well, I am really ashamed of myself to get on here and realize that my last post was in October!!!
For those of you who don't yet know, this chapter of my life is coming to an end. At the beginning of February I will be starting a new nanny job near Seattle, Washington. Yay! I'm so excited about it. I'm going to be able to work with a child with a speech delay, and hopefully get some good experience for Grad School.
In other news, I took a small day trip with the family to Milan today to see the Duomo (the main catholic church of the town). It is huge and beautiful! You should google some pictures of it because I don't really have time to post any right now.
So, as I won't be in Italy any longer, if you have any ideas for a new name for my blog, let me know. We'll see if I'm any better at keeping it up over there.
Anyway, I am starving and I want to eat dinner, so that's all you get this time.
Love ya,
Tiffany
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Monday, October 13, 2008
Photos...Finally!
I'm working on putting my pictures online. You can check out some pictures of my trip to Rome at http://tiflyon.winkflash.com. The password is italianfun
Friday, October 10, 2008
False alarm
So it turns out after I finished my practice test and scored it, I actually increased my score by 210 points. That made me feel a bit better, but I am still a bit stressed out. :)
Frustrated
I suppose you could say that this blog post is the product of my frustration while studying for the GRE. I thought that I had been putting so much work into studying, but today when I took a practice verbal test, I only improved my score by 40 points! I am glad that my score is improving, but I am really feeling the stress of my entire educational and financial future riding on this test, and I don't feel ready yet!!!
In other news, relating to Italy, I have had a lot of fun experiences in the couple months. Gosh, I can't believe it has been so long since I posted!
About a month ago, I learned how to make and can real italian tomato sauce. You might be surprised to know that all we used to make the sauce was tomatoes and fresh basil. Evidently, the secret to making a good tomato sauce is all in the type of tomato you choose. I learned that the perfect tomato should be firm, and have a lot of flesh, and not very many juicy seeds. If you want to try, the process is pretty easy...
1. cut the tomatoes into quarters
2. place in a large pot with 5-6 fresh leaves of basil
3. stew the tomatoes and basil until the tomatoes are cooked through
4. use some kind of press/strainer contraption to separate the skin and seeds from the sauce.
5. Boil the sauce again for 5-7 minutes. Immediately pour into canning jars and seal well.
6. let the jars sit over night under a blanket for insulation to let the jars cool slowly.
That's it! The sauce is really good, and they use it all the time. Usually they will open a jar and add cooked vegetables or meat to it for a nice pasta.
In other news, I participated in a Vendemmia (grape harvest) which was a lot of fun. The family owns a vineyard about 1 hour outside of Torino which produces approxamately 750 liters of wine annualy. There were about 25 people who came to help out, so it only took about half a day to pick the vineyard clean. Interesting things I learned...
1. they don't wash the grapes before pressing them, because that dilutes the wine. That means that unless the pickers cut off the bad grapes, or the spiderwebs, etc. that it will all go into the wine! Nonno Amadeo said that in most commercial vineyards, all the grapes are thrown in, and so sometimes bugs and other unpleasant things get pressed with the grapes. Gross!
2. Their family hasn't smashed grapes by foot for a lot time. Even before they got an electric press, they used a wooden one that you turn by hand. I guess that when you do it by foot it takes a super long time, and you don't get as much wine.
3. Usually wines are made form one specfic kind of grape. There are a couple of wines that are made with two different types of grapes, but in the commercial process, the two types are made into wine separately and then combined. This family grows 4 different types of grapes in their vineyard. One is just for eating, but the other three are all combined together before the pressing, and then pressed together. Evidently, this makes the family's wine really special.
Well, that is enough for now. I really will try to get better about posting more often. :)
By the way, Happy Belated Birthday to Brent, and Happy Birthday to Grandma Jones. I love you both!
In other news, relating to Italy, I have had a lot of fun experiences in the couple months. Gosh, I can't believe it has been so long since I posted!
About a month ago, I learned how to make and can real italian tomato sauce. You might be surprised to know that all we used to make the sauce was tomatoes and fresh basil. Evidently, the secret to making a good tomato sauce is all in the type of tomato you choose. I learned that the perfect tomato should be firm, and have a lot of flesh, and not very many juicy seeds. If you want to try, the process is pretty easy...
1. cut the tomatoes into quarters
2. place in a large pot with 5-6 fresh leaves of basil
3. stew the tomatoes and basil until the tomatoes are cooked through
4. use some kind of press/strainer contraption to separate the skin and seeds from the sauce.
5. Boil the sauce again for 5-7 minutes. Immediately pour into canning jars and seal well.
6. let the jars sit over night under a blanket for insulation to let the jars cool slowly.
That's it! The sauce is really good, and they use it all the time. Usually they will open a jar and add cooked vegetables or meat to it for a nice pasta.
In other news, I participated in a Vendemmia (grape harvest) which was a lot of fun. The family owns a vineyard about 1 hour outside of Torino which produces approxamately 750 liters of wine annualy. There were about 25 people who came to help out, so it only took about half a day to pick the vineyard clean. Interesting things I learned...
1. they don't wash the grapes before pressing them, because that dilutes the wine. That means that unless the pickers cut off the bad grapes, or the spiderwebs, etc. that it will all go into the wine! Nonno Amadeo said that in most commercial vineyards, all the grapes are thrown in, and so sometimes bugs and other unpleasant things get pressed with the grapes. Gross!
2. Their family hasn't smashed grapes by foot for a lot time. Even before they got an electric press, they used a wooden one that you turn by hand. I guess that when you do it by foot it takes a super long time, and you don't get as much wine.
3. Usually wines are made form one specfic kind of grape. There are a couple of wines that are made with two different types of grapes, but in the commercial process, the two types are made into wine separately and then combined. This family grows 4 different types of grapes in their vineyard. One is just for eating, but the other three are all combined together before the pressing, and then pressed together. Evidently, this makes the family's wine really special.
Well, that is enough for now. I really will try to get better about posting more often. :)
By the way, Happy Belated Birthday to Brent, and Happy Birthday to Grandma Jones. I love you both!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Venice
I’m sorry it has taken me so long to write an update about my life here, but I haven’t felt very motivated to write lately, and now that I have internet access, I’m only writing this update by the sheer force of my will. Okay, it’s not that bad, I do have some desire to write, but still…
Let’s see… the most eventful things that have happened to me recently are that I went to France for the first time (and now many times since then; we are staying right on the border) where I went swimming, rafting and hiking. I also took a three day trip to Venice, which was so much fun!
Venice really is a magical city. It is full of people, carnival masks, smelly rivers, pigeons, and bed bugs. Yes, bed bugs. I definitely got bitten by them while staying in a hostel there. I still have the marks from them two weeks later.
I spent most of my time wandering around the less crowded streets and stumbling upon pretty bridges and old churches. The main things I did go to included St Mark’s Square, St Mark’s Basilica, the Peggy Guggenheim modern art collection, the Glass museum, a glass blowing factory, the cemetery, and I took a boat down the grand canal a few times. I never did take a gondola though; they were just too expensive (cheapest fare was about 60 euro for an hour).
St Mark’s Square…not as cool as I was expecting. It is definitely huge, and the fact that it is supported above water and not ground is pretty cool. The shops that surround this piazza were mostly really expensive jewelry stores, a few café’s and some tourist shops. There were definitely a lot of pigeons though, and they were very friendly.
St Mark’s Basilica… really cool. I think it is just as impressive as St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome. It isn’t as big, but the golden mosaics inside are amazing. Words can’t really describe it, but I’ll post some pictures. I went inside, saw the mosaics, which all have a gold background, so the whole building lights up from the light that reflects off of the walls. You have to pay to see some special things, and out of the three things to see, I chose to go into the museum, which was upstairs and skirted the edges of the nave and transept. I got to go outside and see the square from above as well as have a view of the surrounding area. The museum had some cool things that showed the different phases of the cathedral, and how it was reconstructed. They also had some really huge and old bronze horses that used to be outside on top of the cathedral, but were replaced by new ones, old tapestries, and lots of other cool stuff. You could also go up close to the golden mosaics which was really cool.
The Peggy Guggenheim collection… I consider myself only mildly interested in modern art, and I found this museum to be amazing! Peggy Guggenheim was a supporter of, and major collector of modern art. I got to see original artworks created by Picasso, Pollock, Kandinsky, Brach, Matisse, Hopper, and many more. Those are the only ones I can remember right now. I’m really glad I went here. And, it was one of the few places where I could get a student discount without being a member of the European union!
The Glass Museum…this is on a separate island called Murano. Murano is really famous for it’s glass, and they were (I think) the first people to invent mirrors. The museum was cool because I got to see really old glass that dated from the B.C. era. There were lots of really cool things made of glass that I got to see, but I think the coolest thing was a life size bed with sheets made with glass. Another cool thing was a table centerpiece that was a garden made out of glass. It was about 4x8 feet big, with intricate walls and arches and plants all made of glass.
