"L'ombelico del mundo"

This week has been a crazy one; we have our first Italian quiz today (all Italian classes do) so everyone is frantically doing last minute studying in the library. Makes me miss UMass a bit! Anyway, I am listening to one of my new favorite songs as I go over my notes. It's called "L'ombelico del mundo."

I learned the song at Monday night karaoke. Karaoke is a tradition in Perugia, particularly among the young students. It doesn't even start until midnight, so you usually have to expect a late night when you want to go. I went for the first time this past Monday, and it was a blast! Definitely worth feeling slightly sleepy the next day.

Here's pretty much how the night went while I was there: a group of approximately fifteen to twenty American students singing the classics (think Nsync, "I'm a barbie girl," etc). The Italians were getting the biggest kick out of watching us. They seemed to know several of the songs as they were mouthing along, even though they were in English (see my post about American music here).

After the American kids had had our fix, a group of Italian guys went up to bring some actual Italian music into the mix. We kept cheering them on and they appreciated it. One song they sang was "L'ombelico del mundo." All of the Italians seemed to know it. (Point: When we went into a crepe store a few nights later and asked the middle-aged lady behind the counter about the song, she started singing it to us). At kareoke, my friend and I thought it would be funny if we pretended we knew it, so we started singing along. We also made up meanings for the words we didn't know. "L'ombelico"to us sounded like umbilical cord. Therefore, we decided that's what it meant. It became a joke that night. Much to our surprise, that IS what it means! (Thanks crepe lady!) Maybe our Italian is better than we think!

Speaking of crepes, Tuesday night we went to get some crepes (and be schooled on Italian music). I just have to post pictures, they were DELICIOUS. I got Tricolore, which is Nutella, strawberries, banana, and kiwi.

Also, for good measure, I became Julie Paps on Monday night when I cooked her broccoli and ziti recipe! It was my first attempt ever, and turned out pretty good I think. I will still need a few more tries to perfect it, and no one will ever make it like my mommy. :)

Heading to Florence this weekend! Ciao!