Ciao da Italia!!

Ciao! Come stai?

Contrary to what you might think, I actually do not know much Italian. I'm learning slowly but surely. One of my Italian brothers has been teaching me many words on our frequent bike trips around the city. I know many little phrases but not complete sentences.

I seriously could not have picked a better place to study abroad. I absolutely love it here. The first few days were extremely rough because of the HUGE language barrier. But we are all adjusting to each other and things are going well!

I apologize if my English sounds weird. I have pretty much forgotten how to speak proper "Americano." Here, I have to speak slowly and enunciate each syllable. I cannot use any slang, including the word "y'all," which is extremely difficult. Also, when I talk, I pause between phrases and sound like I am explaining something. The tone of my voice goes up at the end of each phrase; it's the weirdest thing. I video chatted my American brother today and he told me I was talking funny.

At least I'm in Italy, right?!

A few observations thus far:

-They do not have peanut butter. Good thing I brought a jar from home. My family tried it tonight and I think they liked it. Of course they could have been saying that it was gross...I don't understand Italian so they can say whatever they want.

-The toilets are all so different. None of them have handles to flush with; some have strings from the ceiling and others have buttons on the wall. Some have seats, some don't, and some are just holes in the ground. You never know what you're going to find when you go to il bagno.

-The grocery stores smell like fish. Gross. They also have rolling baskets. Picture our baskets that we carry with a long handle. People look very funny pulling around large orange baskets.

-The Smurfs are a hit over here. Except they call them "Puffi," not Smurfs.

-These people eat too much food. Way too much. They have three-course-meals at lunch and dinner (pranzo e chena). At each meal, they tell me I eat like a bird. They don't understand that a huge bowl of pasta is one meal in America, not an appetizer before a second course of meat, bread, and two vegetables.

-Driving here is terrifying. Enough said.

I'll tell some more stories later. Tonight I need to sleep. Just wanted to give you all a little update! Ciao ciao!