I spent Monday with Greta, and Tuesday with Marco, so I would have a chance to get to know them individually. Greta was all about trying to use her English skills while teaching me some Italian- I learned my colours very well that day. We had a great time making and painting little plaster animals and drawing pictures! And then she found my phone, and I had a great time trying to figure out how to enable all the different restrictions. Apparently I should have read all those things I've seen on Pinterest about regulating iPhone usage with young kids.
Tuesday, I spent with Marco. He's a lot less likely to use English- he understands it alright (when he wants to), but is very resistant to speaking English himself. I have to say, I learned more Italian words that day than any other, just because I had to keep telling him to slow down so I could look things up! We played "Nascondino" (hide-and-seek) for a while, then built a fort out of blankets and cushions.
The first time I went into the city center was the Tuesday evening after I arrived in Italy. We took out bikes into town, and I was shown the main piazzas and landmarks. The next morning, I went back on my own, which was the first time I encountered the market, so of course everything looked COMPLETELY different! I got lost quite a few times, but I finally found the tourist information office and picked up a couple different maps. I started to find my way around, but soon realized I was depending on the market stalls to know where I was, and they won't always be there! When I went back that afternoon, it took me a while to reorient myself yet again, but I started to understand the main layout of the city.
That first Friday, I went to a dinner party at the house of some friends of the family. Everyone there spoke at least a little bit of English, so someone was always able to fill in a gap in communication. It was a really great night! At first I was super jealous of the pizza the kids were given for dinner, but then I saw what we were eating, and that jealousy immediately went away. Sandwiches made with hot bread and any number of combinations of fillings, including several different types of cheese, some cold-cut style meat, pesto made from different kinds of meat, and probably a few other things that I'm forgetting by now. After the sandwiches came gelato, of course. Then coffee, and other kinds of alcohol that I was given to try, but didn't like any of. I can think of so many people who would have thoroughly enjoyed that part of the evening, but definitely not me. I could tell they were all very delicious, but way too strong for me. We ended up leaving around midnight- I was falling asleep sitting at the table (the multiple glasses of champagne probably didn't help matters), and all the kids had passed out on the couch while watching Disney movies.
This past week was the first "normal" days of life around here. The kids were finally at school all day (the previous week had been only two half-days), and I was free during the day! I'm still working on what, exactly, to do with that free time, but I spent a lot of it walking and biking around town, practicing italian, and hanging out around the house. I went running with Gianluca once, and to the gym another time- it was great to get myself moving again, though the two-ish weeks I took off from exercise really showed. That's definitely something I'm going to focus on getting back into this week!
I did my first tourist-y thing this past week as well- I climbed the tower next to the Duomo. It is the highest brick tower in Europe! I made it to the first platform just fine- it felt very secure. However, the second platform was far more open, which scared me a lot, and I didn't even attempt the tight spiral stairs to the third. I might go back sometime when I've taken my vitamin B, and maybe have one or two people to go with.
Yesterday was a busy day, and very exhausting for my normally very introverted self. We started the day with a trip to the market, then biked to Gianluca's parents' house for lunch. They don't speak any English, so that was a big challenge for me. Elena and Gianluca translated a lot, of course, but I also did my best to use the Italian that I have picked up! Lunch was quite the adventure in and of itself- it was crazy! Very loud, and there were mosquitoes everywhere that we kept chasing around to squish. (The mosquitoes here are TERRIBLE- I get more bites every single day here than I did all summer at home.)
After a couple hours back home, it was time to go to a BBQ party with part of Elena's swim team. Let me tell you- thirty strangers and a language barrier is NOT my ideal situation! But my discomfort was relatively short-lived, and I ended up having a lot of really great discussions with a lot of different people.
Over the past couple weeks, I've been asked a lot of questions about the US. About Syria, the government in general, why Ohio is so important for elections (apparently that fact is very prominent in the news here!), what Willoughby is like, if there are a lot of (insert ethnicity here) people, and where various states and landmarks are. I feel as though I've been able to answer them all accurately and, when the government is the topic, diplomatically. All of these questions have been understandable as they're about my own opinions, or g=just general facts. I haven't really been asked a lot about american stereotypes. Until last night, that is, when someone brought up that she's been watching Sixteen and Pregnant. It took ALL of my willpower not to face-palm right then and there. Her question ended up being a lot easier than I expected- she wanted to know if it was feasible for teen moms to continue their education. But I was really worried there for a minute, especially since I've never actually seen the show before so I didn't know what she was going to be basing her observations off of!
Hopefully this week I'll get better about nailing down a daily routine, and get to see more of Cremona. Last night, every one of my conversations about sightseeing started off very bland, with the other person saying there really wasn't much to do here- until I mentioned that I am a musician. Then, it turned right into "well then Cremona is the PERFECT place for you!" I am very excited to start exploring the museums and liutaio and finding new things to do with my free time!
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