Glass Factory…this was really cool too, although there were a lot of people so I didn’t get to see very well. They were making some kind of statue of a woman. They showed us a picture of the finished product, and what amazed me most was that they could know what it would turn out to be, with lots of different colors and intricate designs, because while working with it, the glass is just a red ball that looked nothing like the finished product.
The Cemetery…the different thing about cemeteries in Italy is that there is no grass. The graves are either covered with a stone slab, or with gravel. But there are so many flowers all over the place. Check out my pictures to see what I mean. They also have family tombs. I’m not exactly sure how it works, if the bodies are actually buried under the floor of the room, or what, but there were lots around this cemetery. What I mean by tomb is a room, a bout 5x10 square feet that is gated off. Each family can decorate the inside however they want. Most have an alter, and a cross, and lots of flowers.
The Grand canal…It was fun to ride down the grand canal the first couple of times, but when I realized that it was faster to get to most places by walking, I didn’t ride the boat busses much anymore. The busses are really crowded and more really slowly. As far as the canal goes, I didn’t think there was anything special or charming about it, in and of itself. I did like to watch the gondoliers go by, but I don’t think I ever heard one sing the entire time I was there. It was also cool to see the bridges and the fronts of really old buildings. Most of the building that face the grand canal were once Palaces and are either now empty, or have been turned into museums.
So, besides all that, I just wandered around, got lost a bunch of times, found my way back again, and spent a lot of money.
As far a s the hostel goes, it wasn’t too bad besides getting bed bugs. We got free dinner every night, and free breakfast, but the breakfast wasn’t served until 10 am, so I usually got fruit from the grocery store.
Do I want to go back? Definitely.
I don’t know when I will be able to post pictures, but I’ll post a link when I do. Ciao!
Let’s see… the most eventful things that have happened to me recently are that I went to France for the first time (and now many times since then; we are staying right on the border) where I went swimming, rafting and hiking. I also took a three day trip to Venice, which was so much fun!
Venice really is a magical city. It is full of people, carnival masks, smelly rivers, pigeons, and bed bugs. Yes, bed bugs. I definitely got bitten by them while staying in a hostel there. I still have the marks from them two weeks later.
I spent most of my time wandering around the less crowded streets and stumbling upon pretty bridges and old churches. The main things I did go to included St Mark’s Square, St Mark’s Basilica, the Peggy Guggenheim modern art collection, the Glass museum, a glass blowing factory, the cemetery, and I took a boat down the grand canal a few times. I never did take a gondola though; they were just too expensive (cheapest fare was about 60 euro for an hour).
St Mark’s Square…not as cool as I was expecting. It is definitely huge, and the fact that it is supported above water and not ground is pretty cool. The shops that surround this piazza were mostly really expensive jewelry stores, a few café’s and some tourist shops. There were definitely a lot of pigeons though, and they were very friendly.
St Mark’s Basilica… really cool. I think it is just as impressive as St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome. It isn’t as big, but the golden mosaics inside are amazing. Words can’t really describe it, but I’ll post some pictures. I went inside, saw the mosaics, which all have a gold background, so the whole building lights up from the light that reflects off of the walls. You have to pay to see some special things, and out of the three things to see, I chose to go into the museum, which was upstairs and skirted the edges of the nave and transept. I got to go outside and see the square from above as well as have a view of the surrounding area. The museum had some cool things that showed the different phases of the cathedral, and how it was reconstructed. They also had some really huge and old bronze horses that used to be outside on top of the cathedral, but were replaced by new ones, old tapestries, and lots of other cool stuff. You could also go up close to the golden mosaics which was really cool.
The Peggy Guggenheim collection… I consider myself only mildly interested in modern art, and I found this museum to be amazing! Peggy Guggenheim was a supporter of, and major collector of modern art. I got to see original artworks created by Picasso, Pollock, Kandinsky, Brach, Matisse, Hopper, and many more. Those are the only ones I can remember right now. I’m really glad I went here. And, it was one of the few places where I could get a student discount without being a member of the European union!
The Glass Museum…this is on a separate island called Murano. Murano is really famous for it’s glass, and they were (I think) the first people to invent mirrors. The museum was cool because I got to see really old glass that dated from the B.C. era. There were lots of really cool things made of glass that I got to see, but I think the coolest thing was a life size bed with sheets made with glass. Another cool thing was a table centerpiece that was a garden made out of glass. It was about 4x8 feet big, with intricate walls and arches and plants all made of glass.
Glass Factory…this was really cool too, although there were a lot of people so I didn’t get to see very well. They were making some kind of statue of a woman. They showed us a picture of the finished product, and what amazed me most was that they could know what it would turn out to be, with lots of different colors and intricate designs, because while working with it, the glass is just a red ball that looked nothing like the finished product.
The Cemetery…the different thing about cemeteries in Italy is that there is no grass. The graves are either covered with a stone slab, or with gravel. But there are so many flowers all over the place. Check out my pictures to see what I mean. They also have family tombs. I’m not exactly sure how it works, if the bodies are actually buried under the floor of the room, or what, but there were lots around this cemetery. What I mean by tomb is a room, a bout 5x10 square feet that is gated off. Each family can decorate the inside however they want. Most have an alter, and a cross, and lots of flowers.
The Grand canal…It was fun to ride down the grand canal the first couple of times, but when I realized that it was faster to get to most places by walking, I didn’t ride the boat busses much anymore. The busses are really crowded and more really slowly. As far as the canal goes, I didn’t think there was anything special or charming about it, in and of itself. I did like to watch the gondoliers go by, but I don’t think I ever heard one sing the entire time I was there. It was also cool to see the bridges and the fronts of really old buildings. Most of the building that face the grand canal were once Palaces and are either now empty, or have been turned into museums.
So, besides all that, I just wandered around, got lost a bunch of times, found my way back again, and spent a lot of money.
As far a s the hostel goes, it wasn’t too bad besides getting bed bugs. We got free dinner every night, and free breakfast, but the breakfast wasn’t served until 10 am, so I usually got fruit from the grocery store.
Do I want to go back? Definitely.
I don’t know when I will be able to post pictures, but I’ll post a link when I do. Ciao!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
I love Rome
So this last weekend I went to
Friday morning I took a bus from Courmayeur to Aosta to
My train didn’t leave until 9:55, so I went home, repacked, showered, and researched
I arrived in
Next I headed down Via Condotti, which is a shopping street with stores like Dolce & Gabbana, Doir, Burberry Brit, Armani, and lots of other really famous and expensive brands. I some pictures of the window displays, and the prices, which were really insane (500 euro for a purse). After that I wandered around for a bit, and headed back to the train station to meet my friend Tammy. Oh, by the way, you have to pay 70 cents to use the bathroom it the train station. Ridiculous! We met easily and set off to find out hostel to check in. I had found it on google maps (I thought), but it turned out to be the wrong location, so we had to call them and ask for directions. After that, we found it easily. It was a really tiny hostel, with only three rooms and 27 beds, but it was cheap and we got a free pasta dinner, which was actually pretty good.
Once that was taken care of, we headed straight to the
After touring the basilica, we headed towards the Tombs. Again, it didn’t really mean much to me because I don’t know anything about past Popes and things like that. It was still interesting to see. Then we tried to get into the
Next we went to Piazza Navona. I think this is where I had my first “I’m in
The next morning we woke up around 8:00 am and headed straight to the
After the baths, we walked past Circo Massimo, which didn’t really look like anything except an overgrown track, and then we headed on to stick our hands in the Mouth of Truth. Even though the line was shorter, I think I waited about 30 minutes to do that (longer than for the
Tammy’s train left at 6:30, so I went with her to the train station. I didn’t really know what to do after she left, because we had already seen everything we had planned on seeing, so I just wandered around. I’m so glad I got the chance to do this because I felt like my two days had been really rushed. I was able to finally soak in the feeling of being in
My train left at 10:50 pm, and I was sad to go, but ready at the same time. After taking over 300 pictures, and spending 180 euro, I was definitely ready to go.
Per request…
First time riding on a train
First time staying in a hostel
First time in
First time filling my camera completely in one day (I had to delete some pictures so I could take some on the second day)
First time taking a subway
I could say first time putting my had inside the mouth of truth, etc, but I think that first time in
New flavors of gelato I have tried…
Ananas (pineapple)
Kiwi
Ganduja (chocolate with nut flavor)
Crema di Grom (cream with…stuff in it. A specialty of Grom, a really nice gelateria)
Amareno (Black Cherry)
Cioccolato Extranoir (extra dark chocolate)
If any of you who actually read this entire post know of a better way of putting pictures online than loading 5 at a time through picasa web, please let me know!!!
