La Prima Settimana con la mia Famiglia Ospitante

Today marks 1 week at my host family, and 10 days in Italy! So far I love it so much and I honestly can't write down everything that's happened because I would be here all day but I'm going to write the highlights for me so far :)

My chicken salad

Cool lights

The first day at my host family my host sister, Marta and I met my host Mum and her friends for lunch in the center. The lunch was great but the most amazing bit was... we went on Marta's scooter! I sat on the back and it was so cool, I could see all around Cesena on the way and ahhh I just loved it so much, felt so Italian. The cafe was so cute! It was decorated so nicely with rope and loose lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling if that makes sense and all sorts of cool decor. I ordered insalata di pollo (chicken salad). It was honestly ammmmmaazinnng! Even though it was just a chicken salad it was the best chicken salad in the world I'm sure. I rode home with Marta on the scooter which I love so, so, so much! They don't wear any protective gear apart from a helmet thank god because it's so hot but I felt weird riding with shorts and a singlet on anyway.

Cesenatico

The same day I went to the beach with my host Mum where I met some of my other host sister who is in Honduras' friends. The beach was called Cesenatico and so different to NZ! We had to wade out really far before it was deep enough to swim. Everyone else thought it was cold but compared to the temperature we normally swim at in nz it was really warm. Everyone at the beach was so tanned, and I mean everyone! It didn't bother me much it was just so strange to be the only pale one on the whole beach and it was one big beach. The beach was covered in loungers and umbrellas, also with a volleyball court and shops on the beach. Also I didn't get burnt and this is pretty huge for me since I wasn't being very careful either, and it was way hotter than in NZ. A man came up to us trying to sell us jewellery at one point too. So different to a kiwi beach.

My gelato mmmmm

One of my host sister's friends called Giorgia was so lovely and we went to get gelato together. Giorgia has a beach house in Cesenatico so she goes there every year for the summer and knows the area really well. She said she has tried all of the gelato shops and the one we went to was the best by far. I chose pesca e mela verde (peach and green apple) and it was so tasty. I can't even describe it it was like doughy almost but in a delicious way. We went swimming and saw the Italian lifeguards who are on those kind of boats which you stand up on and paddle. We also saw a huge jelly fish in the water about 40cm across, it was the biggest one I've ever seen!


When we arrived home Marta was making dinner and they told me that 2 of her friends, Federico and Lucia were coming over. After dinner we had planned to watch 'Across the Universe' but it was 11 by the time we finished so Federico said he would take Marta, Lucia and I for a drive so we could listen to some music and I could see more of the town at night. I sat in the front because in his words "it's the best experience". His car was so posh and they told me he also has a red Vespa! So jealous!

He told me I could be DJ and first I played Lorde because I'd just been telling Marta about her that day. They all seemed to like her music and we had it up so loud it was amazing! They all have really good music taste. They all said they like the Naked and Famous too so we had Young Blood blaring for a while and I felt like I was in a movie hahaha I seriously did, it was so much fun. He drove us up to the church in Cesena which is on a really high hill and you could see the whole town. We all talked, mostly in English though and if not it was always Marta as a translator because the other two have limited English. We must have been out about an hour and a half just driving, talking and listening to the music. All in all it was such a great night, I'm so lucky to have such an amazing host sister.

Cesena by night

The next day in the evening Marta and I went to Federico's house to watch a movie. We were going to watch Monsters University but we couldn't find a good stream so after trying out some other movies we ended up watching music videos and videos from concerts that Federico has been to, which were a lot haha. I think I'm going to have a much better music taste after this year. It was about 1am when we left and Federico drove us home with his usual scary driving, not fast or anything but he just takes his hands off the wheel ALL THE TIME.

The next morning I woke up and went down for breakfast. I love Italian breakfast! They eat the type of stuff that we would have for dessert in NZ; cake, chocolate, biscuits etc. Next I got ready and Chiara took me to Cesena on the way to work. There I met Giorgia and her family. Her sister Viola is also super nice and I can't believe I was worried about what Italian teenagers would be like, they are all so sweet. I liked the market but I don't know if I'll buy much there. It all seems like made in china cheap clothing but there were some nice things like scarves and jewelry.

On Thursday Chiara's Mum came to stay until this morning and she's like the typical Italian Nonna! She was so lovely but only spoke Italian. She still talked to me so much even though I barely understood a thing haha. She told me that next time she comes we will have a full conversation, but Chiara told me that's in 2 weeks so I highly doubt that...

Cesena fountain and our new cafe

Another day I biked into Cesena to meet my friend, Ida from Denmark. I had been shown the way once by Chiara and the journey should have taken me about 25 minutes by bike BUT it took me around 45. I didn't have much trouble to get to Cesena but I got to the barierra which is one of the main landmarks and couldn't find my way to the fountain where we had arranged to meet. I walked around trying to find the way until I finally used my Italian "tu parli inglese?" Hahaha and I found the way. I was so relieved to see Ida and her host sister!!

Ida and I went into a little cafe "bar piccolo" in the square because we didn't want to go far and get lost haha. We ordered "due cappuccini" and sat outside to drink them. We decided this would be our usual cafe and we would meet there once a week or so, and especially once just before we leave Italy to mark the beginning and the end of our adventure here. We both feel so at home here it's strange because we feel like we've been here forever and don't have any worries really. I'm so excited for the year ahead!

Our coffee

When we reached my bike again the chain had come off so I had to put that back on and was so black after but we said goodbye and I started to bike home. BUT I got lost again! I think I just took one wrong turn but I ended up biking for 35 minutes before I decided to start again from the fountain. When I got home Chiara and Marta were opening the door to come out and find me! I felt so bad but they were just laughing and saying it didn't matter. To add to the fact I got lost my chain came off the bike so when I got back I was half black with the oil stuff after putting it back on hahahhaa. Even though it was annoying getting lost the whole time I was thinking "I'm going to laugh about this so much later" and I know my real family in NZ will be laughing at me when they read this too. Now that it's happened I'm happy I got lost because I don't think I'll do it again and it's going to be a great story to tell.


Another day I went to IKEA with my host family and this won't seem like a highlight for most people but I'm putting this in here for my Mum because she'll be really excited. We had lunch there too and it was so yum. I had a tomato and eggplant pasta mmmmmmmmm.

Fran, Ida and I at the AFS meeting

Today we had our first AFS meeting which was with all of the students from Forli, Cesena, Ravenna and Rimini I think. We had to introduce ourselves in Italian and then we all just hung out, had a shared lunch and went to the beach. It was heaps of fun and they said that they would be arranging trips for us woohoo.

Bombolone

Another highlight is one word, FOOD! I've tried so many new things since being in Italy and surprisingly (Min) I have liked everything :O Chiara took me to her favourite cafe one day and I tried a real Italian coffee which was in a teeny cup and only came up about 2cm. It was really yum but pretty different to what I'm used to. One day Gabriella (Nonna) made pasta and I think it was the first time I have tried homemade pasta and it was delicious! They told me that it is a traditional dish of Emilia-Romagna, the pasta had pumpkin and meat sauce inside and is called "Cappellacci con Zucca". Another thing I've tried is Bombolone which is a pastry thing with custardy cream inside, apparently it's typically Italian. Then obviously pizza, gelato mmmmm I'm hungry thinking about this... but yeah I'm trying to give everything a go, today I even had a piece of quiche which I liked and I normally hate egg so yeah all Italian food is good. So, so, so good!