Nuggets of my life

1. My host mom kept hearing our woes of lack of Florentine pumpkin - and guess what she did? May I present you my host mom's pinterest-worthy pumpkin pie! Okay, actually I'm going to admit something. I don't like pumpkin pie in the United States. When I was raving about it earlier, I was really thinking more along the lines of pumpkin spice latte or pumpkin bread. The texture of pumpkin pie freaks me out - so mushy! BUT! Italian pumpkin pie is where it's at! This was sort of like a cake-pie mixture and very bread-y and delicious. And yes, those little creatures on top are indeed dough spiders. Precious.

2. Italian Halloween - check our super creative costumes! Future study abroad-ers, hit the 99 cent store (the dollar store, the euro store?) and prepare to be amazed! Firstly, they had a ton of costume-y goodness including jason masks and realistically bloody knives. Also, that thing I'm holding is a light-up pitch fork. However, it had 4 SETTINGS of different colorful lighting displays! What the heck. Best euro I've ever spent. Also also, the 99 cent store has good quality makeup/dishes/notebooks/etc. It puts the American dollar store to shame. Maybe this has something to do with the exchange rate. That extra 30 cents will go miles. Four lighting displays worth of miles. 

3. I voted in my first election!! *Sniff sniff* Such a proud moment. I hope the absentee ballot went through, eep! I had to go to the American Consulate in Florence, get all my electronics taken, and go through a metal detector - woot, so legit. Also, I don't want to give away my party preference... but I love Europe for the fact that I have yet to meet a single person that does not like Obama. No exaggeration. They pretty much follow American politics closer than I do. Just kidding, I'm a political science major and therefore know everything bout 'Merica. Also, the Italian newspaper printed a poll that showed that only 5% of Germans were pro-Romney. As my host-mom's eleven year old granddaughter put it, "Out of 100%, only 5?!" I feel safe with my main man in power. This is my unbiased and objective stance.. Gobama. Happy voting!