I can't believe it has been a week already!

Okay, okay, i really didn't mean for a week to go by before I posted again, but I guess I was just busy enjoying laying around all day, having no homework, etc. :) Okay so I really have no excuse as I have hours of time alone every day with nothing to do. Here is a quick summary of my week.

Day 1 (Tuesday ) This is the day I arrived. I think I already mostly wrote about my trip. If I didn't, here is the rest. I arrived at about 3:00 with Matteo. He was at the airport and took me to the house. Then I unpacked and the kids came home from activities. Benedetta had left a gift for me on my bed. It turned out to be a t-shirt with the Torino anthem/theme song on it. I still have no idea what it says, but it was very nice of her. Benedetta also told me about the security system for the house, and unsucessfully tried to teach me how to unlock the front door. This was crucial as I would be locked in the house if I couldn't unlock it! For some reason it was very difficult for me, and I never was able to turn the key all the way. We ate lasanga for dinner at about 7:30 and then I was so tired that I went straight to bed! The lasanga was good; it did not have ricotta cheese in it, and it only had meat (sausage, I think) on the top layer.

Day 2 (Wednesday) I think that I got 10 hours of beautiful sleep and woke up around 7:30 to hear the family eating breakfast. I crawled out of bed and opened the door to see...nothing. By the time I had opened my door they had all left! I found a note on the table that said "ciao tiffany, I hope you slept a good night. Cinze (a cook/maid) will arrive around 12. Tom will be back for lunch around 2, you can have lunch together. Grandparents pick up both of you at 4 for going at Eugenia school and then ice skating (bring a coat/pull bc is cold there). I'll reach you there around 6. Don't hesitate in calling me." The day proceeded just like that. Tom came home at 2, then the grandparents came to pick us up, and we went to get Eugenia from school, and then we all went to the iceskating rink to take Eugenia to practice. I stayed there to watch her while the grandparents took Tom to basketball. she skated really well ( i think). then Benedetta picked us up and we went to her sister-in-law's house with all matteo's family (about 13 people) for a little pre-birthday party for Eugenia. It was fun, and I got my first taste of Italian sweets. i ate chocolate cake (kind of dry, but with really good frosting (it was like a layer fo hard chocolate) and these little things that were kind of like eclairs, but round, not like a tube, but not like cream puffs. Then we went to the last 30 min of Tom's basketball practice, then came home and ate dinner (some weird green pasta, with parmesan cheese and olive oil, and a roll of cooked meat. I think it was rabbit, beef, and something else).

i'm getting really sick of writing right now, so I'm skipping to sunday (because I already wrote this), and i'll finish with the other days tomorrow.

Sunday -
Today was my first time going to my ward here in Torino. Benedetta had to take Tom to a basketball game at 9:30, so she offered to drop me off at the church on their way. Since the church didn’t start until 9:30, I was there quite early. Everyone was very nice and excited for me to be there. There were a lot of people who spoke English there, but the services were definitely in Italian. We had Relief Society first, and one of the sister missionaries sat with me and translated. The lesson was on gifts of the spirit. Then I went to the young adult Sunday school class and to my surprise, a set of guy missionaries came in to translate for me. It turns out there are three sets of missionaries in this ward, 4 guys and two girls. The one who translated for me in Relief society is from Centennial Colorado, and knew of Jenny. She will be leaving on the 22nd of this month. In the last meeting I listened to a translation of the meeting through a headset. There are a few other English speaking people there, so one man sits and translates into a walkie talkie (spelling?) and we all could listen in. It was very nice. I also got to meet a few of the YSA, and everybody wanted to make sure I knew about institute on Friday nights.

It took me about 20 minutes to walk home. I was able to find my way very easily. The streets are in the shape of a grid, so everything intersects. I was almost home when a man stopped me and started talking to me in Italian; I told him I didn’t speak Italian and then he started talking to me in English, and proceeded to propose that we go get a drink at the nice market down the street. I told him I couldn’t, and he said “no, no, I mean coffee or something, I wasn’t saying we should drink alcohol.” I smiled and said my family was expecting me, and I kept walking away. As I walked away, he said “it’s okay! I wasn’t trying to pick you up!”

Today, sunday, for lunch we had porpetone (again, I was planning on already describing this, but since I have't it is basically like a huge loaf of meatball type stuff that they cut in slices and eat with mayo. we have had it at least 3 times now), salad, tomatoes, and fruit.
The kids are working on homework, and I’m just chillin today.

wow! that was a really long update! you're probably really glad I didn't write about the other 4 days yet. If you have any suggestions about things you want to hear about, just leave me a comment or send me an email and i'll try to include it in my updates.

Love you all,
Tiffany