MEET THE TEAM

So they had carefully arranged that the foreign riders would be placed with the italians so there wouldn't be any segregation of any kind from the beginning.  I was rooming with Samantha Galassi and Alessia Quarta. Very nice girls, as were are the rest of the girls on the team.  I was a bit jet legged but there was an endless(felt like) things we (I ) needed to get done.  Specially since I arrived a few days later, the camp started on tuesday and  I  arrived on thursday. First I  had to put my cleats on my new shoes and get my bike somewhat fit for me so I could ride it the next day, and oh yeah dinner at 8...I arrived at the hotel at 5 I had a 20 some hours flight and was famished and didn't think I was going to make to 8o'clock! Which for me is waaaay to late to be eating dinner!Ok so that was the first difference! they eat dinner late. As time went on and I started to reduce the amount of things on my to do list it was almost time for the "capo" (boss aka Brunello) to arrive tha's why dinner was so late! Every night we had to wait for him to get off of work and join us for dinner.  The first thing that was put in front of me was a huge bowl of risotto of some sort...but I was eyeing the veggie and salad buffet. I just couldn't stomach a bowl of rice right off the bat! So difference number two....they all stared at me as I got up and made myself a big plate of salad and veggies.  Apparently you re supposed to eat you "primi" (pasta or rice) first, since its hot ( i don't care either way, cuz I that's just now how we do it at home!!) then they serve your "secondi" meat of some sort along with you buffet of salad and veggies.  So all the foreigns were criticized and judged by the locals! I could careless but by the end of it I must say I was a bit annoyed that they can criticize the way we eat saying that it is wrong and tha's just  not how it's done in Italy! oh man I have heard that one too many times in the past 15 days!