I took an Italian cooking class Tuesday night at the Cobblestone Café, taught by the owner, Kate. We had spinach and 3-cheese lasagna, focaccia farcita (filled Italian bread)—split after baking and filled with pesto (the pesto was part of the class too) and mozzarella, warm herb tomato salad and panna cotta—all made with herbs from her garden and the freshest ingredients. Kate’s a great teacher and gives lots of tips and tricks that help you cook up amazing food the first time, and fast! Check out Kate’s web site, Galway Cookery Classes. I also included her recipe for the Warm Herb Tomato Salad over in Food, Fitness, Travel—this is a must for all of you to try. Minutes to make, unbelievable flavor and healthy, healthy, healthy… yum!
I enjoyed the class and all of the other students as well. I think all of them were Irish, and again, they made me fall in love with this country even more. Being the introverted and reserved American, it seems to take me awhile to loosen up and just be. The Irish people have been a very good influence on me in this way. They just seem to accept me and they are teaching me to enjoy a good craic (I hope I used this word in the right way in this sentence. If someone Irish is reading this, please correct me.) 
Anyway, I stayed a bit afterward and talked to Kate and Ann, another student. They asked me questions and I told them part of my story. They said maybe I would meet some nice Irish men here. We laughed. They asked me where I was staying. I said I’d found a shared apartment and that my roommate managed a pub in city centre. They said, “oh, well then” and laughed. I said something like, “No, no, he’s my roommate.” I learned quickly that what I actually have is a housemate. They don’t really use the word roommate, but anyhow, the word doesn’t mean what I understand roommate to mean. Geez… I’ve been using the word “roommate” for days now.
Another word for the day: jumper = sweater. So, if I say I’m wearing a jumper, it does not mean that I’ve returned to my preschool wardrobe.
Next Tuesday night I’m taking Desserts class. Woo hoo!