..are you ready?
This past weekend, I went to Milan, again. As usual, I stayed with Kristen and her host family.
Instead of giving you a blow-by-blow of my weekend, as it was a long one, I've decided just to give the highlights:
Friday, we (meaning Kristen, the rest of the Rotary students and I) went to a Christmas concert in the Duomo. It wasn't as cold as everyone expected it to be, which was nice. After the concert, Kristen, Taylor, David and I went out for coffee. We talked about nothing in particular, but thoroughly enjoyed eacothers company. David had to go home before the rest of us, so we walked him to the metro, and bid him farewell. There wasn't much else to do, so Taylor, Kristen and I just strolled around Milan, singing Beatles songs and Christmas Carols. Kristen and I got home late, and went to bed.
Before the Christmas concert started, Kristen found out that her host family, whom she had gotten a chance to know and really like, wouldn't be able to host her. She has a second family, but she knows nothing about them. She told me it was fine, but we could tell it was kind of shocking news. Here we all are, having to get used to the idea of yet another family, which Kristen had accomplished, and now she has to do it all over again! She was mopey throughout the concert, and I felt bad for her. Being homesick is no fun, but there's really not much you can do about it, even if you're surrounded by people who are going through the same thing as you, and who all care about you. That's one of the strange things about homesickness; it hits you without warning, and there's just no real way to handle it. You have to wait for it to pass.
Saturday, we slept in, met Taylor and Ellen near Duomo, and later, we met David, Allie, and Rebecca. We walked around all day, and I had a fantastic piadina for lunch. A piadina is like a toasted wrap. The best part of Saturday was dinner: Kristen, Taylor, Rebecca, Allie, Dorisanne, and I all went to a nice Chinese restaurant. I ate an entire bowl of rice with chopsticks (woo!) and had a delicious chocolate mousse cake for dessert. The restaurant was warm, and it was so nice to have real conversations with my friends. We're all going to miss our families during Christmas, of course, but being with them made me miss mine a little less. But just a little.
Sunday, the Rotary club of Meda invited us to their Christmas Luncheon. It was held at an old Monastery-turned-Villa, which was really pretty. We went to Mass in the villa's chapel, then ate lunch. After lunch, the Rotary club made the students sing christmas carols.. I thought we were going to sound awful, but we actually sounded kind of good. We sang "Silent Night" and "Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer," and I think the Rotary Club actually enjoyed listening. After we ate, we went on a tour of the villa. The owner of the villa is the son of the son of the son of the son.. (you get the idea) of some important person. He showed us all of these documents dating back to the 1200s. I thought documents from the 1200s were supposed to be in glass cases, with a temperature and humidity control, but he let us touch them and breathe on them and everything. It was kind of cool.
Yesterday, Monday, was my Rotary club's Christmas Party. I sat with the Rotaract club, which is Rotary for people ages 18-29. They were really nice, and invited me to their Christmas dinner, which is Thursday. The evening was quite uneventful.. except it was the first time I had to really dress up since I've been here and.. my dress clothes don't fit! Oh no! Time to cut back on the pasta and Nutella.. after Christmas.
I'm going to the mountains for 2 weeks on Friday, where there's no computer (how will I survive?!) When I get back, I'm chainging host families, too, so it may be a while before I can post again.
If I don't get a chance: I hope everyone has a Merry, blessèd Christmas!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Prayer
Today was going to be a lovely, exciting, friend-filled day. I got online to write about it, but I read a couple of other blogs before beginning, and I was (am) extremely saddened to hear that another blogger, Margaret in Minnesota, lost her baby. She had written from the beginning that there was a possibility of miscarrige, but I saw all the comments people had left for her, and they said they were all praying. There must have been at least 50 of us praying for Margaret and her baby, probably more. I was sure that with all that prayer power, everything would be fine.
But I guess God already had His plan worked out. It still makes me sad, though. I'll continue to pray for Margaret and her family, and I hope you will too.
Before getting on to describing my plans for the day, I have to say that Wednesday was Julia's birthday!! Happy belated birthday, my now 17 year old friend! I called her Wednesday night (Wednesday afternoon, east coast time) and we talked for quite a while. She tells me I'm not missing much in PWC, but I don't believe her!
The Milan Rotary club hosts a Christmas concert in the Duomo every year. All of the foreign exchangees are going, and we have to wear our lovely blue jackets, and sit in the front row. It should be fun, but I've heard from several people that the Duomo around Christmas is about as warm as the North Pole. Afterwards, I'm not sure, but I think we're all going out for dinner. I'm skipping the last two hours of school today to go home and pack my things, make lunch, and catch a train. I'll be staying with Kristen, as usual, which is always fun!
Saturday, Kristen's parents told her she could skip school. We'll probably sleep in, have a lazy breakfast, and go shopping in Milan. Kristen told me she knows a supermarket that sells Brownie mix, American style, and I'm psyched to go buy some! I'm also going to see if I can find ingredients to make some Christmas cookies.. the only Christmas sweet northern Italians have is Panetone (not sure on the spelling, there), which is essentially dry raisin bread. It's tasty, but what is Christmas without a variety of cookies?
Saturday night I'll be staying with Kristen again, because Sunday, all of the exchangees that live in Milan are catching a train to Monza (or thereabouts) because another Rotary club has invited all of the exchangees to their Christmas party. That should be fun, too. Rotary meetings always have really good food! And it's always fun when we get all of the exchangees together. Although Misko did say something about having to sing Christmas carols..
Monday I have my hosting Rotary club's Christmas party, and Thursday I have a Rotaract Club party to go to!
Yesterday was a good day, too. I had gym after school, but I sat on the floor the whole time. They were playing volleyball, with assigned places, and I wasn't assigned a place. Oh well, I don't much like volleyball anyway. After gym, I came home and had lunch. I had a typical Italian meal, called toast. Toast is a prosciutto and cheese sandwhich, toasted. After lunch, I lazed about for a while, then decided to go to the gym. I went to the gym, walked on a treadmill for a little while, got bored, and left. Instead of going home, I went to a store to buy my host mom's Christmas present. I got in the store, and starting looking around.. and didn't see what she hinted she wanted (which is a Raclette grill). I was starting to get worried, because I have no idea what else I would get her, when I spotted one! It was the last one, and I walked over and grabbed it. There was an older man standing sort of near to me, and he stepped over and asked what it was. I told him it was a grill, and he asked if it was the last one. I got the feeling he wanted it, even though he didn't know what it was. I got out of the store pretty quickly, and walked home, the box for the grill balancing precariously on my bike basket.