Today I am going to another family house in Bardonecchia for 3 weeks. Next week I will be taking a three day trip from there to Venice. yay!!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Here and gone again...
...I wrote this a couple of days ago. Now I am in Torino and leaving in about an hour for Rome. I don't have much time, so i'll explain with another post as soon as I get back on Monday. Love you all!
So. I’m sitting here outsside the ice skating rink with nothing to do, and thinking that I really should write a blog post, but I have no idea what to write about!
I’ve been doing a lot of sitting here outside the ice rink the last two weeks and I’m sure that most of the people here are wondering who I am and why I’m sitting outside when everyone else who is here is inside skating or outside exercising. The girls at these camps are really insane. For example, there is a girl staying in the family’s condo this week with us who skates 6 hours a day, does gym for 2 hours a day, and dance for 1 hour a day. Eugenia’s schedule isn’t quite so full, but most of the girls here do just as much.
Last week a different family stayed in the Condo with Eugenia and I, and they had a Scottish au pair with them. Her name is Tammy and she and I are going to Rome together this weekend. Hopefully I’ll have more interesting things to write in my blog after that trip.
So, this skating camp is in Courmayeur which is a small town near a city called Aosta, which you can easily find on a map of Italy. It is very near to both the French and Swiss borders. It is in the mountains, but it is still pretty hot in the sun. Supposedly it is close to Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe, but you can only see it from certain parts of the town; most of the time it is blocked by another mountain. It seems to me that every city in Italy has a big shopping street, and they are all called Via Roma. In Torino, Via roma is really long, with lots of majorly expensive stores on it (for example, Dolce & Gabana, Armani, etc.). Benedetta told me that Via Roma in Courmayeur is one of the most expensive places to shop in all of Italy. I’ve walked down it a few times, and it is fun to window shop, but when you see a belt that costs 400 euroes, it is pretty easy to avoid actually entering the shops.
“Firsts” since I last wrote…
First time in an internet café (in Courmayeur)
First time eating shrimp (here in Courmayeur, the mother who is staying with us cooked it with pasta)
First time eating gelato every day for a week (both at Metaponto and here in Courmayeur)
First time telling someone “basta” (enough) when I wasn’t full (I think I have been eating too much!)
First time meeting another au pair (Tammy)
First time watching someone fill bottles of wine from a keg (Nonno Amadeo, in Ceresole)
First time playing soccer with Italians (with the kids and their cousins in Ceresole)
First time craving something American (snickers bar) and actually finding it!
First time in an Italian Cemetery
First time riding a bus like a greyhound (from Courmayeur to Torino)
First time trying to buy something speaking in italian (my train ticket to Rome)
I’m working on trying 30 different flavors of Gelato while I am here. Here are the flavors I have tried so far.
1. Fragola (Strawberry)
2. Pera (Pear)
3. Lampone (Raspberry)
4. Stracciatella (cream with hard chocolate swirls)
5. Fiori di latte (tastes kind of like vanilla or cream, it is white)
6. Crema (Italian Vanilla)
7. Cioccolata Bianca (White Chocolate)
8. Cioccolato (Chocolate)
9. Limone (Lemon)
10. Menthe (Mint)
11. Nutellone (vanilla with nutella)
12. Pistacchio (Pistachio)
13. Pesca (Peach)
14. Bacio (chocolate with hazelnuts)
15. cocco (coconut)
So. I’m sitting here outsside the ice skating rink with nothing to do, and thinking that I really should write a blog post, but I have no idea what to write about!
I’ve been doing a lot of sitting here outside the ice rink the last two weeks and I’m sure that most of the people here are wondering who I am and why I’m sitting outside when everyone else who is here is inside skating or outside exercising. The girls at these camps are really insane. For example, there is a girl staying in the family’s condo this week with us who skates 6 hours a day, does gym for 2 hours a day, and dance for 1 hour a day. Eugenia’s schedule isn’t quite so full, but most of the girls here do just as much.
Last week a different family stayed in the Condo with Eugenia and I, and they had a Scottish au pair with them. Her name is Tammy and she and I are going to Rome together this weekend. Hopefully I’ll have more interesting things to write in my blog after that trip.
So, this skating camp is in Courmayeur which is a small town near a city called Aosta, which you can easily find on a map of Italy. It is very near to both the French and Swiss borders. It is in the mountains, but it is still pretty hot in the sun. Supposedly it is close to Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe, but you can only see it from certain parts of the town; most of the time it is blocked by another mountain. It seems to me that every city in Italy has a big shopping street, and they are all called Via Roma. In Torino, Via roma is really long, with lots of majorly expensive stores on it (for example, Dolce & Gabana, Armani, etc.). Benedetta told me that Via Roma in Courmayeur is one of the most expensive places to shop in all of Italy. I’ve walked down it a few times, and it is fun to window shop, but when you see a belt that costs 400 euroes, it is pretty easy to avoid actually entering the shops.
“Firsts” since I last wrote…
First time in an internet café (in Courmayeur)
First time eating shrimp (here in Courmayeur, the mother who is staying with us cooked it with pasta)
First time eating gelato every day for a week (both at Metaponto and here in Courmayeur)
First time telling someone “basta” (enough) when I wasn’t full (I think I have been eating too much!)
First time meeting another au pair (Tammy)
First time watching someone fill bottles of wine from a keg (Nonno Amadeo, in Ceresole)
First time playing soccer with Italians (with the kids and their cousins in Ceresole)
First time craving something American (snickers bar) and actually finding it!
First time in an Italian Cemetery
First time riding a bus like a greyhound (from Courmayeur to Torino)
First time trying to buy something speaking in italian (my train ticket to Rome)
I’m working on trying 30 different flavors of Gelato while I am here. Here are the flavors I have tried so far.
1. Fragola (Strawberry)
2. Pera (Pear)
3. Lampone (Raspberry)
4. Stracciatella (cream with hard chocolate swirls)
5. Fiori di latte (tastes kind of like vanilla or cream, it is white)
6. Crema (Italian Vanilla)
7. Cioccolata Bianca (White Chocolate)
8. Cioccolato (Chocolate)
9. Limone (Lemon)
10. Menthe (Mint)
11. Nutellone (vanilla with nutella)
12. Pistacchio (Pistachio)
13. Pesca (Peach)
14. Bacio (chocolate with hazelnuts)
15. cocco (coconut)
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Beautiful Ceresole
Today is July Fourth and I didn’t even realize it until I turned on my computer to type up this entry! I am going to sing the Star Spangled Banner right now. And My Country Tis of Thee. And say the National Anthem. Okay, now I feel like I at least remembered the holiday a little bit!
On Wednesday the kids, their grandparents and I arrived at their villa in a small city called Ceresole. It is so beautiful here! The house is over 100 years old, but it doesn’t seem that old. It has three floors, which have been divided between Nonno Amadeo and two of his brothers upon the death of their father. Since then there have been a lot of renovations done so that each floor has bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens. Our floor is on the ground level, and it used to be the dining area. They told me that it was only a kitchen, bathroom and tables. Now, there are three bedrooms, and another living area that can be turned into a bedroom if necessary, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. I share a room with the two kids on bunk beds, the grandparents share another room with two twin beds, and there is a room with a queen bed for Benedetta and Matteo. In total, 11 people can sleep on this floor comfortably. The kitchen has a dishwasher and a gas stove. The water comes from a fresh mountain spring which is shared with 3 other houses near this one. The water is usually freezing, and sometimes warm. Showers have to be very fast for two reasons: the shortage of water, and Nonno Amadeo’s bladder.
Nonno Amadeo is such an awesome man! He is about 80 years old, but very strong. I was amazed to see him and his older brother carrying heavy rocks to fix the road that leads to the house, which was somewhat washed out because of the heavy rainfall this year. He also chopped wood, broke the rocks with a sledge hammer, and played a fierce game of ping-pong. He drinks about a liter of wine everyday. Today (Friday) he had to leave in a rush because the red alarm was sounded at the vineyard. I’m not exactly sure what the problem was, but I think it was something like too much sun and too many bugs. He told me that they have only 24 hours to save the vineyard from when the alarm first sounds. It is two hours away from Ceresole and they left immediately. He and his brother will prepare the chemicals tonight and then wake up early to hand trim the vines while they wait for the dew to evaporate, and then spray the plants, also by hand. The vineyard is 29 rows wide, and 50 meters long, and produces about 1,000-1,200 liters of wine every year.
