Student's Perspective - Day One: Sweet Satisfaction!
I knew the word for pasta, pizza and the environment. That was it. All I knew about Italian culture was that their food is amazing, the people were loud and the country has more historical landmarks then they knew what to do with.
Coming to Italy I did not know what to expect. I had never been out of the Americas, I did not know the language and I was going to live in someone'shome. But when I sat down to dinner on my first night in Siena, I knew the Slow Food Movement was alive and well.
The mother gestured me to sit down at the table, which lay right in the middle of the kitchen.Wonderful smells radiated from the oven and on top of the kitchen counter. For dinner we had cabbage and potato soup with a dollop of chili, cracked black pepper and a thin layer of grated Parmesan cheese. Perfection. The soup was as thin as water but held the flavor of the simple ingredients.
Once I was finished my bowl was taken away and a plate lay underneath. Slices of pork wrapped in Sienese bread and bacon, roasted vegetables and cut tomatoes in olive oil and a pinch of salt were placed on my plate. A bread basket was passed my way and red wine was in my reach. I waited to see how my host family ate the food and dove right in after them.
I could not understand the mother but we had a common language, food.
A wide smile gently humming and wide eyes could only mean one thing. Sweet satisfaction. And this was only day one!
Sophia Garcia Sustainability Track - Fall Semester 2014