When I got home, nobody else was there. I watched some TV, and my host mom called me to tell me she and her husband were in Milan, and were staying there for dinner. My host sister was going to spend the night at the grandparents house, so I was on my own for dinner. That was fine by me, there was some leftover tomato sauce, and I've gotten really good at making pasta. I made myself a huge bowl of farfalle, and had a few Lindor balls for dessert. I cleaned the kitchen, watched a movie, and went to bed relatively early.
The bell just rang, and I have to get to math class! Have a good weekend!
But I guess God already had His plan worked out. It still makes me sad, though. I'll continue to pray for Margaret and her family, and I hope you will too.
Before getting on to describing my plans for the day, I have to say that Wednesday was Julia's birthday!! Happy belated birthday, my now 17 year old friend! I called her Wednesday night (Wednesday afternoon, east coast time) and we talked for quite a while. She tells me I'm not missing much in PWC, but I don't believe her!
The Milan Rotary club hosts a Christmas concert in the Duomo every year. All of the foreign exchangees are going, and we have to wear our lovely blue jackets, and sit in the front row. It should be fun, but I've heard from several people that the Duomo around Christmas is about as warm as the North Pole. Afterwards, I'm not sure, but I think we're all going out for dinner. I'm skipping the last two hours of school today to go home and pack my things, make lunch, and catch a train. I'll be staying with Kristen, as usual, which is always fun!
Saturday, Kristen's parents told her she could skip school. We'll probably sleep in, have a lazy breakfast, and go shopping in Milan. Kristen told me she knows a supermarket that sells Brownie mix, American style, and I'm psyched to go buy some! I'm also going to see if I can find ingredients to make some Christmas cookies.. the only Christmas sweet northern Italians have is Panetone (not sure on the spelling, there), which is essentially dry raisin bread. It's tasty, but what is Christmas without a variety of cookies?
Saturday night I'll be staying with Kristen again, because Sunday, all of the exchangees that live in Milan are catching a train to Monza (or thereabouts) because another Rotary club has invited all of the exchangees to their Christmas party. That should be fun, too. Rotary meetings always have really good food! And it's always fun when we get all of the exchangees together. Although Misko did say something about having to sing Christmas carols..
Monday I have my hosting Rotary club's Christmas party, and Thursday I have a Rotaract Club party to go to!
Yesterday was a good day, too. I had gym after school, but I sat on the floor the whole time. They were playing volleyball, with assigned places, and I wasn't assigned a place. Oh well, I don't much like volleyball anyway. After gym, I came home and had lunch. I had a typical Italian meal, called toast. Toast is a prosciutto and cheese sandwhich, toasted. After lunch, I lazed about for a while, then decided to go to the gym. I went to the gym, walked on a treadmill for a little while, got bored, and left. Instead of going home, I went to a store to buy my host mom's Christmas present. I got in the store, and starting looking around.. and didn't see what she hinted she wanted (which is a Raclette grill). I was starting to get worried, because I have no idea what else I would get her, when I spotted one! It was the last one, and I walked over and grabbed it. There was an older man standing sort of near to me, and he stepped over and asked what it was. I told him it was a grill, and he asked if it was the last one. I got the feeling he wanted it, even though he didn't know what it was. I got out of the store pretty quickly, and walked home, the box for the grill balancing precariously on my bike basket.
When I got home, nobody else was there. I watched some TV, and my host mom called me to tell me she and her husband were in Milan, and were staying there for dinner. My host sister was going to spend the night at the grandparents house, so I was on my own for dinner. That was fine by me, there was some leftover tomato sauce, and I've gotten really good at making pasta. I made myself a huge bowl of farfalle, and had a few Lindor balls for dessert. I cleaned the kitchen, watched a movie, and went to bed relatively early.
The bell just rang, and I have to get to math class! Have a good weekend!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Rotary Presentation
Yesterday evening, I gave a presentation at a Rotary club about my stay here. I had made a powerpoint presentation a few days ago, but during school yesterday, I decided I wanted to change it. I came home from school, and instead of working on my project, went for a walk in the town center to look for a Christmas present for my host mom. Sadly, I didn't find anything, but that's beside the point. I came home a little later than I expected, but still had time to re-do the project.
When I got on the computer, however, I got distracted by some newly posted pictures on Facebook. Before I knew it, I only had 2 hours to re-do the presentation, shower, blowdry my hair, put on makeup, and write notes to go with the presentation. After realizing this fact, I threw together a presentation, showered quickly, and got out my blowdryer.. but it didn't work. Well, there wasn't any time to worry about it, so I found my sister's, dried my hair, and applied makeup. My hair was a bit poofy, though, so I got out my straightener to fix it. Surprise, surprise, my straightener didn't work either. That's when I realized perhaps it was my transformer that wasn't functioning properly.. so I check the fuse. It's kind of smoky looking inside, so I'm assuming the fuse is dead. I tore apart my room, looking for the extra fuses that came with the transformer, to no avail. Fortunately for me, my sister had a plug adapter, too, and I'm fairly certain my straightener goes up to 220v, so it worked just fine. I checked my blowdryer, and it works too, thankfully, but I digress. I had just enough time to finish making myself presentable to the Rotary club and write my notes. Alberto picked me up at precisely 7:20, and we were on our way to Tradate for the meeting.
Nervousness wouldn't have been a factor had we gone to any other club. But last night, the club we were going to was Misko's club. Misko is the big, scary, President of the youth exchange. No, not really, Misko's very nice, and trustworthy, and all the exchangees know he really just wants us all to feel content with our new lives. I also know, however, that he keeps tabs on the exchange students, knows how we're all doing, who we hang out with, and most importantly, how our Italian is. I've never really been afraid to make mistakes while speaking, not even in front of a Rotary club. In front of Misko, it's a different story.
Alberto told me not to worry, that everything would be just fine, and my Italian is good enough, so I stopped worrying. We walked into the little restaurant, and the evening began. We were some of the first ones there (Alberto is always on time) so I was presented to everyone as they were coming in. Two other Italian girls were giving presentations that night as well, one had gone to the US for a year, the other to Belgium for 2 weeks. When they got there, we broke off into our own little group, and started talking, so I wasn't really paying attention to who was entering the restaurant.
And then I saw her. Galdabini. One of my professors from school. Italian professors have absolutely no sense of humor, and truly like stressing kids out. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, had Friday not happened.. (On Friday, I had her first hour, and I was tardy to school. When I walked into the classroom, there was only one desk left, all by itself, smack in the middle of the front of the room. I sighed, and began to situate my things, when my cellphone rang. Galdabini snapped at me to turn my phone off, and I cant blame her. I get the feeling she doesn't care too much for students in general, but especially tardy, American, cellphone posessing ones.) I kind of gasped, and mentioned to the two other Italian girls that she was my professor, and we carried on our conversation.