So back to my first day here…It took about 1.5 hours to drive here. We stopped once for gas, once to buy bread (10 round loaves, and a kilo of grissini-bread sticks), and once to buy our meat, cheese, and a few other things. When we got here, we unpacked and then went out to play. For lunch we had toasted bread with either bruschetta or prociutto. Then more playing and then we were off to go fishing! We went to this little house by the lake where a man gave us a pole, and we caught 3 fish. Tommaso went first and it took him three tries to catch one. Then Eugenia and I went together and got it on the first try! Tommaso got the third one. For dinner we had…
Thursday I played with Nene, Tom and their second cousins. I was a fugitive and would go hide somewhere on the mountain behind the villa, and then they would come looking for me. I got to use pine cones as grenades, and they hadd wooden pistols. When they saw me, they took me under arrest back to the garage, where I would once again escape and this went on and on for hours. I got really tired of running, and luckily Nonna Gea called us in to help make gnocchi, which I love(this was actually my first time eating it)!!! After they were cooked, Nonna Gea just mixed them with melted butter and served it up. We also ate one of the trouts that we caught. They know that I don’t like fish, so they told me that I could just have an egg, but I decided to eat it anyway. I was surprised to find that not only did I not throw it up, but I actually like it a little bit! With a lot of lemon juice it tasted just fine.
Friday we took a long hike up the mountain and I took tons of pictures. Ceresole is situated between two mountains and I loved the view. We got near the top and then stopped for a small lunch of bread, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, soft boiled eggs, and fruit. The hike took us about 4 hours, including lunch, but I have no idea how long it was. After lunch I took a little nap and a shower while the others went out to buy a present for Tommaso because Thursday was St. Tommaso day. When they got back, Nonna Gea sent me into town to buy 3 liters of milk, 6 eggs, a tube of mayonnaise, salt, mozzarella, and to pay for the ricotta she bought on Wednesday (but she couldn’t pay for because the store didn’t know the price). It took me about 15 minutes to walk there, 15 minutes to find the stuff and talk to the store worker, and 10 minutes to walk back home (it was downhill on the way home).
For dinner on Friday we had really tasty rice mixed with peas and melted white cheese, hamburger patties, and fruit. Benedetta arrived while I was playing hide and seek with the kids and their cousins. She will stay until Sunday afternoon.
well, my time on the internet is almost up, so I'll try to update again soon.
Ciao!
On Wednesday the kids, their grandparents and I arrived at their villa in a small city called Ceresole. It is so beautiful here! The house is over 100 years old, but it doesn’t seem that old. It has three floors, which have been divided between Nonno Amadeo and two of his brothers upon the death of their father. Since then there have been a lot of renovations done so that each floor has bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens. Our floor is on the ground level, and it used to be the dining area. They told me that it was only a kitchen, bathroom and tables. Now, there are three bedrooms, and another living area that can be turned into a bedroom if necessary, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. I share a room with the two kids on bunk beds, the grandparents share another room with two twin beds, and there is a room with a queen bed for Benedetta and Matteo. In total, 11 people can sleep on this floor comfortably. The kitchen has a dishwasher and a gas stove. The water comes from a fresh mountain spring which is shared with 3 other houses near this one. The water is usually freezing, and sometimes warm. Showers have to be very fast for two reasons: the shortage of water, and Nonno Amadeo’s bladder.
Nonno Amadeo is such an awesome man! He is about 80 years old, but very strong. I was amazed to see him and his older brother carrying heavy rocks to fix the road that leads to the house, which was somewhat washed out because of the heavy rainfall this year. He also chopped wood, broke the rocks with a sledge hammer, and played a fierce game of ping-pong. He drinks about a liter of wine everyday. Today (Friday) he had to leave in a rush because the red alarm was sounded at the vineyard. I’m not exactly sure what the problem was, but I think it was something like too much sun and too many bugs. He told me that they have only 24 hours to save the vineyard from when the alarm first sounds. It is two hours away from Ceresole and they left immediately. He and his brother will prepare the chemicals tonight and then wake up early to hand trim the vines while they wait for the dew to evaporate, and then spray the plants, also by hand. The vineyard is 29 rows wide, and 50 meters long, and produces about 1,000-1,200 liters of wine every year.
So back to my first day here…It took about 1.5 hours to drive here. We stopped once for gas, once to buy bread (10 round loaves, and a kilo of grissini-bread sticks), and once to buy our meat, cheese, and a few other things. When we got here, we unpacked and then went out to play. For lunch we had toasted bread with either bruschetta or prociutto. Then more playing and then we were off to go fishing! We went to this little house by the lake where a man gave us a pole, and we caught 3 fish. Tommaso went first and it took him three tries to catch one. Then Eugenia and I went together and got it on the first try! Tommaso got the third one. For dinner we had…
Thursday I played with Nene, Tom and their second cousins. I was a fugitive and would go hide somewhere on the mountain behind the villa, and then they would come looking for me. I got to use pine cones as grenades, and they hadd wooden pistols. When they saw me, they took me under arrest back to the garage, where I would once again escape and this went on and on for hours. I got really tired of running, and luckily Nonna Gea called us in to help make gnocchi, which I love(this was actually my first time eating it)!!! After they were cooked, Nonna Gea just mixed them with melted butter and served it up. We also ate one of the trouts that we caught. They know that I don’t like fish, so they told me that I could just have an egg, but I decided to eat it anyway. I was surprised to find that not only did I not throw it up, but I actually like it a little bit! With a lot of lemon juice it tasted just fine.
Friday we took a long hike up the mountain and I took tons of pictures. Ceresole is situated between two mountains and I loved the view. We got near the top and then stopped for a small lunch of bread, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, soft boiled eggs, and fruit. The hike took us about 4 hours, including lunch, but I have no idea how long it was. After lunch I took a little nap and a shower while the others went out to buy a present for Tommaso because Thursday was St. Tommaso day. When they got back, Nonna Gea sent me into town to buy 3 liters of milk, 6 eggs, a tube of mayonnaise, salt, mozzarella, and to pay for the ricotta she bought on Wednesday (but she couldn’t pay for because the store didn’t know the price). It took me about 15 minutes to walk there, 15 minutes to find the stuff and talk to the store worker, and 10 minutes to walk back home (it was downhill on the way home).
For dinner on Friday we had really tasty rice mixed with peas and melted white cheese, hamburger patties, and fruit. Benedetta arrived while I was playing hide and seek with the kids and their cousins. She will stay until Sunday afternoon.
well, my time on the internet is almost up, so I'll try to update again soon.
Ciao!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Picasa Web Album - Tiffany - Italian count...
Picasa Web Album - Tiffany - Italian count...
I don't have time to make a proper update before going out of town again, but here are some pictures of my recent trip to Metaponto, Italy. The family and I went there for a week to a Club Med resort. It was so nice, and I had a lot of fun doing things like playing tennis, archery, sailing, swimming, searching for seashells, water aerobics, rollerblading, rock climbing, etc.
I will have internet access, but only for about 10 min. at a time, and only late at night. I am going to a villa that their grandparents share with the kids great uncles. There is one phone line for the entire house! i'll try to update, but I can't promise anything.
In the mean time, enjoy the pictures!
For those of you who know me well, I ate a pizza with olives on it for the first time. It was actually pretty good, so I guess my tastebuds really are accepting more food. :) I also had pizza quadrata with potatoes on it, which, so far, is my favorite kind! Pizza quadrata is just a square of pizza, about 8X8 inches, and it usually doesn't have any crust because it is cut from a huge sheet. The dough is soft, and a little crunchy. The one with potatoes has no sauce, and no cheese, just thin slices of potatoes layered with spices, and probably mixed with butter. So good!
I don't have time to make a proper update before going out of town again, but here are some pictures of my recent trip to Metaponto, Italy. The family and I went there for a week to a Club Med resort. It was so nice, and I had a lot of fun doing things like playing tennis, archery, sailing, swimming, searching for seashells, water aerobics, rollerblading, rock climbing, etc.
I will have internet access, but only for about 10 min. at a time, and only late at night. I am going to a villa that their grandparents share with the kids great uncles. There is one phone line for the entire house! i'll try to update, but I can't promise anything.
In the mean time, enjoy the pictures!
For those of you who know me well, I ate a pizza with olives on it for the first time. It was actually pretty good, so I guess my tastebuds really are accepting more food. :) I also had pizza quadrata with potatoes on it, which, so far, is my favorite kind! Pizza quadrata is just a square of pizza, about 8X8 inches, and it usually doesn't have any crust because it is cut from a huge sheet. The dough is soft, and a little crunchy. The one with potatoes has no sauce, and no cheese, just thin slices of potatoes layered with spices, and probably mixed with butter. So good!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Friends, Food, Kids, Adventures...
So my sense of timing is a bit off, i suppose. As it feels like I've already been here for two months, it makes sense that when I say, "I'll write tomorrow,"that I really mean I'll write in two days. But actually it has been more than a week, so again, I have no excuse. Sorry!
