Christmas Morning

Christmas morning wasn't what I was expecting it to be.

I woke suddenly, to Bea's face three inches from mine. "E' arrivato!" she said, meaning that Babbo Natale (Santa) had come. She dragged me out of bed, as I struggled to regain conciousness. We went to the living room, where Babbo Natale had left all of the presents on the table.

Usually, Christmas morning, my [real] family has one member of the family pass out gifts. My mom buys corresponding gifts, so that my brothers and I get the same amount of things. For example, we all open gifts that turn out to be DVDs at the same time, we all get books, calendars, etc. My host family stood around the table, found all the presents with their name on them, sat down on the couch, and started opening. I tried to do things slowly, savor the moments, but my host family seemed to be in a rush to open presents. I received a fleece, a sweater, a necklace, a pair of gloves, a bracelet, some chocolate, and peanut butter! Alberto Protasoni also got me a really nice purse, which I love, and Luca Capodiferro got me a fantastic book on my region. It's written in both English and Italian, so that my family can see pictures and read about where I live.

After we were finshed opening the presents, my host family went skiing. I went up to the slopes with them, although I didn't ski. I walked around a bit, took some pictures, watched little kids learn to ski, and then went into a bar. I had forgotten to eat breakfast, so I bought an apple pastry and hot chocolate. After a while, my host family came and found me. We took more pictures, and I took the funivia back down to the town.

Christmas evening, we went out to a restaurant. I was at one end of the table, enjoying myself talking to my host sisters, when my host father asked me if I wanted a piece of meat. I looked at the other end of a table, and to my surprise, there was a leg of mountain goat on the table. A whole leg. Hoof still attached. Fur still attached. There was a waiter cutting off pieces of the uncooked meat, which you were supposed to eat on bread and butter. Well, I took one bite, and gave the rest to my host mom. It didn't taste bad, exactly, more it was the fact that I knew I was eating raw goat meat. After that, I had a traditional dish from the Valle d'Aosta; crepes with prosciutto and cheese inside, with cheese sauce. It was warm, rich, and delicioius, but couldn't compare to my family's traditioal Christmas meal: chicken cordon bleu. We went back to the house, and all went right to bed.

For the rest of the vacation, I slept in, walked in the town, did a lot of reading, and watched plenty of movies in both English and Italian. Most evenings, my host parents would go out to dinner with their friends, so I would stay home with my host sister, and make dinner. I haven't learned a lot about cooking Italian cuisine, but I can cook pasta to perfection!

One day, my host family and I took a little trip to France. We went to Chamonix, a skiing town like Coermayeur. We went out to lunch, and my host father ordered a typical southern French meal for me: potatoes with cheese and prosciutto. I was a little surprised when they brought a metal contraption to my place at the table, and lit a fire under it. When they brought my plate, my host mother showed me that you put the cheese on the metal, it melts, then you tip the metal contraption and all the melted cheese falls on to the potatoes, which you've cut up on your plate. It was really good, but sooo filling! After eating, we went and did a little bit of shopping. My host mother wanted to find some little gifts for her friends, we went and got some French Cheese in a traditional French Cheese Shop (it smelled awful!), then went to the French supermarket to do our grocery shopping. It was a fun little trip, and now I can say I've been to 5 countries in the world! (The U.S., Canada, Holland, Italy, and France.)

On New Years, my host sister went to her friend's house to play Tombola, a game like bingo, and my host parent's went out with their friends. I went to church, walked around, ate a crepe, and waited for midnight. At midnight, all of Courmayeur let off fireworks, which was pretty. I went to bed shortly after midnight. I know, I'm such a partygirl.

I thought I would be heading back to Gallarate on the 2nd, but plans changed at the last minute. Nobody told me, though, so I packed up all of my things, and was ready to go. When I found out that we would be staying in Courmayeur for 5 more days, I suddenly got really homesick. Homesick for the United States, but also a little for Gallarate. I wanted to come home, to have time in the place I've stayed at for the past 4 months, because I knew I had to move shortly after we got home! For about 3 days, I was really down and out, but I called my mom, and of course she made me feel better.

We got home two days ago, school started yesterday, and today I'm moving families.

Moving families. Something all of the exchange students know is going to happen, but nobody realizes it until it is upon you. I don't really know how I feel about changing families. I'm looking foreward to the new adventure, but I'm a little annoyed that I have to change, just as I was getting really comfortable with my routine! I'm sad to leave Bea, even though I know I'll see her again. What really gets me, though, is I'm going to live farther away from the school.. I'll have to wake up a whole hour earlier to be here on time! I'm sure things will work out, though, I'll make a new routine to get used to, and I'll certainly try to keep my blog properly updated! Saying that, I'll post those pictures as soon as I get the chance, I promise!

The next time you hear from me, I'll be in a completely different enviornment.. wish me luck!