We had a lovely dinner, and after dinner, while Misko was setting up the presentations, I leaned over to Alberto and mentioned that Galdabini was my prof. It just so happens that I was seated right next to the President of the Rotary club, and he took it upon himself to announce to the club that she was my teacher. Here's a translation of what he said "Dori has just confessed to me that she's nervous about presenting, due to the fact that her professor is here, the Lucia Galdabini." Of course, he did it jokingly, and the club laughed, but sheesh! Thanks, buddy!
I honestly wasn't nervous about presenting, but I was a tad worried I wouldn't know how to say things. It wasn't a problem at all. I did just fine, and I'm fairly certain the club understood everything I was trying to say. After I presented, the girl who had gone to the US presented, and the girl who had gone to Belgium said a few words too. The evening concluded, and Alberto and I left for home.
I got home at about 11, but wasn't tired at all, so I got on the computer to write in my blog. As soon as I had the page up, I realiezed I was exhausted, so I turned off the computer, and got ready for bed.
Today, school was a fairly normal day. My password to use the school's computers somehow wasn't working, so I went to ask the computer geek guy for help. We fixed the problem, and I went to class. I spend most of the second hour writing notes to Mari, helping her practice her English. Third and fourth hours I had literature, and we read an excerpt from Marco Polo's diary. I didn't get too much of what he said, but I think it was a particularly difficult reading. Fifth hour I "helped" teach English, and by "help" I mean read out of a book so the students can hear my "wonderful accent." Actually, looking back, it was a good day at school. I'm really starting to get to know the students and teachers, and I belive I'm finding my niche. I hope.
Lunch was pasta with 2 slices of American cheese (it's actually kind of gross, but it reminds me of home) zucchine, bread, and a cannolino. After lunch, I went to my little sister's school to again, "help" teach English. Instead of reading, though, the teacher makes me sing. Today, I sang "Silent Night", and the kids sang along. After we sang it together, though, the class wanted to hear me sing it by myself. I was kind of happy, though, because the only time the class was quiet was when I was singing "Silent Night" in my upper register.
I walked home without much incident, until I got to my street. A man had just pulled his car up by a tree, and looked as though he was waiting for someone. Last week, this very man tried to ask me where I was from, and I pulled the whole "I don't speak Italian" thing. Today, he pulled his car up right next to me, and stayed with me as I walked. He kept saying "I wan't to get to know you, tell me your name, you're beautiful." Now, I really honestly try not to be rude to creepy Italian men, but this guy was at least in his thirties. I tried not speaking Italian, but it didn't work, he wouldn't leave me alone. He asked if I had a boyfriend, and I said yes, becuase it's stupid to say otherwise. By then, we had reached my gate, and I opened it an went in, as he drove away. This is probably the only time in my life I've wished I had one of my brothers with me, to look menacing.
Fourteen (or so) days until Christmas! Just 2 weeks!
When I got on the computer, however, I got distracted by some newly posted pictures on Facebook. Before I knew it, I only had 2 hours to re-do the presentation, shower, blowdry my hair, put on makeup, and write notes to go with the presentation. After realizing this fact, I threw together a presentation, showered quickly, and got out my blowdryer.. but it didn't work. Well, there wasn't any time to worry about it, so I found my sister's, dried my hair, and applied makeup. My hair was a bit poofy, though, so I got out my straightener to fix it. Surprise, surprise, my straightener didn't work either. That's when I realized perhaps it was my transformer that wasn't functioning properly.. so I check the fuse. It's kind of smoky looking inside, so I'm assuming the fuse is dead. I tore apart my room, looking for the extra fuses that came with the transformer, to no avail. Fortunately for me, my sister had a plug adapter, too, and I'm fairly certain my straightener goes up to 220v, so it worked just fine. I checked my blowdryer, and it works too, thankfully, but I digress. I had just enough time to finish making myself presentable to the Rotary club and write my notes. Alberto picked me up at precisely 7:20, and we were on our way to Tradate for the meeting.
Nervousness wouldn't have been a factor had we gone to any other club. But last night, the club we were going to was Misko's club. Misko is the big, scary, President of the youth exchange. No, not really, Misko's very nice, and trustworthy, and all the exchangees know he really just wants us all to feel content with our new lives. I also know, however, that he keeps tabs on the exchange students, knows how we're all doing, who we hang out with, and most importantly, how our Italian is. I've never really been afraid to make mistakes while speaking, not even in front of a Rotary club. In front of Misko, it's a different story.
Alberto told me not to worry, that everything would be just fine, and my Italian is good enough, so I stopped worrying. We walked into the little restaurant, and the evening began. We were some of the first ones there (Alberto is always on time) so I was presented to everyone as they were coming in. Two other Italian girls were giving presentations that night as well, one had gone to the US for a year, the other to Belgium for 2 weeks. When they got there, we broke off into our own little group, and started talking, so I wasn't really paying attention to who was entering the restaurant.
And then I saw her. Galdabini. One of my professors from school. Italian professors have absolutely no sense of humor, and truly like stressing kids out. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, had Friday not happened.. (On Friday, I had her first hour, and I was tardy to school. When I walked into the classroom, there was only one desk left, all by itself, smack in the middle of the front of the room. I sighed, and began to situate my things, when my cellphone rang. Galdabini snapped at me to turn my phone off, and I cant blame her. I get the feeling she doesn't care too much for students in general, but especially tardy, American, cellphone posessing ones.) I kind of gasped, and mentioned to the two other Italian girls that she was my professor, and we carried on our conversation.
We had a lovely dinner, and after dinner, while Misko was setting up the presentations, I leaned over to Alberto and mentioned that Galdabini was my prof. It just so happens that I was seated right next to the President of the Rotary club, and he took it upon himself to announce to the club that she was my teacher. Here's a translation of what he said "Dori has just confessed to me that she's nervous about presenting, due to the fact that her professor is here, the Lucia Galdabini." Of course, he did it jokingly, and the club laughed, but sheesh! Thanks, buddy!
I honestly wasn't nervous about presenting, but I was a tad worried I wouldn't know how to say things. It wasn't a problem at all. I did just fine, and I'm fairly certain the club understood everything I was trying to say. After I presented, the girl who had gone to the US presented, and the girl who had gone to Belgium said a few words too. The evening concluded, and Alberto and I left for home.
I got home at about 11, but wasn't tired at all, so I got on the computer to write in my blog. As soon as I had the page up, I realiezed I was exhausted, so I turned off the computer, and got ready for bed.
