Mass at the Duomo, part Deux

I had a very productive Friday. I cleaned my whole room, folded 2 loads of laundry, reorganized my armadi (closets), cleaned my bathroom, and cleaned out my purse and backpack. Everything's clean and organized, at least for the time being.

Friday evening, my host parents were "having some friends over for dinner." My host mother bought a lasagna for my sister and I, and we had dinner in the mother-in-law suite, with my host father's mother. As we were carrying in the food (it was a catered dinner) my host mother made it kind of clear that my host sister and I were to stay out of sight. My little sister and I were eating dinner as the friends arrived, some 25 of them. After they had all gone into the dining room, I snuck across the foyer into the computer room. After about half an hour, Marta came up and told me my host mother wanted me. I was wearing a grimy hoodie and running pants, so I ran to my room, changed my clothes, brushed my hair, and put on some makeup. I went into the dining room, and stood by my host mother, who was chatting with some other women. After a minute or so, she turned to me, and said "You have to try everything!" The dinner was all finger food, and my host mother litterally dragged me around the table by my arm, insisting I try one of everything. The food was pretty good, but there was too much effort put into the presentation rather than the flavor. I decided to stick around for dessert, which was fantastic. There were little apple pie squares, which surprised me. Apple pie supposedly doesn't exist in Italy. I ended up going to bed pretty late, probably 12:30ish.

Saturday, I left school at 11 to pack, as I was going to Milan, to stay with Kristen. I packed everything I needed for the weekend into my backpack, and walked to the station to catch the 12:40 train. There was a couple making out in the seat right beside me, which I found rather rude. I moved seats, and ended up sitting next to a guy who was listening to his iPod, singing. I've ridden the train 3 times, and each time, there's been a singing man somewhere on the train.
Kristen and I met at 1:30, as planned, in front of the Lindt store in the station. Another American student, not with Rotary, came with Kristen. Her name is Sasha, and she's from Anchorage, Alaska! We got along quite well, but sadly, she's leaving in December.

We went to a Turkish Kebap place for lunch, then bought hot chocolate, because it was so cold. Taylor, another Rotary exchangee who lives in Milan, met us in front of the Duomo. We went to a Vodafone store, and Taylor bought a phone. After that transaction was done, we were going to go shopping, as I need a winter coat! Then, Sasha saw a girl wearing a coat that she really liked, and she asked the girl where she bought it. To make a long story short, we went on a hunt for said coat, found it, and Sasha bought it. By that time, it was nearly 5:30, which is when Mass at the Duomo starts.

We all went to Mass, which was beautiful, as usual. It was especially nice, as they had an actual choir! All the Masses that I've been to here in Italy have only had one cantor. The choir was really good, too, and we sang the same Alleluia and the same Sanctus that we sing back in Virginia! But we said the Creed in Latin, which I've never heard before. After Mass, we went to a McDonalds, for coffee and cannoli. Taylor got hot chocolate, and spilled it all over the floor. I went to tell someone, and it took me at least 5 minutes to explain what had happened, as I don't know the verb "to spill" in Italian. I kept repeating "My friend bought hot chocolate, and now it's on the floor." The girl behind the counter gave me a funny look, and when she finally realized what I was trying to say, she pointed to someone, and said "Talk to him!" A man with a mop was standing right behind me. I began to say "Hot chocolate" when he said "I already cleaned it up." We left McDonalds, and Kristen and I returned to her apartment.

The family had made plans to have dinner at a friends house, Kristen, her host parents, siblings, a cousin, and I all piled into a station wagon, and headed for the friend's house. The friend's were nice, and had 2 sons, one was 14, named Alberto, the other was 19, Umberto. There were seperate tables for the adults and the children, so the two boys, Kristen, her host sister, Benedetta, host brother Paolo, cousin, Giuseppe, and I ate in the kitchen. We had lasagna, which I thought was funny. I've been in Italy for almost 3 months, hadn't had it for the whole time I've been here, and now I've eaten it 2 nights in a row! We managed to carry on a conversation in Italian the whole night, which made me happy. And, I found out Umberto likes President Bush! He's probably the only Italian who does, though. At midnight, Umberto suggested we go out for coffee, so we went to a bar, drank a coffee, then walked around Milano a bit. Kristen and I didn't get back to her apartment until 1:30ish, and we were exhausted.

This morning (Today being Sunday) Kristen and I got up at 8, to make the family pancakes. The pancakes turned out alright, but we put chocolate chips on all of them, and the chocolate burned. After breakfast, I realized I was still in my PJs, and we were leaving in 10 minutes for a Rotary concert. I managed to be washed, brushed, dressed, and packed in under 10 minutes! We went to Milano's auditorium, and met the rest of the Rotary exchangees there, along with some of the Italian kids who went to the US last year, and Silvia came too. The concert was good, Mozart, but a little long for my taste. After the concert, we all went out for pizza, then went bowling. It's always good to see the rest of the Rotary kids, we all get along really well. My host family told me they were going to try to come for the bowling, but they weren't able to make it, so I got a ride home from Alberto.

While we were in the car, he told me that in December, all the Rotary kids are going to another concert, in the Duomo, and we have front row seats! Then he mentioned that December 10, he and I are going to go into Milano again for another Rotary meeting, only this time, I'm going to be the one giving the presentation. I guess I'd better get started on that, then!

It's getting late, and I'm exhausted, so I'm heading to bed!

Oh, I changed the settings on the blog, and now anyone can comment!