Find me in Tuscany: Embrace

So good news amici...I have finally realized that I am not dreaming and I am really living in Italy. This is BA-NA-NAS. How do I even begin to tell you all that has been going on?! The drive from Rome to Siena was incredible.While most people caught up on sleep, my excitement and the breath-taking scenery kept me wide awake. My mom always reminds me "You can sleep when you get home!" or when you're dead right?? Anyways, I can genuinely say that was one of the happiest moments of my life. I just sat there, embraced it all and let a million thoughts run through my mind.

You're finally here.

You made it happen.

Italy is beautiful.

Life is beautiful.
Be grateful.
Be happy.
Go see more of the world.

That may or may not have been an awkward heart to heart with myself but anways...

One of the highlights of my trip so far was stopping at Orvieto, a town that sits on a hill/butte. A railway takes you to the top where you find the typical colorful alleys and a gothic-style duomo. (See pictures!) I HIGHLY recommend going one day!

We only stayed for a few hours and then were back on the road to Siena. The bus finally started slowing down at a train station (not our school as we expected) and as we looked out the window we saw our future host families, patiently waiting for us. Then we really started freaking out! Our program director from the Dante Aligheri Institute (our school) welcomed us and had us get our bags and head over to the families. We figured we would be having a little pow-wow or a little orientation but we were definitely wrong...we were told to be at some place called Piazza Gramsci the next day and then he starts calling our names out and the name of the family we will be living with. In other words...peace out good luck. My roommate Stacie and I hear our names called out and look at each other in complete confusion and on the verge of busting out into laughter.

There were a few essential questions we had at that moment...Where in the hells bells is this piazza? Where is our school? How are we even getting there? Does our family speak any english? We finally came to the conclusion that the theme of the trip would be "wing it." Living in a completely new place and speaking a different language was going to involve a lot of wingin' it and a lot laughing in our case. That being said, I realized an important lesson that day:

     So we got in the car with some strangers (our "mama" and " teenage brother") and end up at "the penthouse." They live on the top floor of the building and we get a private little section of the house and our own balcony which is so nice. It makes up for the 15 minute bus ride + 15 minute walk to school (although I could really do without the foul body odor of some deodrant-lacking bus riders).

Quick spotlight on our host family:

"Mama Ana"-short, energetic, loving, bakes yummy cakes, enjoys dancing, teaches at an elementary school nearby, and loves talking about "chesternuts"
"Papa Benny"-hard-working/traveling businessman, GREAT chef, enjoys picking mushrooms in the forest and drives like a nascar driver.
Alberto-party animal, scooter-loving, bright-eyed, mohawk-rockin, misunderstood teenager, oh and sometimes lays sprawled out on the couch in his undies...
Giuseppe- cute as a button. mama's boy, break dancer and doctor in the making, and his English is better than our Italian so that helps at the dinner table.

   Our families are definitely different back home but we feel like we lucked out! Ana even took us to school the first two days and took us to a sweet park so we could run and work out. Papa Benny wasn't here the first few days because he was in Sicily for a business trip but the night he came back they taught us how to make pizza and he spent about an hour showing us pictures of the Amalfi Coast (since he grew up around there) and France. He even said he would try to get work off to take us to the coast. Too sweet! The next few days we got to try chocolate and some other pastry that he brought back from Sicily.
Don't worry it gets better though...our first Sunday here, he taught us how to make a shrimp and mushroom pasta and then asked us if we wanted to go to San Gimignano! San Gimignano is a cute medieval town nearby and the drive from Siena is unreal. The day was just perfect and it ended with another cooking lesson: bruschetta with tomatoes/basil and another one with cheese and mushrooms.

Life is good. And I'm kind of in love with Siena. If only we were here in July or August when the Palio took place! . It's a horse race that has been going on since the 1700's and it takes place in the famous Piazza Del Campo. The town is split up into the "contradas" and each one is like a neighborhood family/team. If you don't know what it is google it or watch some youtube videos and you'll see what I mean. Superbowl x 1,000 and if your contrada wins you party all year long and then some.

I can't wait for more adventures in this historic little town! Maybe I'll fit in some studying every now and then ;)

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

xoxo

Rita