Forever Italy Obsessed
It is Monday, January the 19th here in Pinerolo, Italy. I have been with my host family (The Avondettos) for ten days now. I planned on blogging a lot more, but I have been busy since my arrival, so I will backtrack in order to tell a better story.
I arrived at the Milan airport on January the 8th with little sleep, running on adrenaline. Of course I could not sleep the night before I left the country, but also being a procrastinator I waited until the last possible hour to pack my bags. I hastily packed my bags until 1am the night before my flight. My dad dropped me off at the airport in OKC, I expected I would sob, but actually I really love talking to strangers in airports, so I just did not look at my dad for too long when he dropped me off. After a cup of coffee I was good to go! But it ended up being a very long day of traveling. I flew from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Fort Worth, Texas, and then on to New York City, New York. At the JFK airport I met up with my friend Alli, who is also teaching English in Italy.Although I did not sleep on the International flight from NY to Milan, I did get to fly over the Alps, which was really incredible! I love mountains and I always choose the window seat for a reason, the view was absolutely breathtaking. When I arrived in Milan I was expecting the airport to be modern, and stylish, but it was just an airport. Alli and I were ready for wine, but soon realized that it was 8am and that is would be wise of us to order cappuccino instead.
So on Thursday night I met with the other teachers and stayed in Torino, Italy the big city close to where we are all located. I had my first experience staying in a hostel and it was not bad at all. I met some French people and it was clean and safe. :] I then took a tour of Torino, it is a beautiful city. Alli and I had our first gelato together, before dinner! While we were in the Gelateria Hanson’s “Mmmbop” came on and we both laughed and continued to enjoy our gelato. We then went on to dinner which of course was pizza and wine. I made a new best friend Preston,from Maryland another fellow teacher.
On Friday our host families picked us up and I couldn’t wait. After a long day of traveling I was so ready to meet my family that I had been corresponding with via Snapchat, What’sapp, and Facebook. When my host family arrived I was soooo happy to see them. My host mother Elena brought Caia and Miki, my host sisters. I was shocked because they are soooo tall! I usually feel like a tall girl, but they are like 6 feet tall, the tallest Italian girls I’ve ever seen haha! I arrived at home , which is in the city center next to the church. It is a very modern flat, in a very old building. My host mother is so sweet, they all are! They take very good care of me and “the king” AKA Lucca has a great sense of humor. I could not have received a better host family. They instantly made me feel right at home, which is a good feeling when you are in a foreign country.
On the first Saturday I went shopping during the saldi (sales) in Torino with Miki (lil sis) and her friends. We shopped, had coffee at an American coffee place, hungout by the Po River and they told me about their crushes, you know what 15 year old girls do. :] So on the first day at the Liceo (High School) I knew all of the cute boys names, haha.
On Sunday we visited Serralunga D’alba, a region known for wine. Naturally, I fell in love with the beautiful countryside. The scenic drive to Serralunga was surrounded by the Alps and I couldn’t help but take it all in. We ate brunch and tasted a few types of wine at a family friend’s bar in the cutest little town. We also celebrated zio(uncle) Paolo’s birthday and ate with zia(aunt) Laura and their daughers, Valeria and Letizia. It does not get more Italian than that!
Monday was my first day of school and I then proceeded to introduce myself 18 times that week. I met a handful of Nicolos, Marcos, and Michelas. :]
Friday I met up with other teachers in the region for Aperitivo, which is like American’s happy hour , but with better food and drinks of course. I met some cool Italians that were my age! :] But I also hung out with my American, Canadian, and Australian friends. I was so proud that I took the metro alone and was able to locate my friends without using Google maps! Later in the weekend my host sister Caia had a surprise party going away party , because she will be studying in Australia for 6 months. I first felt like a 23 year old at a 17 year old’s party, oh wait I was. But then I met some cool cats that were closer to my age, or close to 20. ;]
Today was the first day to actually teach the teens something important, besides their geography by drawing Oklahoma and Texas to explain where I am from. I teach 18 classes a week, with students that have had English from 1-5 years. My 5th year English students asked me about the Je Suis Charlie terrorist attacks, and what the American reaction was. I did not follow it much until today because I was flying when the event took place, but I was able to converse with them about terrorism, freedom of speech, and I really enjoyed hearing their thoughts on the tragedy. I never would have guessed that I would be a teacher living in Italy, and also be so close to the Alps, but I am not complaining, life is good! It really makes me happy that things I studied in college are actually relevant and there is a way I can at least try to make the world a more knowledgeable community.
Learn more about Teaching English in Italy here!