Okay... Since I have so much to write about and it has been so long since I wrote, I don't think I will go in chronological order, so this post may seem a little scatterbrained, but very interesting in any case.
The family has two helpers, Guisy and Cinzia. Cinzia comes on Mondays and does cleaning and she makes lunch for Eugenia and me. Guisy comes on Tuesdays and sometimes on Thursdays. She generally prepares vegetables to be cooked for dinner, makes other food/treats, cooks lunch for me and Tommaso, and irons the laundry. The first week I was here I made Banana Bread with Guisy. It wasn't too hard because we had the recipe in both english and italian. Oh, I forgot to mention, neither one of these women speak english. Anyway, so she would measure out the ingredients on a scale and then I would mix them together. Two interesting points... 1) the use powdered vanilla, and it comes in a small packet, which I am sure has less than 1/2 tsp in it, 2) baking soda comes the same way. In the english recipe it said to put in 1 tsp of baking soda, but Guisy assured me (in italian) that one packet (less than 1/2 tsp) would be plenty. It didn't seem to be that different in the end, but still kind of wierd. The next week, I was bored and so I decided to make some shortbread cookies. I wanted to make something more exciting, but since I didn't know how to get all the ingredients, I settled on this cookie which only has four ingredients (butter, sugar, salt, flour). When Guisy came the next day, she asked me for the recipe. Even though there were only four ingredients and six steps, it took me about an hour to translate! I don't think my translation was very good, but she said it made sense, so I guess it was okay.
That's all for now. Love you!
Okay... Since I have so much to write about and it has been so long since I wrote, I don't think I will go in chronological order, so this post may seem a little scatterbrained, but very interesting in any case.
The family has two helpers, Guisy and Cinzia. Cinzia comes on Mondays and does cleaning and she makes lunch for Eugenia and me. Guisy comes on Tuesdays and sometimes on Thursdays. She generally prepares vegetables to be cooked for dinner, makes other food/treats, cooks lunch for me and Tommaso, and irons the laundry. The first week I was here I made Banana Bread with Guisy. It wasn't too hard because we had the recipe in both english and italian. Oh, I forgot to mention, neither one of these women speak english. Anyway, so she would measure out the ingredients on a scale and then I would mix them together. Two interesting points... 1) the use powdered vanilla, and it comes in a small packet, which I am sure has less than 1/2 tsp in it, 2) baking soda comes the same way. In the english recipe it said to put in 1 tsp of baking soda, but Guisy assured me (in italian) that one packet (less than 1/2 tsp) would be plenty. It didn't seem to be that different in the end, but still kind of wierd. The next week, I was bored and so I decided to make some shortbread cookies. I wanted to make something more exciting, but since I didn't know how to get all the ingredients, I settled on this cookie which only has four ingredients (butter, sugar, salt, flour). When Guisy came the next day, she asked me for the recipe. Even though there were only four ingredients and six steps, it took me about an hour to translate! I don't think my translation was very good, but she said it made sense, so I guess it was okay.
I've decided that the best snack in the world is really fat, ripe cherries alternated with a bite of dark chocolate. Then again, I've said to myself almost everyday that what I am currently eating is the best snack in the whole world. It just so happens that I just ate cherries and dark chocolate. Other things I have said this about includes...all the deliciously ripe fruit they have here, pasta with fresh cold tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and olive oil, egg fritatta made with milk, cheese, and priscuttio, chocolate, gelato, chocolate gelato, crostata (the friut tart I put a picture of on my picasa web album), and the list goes on. As you can see, I love the food here. Maybe a little too much, and since I spend so much time at home, it probably is even worse.
This last sunday was Stake conference. The american family, the Fairborns, that I mentioned in my last post offered me a ride, and I was very grateful of that because the conference was an hour away in Alessandria. For some of it the stake presidency spoke, and for the rest we watched a broadcast where we heard from Niel Anderson, Elder Holland, and President Monson. I didn't understand very much of what was said because they muted the english and
had the translation playing through the speakers. The family was really nice, and on the way back we took a short detour to see the Royal Hunting Grounds. They were so huge, it was insane!!! There street leading up to the house was about 1/2 a mile long, and then there was another 1/2 mile of stables and servants quarters to pass by before we got the the building. we didn't stop, but just drove around the outside and had a look. There were carvings on the walls of dead animals and on the very tip of the cupola was either a bronze or a stuffed elk. I couldn't tell because it was so far away. It was probably bronze, but it reminded me of Joe Jonas, Jr. Taxadermy anyway. It turns out that the Faiborns are my home teachers, which is really handy. Sister Fairborn offered to do a lot of things with me (take me to the markets, museums, etc.) which I think will be really fun.
This last thursday Benedetta had a "concert." She takes kareoke singing lessons, and there were about 7 other students who performed as well. It was a real party, in an underground bar, with flashing lights, alcohol, bar nuts, and the like. It was really fun to see her perform, because I got to see a completely different side of her that I usually see. She got really into her songs and put on quite the little show.
Last weekend the family and I went to their Condo in Courmayeur. I meant to take some pictures, but when I got there, my camera had dead batteries, so you will have to wait until next month when we will go again. It was nice, and really relaxing. We left on saturday night, drove for 1.5 hours, and then just hung out until bed time. It was freezing!!! I slept with 2 pairs of pants, a sweater, and 5 blankets. The next day was nice; we went for a hike in a valley at the base of Mont Blanc. I thought it was going to be a really hard hike because I know the family is so active. We dropped off Matteo and Tommaso about 2 miles before the trailhead, Tommaso biked while Matteo ran. The rest of us drove to the beginning and started walking. It turned out that the hike was flatter than Kansas. We walked along the river Dora, and after a while the boys passed us, then passed us again on their way back. The trail was cut short because the river had flooded. After the hike we stopped at a nice restaurant and had a picnic outside. We ate cheese, bread, tomatoes, and an "apple pie" from the store. It was nothing like american apple pie, but it was still really good. It was really rainy for the rest of our time there, so we just stayed inside and played games. We came back monday afternoon.
I've made some really nice friends in my ward here. After institute two weeks ago, we all went out to eat Kebap's afterwards. I had no idea what this was, but I went anyway. It turned out to be kind of like a burrito, but the meat was shaved, not ground, and it was really, really, really, really, really hot. Probably the most spicy thing I have ever eaten. I was good, and I suffered through the heat...without a drink... and I ate most of it. I don't know that I would eat it again, maybe if I got it without the spicy sauce, we'll see.
Yesterday I had a little adventure. The kids started basketball camp, and I rode with them to the place, and then walked home. Well, I got lazy and decided to figure out the bus instead. I missed my first bus and had to back track, and then I got off too early on the second one, but I didn't get lost, which I am very proud of. It would have been an hour to walk home, so i'm glad that I figured out the bus because I had left the house without eating breakfast! I stopped at a Gelateria on my way home, and the Gelato was so good! It is kind of fun because at most gelateria's you just stand at a window on the sidewalk and order from there. You can go in if you want, but you don't have to. Behind the window is a freezer with about 15 different flavors, and you pick two, put your money in a tray, and continue on your passeggiato (little walk).That's all for now. Love you!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Every day is a new adventure
Okay, I have so much so say since I haven't posted in a while, so i'll just jump right in! First item of business is to answer questions left in some of your comments. I know that I have answered some of these questions, but for the sake of all who read this (all...8 of you? :) ) i'll answer them for those of you who I didn't get to tell.
The lasanga... good, but very different. There is still layers of cheese and noodles, and sauce, and meat, but it isn't the same at all! First of all, there is no ricotta cheese in it. there also isn't very much sauce. They only put meat on the top layer, well, right underneath the giant layer of...cheese. It is very creamy and cheesy. very good!
Are there Americans at church? I have only met one american, besides the missionaries, at church. The father of the famly is from Utah, and the wife is Japanese. They moved here a couple years ago to work for Boeing and will be leaving in another couple years. I found out just today that they live in the same quad as me, so you might be able to see their apartment in one of the pictures that I posted last week. This is kind of nice, i'm hoping that I will be able to get a ride to and from church with them. Even though the building is only a mile away, that is a mile that I would rather not walk in high heels. Today I wore tennis shoes there, changed into my church shoes, and then walked home in my tennis shoes again. I think it took me half the time to get there!
Any potential suitors? I love the YSA in this ward. There aren't very many, but they are super nice and lots of fun. as for dating any of them... ... I guess we'll see. I don't think I am heading in that direction any time soon. :)
What do I do in my free time? Well, I generally take walks around town, read, study italian, go out with the YSA... I'm starting to do more and more things with other people, but generally during the day I stay at home. I've read a couple of books, but none that I would reccommend. If there are any that you would, please let me know! There is an english book store near my house, so I might go purchase a few. As for my adventures around town, that will be covered later.