Today, school was a fairly normal day. My password to use the school's computers somehow wasn't working, so I went to ask the computer geek guy for help. We fixed the problem, and I went to class. I spend most of the second hour writing notes to Mari, helping her practice her English. Third and fourth hours I had literature, and we read an excerpt from Marco Polo's diary. I didn't get too much of what he said, but I think it was a particularly difficult reading. Fifth hour I "helped" teach English, and by "help" I mean read out of a book so the students can hear my "wonderful accent." Actually, looking back, it was a good day at school. I'm really starting to get to know the students and teachers, and I belive I'm finding my niche. I hope.
Lunch was pasta with 2 slices of American cheese (it's actually kind of gross, but it reminds me of home) zucchine, bread, and a cannolino. After lunch, I went to my little sister's school to again, "help" teach English. Instead of reading, though, the teacher makes me sing. Today, I sang "Silent Night", and the kids sang along. After we sang it together, though, the class wanted to hear me sing it by myself. I was kind of happy, though, because the only time the class was quiet was when I was singing "Silent Night" in my upper register.
I walked home without much incident, until I got to my street. A man had just pulled his car up by a tree, and looked as though he was waiting for someone. Last week, this very man tried to ask me where I was from, and I pulled the whole "I don't speak Italian" thing. Today, he pulled his car up right next to me, and stayed with me as I walked. He kept saying "I wan't to get to know you, tell me your name, you're beautiful." Now, I really honestly try not to be rude to creepy Italian men, but this guy was at least in his thirties. I tried not speaking Italian, but it didn't work, he wouldn't leave me alone. He asked if I had a boyfriend, and I said yes, becuase it's stupid to say otherwise. By then, we had reached my gate, and I opened it an went in, as he drove away. This is probably the only time in my life I've wished I had one of my brothers with me, to look menacing.
Fourteen (or so) days until Christmas! Just 2 weeks!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Bourguignon
Yesterday, Saturday, was a good day. I got to sleep in, which was wonderful. I woke up at about 9, took my time getting dressed, and went to check the Mass schedule at the church in Crenna. I got to the church at 10, and the next Mass started at 11, so I went home, had breakfast, and did some laundry. I ended up leaving the house at about 3 to 11, so I got to Mass a few minutes late. I thought I wouldn't have any problem getting a seat, considering it was a Holy Day of Obligation, and not many Italians go to Mass regularly anyway, but I was wrong! The church was packed. I ended up sitting on the floor, in one of the little side chapels. I didn't have any idea what was going on for most of the Mass, considering I couldn't see, and things were too echo-y to understand. I do know that 3 babies got baptized. After Mass, I walked straight into centro (the center of my town will now be referred to as "centro") to meet Mari for lunch. Mari and I were supposed to meet at 1, and I got there at 12:30, so I sat in the piazza and enjoyed the blue sky. We haven't had blue sky for a very, very long time. I had almost forgotten what the sky looked like without clouds. Anyway, Mari got to centro, locked her bike up, and we started looking for a place to eat. Mari lives in Gallarate, so she knows all the places, but we couldn't decide between pizza and piadina. Piadine are essentially grilled wraps. We decided on piadine, and I followed her into a little bar/restaurant.
It took us a long time to decide on what to get, because all the piadine looked so good! I ended up getting "speck brie salsa rosa" and she got "cotto brie e salsa rosa" Brie is the kind of cheese, salsa rosa the sauce, and speck and cotto are kinds of meat. Cotto is a kind of prosciutto, it's cooked. Prosciutto crudo is raw, as is speck. Speck has kind of a smokey flavor, but Mari told me it isn't smoked meat. My piadina was really delicious, and Mari and I had a nice conversation. We talked about school, and I tried to describe what Spirit week is like. I don't think I did a very good job explaining, although Mari was impressed that Seniors get to wear togas to school. We were both kind of sleepy, probably because the restaurant was dark, so we decided to go for a walk around the piazza. The day had started of warm and sunny, but when we went out of the restaurant, we were met by strong, cold winds. Mari suggested we get crepes, so we walked to a little geleteria. Silly me, I got gelato in my crepe. Gelato and cold, strong winds do not go well together. I ate the crepe, and Mari and I continued talking about school. After a bit, though, we were both very cold, and Mari's boyfriend was coming to pick her up, so I walked home.
When I got home, I watched a bit of TV with my little sister, and layed out my laundry to dry. Later that evening, my host mother, father, little sister, and I took my older sister to the train station, so she could go home to Milano. After dropping her off, we went to look at ski goggles for my little host sister. My host mom bought me gloves for when we go to the mountains, and my little sister got a whole new ski suit. We came home, and my host mom told me we were having guests for dinner.
Dinner was quite an affair. It was called "Bourguignon", and essentially, it was fondue. Only instead of dipping marshmellows in melted chocolate, we dipped raw meat into really hot oil. We all enjoyed frying our own little pieces of meat, especially Bea and Gioia. There was also a variety of sauces to dip the cooked meat in, which added to the fun.
In Italy, they don't cooke meat to be well done. Ever. Mostly everyone eats their meat "al sangue" which translates literally to "bloody." Even I have come to prefer eating bloody meat over something thats been cooked properly. My dad would be proud of me!
Gioia's parents brought dessert. They picked up 2 cakes from a bakery, and they were delicious. The square cake was some kind of creamy lemony thing with rasperry in the middle, and the round one was light, shortbread flavored cake, with whipped cream, regular cream, and frutta di bosco (refers to strawberries, rasperries, and blueberries. A bosco is a "patch" as in "strawberry patch") My host mom usually tries to put seconds on my plate at dinner, or make me finish the rest. This time, when she asked me to finish the rest of the cake, I didn't complain.
The kitchen table, set and ready for the guests!
Frying the meat
Delicious raspberry confection
More delicioius whipped cream cake
It took us a long time to decide on what to get, because all the piadine looked so good! I ended up getting "speck brie salsa rosa" and she got "cotto brie e salsa rosa" Brie is the kind of cheese, salsa rosa the sauce, and speck and cotto are kinds of meat. Cotto is a kind of prosciutto, it's cooked. Prosciutto crudo is raw, as is speck. Speck has kind of a smokey flavor, but Mari told me it isn't smoked meat. My piadina was really delicious, and Mari and I had a nice conversation. We talked about school, and I tried to describe what Spirit week is like. I don't think I did a very good job explaining, although Mari was impressed that Seniors get to wear togas to school. We were both kind of sleepy, probably because the restaurant was dark, so we decided to go for a walk around the piazza. The day had started of warm and sunny, but when we went out of the restaurant, we were met by strong, cold winds. Mari suggested we get crepes, so we walked to a little geleteria. Silly me, I got gelato in my crepe. Gelato and cold, strong winds do not go well together. I ate the crepe, and Mari and I continued talking about school. After a bit, though, we were both very cold, and Mari's boyfriend was coming to pick her up, so I walked home.
