Sunday and Monday

What is it with me and writing every other day?? Well, in any case, yesterday wasn't terrificly interesting. In a heretofore unknown burst of insight, I had purchased all the stuff for making Sheila's spaghetti on Saturday, since I know that every store is closed on Sunday....I got lots of tomato sauce, some canned tomatoes (whole tomatoes....it was kind of awkward to cut them), chili powder which was definitely chili powder, albeit a bit strange. I also knew that I had onions, oregano, and garlic if I wanted them, since I couldn't remember what else was in it. Oh, and of course, I got ground beef. So, started cooking at about 11:00 (after the air raid sirens died down) by putting tomato sauce and the cut tomatoes in our big saucepan and adding the chili powder, some oregano, olive oil (which I also had purchased on Saturday) and I started cooking the ground beef with onions, garlic, and a bit of olive oil in a separate pan. After the beef was brown I added the whole concoction to the simmering sauce. After some adjustments to the tomato sauce/spice ratio, I left it for a few hours, stirring it occasionally. After that it was a bit thick, so I added some water and a bunch of olive oil and left it simmer more. I cooked 1kg of pasta since I expected around 6 people to eat, but two extra showed up. It turned out OK, though, and there wasn't too much left over. I didn't think it turned out too well, and I couldn't tell if it was because I used way too much chili powder or not enough.......I also get the feeling that I forgot an ingredient or something....it just wasn't too flavorful, I couldn't figure it out. Everyone else seemed to like it, though....I'll probably try to make it once again before I leave.....it was definitely the closest I've come to the true taste, but of course I am still miles and miles away. In any case it was fun cooking for everyone...I even made my 1000 island dressing with the apple cider vinegar that Brad serendipitously had! (I used to use it when I made the dressing long time ago, but it hasn't been at my disposal of late...) People seemed to enjoy it, but I wasn't satisfied with the results....it seems as though if I'm going to cook a sauce for 8 hours it should be pretty darn flavorful, and it just wasn't.......I don't know. After that I sang barbershop with David and JB and Nick, which was awesome, as usual. Yup, that was Sunday.

Today was pretty normal....I was soooo tired this morning! I could barely move in the morning, and in German I was still a bit tired. I like the larger room we're in now (it's the same room we were in for intensive) but it dissipates my energy so much...being in the tiny, cramped room kept me (and most of my classmates) focused. After that I had a long break, but I decided to stay at the institute and get stuff done instead of go home, do an about-face (basically) and come back for AA&A. Frau Fischer had said something about helping out Dr. Scheier with some project, so I talked to him today...basically he wants a powerpoint (or Keynote! hee hee) presentation about the music program at IES Vienna, but he was so incredibly vague about the details that I don't really know where to begin....oh well, I will get paid for my hours, which is nice. AA&A was exceptionally uninteresting today....I actually fell asleep, I was so tired and bored, and then after class I managed to run to the tourist information center at the Albertinaplatz and back to the center in less than 6 minutes.....it was crazy. I must have been man/dep today. (I just made that up...I like it!) Music history was pretty darn interesting, since we were talking about chant, which makes me all excited. Yay for neumismatic notation!! I just love it.....anyway it was long and a bit strenuous, but pretty fun. After class I went out with Jess and Brad to a restaurant called....I can't remember what it was called, but it was a good little falafel and other ethnic food restaurant off of the Mariahilferstrasse....I had chicken skewers, grilled vegetables, and a small salad....it was really really good. Jess got tequila and mango juice....I tried some, and it was VERY good. If I ever decide to drink tequila, it'll be like that. Then we went to gelato on the way back home, and now we're all sittin' here doing homework. That was my day....nothing special!