His political party, Forza Italia, was a center right party enjoyed among lawyers in mid 1990s even some who had previously professed left-wing principles and had been activists in 1968, as well as actors/actresses of the adult genre. A new culture of flexibility emerged, and those who rose to power in it are under the cult of ego, an interesting subject about their way of gaining it. A prominent figure in this subject is the founder of the Partito dell’Amour (Party of Love) Cicciolina, an adult film star who was a very active person in politics and even still starred in films while she was in office. Another woman who had a very similar career was Milly D’Abbracio.

While women have roles in politics, historically it doesn’t seem that there is much room for them in the hierarchy of the church. 



That’s everything for today, and I shall see you next time! Ciao!

[girlingoleitalia]

6/17/21

Ciao! Buona pommereggio! (Or whatever time it is for you when you read this). This is post numéro due for my virtual Italian study abroad journey, so follow along as I take you through tiramisu, the impacts of ‘68, and more.

Beginning with my most favorite part of our days learning about Italian culture, the morning segments most of the time will bring us special lectures, guest speakers, virtual tours, videos, and insights into the many aspects of Italian life. Today was one of the most anticipated morning segments in my book, because we got a special presentation on my favorite Italian dessert, tiramisu!! We learned about the history of tiramisu and how it had originally been made by an “adult worker” for her clients as a pick me up before they left. The end of the presentation was the best part though, because included was a video tutorial on how to make tiramisu on your own at home, and it’s actually really easy. Truth be told, all of the tiramisu‘s I’ve ever had all had a sort of cake-y texture, and so I had no idea that it was actually lady fingers that were dipped in espresso and left to chill. I definitely want to try to make it once I have the time, hopefully this weekend, but I might not be able to with Father’s Day on Sunday.

On another note, the afternoon segment brought a continuation of the turmoil happening in 1968, and more depth into the results of those conflicts in the years after. There was a handful of questions we had been given to answer for when we returned, and we were given an hour to find the answers. I don’t want this post to be too long, so I’ll just put the ones that were most interesting to me.

The 4 sea-republics in Italy are Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice

“Men do not know how to be wicked in an honorable way.” - Nicolò Macchiavelli

According to Barzini, the author of our “textbook” The Italians, Italians are not individualistic as onlookers would think at first. He states that this, personal power, is the key in reference to public opinion and revolutions. Everybody status, security and welfare depend on this.

According to Barzini, In Italy, adultery committed by a woman is a punishable crime, but l’adultéra committed by a man is not.

The reform laws enacted between 1968 and 1978 helped eliminate the legacy of fascist legislation and introduced new freedoms

Berlusconi’s political party: Forza Italia, center-right headed by Silvio Berlusconi, Enjoy the members and founders on my lawyers in the mid-1990s, even some who have been activists in 1968

The week is coming to an end, as well as the module, and I think what I got out of this module the most was the power of people banding together to be able to fight against a regime that is unjust, as well as the harsh reality of the fact that while it did have positive outcomes to some social reforms, the lack of political change deemed ‘68 an overall failure. The continuation of fascist parties in Italy just proves that it’s like an insect that just won’t die, no matter how many times or how many different ways you try to get rid of it. I can only hope that the Italian people can overcome the negatives of the fascist regime with positive action.

That’s all for today, ciao!

[girlingoleitalia]

6/16/21

Ciao! My name is Lauryn, and this is my first entry to the small series of blog posts I will be doing to document my virtual journey through studying Italy. You might be wondering why the first post is in the middle of the month and the middle of the week, and it’s not because that when class started. This is actually the third week in (crazy how time flies) and we are well on our way working through learning different aspects of Italian culture. While I admit, it’s not the way I would’ve wanted to learn about it, the GOLE program really truly is the next best thing, and I still consider myself lucky to be apart of it.

Now, while this blog is lacking in a true “before” of the before and after (of taking the class), I guess I will tell you about something sort of similar. Since the online class started, and since learning about Italian culture, I’ve started to notice more and more things that relate to it in things I’ve seen in my day to day life. Particularly, one example happened this past weekend. My family went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant, and not only did I realize I had been pronouncing just about everything wrong my entire life before taking Italian, but I could also understand some of the phrases used for some of the names of the menu items too. My family had gotten a lesson that night on how to pronounce things properly in Italian, or at least as best as it could be taught by someone who just learned by themselves. Another example actually occurred tonight when I was watching Loki. In the second episode, there’s a scene with Pompeii, and I could recognize the buildings and where the residents were because we had learned about everything there was to know about Pompeii just a few weeks ago. There wasn’t much to go off of, but the fact that I was able to analyze how much was really accurate made me excited.

This week we have been learning about Italy in the year 1968, and a little bit about the rest of the world during that time too. As our Canvas course reads, “In Italy, the events of 1968 began a process of change which impacted enormously on a society still marked by authoritarian institutions inherited from the fascist past and permeated by traditionalist cultures.” During this time, there had been 3 different revolutions that occurred: cultural, language, and behavioral. Multiple events, one of them being the murder of Aldo Moro, leader of the Christian Democratic Party, had all culminated in one single year, but led to another 20 of violence and conflict. There are actually many parallels that I see from today’s society that overlap with how it was back then, like with the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial and social justice that has led to conflicts all across the US in 2020, and that still goes on today. Like one of my classmates had said today, it’s really crazy how people have been fighting the same fight for decades now, and not enough change has come out of it. Perhaps one day there will be a class taught on this time period as ours is being taught to us over that one.

For tonight, I think this will have to do. I definitely should be sleeping, but since when does anyone on this app have a decent sleep schedule? I’ll be looking forward to Tiramisu tomorrow. Buona sera!