Winter has come and so has exams....

A decent amount has happened since I last wrote you all.

I hosted my first thanksgiving with my amazing roommates. The great turkey hunt of 2013 ended very successfully the day before thanksgiving at Essalunga :D. Here in Italy they don't eat turkeys whole on a regular basis (in some place for christmas but not a lot) so it was quite the hunt to find one that would 1st fit in our oven and 2nd was in one piece. But alas we found our Tomas the Turkey (Tom the turkey italian style ;)). The only disappointment was our apartment is a bit to small to invite all the people I wanted to. Everyone had a great time. For most it was their first Thanksgiving so it was extra special sharing my families traditions with them. A few were pleasantly surprised about how great cranberry sauce is. I also made the perfect pumpkin pie this year wayyy better then last year. Some of these great pictures were thanks to Marco (green apron).

Then came the start of the Christmas season and the INTERNATIONAL FAIR. The only way to explain this fair is that it is kind of like a State Fair in the the United States yet better. hehe. We started with Tai food, yum yum, followed by a trip to Africa where I bought a lamp for my mom. Then off to the rest of the world. I found some amazing presents and ate some tasty treats.

 The following week my roommates and I set up our christmas tree. It was an interesting night as we also tried our hand at a batch of chocolate chocolate cookies. They tasted great but.... not exactly cookie shaped. They may have melted a bit.

Then we packed up and headed home for the holidays. Bea to Taranto, Gavin to Canada and me to Minnesota. I made it home just in time for Vinnie's University graduation :D It was great to be home minus the frezzzzzzzzzzzzzing weather. It was the coldest winter in 17 years while I was home. I mean really come on Minnesota coldest winter in 17 while I'm there thats just rude. :P We had a quiet christmas with family. I was able to bring home a panattoni for my family that was amazing. 

It was a working holiday tho because now it is January which if you have been following me you know that mean .... exams :(

This exam session I will be taking Clinical Lab Med, Basic Pathology, and Pharmacology. This past monday was the first sitting of Clinical Lab Med which is a 30 question written exam with 45 minutes to complete. You have to get 18 to pass the course. The results came out later in the morning and I passed. That's 1 down 2 to go and a great way to start both the week and the session. The next 2 exam will be at the end of the month one day apart so I will really need to get to work to pull this off.

Tonight we are going to a local pub (Matricola) for a beer for a classmates birthday and tomorrow it all starts again, so good night for now.

Till We Meet Again,

~M~