Tiramisu

It has been a really busy couple of weeks with my applying for jobs, finding a job!, and getting ready for the big transition from being mainly a stay at home mama to teaching elementary children english and math (more on that later). I had a lovely birthday. Luciana made me homemade Tiramisu (see the picture). We had a dinner with the entire family and I received some hot italian fashion (jeans with tight ankles, and shirts or dresses that are brown, gray, green, purple, or black). I'm curious if these fashion trends will reach MN. I also received calls and emails from many of you which always cheers me up. Giovanni organized a birthday celebration on the weekend with 20 of his friends and we drove to a beautiful villa in the wine country of Treviso and had a five course meal. Before arriving at the restaurant, we stopped at an outdoor wine bar where we drank local wine out of ceramic bowls. This place was quite particular in that it had an old amusement park of mechanical rides including a roller coaster. The rides were based on mechanical principals and did not use any electricity. There was no one supervising and all of us ran like wild children to try these thrilling and dangerous rides. This would be a huge liability suit in america. I have never seen anything so risky left to the amusement of wine imbibing adults. No one got hurt and I had so much fun. Unfortunately, the roller coaster was on the bottom of the curve and it looked unlikely that the pulley system was working. The guys spent quite a while competing at launching a heavy metal car around a circular track. Matteo was amused with the old military tank. After this episode, we spent the evening eating together. His friends surprised me with a fancy brief case for teaching and a beautiful shawl. They sung happy birthday passionately in italian and english throughout the evening. It was a warm birthday even though I missed being with my loved ones back home.