Host Family

I feel that I need to dedicate at least on entry to my wonderful host family, Franco, Luigia, Virginia and Lucrezia Runfola. I was hoping to put up some pictures of them as well, but only Virginia is home at the moment, and she is doing math homework, so it will have to wait. But soon...so for now, these are pictures of the lovely house I have had the pleasure of sharing with them for the past two months.

So, first of all Franco. Okay, granted I do not know that many Italian men. But of the ones I have met, he is among the kindest. He is so good at slowing down when speaking Italian to me and genuinely seems to want to help me understand. He also is very interested in learning the English words for things. Often during dinner he will point to a food item and ask, "Come si dice questo in inglese?" So far he has found the words "strawberry" and "mushroom" most amusing.

Where do I even begin with Luigia. The Italian word to describe her is chiachierone (please excuse the spelling) which means talkative. But also, generoso. She makes us wonderful dinners everynight, lets us use the washing machine (may not seem like a big deal, but it is 10 euro at a laudramat) and basically just takes care of us. One day a few weeks ago I was feeling homesick and I had a bit of a cold and hadn't slept well, so just an all around bad day. Luigia asked what was wrong and after I attempted to explain to her in Italian, we moved to the computer and began using google translate to communicate. It was hilarious. Once she understood what I was feeling she said something like, "But you are in Italy, you have Luigia, be happy!' then, "Oh, I know banana!" and proceeded to offer me a banana. Keep in mind all of this was in Italian. Anytime someone is feeling down Luigia's solution is a banana. And you know what, I think it works. I felt much better after the banana.

Then there are my adorable host sisters, Virginia and Lucrezia. I have always wanted sisters and now I have two. And the thing is, they remind me of Olivia sometimes, and I have realized that I did have a sister at home. But anyway, they are both cute as can be and so kind and helpful. I am knitting them little fingerless mittens and when I gave Virginia hers she loved them so much she hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks. She is great when it comes to help with Italian homework. And sometimes I help her with her English homework. She and I have very similar taste in movies and books. I am going to try to get her and Lucrezia to watch Gilmore Girls with me. Lucrezia is just so silly. Unfortunately there is not an Italian equivolent of the word silly. She spends most of her time texting her boyfriend and making silly jokes to all of us. But she is so sweet too. Right now she is on a school trip in France, but when she returns I will give her the fingerless mittens I made.

I am so lucky to be living with this family. There are wonderful. I am going to miss them a lot when I return to the States.