The epicentre of amazing

Well I thought I knew what good gelato was until Jill and I went for a walk in the centre of Rome this evening and stopped at THE best gelateria in all of Rome. The place was crazy, and I mean like ridiculously packed to the point that you swear there must have been 3 buses parked outside in the tiny street where all these people would maybe return after placing their order.

But really though, it is like this all the time in this gelateria because it is the best gelato in Rome! There were two very long counters with every possible flavor that you could ever want and a mosh pit style line to get to the front to place your order.

One third of the gelato counter, there were easily 150
people waiting, despite that the "line" moves quickly!

Italians take gelato very seriously and as a result the staff at this place were dressed to the nine's in their flawless white uniforms, taking orders like they could do it in their sleep. Jill made her way to the front while I held our bags in the back, waiting to provide support when the sweet tasty prize was won. I ordered a cone with three flavors, mint, dark chocolate and nut. As we walked down the tiny ancient alleys eating our icecream I actually at one point stopped walking and leaned against a building so that I could have a special moment with my new tasty friend. I contemplated for a moment going to the court to get a divorce so that I could return and marry my gelato, but when I thought about it further I thought that perhaps it might be difficult to explain in Italian why I was divorcing my lovely Gcinisizwe for the sake of gelato. I am sure the magistrate of course would understand if they ever tried these flavors.

Then of course, in typical magic Roman style we are walking down the alley when all of a sudden this epic pipe organ music begins playing. Inside of an exquisite roman catholic church is a private concert to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the composers death. Don't worry so much about the picture, just close your eyes and enjoy the music.

The epicentre of amazing

Well I thought I knew what good gelato was until Jill and I went for a walk in the centre of Rome this evening and stopped at THE best gelateria in all of Rome. The place was crazy, and I mean like ridiculously packed to the point that you swear there must have been 3 buses parked outside in the tiny street where all these people would maybe return after placing their order.

But really though, it is like this all the time in this gelateria because it is the best gelato in Rome! There were two very long counters with every possible flavor that you could ever want and a mosh pit style line to get to the front to place your order.

One third of the gelato counter, there were easily 150
people waiting, despite that the "line" moves quickly!

Italians take gelato very seriously and as a result the staff at this place were dressed to the nine's in their flawless white uniforms, taking orders like they could do it in their sleep. Jill made her way to the front while I held our bags in the back, waiting to provide support when the sweet tasty prize was won. I ordered a cone with three flavors, mint, dark chocolate and nut. As we walked down the tony ancient alleys eating our icecream I actually at one point stopped walking and leaned against a building so that I could have a special moment with my new tasty friend. I contemplated for a moment going to the court to get a divorce so that I could return and marry my gelato, but when I thought about it further I thought that perhaps it might be difficult to explain in Italian why I was divorcing my lovely Gcinisizwe for the sake of gelato. I am sure the magistrate of course would understand if they ever tried these flavors.

Then of course, in typical magic Roman style we are walking down the alley when all of a sudden this epic pipe organ music begins playing. Inside of an exquisite roman catholic church is a private concert to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the composers death. Don't worry so much about the picture, just close your eyes and enjoy the music.

Happiness comes in blue bags

Reason 462 why I enjoy being in Italy. After a delightful morning buying groceries at the local farmers market with my room mate Roberta, I return home with ONE KILO of spinach for.....one Euro, that's right people, ONE Euro!! I have actually never purchased a kilo of fresh spinach before so I was expecting a handful or something, I am not sure why. I was needless to say, surprised when for only one Euro I left with an entire grocery bag FULL of fresh locally grown spinach.

Oh, and just to add further salt to the wounds of my friends and family in Canada (sorry guys), I am actually on my terrace in March with a tank top and skirt on. In fact I did this in February too but I really didn't want to make anyone feel bad so I kept it to myself. If it makes you feel better, it is 28 degrees in Thembalethu right now, oh how I wish I was at the beach!!

xoxox

Buona Domenica!

I am sitting here in my bedroom studying Human Development and all of a sudden I hear music coming from outside! Only in Rome would I look outdoors and see a two man brass band walking up my street performing for the neighbours! I have to say, Italian people are very creative in their attempts to earn a few dollars and being that I come from the musical hub of Halifax it fills my soul with happiness to hear live music again!

From my fifth floor balcony I wave to the musicians to say thank you for such a lovely performance and am very pleased to see that my attempt to donate a few euro to their cause is successful as my bag of coins arrives safely to the ground without hitting a car!

I won't lie to you, living in Rome is actually not always easy, but it is moments like this that make me smile and feel so happy to have the opportunity to be here and see what life inside Italy is really like. 

Buona Dominica tutti!

(Happy Sunday everyone!)

Wine plus the Metro equals.....

What do copious amounts of wine and a moving metro look like?

I present to you exhibit A

 ha ha ha

Where's Catherine?

Wow, where have I been for the last 3 weeks? Let me first apologize for completely dropping off the face of the Earth in terms of communication!

So here is the update, the last 3 weeks I have been keeping very busy with charitable activities and school. Now that my first exam is over and done with we have moved onto our second module, Quantitative Techniques. On the surface it sounds a little bit dry but to be honest I am really enjoying it. It is a class which teaches us everything from how to create and implement a successful survey to looking at statistics from different sources with a critical eye. I have always been one to question things so I love the fact that I am now learning how to fine tune my skill!!

On top of rigerous studying and school work I have been working towards implementing a major project to take place in Nqiningana, South Africa this year. Everything we do in Nqiningana takes a lot of planning and preparation due to the complex nature of working in a remote location and also the complexities of working in a community with a strong sense of culture and tradition.

2011 is sure to be a very exciting year and I am so excited to see all that we can accomplish to bring food security, access to water and hope to this beautiful little village.

Catherine

The results are in!

I'm not going to lie, my Developmental Economics exam was stressing me out. I was convinced that I either failed or just barely passed. Today out of the blue the exam results were posted. When I looked at my mark I could not believe it, and even more so when I found out that our marks were not even scaled, my mark was legit!!

After all my stressing I am very proud to say that I received a 24/30 which is an 80% !!!!!!! Thank you to every one from Canada to South Africa and in between who was praying for me to do well, it worked!!


For a look into the exam questions, check out my previous blog post
http://catherine-robar.blogspot.com/2011/01/catherine-robar-dies-of-exam-induced.html