Adventure Number Two

It is no secret that coffee is not really my thing, but while I have been in Italy, I have made it my mission to make it my thing. Every morning before class I go over to Mama Cake and have a cappuccino along with a very healthy croissant stuffed with chocolate. Italians drink cappuccinos in the morning and espressos in the afternoon but for a non-coffee drinker, an espresso is extremely strong and a little too much to take. For one of our school field trips we went to the Treinnale exhibit, which showcases the latest in modern art and had incredible exhibits that I wish everyone could see. We were all meandering around trying to make sense of the Italian signs when I wandered into a coffee exhibit. I was hesitant at first especially because I had no clue what to look for in coffee or even what good coffee tastes like. I got the run down on how the exhibit worked and learned that I stood in front of a giant coffee bean for specific coffee bean producing countries. The coffee beans would open and show a short video that focused on one characteristic of the flavors of that country; for example, the Ethiopia video was an oil painting that vaguely portrayed a plant with orange and white flowers. After I watched the short video, I marked on a sheet of paper how it affected me on a scale of 1-5. I had and still have no idea how the videos were supposed to affect me and how I was supposed to rate that feeling but I guessed away. When I was done with the ratings, I came into a café type room where some really nice Italians took my card and in rough English tried to teach me about coffee. They made me an espresso that was a combination of each of the countries and the amount of beans they put in for each country varied on how I rated the video. When they gave me the espresso I about had a heart attack. It was the best espresso I had ever had. I was in coffee heaven. The moral of this Maggot Adventure is that even if you have hated something from the minute you were born, you might try it in a museum exhibit in Italy and love it.