Ciao mio caro.
Roommate/chef Jess just informed me of how to make a bechamel sauce. I had no idea before this!
It's just a basic white sauce you can use for pastas, etc.

Without measurements, you first cook butter until it's golden and melted on a VERY low heat. Then, you add your flour and stir together and it will have a golden dough-like consistency. Making sure to stay on a low heat, you will then add cream and incorporate it veryyyy slowlyyyyy. From there, add whatever you want! White pepper is what Jess suggested first, and then you can add cheese and spices.
She said if you want to have a vegetable sauce, you can cook your onions or whatever you're making until they are golden brown in color and sweat a little. Make sure there is a bit of moisture in the pan. Then, add your flour. Once well mixed, add cream...then cheese, spices, herbs, etc.
You've made your own pasta sauce!

I must be still recuperating from the Cinque Terre hike this weekend, but I am dragging my feet around Florence. I only had Italian class today, but I had to work up the energy to go. FINALLY we're learning verbs and how to conjugate, and I got to use them later on in the afternoon while talking to Ricardo, our apartment supervisor. Ricardo never fails to give a "Ciao!" or a "Tutto bene?" when I walk by. He wears a single earring on his left ear. Is it a diamond stud? No. It's a capital "R." He rocks it. Today, he came out of his little office to chat with me.
The iron-gate-looking door separated us, as I was about to get on the elevator and he was in the hallway. In Italian, he asked me how I was, and I told him I was un po' stanca oggi. He replied, in Italian, that it was too bad, and asked if I felt like I was imprisoned, and he jokingly pulled on the bars of the iron door separating us. I laughed and put my hand to my forehead and said yes, it does. He then jokingly said that I was his captive and I could go to my room but he would not let me out of the building, he was sorry. I had to infer ALL of this conversation by hand gestures and word roots that were similar to ones I already knew. Like the Italian word for "prisoner" is similar to the word "captive," and the bars helped to give me a visual as well.
We continued to talk for another twenty or so minutes as people entered or exited the elevator, including two ISA workers. We continued to talk about music, our favorite topic, and I told him I would scrivo un liste di gruppi di indie rock e "io ti do a domani." He likes Muse, Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zeppelin. I love music because it's a universal language.
The next topic was our pets, and the word poodle was seriously confusing for him. He has a cat and a dog, just like me! Their names are Jerry and Willy (a boxer-he used a gesture to tell me that the dog had a squished nose. I was seriously confused by that!). I told him that my cat's name was Angel perche lei e tutto bianco. We then went into how talking in Italian/English was difficult. We high-fived after our conversation because we stuck it out even though it was hard for both of us.
When I came upstairs, I realized that I was soaked in sweat. I guess that whenever I have to speak in a language I'm not comfortable with, I get reaaaaally nervous. Tomorrow before class I will have to drop off that list to Ricardo.
I came upstairs and fell right asleep for an hour and a half. Glorious.
Then came dinner time, and Jess made chicken tacos. Total comfort food. We went out for gelato afterwards. It was excellent! I got panna cotta and veronese chocolate, which tasted exactly like those little Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Mmmmmm.
I watched an episode of Family Guy when I came back in. I want to be lazy until I have to study/travel.
So, today I went to H & M (sale, but everything fit oddly so I didn't buy anything), then sauntered over to il Mercato Centrale. I bought dried bananas, pears, and pineapples for two forty euro, then bought three carrots and two zucchini for fifty cents! Here comes my splurge: I did a great deal of researching and sampling before deciding on an aged balsamic vinegar for 9.80 euro. I talked the woman down to 9 euro, though! It will be something that becomes a staple in my diet, I am sure, and one drop has such a sweet, strong taste. I'll have it for the rest of the semester.
So now, here I am, tiiiirrreeeddddd. Allora ora, qui io sono, stannncccccaaaa.
Vado a il mio camere e e possible che dormo. Buona notte!