Will I come back speaking Italian? Certo! (of course) I'm learning slowly, but I pick up more and more every day. I have an italian textbook that I have been working my way through, and I also have started to read the BoM in Italian. I think the thing that is helping me out most is my little background in spanish. The two languages are very similar.
Did they like the gifts I gave them? Yes, I think so. I gave them each a book ( But no elephants, and Wacky Wednesday), and then I gave Eugenia some beads for bracelet making, and Tommaso a Cleveland Cavaliers baseball hat. Eugenia has claimed both the books as her own, and we have made a bracelet together with the beads I gave her. Benedetta says that the hat is to nice for Tom to wear to school, so it is sitting on his desk looking pretty. :)
Am I using my laptop? Yes... and no. It still does not have internet connection, but at this point I doubt that it ever will. I do use it though. I have made playlists for both kids of songs I think they would like and we listen to them while doing other things. I also have a program with a bunch of mini-games on it which the kids like to play on. They love those games, so it is easy to use as an incentive to get them to do things like homework and picking up after themselves. So, yes, I use my computer, just not for internet.
Is the food any good? I am happy to report that I love the food here. I have tried everything they have put on the table, except for this one pasta dish with calamari in it, but that doesn't really count because I wasn't at home for that meal. Benedetta is a great cook. It is amazing to me that she can whip out such good meals in such a short amount of time. More on food later.
Have I cracked open the peanut butter yet? Yes I have. Actually, I have finished my jar of peanut butter. What is really amazing to me is that while I was at college, I barely touched peanut butter. I had half of a jar on my shelf for the entire year last year. I honestly think that the only reason why I went through my jar so fast was for two reasons, 1) it was american 2) I didn't have anything else to snack on! These both continue to be issues for me. Just yesterday I went into a mini grocery store and found that when I got to the checkout, I had picked up mostly american items including pringles and "american cookies" (chocolate chip cookies). Actually the second one isn't really an issue any more. I have been snacking on fruit, grissini (very crunchy breadsticks, which they always have around), chocolate, and a block of extremely aged parmegano reggiano. In fact, it is aged 30 months and the flavor is so strong I can hardly stand to eat more than a square cm. They also sometimes have these balls of rubbery mozerella cheese that are good to. I'm trying a lot of new kinds of cheese, and they are mostly all great! So far I have already tried 3 different varieties of mozzerella cheese alone!
As for Fabio #1 - He seemed very nice. He was probably in his 40's which is what creeped me out the most about him. I think that in general this is very socially acceptable here. (Fabio #1 is the name my family is using to refer to the man who asked me to get a drink with him while I was walking home from church).
Have I started my Italian class yet? Unfortunately, no. The class doesn't start until September, it is just like a normal school year. In the mean time, I have been using my textbook and reading the BoM in Italian, which I think I have already said earlier in this post.
And the last question to answer... Is there grass anywhere nearby? Not really. There is a small park with a jungle gym about 2 blocks away, and there are a couple large parks a little further away. I'm told though that these generally aren't good areas to play at because there is some danger of stepping on used syringes/needles when you wander into the grass.
wow, that is a lot! I'm afraid that if I write too much in one blog that you will get bored or not have time to read it all. So, this will be all for tonight, but I promise, I PROMISE, that I will write the rest tomorrow. In fact, I have already made notes for everything that I want to write about, and I bet that that post will be even longer than this one.
So, I love you all. Ciao! Chi vediamo domani (I think this is the correct way to write "see you tomorrow")
The lasanga... good, but very different. There is still layers of cheese and noodles, and sauce, and meat, but it isn't the same at all! First of all, there is no ricotta cheese in it. there also isn't very much sauce. They only put meat on the top layer, well, right underneath the giant layer of...cheese. It is very creamy and cheesy. very good!
Are there Americans at church? I have only met one american, besides the missionaries, at church. The father of the famly is from Utah, and the wife is Japanese. They moved here a couple years ago to work for Boeing and will be leaving in another couple years. I found out just today that they live in the same quad as me, so you might be able to see their apartment in one of the pictures that I posted last week. This is kind of nice, i'm hoping that I will be able to get a ride to and from church with them. Even though the building is only a mile away, that is a mile that I would rather not walk in high heels. Today I wore tennis shoes there, changed into my church shoes, and then walked home in my tennis shoes again. I think it took me half the time to get there!
Any potential suitors? I love the YSA in this ward. There aren't very many, but they are super nice and lots of fun. as for dating any of them... ... I guess we'll see. I don't think I am heading in that direction any time soon. :)
What do I do in my free time? Well, I generally take walks around town, read, study italian, go out with the YSA... I'm starting to do more and more things with other people, but generally during the day I stay at home. I've read a couple of books, but none that I would reccommend. If there are any that you would, please let me know! There is an english book store near my house, so I might go purchase a few. As for my adventures around town, that will be covered later.
Will I come back speaking Italian? Certo! (of course) I'm learning slowly, but I pick up more and more every day. I have an italian textbook that I have been working my way through, and I also have started to read the BoM in Italian. I think the thing that is helping me out most is my little background in spanish. The two languages are very similar.
Did they like the gifts I gave them? Yes, I think so. I gave them each a book ( But no elephants, and Wacky Wednesday), and then I gave Eugenia some beads for bracelet making, and Tommaso a Cleveland Cavaliers baseball hat. Eugenia has claimed both the books as her own, and we have made a bracelet together with the beads I gave her. Benedetta says that the hat is to nice for Tom to wear to school, so it is sitting on his desk looking pretty. :)
Am I using my laptop? Yes... and no. It still does not have internet connection, but at this point I doubt that it ever will. I do use it though. I have made playlists for both kids of songs I think they would like and we listen to them while doing other things. I also have a program with a bunch of mini-games on it which the kids like to play on. They love those games, so it is easy to use as an incentive to get them to do things like homework and picking up after themselves. So, yes, I use my computer, just not for internet.
Is the food any good? I am happy to report that I love the food here. I have tried everything they have put on the table, except for this one pasta dish with calamari in it, but that doesn't really count because I wasn't at home for that meal. Benedetta is a great cook. It is amazing to me that she can whip out such good meals in such a short amount of time. More on food later.
Have I cracked open the peanut butter yet? Yes I have. Actually, I have finished my jar of peanut butter. What is really amazing to me is that while I was at college, I barely touched peanut butter. I had half of a jar on my shelf for the entire year last year. I honestly think that the only reason why I went through my jar so fast was for two reasons, 1) it was american 2) I didn't have anything else to snack on! These both continue to be issues for me. Just yesterday I went into a mini grocery store and found that when I got to the checkout, I had picked up mostly american items including pringles and "american cookies" (chocolate chip cookies). Actually the second one isn't really an issue any more. I have been snacking on fruit, grissini (very crunchy breadsticks, which they always have around), chocolate, and a block of extremely aged parmegano reggiano. In fact, it is aged 30 months and the flavor is so strong I can hardly stand to eat more than a square cm. They also sometimes have these balls of rubbery mozerella cheese that are good to. I'm trying a lot of new kinds of cheese, and they are mostly all great! So far I have already tried 3 different varieties of mozzerella cheese alone!
As for Fabio #1 - He seemed very nice. He was probably in his 40's which is what creeped me out the most about him. I think that in general this is very socially acceptable here. (Fabio #1 is the name my family is using to refer to the man who asked me to get a drink with him while I was walking home from church).
Have I started my Italian class yet? Unfortunately, no. The class doesn't start until September, it is just like a normal school year. In the mean time, I have been using my textbook and reading the BoM in Italian, which I think I have already said earlier in this post.
And the last question to answer... Is there grass anywhere nearby? Not really. There is a small park with a jungle gym about 2 blocks away, and there are a couple large parks a little further away. I'm told though that these generally aren't good areas to play at because there is some danger of stepping on used syringes/needles when you wander into the grass.
wow, that is a lot! I'm afraid that if I write too much in one blog that you will get bored or not have time to read it all. So, this will be all for tonight, but I promise, I PROMISE, that I will write the rest tomorrow. In fact, I have already made notes for everything that I want to write about, and I bet that that post will be even longer than this one.
So, I love you all. Ciao! Chi vediamo domani (I think this is the correct way to write "see you tomorrow")
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The rest of my trip
Well, my flights were pretty uneventful. I reached Philadelphia with no trouble, and then changed my cash to euros and called home to check in. I just arrived in the Rome Airport. I was a little worried at first because I had no idea where to go! But I followed the crowd until I saw a desk for my airline, Alitalia. I stopped and asked them where I needed to go, and they told me to go back upstairs (where I just was). I had to go through security screening again, and then I walked a long ways from terminal C to Terminal A. I was walking towards the signs pointing to terminal A when all of a sudden there was a bunch of DO NOT ENTER signs. So I had to go get more directions. Finally I found the right place to go and proceeded through immigration. I was never asked to see my ongoing ticket, my return ticket, or my letter of sponsorship from Matteo. It was so easy! The immigration man just asked me for my passport, asked me why I was going to Torino (in SUCH a cool accent, with emphasis on the “why”), stamped my passport and then told me that Torino is a beautiful city.