When I got home, I watched a bit of TV with my little sister, and layed out my laundry to dry. Later that evening, my host mother, father, little sister, and I took my older sister to the train station, so she could go home to Milano. After dropping her off, we went to look at ski goggles for my little host sister. My host mom bought me gloves for when we go to the mountains, and my little sister got a whole new ski suit. We came home, and my host mom told me we were having guests for dinner.
Dinner was quite an affair. It was called "Bourguignon", and essentially, it was fondue. Only instead of dipping marshmellows in melted chocolate, we dipped raw meat into really hot oil. We all enjoyed frying our own little pieces of meat, especially Bea and Gioia. There was also a variety of sauces to dip the cooked meat in, which added to the fun.
In Italy, they don't cooke meat to be well done. Ever. Mostly everyone eats their meat "al sangue" which translates literally to "bloody." Even I have come to prefer eating bloody meat over something thats been cooked properly. My dad would be proud of me!
Gioia's parents brought dessert. They picked up 2 cakes from a bakery, and they were delicious. The square cake was some kind of creamy lemony thing with rasperry in the middle, and the round one was light, shortbread flavored cake, with whipped cream, regular cream, and frutta di bosco (refers to strawberries, rasperries, and blueberries. A bosco is a "patch" as in "strawberry patch") My host mom usually tries to put seconds on my plate at dinner, or make me finish the rest. This time, when she asked me to finish the rest of the cake, I didn't complain.
The kitchen table, set and ready for the guests!
Frying the meat
Raw meat touching the same surface as cooked meat! Insanitary!
Delicious raspberry confection
More delicioius whipped cream cakeFriday, December 7, 2007
Thanksgiving Pics!
The apple pie I made!
Kristen making Brussel Sprouts
I skinned. And chopped. Eighteen. Whole. Carrots.
Paolo, Kristen's little brother, enjoying cookie dough
David doing the dishes! We're so proud of him.
Our lovely, thankful table.Change of Plans
I had a nice blog post typed up about my plans for the weekend, and then I came home from school, and everything was ruined.
My host mom told me we're not going to Coeur Mayeur (I just know I'm not spelling that right.)
I had been hesitant about going in the first place, but then I was excited to go! All is well, though, we'll be going for Christmas, so I'll get to see it all the same. And I'll get to sleep in tomorrow!
My host mom gave me a lecture today about how I don't have any Italian friends. Which isn't entirely true, I'm friends with a girl named Silivia, but she lives in Milan. Anyway, evidently I need to make a clique of my own, here in Gallarate. Believe me, it's not like I've been turning the Italians away, it's just hard to make friends. Especially when I'm never home on the weekends! I haven't been home for the past 8 weekends, or something like that. I've spent 4 weekends away because my host parents have been gone, 1 weekend in Florence with them, 1 weekend in Piemonte with them, and 2 or 3 weekends in Milan with Kristen. So, I called up one of the girls from my school who I think is particularly nice, and we made plans to go out for lunch. I'm looking forward to that too, because the girl, Mari, really is nice. And going out to lunch is fun.
In other news, I got hit by a car today. I knew I had reason in being afraid to ride my bike in Gallarate. Ironically, just before the car and I collided, I was thinking about what Mike had said. He told me that I shouldn't be afraid, that Italians are very defensive drivers, but I always have to pay attention. Well, I was paying attention. I saw a car coming up to a stop sign, I saw the wheels start to slow down, and I saw the woman looking right at me, so I kept going. Only, the woman must not have been looking right at me, she must have been looking through me. And she wasn't actually stopping for the stop sign, she was just slowing down. So, she hit me and my bike, and I fell off the bike, and my bike got wedged under her car. She had to back up a little for me to get my bike. I'm fine, though, and so is my bike, thank goodness! I've come to like my bike quite a bit! The woman rolled down the window and asked if I was alright, then drove away. That's my interesting story for the day.
Also, here in Italy, we get to have a Christmas tree in school! I think that's so cool. I've also noticed that there's a crucifix in every classroom, but there are no clocks in the school. Roman Catholic countries are cool! We don't have school tomorrow because it's the feast of the Immaculate Conception!
On a final note, please pray for Margaret in Minnesota. She's pregnant and having some complications.
My host mom told me we're not going to Coeur Mayeur (I just know I'm not spelling that right.)
I had been hesitant about going in the first place, but then I was excited to go! All is well, though, we'll be going for Christmas, so I'll get to see it all the same. And I'll get to sleep in tomorrow!
My host mom gave me a lecture today about how I don't have any Italian friends. Which isn't entirely true, I'm friends with a girl named Silivia, but she lives in Milan. Anyway, evidently I need to make a clique of my own, here in Gallarate. Believe me, it's not like I've been turning the Italians away, it's just hard to make friends. Especially when I'm never home on the weekends! I haven't been home for the past 8 weekends, or something like that. I've spent 4 weekends away because my host parents have been gone, 1 weekend in Florence with them, 1 weekend in Piemonte with them, and 2 or 3 weekends in Milan with Kristen. So, I called up one of the girls from my school who I think is particularly nice, and we made plans to go out for lunch. I'm looking forward to that too, because the girl, Mari, really is nice. And going out to lunch is fun.
In other news, I got hit by a car today. I knew I had reason in being afraid to ride my bike in Gallarate. Ironically, just before the car and I collided, I was thinking about what Mike had said. He told me that I shouldn't be afraid, that Italians are very defensive drivers, but I always have to pay attention. Well, I was paying attention. I saw a car coming up to a stop sign, I saw the wheels start to slow down, and I saw the woman looking right at me, so I kept going. Only, the woman must not have been looking right at me, she must have been looking through me. And she wasn't actually stopping for the stop sign, she was just slowing down. So, she hit me and my bike, and I fell off the bike, and my bike got wedged under her car. She had to back up a little for me to get my bike. I'm fine, though, and so is my bike, thank goodness! I've come to like my bike quite a bit! The woman rolled down the window and asked if I was alright, then drove away. That's my interesting story for the day.
Also, here in Italy, we get to have a Christmas tree in school! I think that's so cool. I've also noticed that there's a crucifix in every classroom, but there are no clocks in the school. Roman Catholic countries are cool! We don't have school tomorrow because it's the feast of the Immaculate Conception!
