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I am now in Bastia Umbra, part of the absolutely gorgeous Umbria. So…a little about my host family:
Michela is a doctor with three kids - Fillipo, 11; GianMarco, 9; and Maddelena, 3. They live in the top two floors of an apartment building here. Michela speaks pretty good English, but we go back and forth between Italian and English. By we, I mean her and her children speak Italian, and I try to pick up on what the heck is going on. She mostly buys all organic food, which is amazing and also not the norm for Italians apparently. Another tutor and I are staying together here, and it’s been nice to have someone with me too! The boys know a little English, but Maddelena doesn’t. She comes up to me and talks to me in Italian. When I look at her like I don’t understand she looks at me like, “What is wrong with you that you can’t even understand a three year old?” Today we all swam and ate at Michella’s Dad’s hotel/villa in the country, where he makes his own honey, jam, wine and beer.
Although it’s only been one week together, I really do miss all my orientation friends! The last few days were so much fun what with the dancing, karaoke, beach, etc. (Oh yeah, I went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea the other day!) It’s funny, because everyone found those people that they got along with so perfectly that it seemed like you’d been friends forever, or at least before orientation. I’m really hoping I get placed with more of them next week too…