However, I still didn’t know where to go since my flight was changed. I wandered around Terminal A for a bit until I found another Alitalia desk and asked them what gate I was supposed to go to. They printed me off a ticket, and now I am sitting here next to gate A 12 with about 2 hours to spare.
In total I have asked about 8 people if they “parla inglese?” All 8 of then gave me a look that said very clearly “are you kidding? I can’t believe you just asked me that. Of COURSE I speak English.”
Other details…
I sat by a nice, experienced traveler, named Jane from Syracuse, on my flight from Philly to Rome. Brooke Bradley told me to meet one new person a day, so Brooke, I met Jane, and that counts for May 5th, because I met her yesterday! She was traveling with her sister all over Italy, Germany, and France.
They served “two” meals on my transatlantic flight. Dinner was a wheat roll, a leafy green salad with two cherry tomatoes and creamy pepper dressing, penne pasta in a creamy red sauce, carrot cake, and a Ghirardelli chocolate square. Our second meal was breakfast, which was an apple Danish and juice.
I tried to sleep on that flight, but it just didn’t happen! I ended up watching a movie about a man who adopts a child who believes that he came from Mars. It was interesting. And I listened to music, and star gazed for a while. I even got to see a shooting star!
Something ironic…
When I got on my first flight this morning I turned on my mp3 player to shuffle, and the second song that came on was Leaving on a Jet Plane. Ha! This song was followed by about 5 other songs that all had very poignant lines that applied to my situation.
Ciao!
P.s. I am now at home in Torino. The house is very nice and everything went well! We are having lasanga for dinner tonight.
However, I still didn’t know where to go since my flight was changed. I wandered around Terminal A for a bit until I found another Alitalia desk and asked them what gate I was supposed to go to. They printed me off a ticket, and now I am sitting here next to gate A 12 with about 2 hours to spare.
In total I have asked about 8 people if they “parla inglese?” All 8 of then gave me a look that said very clearly “are you kidding? I can’t believe you just asked me that. Of COURSE I speak English.”
Other details…
I sat by a nice, experienced traveler, named Jane from Syracuse, on my flight from Philly to Rome. Brooke Bradley told me to meet one new person a day, so Brooke, I met Jane, and that counts for May 5th, because I met her yesterday! She was traveling with her sister all over Italy, Germany, and France.
They served “two” meals on my transatlantic flight. Dinner was a wheat roll, a leafy green salad with two cherry tomatoes and creamy pepper dressing, penne pasta in a creamy red sauce, carrot cake, and a Ghirardelli chocolate square. Our second meal was breakfast, which was an apple Danish and juice.
I tried to sleep on that flight, but it just didn’t happen! I ended up watching a movie about a man who adopts a child who believes that he came from Mars. It was interesting. And I listened to music, and star gazed for a while. I even got to see a shooting star!
Something ironic…
When I got on my first flight this morning I turned on my mp3 player to shuffle, and the second song that came on was Leaving on a Jet Plane. Ha! This song was followed by about 5 other songs that all had very poignant lines that applied to my situation.
Ciao!
P.s. I am now at home in Torino. The house is very nice and everything went well! We are having lasanga for dinner tonight.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Flying Away
Well, my bags are packed and I ready to go…cause I’m leaving on a jet plane! Don’t know when I’ll be back again.
Seriously though, I’m sitting here in the Denver airport writing this post on my laptop with the free Wi-fi. I’ve been packing for the past 4 days, and I’m finally ready and leaving. Most of you know that I originally thought I would only be allowed to bring one 50 lb bag with be to Italy. However, on Saturday my mom got curious about a few things and called the airline. She found out for me that since I am allowed two bags on my first flight, they both can be taken all the way to my final destination! That was awesome news, but it meant that packing took me longer. I stayed up until about 2:30 am packing last night. I’m excited about all the extra stuff I get to bring though…computer speakers, books, more clothes, more shoes, more of everything!
I got up at 6:45 this morning to finish some things up and was planning to leave at 8 am for the airport. Dad left for work and called on his way saying the freeway was backed up and we should leave as soon as possible (this was at about… 7:30?). Anyway, we didn’t end up leaving the house until 8:15 am, and mom was nervous about getting to the airport on time. We took some other road instead of the freeway, but it turned out there was a lot of construction going on. It didn’t seem to delay us very much though; we got to the airport at about 8:55 am. Checking in took a really long time. There was no line to the counter, but when the woman tried to check me into my flight from Rome to Torino (with a different airline), it turned out that my flight had been cancelled! So we spent about 35 minutes standing around while she called the other airline and sorted things out. The other airline had bumped me to the next flight, so now I have a layover in Rome of about 4 hours instead of 2 hours. It all worked out fine besides that.
Well, they are starting to board my flight, so I gotta jet. (haha) CIAO!
Seriously though, I’m sitting here in the Denver airport writing this post on my laptop with the free Wi-fi. I’ve been packing for the past 4 days, and I’m finally ready and leaving. Most of you know that I originally thought I would only be allowed to bring one 50 lb bag with be to Italy. However, on Saturday my mom got curious about a few things and called the airline. She found out for me that since I am allowed two bags on my first flight, they both can be taken all the way to my final destination! That was awesome news, but it meant that packing took me longer. I stayed up until about 2:30 am packing last night. I’m excited about all the extra stuff I get to bring though…computer speakers, books, more clothes, more shoes, more of everything!
I got up at 6:45 this morning to finish some things up and was planning to leave at 8 am for the airport. Dad left for work and called on his way saying the freeway was backed up and we should leave as soon as possible (this was at about… 7:30?). Anyway, we didn’t end up leaving the house until 8:15 am, and mom was nervous about getting to the airport on time. We took some other road instead of the freeway, but it turned out there was a lot of construction going on. It didn’t seem to delay us very much though; we got to the airport at about 8:55 am. Checking in took a really long time. There was no line to the counter, but when the woman tried to check me into my flight from Rome to Torino (with a different airline), it turned out that my flight had been cancelled! So we spent about 35 minutes standing around while she called the other airline and sorted things out. The other airline had bumped me to the next flight, so now I have a layover in Rome of about 4 hours instead of 2 hours. It all worked out fine besides that.
Well, they are starting to board my flight, so I gotta jet. (haha) CIAO!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The House
I got an email from Matteo the other day with a floor plan for their home. Check it out (below)! My bedroom will be the one that is the first closed off room "north" of the staircase (by north I mean towards the top of your computer screen). I think it is number 11, if you can make out the print! Since I finally figured out how to add pictures, i'll post a few more of the family that they sent me... okay, just one :)
This is a picture of the kids and Benedetta on a skiing vacation. They are a few years older now.
This is a picture of the kids and Benedetta on a skiing vacation. They are a few years older now.
Friday, March 14, 2008
What a Summer!
I just got an email from the family detailing what I will be doing this summer while the kids are out of school, and I must say, I will be busy!!! Take a look:
May - Last month for Tommaso and Eugenia school and for their activities (basket, swimming, skating,…) Your first week end here there will be a party for their birthdays on Saturday morning with all their friends (about 30), usually we do it on a soccer field
June - We are trying to book a week holiday at the sea side for the middle of june. Should be in the south of italy. Last week of june till middle july you are expected to stay with the kidos (and the grandparents) in the mountains. It is a big house where stay on different level also some cousins. The house is in a natural park about 100 km from Torino.
July - From the middle of july for 2 weeks, you will stay in the mountains (in Courmayeur, small tipical village 180 km from Torino,in a flat, at the feet of Monte Bianco, the highest mountains in Europe), with Eugenia for an intensive ice skatting camp. With you 2 in our flat there will be also 2 Eugenia friends. Tommaso during this period will do a camp for basket with his team.
August - Will be spend in the mountains again in Bardonecchia, 100 km from Turin, in my parents holiday flat, with all us 5 and for some period also my parents.
September - First 2 weeks will be always holidays, maybe in the country side to prepare the grape harvest (we produce a small quantity of wine, 100km from Torino). Somewhen we would like to have another week at the sea side, but we do not know when.
15 of September school start again, but this will be another chapter.
I'm getting so excited!!!
