Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything! Sorry about that!

The past few days have been unusually cold, in the low forties. It rained from Tuesday night to this morning, but today the sky is a lovely blue! It's still pretty cold, though.

Tuesday, I walked to my little sister's school to help teach English. My little sister is 9 years old, but very mature and intelligent. I was at her school from 2 o'clock until 4:20. For the first hour, the teacher had the kids introduce themselves one by one, then ask me a question. One boy asked what Italian soccer team I supported. I don't know anything about Italian soccer teams, but thankfully another boy whispered "Milano!" to me. I repeated what he said, and half the class stood up and cheered, while the other half booed. After everyone introduced themselves, we did some grammar exercises, then had time to play games. Several of the students drew me pictures having do do with the answers I gave to their questions. For example, one of the kids asked what my favorite animal was, and I answered that I like giraffes. One of the students drew a picture of me standing next to a giraffe. I had fun playing with the kids, but by the end of the 2 hours, I was a little tired. The teacher asked me to come back next Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to it!

Saturday night, I went out with 3 girls in my class. I was sitting in the piazza on a bench waiting for them, and two men, true to the Italian-man stereotype, asked me out for coffee. I pretended not to speak Italian, or rather, I pretended to speak less than I actually do. One of the girls arrived, and we chatted while waiting for the other two. We went to a rather nice restaurant for pizza, and after, strolled through the streets window shopping. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed myelf immensly. Actually, I have plans to go out again tomorrow night!

Yesterday, I decided to go shopping for a few things I needed for school. I know the way into the main piazza, but I didn't know where a carteria (paper/writing utensil shop) was. One of my friends drew a map for me, and I found the shop without too much trouble. After spending more than I should have for school supplies, I started home.. only to realize I had no idea where I was. So, I backtracked to the main piazza, and tried to find my way home again. I wandered the streets of Gallarate for about forty-five minutes, before calling my host sister. I told her where I was, and she told me about a short cut that would take me to Viale Dei Tigli, the main street near where I live. After talking to my sister, I got home just fine. When my host father came home from work, I told him about my day, including about getting lost in town. He drew several maps of Gallarate, even though I understood how to get home after my sister told me. At dinner that night, I retold my day to my host mother, and she said my host father should take me around the town again on the vespa (which is nice, but honestly, I'm pretty sure I can find my way around now!) and my host father said "Oh, no, she couldn't possibly get lost again after the maps I drew!" Well, we all know that now I'm going to prove him wrong..

Happy birthday to my Mom! And happy belated birthday to Cam!