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!