May - Last month for Tommaso and Eugenia school and for their activities (basket, swimming, skating,…) Your first week end here there will be a party for their birthdays on Saturday morning with all their friends (about 30), usually we do it on a soccer field
June - We are trying to book a week holiday at the sea side for the middle of june. Should be in the south of italy. Last week of june till middle july you are expected to stay with the kidos (and the grandparents) in the mountains. It is a big house where stay on different level also some cousins. The house is in a natural park about 100 km from Torino.
July - From the middle of july for 2 weeks, you will stay in the mountains (in Courmayeur, small tipical village 180 km from Torino,in a flat, at the feet of Monte Bianco, the highest mountains in Europe), with Eugenia for an intensive ice skatting camp. With you 2 in our flat there will be also 2 Eugenia friends. Tommaso during this period will do a camp for basket with his team.
August - Will be spend in the mountains again in Bardonecchia, 100 km from Turin, in my parents holiday flat, with all us 5 and for some period also my parents.
September - First 2 weeks will be always holidays, maybe in the country side to prepare the grape harvest (we produce a small quantity of wine, 100km from Torino). Somewhen we would like to have another week at the sea side, but we do not know when.
15 of September school start again, but this will be another chapter.
I'm getting so excited!!!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Plane Ticket
I went to the BYU travel office yesterday to purchase the plane ticket they had been holding for me, but my agent told me that servers were down all over the nation, and she hadn't been able to do anything for the last four hours. I sat there for a few minutes and talked to her about some other travel stuff, and all the sudden it started to work again! So I was able to buy my ticket, and this is my itinerary:
May 5 -
US Airways 1676 11:10 am Depart from Denver 3 hr 31 min flight
4:44 pm Arrival in Philidelphia
US Airways 718 6:05 pm Depart from Philidelphia 8 hr 40 min flight
May 6-
8:45 am Arrive in Rome
Alitalia 1421 11:20 am Depart from Rome 1 hr 15 min flight
12:35 pm Arrive in Turin
Then I will go through customs and Matteo will pick me up. The first ticket cost $539.40, and the second cost $126.90, so it was expensive for me, but pretty cheap in respect to the other $1500 one way tickets I saw. Yay!
May 5 -
US Airways 1676 11:10 am Depart from Denver 3 hr 31 min flight
4:44 pm Arrival in Philidelphia
US Airways 718 6:05 pm Depart from Philidelphia 8 hr 40 min flight
May 6-
8:45 am Arrive in Rome
Alitalia 1421 11:20 am Depart from Rome 1 hr 15 min flight
12:35 pm Arrive in Turin
Then I will go through customs and Matteo will pick me up. The first ticket cost $539.40, and the second cost $126.90, so it was expensive for me, but pretty cheap in respect to the other $1500 one way tickets I saw. Yay!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
The Phone Call
This afternoon after church I got to talk to my italian family for the first time. I was kind of nervous before hand because I had no idea what they were expecting, but it turned out fine. I got to talk to everyone but Nene, who it turns out is very shy. They all speak english very well. I talked to Matteo first, and he basically reassured me about going through customs and not having a visa, etc., told me that they have everything I need "housewise" (bedding, food, etc). He was very jovial. Then I talked with Bendetta. The first thing she said to me was, "I am very curious, because in your picture (one of our whole fam from last summer) you are all wearing blue and brown. Um, is this normal?" I had to laugh and explain to her why we were all matching, which she though was a hilariously strange thing to do in a picture. She was also concerned about the time of year that I was coming at, saying that I would be alone for a large portion of the day. Everyone will be out of the house from 8 am in the morning...the children come home from school at 4, but the parents won't return until 7pm. I think that I will probably be lonely, but I think it will be fine. Then she said, "okay, now I pass you to the tall one (tommasso)." His english was pretty good, but we didn't say much. He plays basketball so I asked him who his favorite team was (Cleveland Cavaliers) and that was about it. Then he "passed me to the short one (Eugena)" who ran away and I was told hid behind the couch. :) I am very excited to go, they seem very open and friendly.
Other random information I learned...
They will have a car for me to use (i don't know to what extent), and also a bike.
Bendetta goes out to sing Kareoke every wednesday night.
Matteo turned 41 last week and is not happy about getting old.
I will spend 3 weeks with the kids and their grandparents away from home in the summer, probably in the mountains.
They are also more than happy to talk to my parents, so I will probably be sending you their email address soon. :) I know that you must have some burning questions for them.
Other random information I learned...
They will have a car for me to use (i don't know to what extent), and also a bike.
Bendetta goes out to sing Kareoke every wednesday night.
Matteo turned 41 last week and is not happy about getting old.
I will spend 3 weeks with the kids and their grandparents away from home in the summer, probably in the mountains.
They are also more than happy to talk to my parents, so I will probably be sending you their email address soon. :) I know that you must have some burning questions for them.
Friday, February 29, 2008
The First Event
Well, I suppose that today is officially the first day of "la mia vita italiana" (my Italian life). I have been looking for an Italian family to Au Pair for since Christmas, and now I have finally found one! They are a wonderful family and live in Turin, Italia (Torino, Italy) and I am so excited to meet them. Here is a general gist of what I know about them so far...
MATTEO - Father
Name Matteo
Nickname Teo
Age 40
Height 188 cm
School: graduate in economics; manager in an automotive company
Sports swimming, cycling, skiing, running (marathons)
Hobbies reading, running marathons
Languages Good German, English I think now you have an idea.
BENEDETTA - Mother
Name Benedetta
Nickname Benny
Age 40
Height 160 cm
School: graduate in physics, she works as a researcher in an R&D centre
Sports swimming, cycling, skiing
Hobbies reading, theatre, chatting with friends, cooking
Languages Good English and French.
TOMMASO - Son
Name Tommaso
Nickname Tom
Age 12
Height 155 cm
School 1st year of secondary school from September, good performance
Sports basket(team), swimming(team), cycling, skiing, running, soccer
Hobbies watching sports on tv; playing with friends
Very active, he wants always playing with the ball, very very very generous and helpful. We call him also Little Bear because he is really very near to what should be a bear cub. He likes to have friends at home playing with them. We spend a lot of time together, he cycles and I run for hours on Sunday, we ski also together and we are very close-knit. He is very curious and ask about everything he hears and sees.
My friends call him “why boy” because never stops to make questions.
Languages Basic English, very good Italian.
EUGENIA - Daughter
Name Eugenia
Nickname Nene the Princess
Age 9
Height 125 cm
School: 3rd classroom primary school from September, top performance
Sports swimming, cycling, skiing, ice-skating(team)
Hobbies playing with dolls and drawing
She is my Princess, a bit snob, with her strong ideas but loving and tender as nobody else.
She loves ice skating, the other activities she does if all us do as well. She spends hours playing with dolls and teaching them what she learns at school. She is very clever, likes to go to school and she want always to be irreproachable.
Basic English , very good Italian. She never stops talking, she is our mobile radio.
I am going to talk to them on the phone on Sunday, so i'll post more after that!
Ciao ciao,
Tiffany
MATTEO - Father
Name Matteo
Nickname Teo
Age 40
Height 188 cm
School: graduate in economics; manager in an automotive company
Sports swimming, cycling, skiing, running (marathons)
Hobbies reading, running marathons
Languages Good German, English I think now you have an idea.
BENEDETTA - Mother
Name Benedetta
Nickname Benny
Age 40
Height 160 cm
School: graduate in physics, she works as a researcher in an R&D centre
Sports swimming, cycling, skiing
Hobbies reading, theatre, chatting with friends, cooking
Languages Good English and French.
TOMMASO - Son
Name Tommaso
Nickname Tom
Age 12
Height 155 cm
School 1st year of secondary school from September, good performance
Sports basket(team), swimming(team), cycling, skiing, running, soccer
Hobbies watching sports on tv; playing with friends
Very active, he wants always playing with the ball, very very very generous and helpful. We call him also Little Bear because he is really very near to what should be a bear cub. He likes to have friends at home playing with them. We spend a lot of time together, he cycles and I run for hours on Sunday, we ski also together and we are very close-knit. He is very curious and ask about everything he hears and sees.
My friends call him “why boy” because never stops to make questions.
Languages Basic English, very good Italian.
EUGENIA - Daughter
Name Eugenia
Nickname Nene the Princess
Age 9
Height 125 cm
School: 3rd classroom primary school from September, top performance
Sports swimming, cycling, skiing, ice-skating(team)
Hobbies playing with dolls and drawing
She is my Princess, a bit snob, with her strong ideas but loving and tender as nobody else.
She loves ice skating, the other activities she does if all us do as well. She spends hours playing with dolls and teaching them what she learns at school. She is very clever, likes to go to school and she want always to be irreproachable.
Basic English , very good Italian. She never stops talking, she is our mobile radio.
I am going to talk to them on the phone on Sunday, so i'll post more after that!
Ciao ciao,
Tiffany
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