First, I would like to say a Merry Christmas, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad....to everyone. :) I don't know anymore languages...sorry. Yesterday was by far one of the longest days that I have spent here in Italia. It started with me waking up at roughly 9:00 to find my host mother already out of the house, my host father on the computer, and my host sister preparing to go to a bar for breakfast. I slowly took my time eating breakfast...there as no rush. Then, at about 10:00 or so, my assitant, Mariangela, called and asked if I would like to spend the day with her and her family. Um....yes!!!! I got ready as fast as I could without looking like I was overeager. By about 10:40, I finally managed to get out the door (It didn't take me that long to get ready though). The 15-20 minute walk to her house took more like a half an hour because of all the people milling about the shops, perhaps making last minute holiday purchases. When I got to her house, it was just her and me. Her husband was out doing something and her daughter was on the upper floor reading. We took this time to talk, seeing as she is my assitant. Her husband's sister eventually showed up and all I remember about the conversation at this time is that she had taken a trip to the United States. I remember that she had gone to New York and Miami. She had memorized prices of so many clothing and food items that she had bought and eaten. I think that it was because for them, the prices in the United States are low. It is not expensive for them to travel to the States. She described all the prices and a huge steak that she had at a steakhouse. Anyway, Mariangela's husband showed up. We talked for some more. People are constantly surprised at how much Italian I understand. They can talk at their normal pace and I can keep up. Eventually, the sister left and Mariangela, her husband, her daughter, and I all went to a different part of the city to pick up some chairs. In the car, her daughter and I, who have similar tastes in practically everything, talked about food, life here in Italia versus life in the United States, and music. We listened to anything from Queen, to music from the original Dirty Dancing, to older Italian music, to the music from Moulin Rouge. Both of us knew the words for the music to Moulin Rouge, so we were singing along. It was a lot of fun. :) At the home decoration store where we were to pick up the chairs, her daughter, Giulia, and I walked around looking at all of the items, sitting on the couches....you know...what you usually do in furnature stores. There was this electronic cube that somehow controlled the lights in a certain section. We couldn't figure out how it worked. When we left the store with the new chairs, we headed to a far part of the city in the opposite direction. More music listening time! We went to the house of Mariangela's parents. It was adorable. Their house was situated right on a little canal. It didn't feel like we were in part of, what appears to me to be, a big city. We had a big family lunch. For them, they celebrate Christmas with a lunch and a dinner on Christmas Eve and another lunch on Christmas Day. They stay up until midnight on Christmas Eve and then open their presents. I met relatives of theirs from Rome and had fun talking with everyone. The food was delicious as well. We had spaghetti with squid ink. It is literally spaghetti in a black sauce, so the dish is black. It is delicious. Then, we also had eggplants stuffed with something or other that was also delicious. There was also a fish dish with potatoes that I never tried because I was too full and a fried fish dish. These little fried fish were boned, but other than that, they were whole. I have never exactly seen that before. For dessert, there was a round of nuts (cracking open nuts and eating them), dried figs, and a Napolitean dessert. Something fried with kind of an orange sauce. I can't remember the name...it was in dialect and started with an S. Oh well. It was delicious though. :) We returned to Mariangela's house, where Mariangela, her husband, and I had a coffee. All of us, including Giulia, were falling asleep. Giulia doesn't drink coffee though, so she went and took a nap. After drinking coffee, Mariangela and her husband immediately started to cook for the dinner that evening. They said that they usually start way before that time so that there is more time at the end of the day, but this year it hadn't worked that way. Mariangela and I left to do some last minute grocery shopping for the meal. At the house, I talked with them, watched them cook (their kitchen was small, there was literally no way that I could help them cook), and flipped through one of their cookbooks. I even helped set their table. It was a lot of fun watching them cook and talking to them. They were having fun cooking, although it was stressful being behind. Eventually, at about 7:10, I walked back home because we were going to a relative's house for dinner. My family said that we had to be there by 8:30, but we were there more around 9. That is how it works here in Italy. :) It was kind of like a huge potluck, but more delicious. There was a lot of family; I don't even know how many people...maybe 20, 25. Maurizio dressed up as Babo Natale (Santa Claus) and brought presents to the three little ones. Two of the three were completely terrorized. They immediately started to cry. The older one, Costanza (3 years), was the easiest to pull back together. All she needed to see was that Babo Natale was actually Maurizio. The two babies stayed scared. They opened presents from Santa Claus that Maurizio had brought on Santa's orders. We all at antipasti, which included little salmon and cream cheese sandwiches, a plate of olives, cheese, meats....etc., bread, olive bread, crackers, dried figs....among other things. In the mean time, the little children played with their new toys and everyone talked. The rest of the food was ravioli, crepes (a bake with cheese, bechamel, and prociutto), a swordfish bake of some kind with eggplants, and a meat dish. For fruit, there were kabobs of various fruit cut out in different shapes and fichi d'India (prickly pear cactus fruit). Some decided to have their kabobs with carmelized sugar on it. For dessert, there was bianco e nero, a chocolate cake in the form of a tree, some kind of lemon cake, and a platter of various little pastries. This meal and social gathering lasted until 2:00 in the morning. 2:00!!!! I talked with some cousins and they said that at midnight, people go out and wish their friends a Buon Natale, play cards, go dancing at the discoteca...or go to mass. The members of this family were among the non-mass attending population. I recived a present too! It was a knitted black neck warmer and one of those hot water containers for keeping yourself warm...you know what I am talking about right? It is in the shape of a heart. Anyway, in the wee hours of the morning, we all came back home and immediately went to bed.
That brings us to today, Christmas Day. Right now, it is about 9:15 and most of the rest of the family is asleep. We are opening presents today and I don't know what else. I will update more later about the actual Christmas Day.
Update on other things that I have done: I went ice skating. Yes, you heard right, I went ice skating in Sicily. In the fiera, they set up a small rink. When I went, it was melting and not flat...very dangerous. I have only ice skating once in my life before this and that was two years ago. Needless to say, I was terrible. The wooden rails on the edge were my best friends, and for good reasons too. There was a girl who feel and broke one of her front teeth out. There was blood and she was crying...it wasn't pretty. I didn't want to hurt myself. I went with my sister, two of her friends, and one of the friend's boyfriends. Her friends helped me out. :)
Anyway, more later on the rest of Christmas. Buon Natale!!!!
Ciao! Love, Rebecca
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