On a final note, please pray for Margaret in Minnesota. She's pregnant and having some complications.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Thanksgiving
Mid-morning on Saturday, I took the train into Milan. As Kristen was still in school, I had to find my way to her house on my own. It was really easy, I've used the metro many times before, and been to Kristen's 2 or 3 times. Still, I took 2 metros and found her house, all by myself. I felt like I had accomplished something.
Kristen didn't get out of school until 1, and I had gotten to her house at 12:30. Her host family and I chatted, and her host father was appalled that I take math with the first year students. I told him that I'm really bad at math, and I don't like it anyway, so he forgave me.
After Kristen came home, we all had lunch together: Kristen's host mother and father, her host sister, Benedetta, and her host brother, Paolo. Paolo had just gotten braces, and was still adjusting to them. We had pasta with squid and tuna, potato puree, which is NOT mashed potatoes, but it was still really good, and turkey with some kind of sauce; also really good. After lunch, Kristen and I had to finish the grocery shopping, as we were having a belated Thanksgiving. Kristen didn't know where the grocery store was, so Paolo came with us. As Kristen and I hemmed and hawed about what to buy, he stood there patiently, and he tried to help us as much as he could. When we were finished in the grocery store, we still had to go to Blockbuster, which is the only place you can find "American" marshmellows. When we were passing a Pasticceria (bakery) Paolo stopped to admire all the pastries. Ok, I did too. He had been such a big help, I bought him a pastry. Well, I bought an assortment of pastries, that we shared. We returned home, and waited for the other exhcangees who live in Milan.
I had no idea how big of a production we were to put on. Kristen and Dorisanne had gone shopping, and had bought enough food to feed 20 people. David brought the turkey, which he had prepared, I made apple pie, Sasha and Owen made brownies, and David brought pumpkin budino, along with a chocolate coconut cake. We made chocolate chip cookies, too.
The cooking began at 4:30, and lasted until about 9:00. We made turnips with pancetta, broccoli, cauliflower, steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, gravy, and a white sauce. We all worked together, singing along to Queen, and dancing to "I Will Survive." It was so much fun, probably as much fun as my real family in the U.S.!
We all ended up calling our parents, not to say Happy belated Thanksgiving, but to ask a culinary question. Amazingly, everything turned out to be delicious! Not one of the things we made was a flop. Even the sweet potatoes, which weren't actually sweet potatoes, but some form of bamboo grown in Africa (I'm not kidding) were good. And the desserts were pretty close to real, American desserts! Although none of the chocolate cakes were even close to my mom's. Kristen's host father opened up a bottle of Lambrusco for us, because we couldn't find any sparkling grape juice. We all went around the table, saying what we were thankful for, and then said Grace, and stuffed ourselves.
Kristen's family had been so nice to let us take over their kitchen, so it was only right that we clean up after ourselves. We all worked together, and the kitchen was spick and span before we knew it. We danced around in the kitchen some more, but everyone else had to go, to catch a bus, or the metro. Kristen and I made sure everything in the kitchen was in order, and then we got ready for bed. By then, it was midnight, and we were both exhausted. However, being girls, we couldn't stop talking, and ended up staying up until 2ish.
Sunday morning, we woke up at 8:30, and went to Mass at the Duomo. The priest who was celebrating was hard to listen to. He rolled his Rs excessivly, and his sang his words, like an Italian reading Dante. After mass, we grabbed breakfast at a cafe, and began shopping. I managed to find a warm coat, and some sweaters, and my host sister's Christmas present. Kristen was dead tired, so we stopped in a cafe, and got strawberries with gelato, and sat and rested and talked for a while. After Kristen was feeling better, we continued shopping, but didn't get much done. We wandered in and out of stores, and we both bought some more warm clothes.
On a side note, Italian schools are insanely cold. Sure, they have heaters, but the heaters are under the windows, and the windows are always open. Today, it was probably 40 degrees outside, and the window was all the way open. We were all sitting in class with our coats on, and our hands in our pockets. Thats why I have to buy sweaters and warm clothes!
After the shopping, we went to Burger King for lunch. I know, we're in Italy, but Burger King is Kristen's favorite, and a burger can really hit the spot from time to time. Actually, Burger King must do more than just hit the spot, considering the place was absolutely packed! I waited in line for 45 minutes to get our food. It's kind of ironic that in a land of amazing foods, Burger King and McDonald's always have the most people in them. We ate our lunch, and being re-energized, continued shopping.
After a while, we were exhausted, and I needed to find out when I had to be home, so we hopped on the metro and returned to Kristen's flat. I found out that there were trains to Gallarate every half hour, and I called my host mom to ask when she wanted me home. When I left on Saturday, she told me to call her on Sunday, to tell her when I was coming home, which is why I was surprised when she didn't pick up her cell phone.. or the house phone, or her husband's cell phone. I finally ended up calling my host sister, to ask where they were. After a while, my host mom called me back, and told me it would be best to come home before dinner. Considering it was nearly six o'clock, the train ride home is 40 minutes long, and we eat between 7:45 and 8:30, I had to leave right then. Kristen and I took the metro to the station, and I had just missed the train to Gallarate. There was another train in half an hour, so we browsed the shops in the station, and I bought a pen (I lost my only other one.)
Kristen and I said goodbye, and I got on the train. I was feeling melancholy, so decided to listen to Simon and Garfunkel. About 15 minutes before the train arrived at Gallarate, I noticed a man was trying to talk to me, so I took off my headphones, and he asked if the next stop was Gallarate. I replied, in Italian, that I didn't know which stop was next, but I knew that we arrived at Gallarate at 19:40. He looked at me and said "but.. don't you speak English?" So I repeated myself, this time in English. Of course, he asked where I was from, and I told him I was American. You know, I really don't mind people asking questions about when the train arrives, if they leave me alone afterwards. But creepy old men who are twice my age bug me when they try to make conversation. One question leads to another, and soon he was asking where I lived, how old I was, and he was making me uncomfortable. I tried my hardest to be polite, but not give any information about myself. When we arrived at Gallarate, he offered to help with my shopping bags, but of course I declined. As we were both leaving the station, he asked me if I wanted to go for coffee. Seriously, these guys are just schmucks. I don't want to be rude, but I don't want to have conversations with strange men I don't know!
