Still Learning!

Yesterday was a Sunday, which is an important day for Italians. This week, I was allowed to sleep in because of my jet-lag, but next week, I will be expected to go to church. I can't wait to see what Italian church is like! Around 1:00pm, Leonardo told me that the whole family eats lunch in the large dining room in between our house and Nonna's house. There were definitely a lot of people that were there for lunch- Nonna, two uncles, two aunts, 5 cousins, Paola, Leonardo and me. Nonna (Grandma) made lunch for everyone. What I realized halfway through my second plate of scrumptious pasta was that the pasta was just the first dish, and there was an even bigger dish coming next, followed by desert. I was already full from the pasta, but I tried the chicken braised in fresh tomato sauce and sausage in olive oil, with bread and beans and lots of other side dishes. It was quite a huge meal, and now I know to save my hunger for the whole thing! After lunch, Nonna presented me with handmade pastries with cream filling and fruit. Next Sunday, I will have to take pictures of the delicious food. After lunch, the entire family sat down in front of the TV to watch a sports car race, which seems to be very popular here.

 

 This is what the racing cars look like. There are about 30 or so cars that do 53 laps around a track. There were also fall outs and people that crashed, which was exciting for my family.

 



 

 This is what the racing reminded me of- the second Cars movie!

 

After lunch, I went over to Anika's house. Her parents own a hotel, and there was a swimming pool in the back of the hotel. That was the last day it would be open, so we decided to swim. Anika's host brother, Marco, swam with us. Anika and I wanted to play water games, and it was very interesting trying to explain how to play to Marco. He did however, love to play Marco-Polo, mainly because his name is Marco and also because he was a good little swimmer! After I swam with Anika, Paola and I wanted to go see Leonardo's cousin play the clarinet in a orchestra performance. There were three different bands, and it was a long performance, but it was relaxing!

 

Today was about finishing business. Paola and I went to the bank to exchange money. That by far has been the most disappointing thing so far- I exchanged $390 American dollars and only got 280 Euros. Everything here is more expensive than in America, so I will have to budget my money wisely. Then Anika and her host mom and Paola and I went to the school where I will be going. Anika and I are in different classes, but we will still see each other.

 

La mia scuola, from the front entrance.

 



This is a helicopter view of my school from online. As you can see, it is three stories high and not very spread out like American schools.

 

So far, Italy has been good to be. I can't wait to experience more and more and more! :)