Mangiamo

We have settled in Otranto, one of Italy’s eastern-most points. We’ll be here for four weeks, staying in the resort, taking classes here, and traveling into Otranto proper for culinary labs and work at restaurants. The resort is more like a small village, with little houses, each split into two apartments, each apartment housing two or three students. We have our own little kitchens, a bathroom, and a patio in each apartment, with a sunny little yard and tall hedges separating us from our neighbors. Geckoes are everywhere, and some vacationers have cats or dogs that wander among the houses. The resort also has a pool with a water slide, a restaurant, a bar, and an outdoor dance floor. After a many-course dinner (I lost count at six), us more adventurous students braved the dance floor and tried to mingle with the Italians, most of whom were quite friendly- we quickly got pulled into a circle of girls who all spoke at least some English, and exchanged names and home cities.
This morning, after a light breakfast (the one Italian meal that doesn’t include multiple courses) and espresso, we went to the beach! Resort beaches here are private, carefully gridded out in numbered umbrella groups that you must purchase (we get assigned areas with our hotel rooms), and CROWDED. If you make it to the water (which is also crowded), it’s incredibly warm and clear and wonderful. If you stick next to the beach, you can participate in choreographed dance routines/water aerobics, led by incredibly fit and good-looking employees of the resort. Even if you just want to swim, there is music blasted out over the water- they play some American music, and some Italian pop (I’ve already learned the chorus to two of the most popular, that play over and over…). The internet here is slow, and I must be off to lunch immediately. After that is a meeting, then shopping in Otranto!
Ciao!