Anyway, when I got outside of the station, no one was there to pick me up. I had texted my host mom while I was on the train when I would be arriving, like she told me to when she called me earlier that evening. I called my host father, and he came to pick me up. While in the car on the way home, he told me that we were going out for dinner. I was exhausted, but I knew we wouldn't be out too late, because my little sister needs to get to bed. Well, we got home, I changed as quickly as I could, and went downstairs, expecting to leave for dinner right then. It was already 8:00. However, my older host sister and host mom were talking to Margherita, my host sister in the U.S., online. We didn't leave for the restaurant until 9:00, and we didn't come home until 10:30. I was completely exhausted, but it was the first Sunday of the month, and I always call my mom the first Sunday of the month. I called home, to tell my mom I was going to bed, and would call the next day.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was an interesting day. Somewhat disappointing. School was normal, perhaps a bit more interesting than usual. After school, I came home, ate lunch, cleaned my room, and went to my little sister's school to help with English. I never really do much when I go, but it's fun to see all the little kids. As much fun as it is to see them, it's not fun to stay there for 2 hours, so I left at 3:30. I came home, and checked the mailbox. I usually don't check the mail, because it's never here when I come home. However, after I called my mom on Monday, she told me a package should be arriving. If there's no one home when the mailman comes with the package, they leave a slip, like normal. Well, I opened the mailbox, and, as usual, someone had gotten the mail. But at the bottom of the mailbox was a soggy little ball. You guessed it, the slip the mailman leaves. The date on the slip was November 15, and as I read the slip, I noticed that the mail system returns the package after 10 days, excluding Saturdays and holidays. Well, it's been more than 10 days, but I was hopeful. I showed my host mom the slip, and she told me she didn't have time to go to the post office, but showed me where it was on a map. I rode my bike there as fast as I could, took a number, and waited 45 minutes. Finally, when they called my number, I handed the lady the slip. She looked it over, and got a shocked look on her face, exclaiming "November 15!!" She told me they wouldn't have the package, but I asked her to look anyway. She did. No package. They sent my package back to the United States! I was really disappointed, and began the long journey home with a heavy heart.
As I was turning onto a street that leads to my street, I saw a guy I know, Mike, carrying 4 heavy-looking bags of groceries. Mike is American, but he's a teacher. He's in college, and he's spending some time over here trying to perfect his Italian. He's teaching English in the Classical Liceo, so I've only seen him 3 or 4 times. Well, my bike has 2 baskets, so I offered to help with the groceries. He warned me that he lived near the station, which is a good 15 minute walk from where I live, but I had nowhere to be, so I walked my bike with him to his apartment. It was really cool how we're both American, but we easily carried on a conversation in Italian. He only had to translate 2 or 3 words that I didn't know. Other than that, we never once lapsed into English. By the time we got to his apartment, it was dusk. He took the groceries up to his apartment, but he told me to wait for him. The area near the station isn't exactly the best part of town, although I'd be comfortable riding my bike there in the dark. Mike, however, was a gentleman and walked me most of the way home. We stopped at a cafe, and he bought me a pastry for helping him. By the time I got home, I was in a good mood again, although still disappointed about the package. I did some homework, then got on the computer to write my mom an email about what happened with the package. After that, I read some of my friend's blogs, developed a headache, ate a bit of dinner with my sister (my parents had gone to the movies) and went to bed.
Today, school was fine. I had an hour of study hall, 2 hours of Italian lessons, an hour in the library because my Italian literature teacher was giving a Latin test, and an hour of math. In math class, we had taken a test a few classes ago. I took the test too, although I don't really remember how to do any Algebra. The tests we took were handed back today.. I didn't get a single problem right. I did the problems right, but missed a sign here or there. It's a good thing I'm not actually being graded on any of this..
Well, my host mom just came in and told me she'd like to use the computer, so I'll post pictures from our Thanksgiving later!
Kristen didn't get out of school until 1, and I had gotten to her house at 12:30. Her host family and I chatted, and her host father was appalled that I take math with the first year students. I told him that I'm really bad at math, and I don't like it anyway, so he forgave me.
After Kristen came home, we all had lunch together: Kristen's host mother and father, her host sister, Benedetta, and her host brother, Paolo. Paolo had just gotten braces, and was still adjusting to them. We had pasta with squid and tuna, potato puree, which is NOT mashed potatoes, but it was still really good, and turkey with some kind of sauce; also really good. After lunch, Kristen and I had to finish the grocery shopping, as we were having a belated Thanksgiving. Kristen didn't know where the grocery store was, so Paolo came with us. As Kristen and I hemmed and hawed about what to buy, he stood there patiently, and he tried to help us as much as he could. When we were finished in the grocery store, we still had to go to Blockbuster, which is the only place you can find "American" marshmellows. When we were passing a Pasticceria (bakery) Paolo stopped to admire all the pastries. Ok, I did too. He had been such a big help, I bought him a pastry. Well, I bought an assortment of pastries, that we shared. We returned home, and waited for the other exhcangees who live in Milan.
I had no idea how big of a production we were to put on. Kristen and Dorisanne had gone shopping, and had bought enough food to feed 20 people. David brought the turkey, which he had prepared, I made apple pie, Sasha and Owen made brownies, and David brought pumpkin budino, along with a chocolate coconut cake. We made chocolate chip cookies, too.
The cooking began at 4:30, and lasted until about 9:00. We made turnips with pancetta, broccoli, cauliflower, steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, gravy, and a white sauce. We all worked together, singing along to Queen, and dancing to "I Will Survive." It was so much fun, probably as much fun as my real family in the U.S.!
We all ended up calling our parents, not to say Happy belated Thanksgiving, but to ask a culinary question. Amazingly, everything turned out to be delicious! Not one of the things we made was a flop. Even the sweet potatoes, which weren't actually sweet potatoes, but some form of bamboo grown in Africa (I'm not kidding) were good. And the desserts were pretty close to real, American desserts! Although none of the chocolate cakes were even close to my mom's. Kristen's host father opened up a bottle of Lambrusco for us, because we couldn't find any sparkling grape juice. We all went around the table, saying what we were thankful for, and then said Grace, and stuffed ourselves.
Kristen's family had been so nice to let us take over their kitchen, so it was only right that we clean up after ourselves. We all worked together, and the kitchen was spick and span before we knew it. We danced around in the kitchen some more, but everyone else had to go, to catch a bus, or the metro. Kristen and I made sure everything in the kitchen was in order, and then we got ready for bed. By then, it was midnight, and we were both exhausted. However, being girls, we couldn't stop talking, and ended up staying up until 2ish.
Sunday morning, we woke up at 8:30, and went to Mass at the Duomo. The priest who was celebrating was hard to listen to. He rolled his Rs excessivly, and his sang his words, like an Italian reading Dante. After mass, we grabbed breakfast at a cafe, and began shopping. I managed to find a warm coat, and some sweaters, and my host sister's Christmas present. Kristen was dead tired, so we stopped in a cafe, and got strawberries with gelato, and sat and rested and talked for a while. After Kristen was feeling better, we continued shopping, but didn't get much done. We wandered in and out of stores, and we both bought some more warm clothes.
