Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sono qui!

Well, I am finally in Italy! It was a much more difficult journey than I anticipated (2 bus trips, 2 cancelled flights, an 8 hour flight, waiting in the extremely long passport line, running through the airport in Rome, and so many hours just sitting in waiting in various airports), but I made it.

My host family is wonderful. Anna and Riccardo are fairly young (late 30's), and Dafne is two. Anna speaks fluent English, and Riccardo speaks a little English. I'm the first student they have hosted, so they renovated their apartment just to accommodate me! I have my own room with ALL brand new furniture! I have a bed, a couch, a table, shelves, drawers, a closet, a bedside table, and a bathroom next to my room. It's lovely! I also have a huge window with a great view. The rest of the apartment is beautiful as well. It's two floors and has a huge terrace on the second floor. I'm looking forward to using that once it gets warmer! I'll add pictures soon to show you what it looks like.

Besides having a lovely apartment, Anna and Riccardo are treating me like one of the family. Anna has cooked some delicious meals and has promised to teach me how to make pizza and pasta! She loves to talk and we have gone shopping, practiced Italian, shared stories, and even done a facial mud mask together. She does my laundry for me, and won't let me help with the dishes yet. I'm getting spoiled!

I have been able to do a little bit of sightseeing around Padova, including the Prato delle Valle, la Basilica di Sant Antonio, la Basilica di Santa Giuliana, il Duomo di Padova, and just around the city. Riccardo took me on a long walking tour around the city which was incredible. I couldn't get over how huge and ornate all the churches are! You could spend a week inside one and not see everything. I was also able to go to church this morning with Anna. I was so happy to find out that she goes to church. Now I have someone to go with!

Well, the neighbors are coming over for dinner tonight (we're ordering pizza) and tomorrow is the Entrance exam before the Intensive month of Italian begins. Wish me luck (in boca al lupo!)!

Ciao!

Learn Italian (inspired by the back of the fortunes in the Chinese fortune cookies)
chiesa - church
in boca al lupo - good luck (literally, "in the mouth of the wolf," and you respond "Crepi! (may the wolf die)