On a side note, Italian schools are insanely cold. Sure, they have heaters, but the heaters are under the windows, and the windows are always open. Today, it was probably 40 degrees outside, and the window was all the way open. We were all sitting in class with our coats on, and our hands in our pockets. Thats why I have to buy sweaters and warm clothes!
After the shopping, we went to Burger King for lunch. I know, we're in Italy, but Burger King is Kristen's favorite, and a burger can really hit the spot from time to time. Actually, Burger King must do more than just hit the spot, considering the place was absolutely packed! I waited in line for 45 minutes to get our food. It's kind of ironic that in a land of amazing foods, Burger King and McDonald's always have the most people in them. We ate our lunch, and being re-energized, continued shopping.
After a while, we were exhausted, and I needed to find out when I had to be home, so we hopped on the metro and returned to Kristen's flat. I found out that there were trains to Gallarate every half hour, and I called my host mom to ask when she wanted me home. When I left on Saturday, she told me to call her on Sunday, to tell her when I was coming home, which is why I was surprised when she didn't pick up her cell phone.. or the house phone, or her husband's cell phone. I finally ended up calling my host sister, to ask where they were. After a while, my host mom called me back, and told me it would be best to come home before dinner. Considering it was nearly six o'clock, the train ride home is 40 minutes long, and we eat between 7:45 and 8:30, I had to leave right then. Kristen and I took the metro to the station, and I had just missed the train to Gallarate. There was another train in half an hour, so we browsed the shops in the station, and I bought a pen (I lost my only other one.)
Kristen and I said goodbye, and I got on the train. I was feeling melancholy, so decided to listen to Simon and Garfunkel. About 15 minutes before the train arrived at Gallarate, I noticed a man was trying to talk to me, so I took off my headphones, and he asked if the next stop was Gallarate. I replied, in Italian, that I didn't know which stop was next, but I knew that we arrived at Gallarate at 19:40. He looked at me and said "but.. don't you speak English?" So I repeated myself, this time in English. Of course, he asked where I was from, and I told him I was American. You know, I really don't mind people asking questions about when the train arrives, if they leave me alone afterwards. But creepy old men who are twice my age bug me when they try to make conversation. One question leads to another, and soon he was asking where I lived, how old I was, and he was making me uncomfortable. I tried my hardest to be polite, but not give any information about myself. When we arrived at Gallarate, he offered to help with my shopping bags, but of course I declined. As we were both leaving the station, he asked me if I wanted to go for coffee. Seriously, these guys are just schmucks. I don't want to be rude, but I don't want to have conversations with strange men I don't know!
Anyway, when I got outside of the station, no one was there to pick me up. I had texted my host mom while I was on the train when I would be arriving, like she told me to when she called me earlier that evening. I called my host father, and he came to pick me up. While in the car on the way home, he told me that we were going out for dinner. I was exhausted, but I knew we wouldn't be out too late, because my little sister needs to get to bed. Well, we got home, I changed as quickly as I could, and went downstairs, expecting to leave for dinner right then. It was already 8:00. However, my older host sister and host mom were talking to Margherita, my host sister in the U.S., online. We didn't leave for the restaurant until 9:00, and we didn't come home until 10:30. I was completely exhausted, but it was the first Sunday of the month, and I always call my mom the first Sunday of the month. I called home, to tell my mom I was going to bed, and would call the next day.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was an interesting day. Somewhat disappointing. School was normal, perhaps a bit more interesting than usual. After school, I came home, ate lunch, cleaned my room, and went to my little sister's school to help with English. I never really do much when I go, but it's fun to see all the little kids. As much fun as it is to see them, it's not fun to stay there for 2 hours, so I left at 3:30. I came home, and checked the mailbox. I usually don't check the mail, because it's never here when I come home. However, after I called my mom on Monday, she told me a package should be arriving. If there's no one home when the mailman comes with the package, they leave a slip, like normal. Well, I opened the mailbox, and, as usual, someone had gotten the mail. But at the bottom of the mailbox was a soggy little ball. You guessed it, the slip the mailman leaves. The date on the slip was November 15, and as I read the slip, I noticed that the mail system returns the package after 10 days, excluding Saturdays and holidays. Well, it's been more than 10 days, but I was hopeful. I showed my host mom the slip, and she told me she didn't have time to go to the post office, but showed me where it was on a map. I rode my bike there as fast as I could, took a number, and waited 45 minutes. Finally, when they called my number, I handed the lady the slip. She looked it over, and got a shocked look on her face, exclaiming "November 15!!" She told me they wouldn't have the package, but I asked her to look anyway. She did. No package. They sent my package back to the United States! I was really disappointed, and began the long journey home with a heavy heart.
As I was turning onto a street that leads to my street, I saw a guy I know, Mike, carrying 4 heavy-looking bags of groceries. Mike is American, but he's a teacher. He's in college, and he's spending some time over here trying to perfect his Italian. He's teaching English in the Classical Liceo, so I've only seen him 3 or 4 times. Well, my bike has 2 baskets, so I offered to help with the groceries. He warned me that he lived near the station, which is a good 15 minute walk from where I live, but I had nowhere to be, so I walked my bike with him to his apartment. It was really cool how we're both American, but we easily carried on a conversation in Italian. He only had to translate 2 or 3 words that I didn't know. Other than that, we never once lapsed into English. By the time we got to his apartment, it was dusk. He took the groceries up to his apartment, but he told me to wait for him. The area near the station isn't exactly the best part of town, although I'd be comfortable riding my bike there in the dark. Mike, however, was a gentleman and walked me most of the way home. We stopped at a cafe, and he bought me a pastry for helping him. By the time I got home, I was in a good mood again, although still disappointed about the package. I did some homework, then got on the computer to write my mom an email about what happened with the package. After that, I read some of my friend's blogs, developed a headache, ate a bit of dinner with my sister (my parents had gone to the movies) and went to bed.
Today, school was fine. I had an hour of study hall, 2 hours of Italian lessons, an hour in the library because my Italian literature teacher was giving a Latin test, and an hour of math. In math class, we had taken a test a few classes ago. I took the test too, although I don't really remember how to do any Algebra. The tests we took were handed back today.. I didn't get a single problem right. I did the problems right, but missed a sign here or there. It's a good thing I'm not actually being graded on any of this..
Well, my host mom just came in and told me she'd like to use the computer, so I'll post pictures from our Thanksgiving later!
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