La Mia Famiglia

My tiredness hasn’t quite faded yet so please forgive my brevity, but I am FINALLY moved into my new home with my new family, and to be sure, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten myself into. I keep reading the Facebook statuses of my Italian peers and they read something like, “Is this real?” or “This is about to be epic.” Those remarks don’t even begin to cover how amazing this experience already is/will be.

La mia famiglia is everything I could ask for and more. Mia mama, Alessandra, works as a broker in the fashion industry and mio babo, Alessandro (easy, no?), works at/with an organic farm, Fattoria San Michele a Torri, producing and selling wine and cheese. The cherry on top of this beautiful and balanced couple–two little sorelle! Giulia, 7, and Martina, 10, are both outgoing, fearless, hilarious, and extremely helpful and kind. Giulia speaks a million miles a minute–I’m sure I will be asking her many times, “Più lentamente, per favore, Giulia”–and Martina tries to be very mature but definitely has her silly side. They both love Justin Bieber and while they love the songs of Lady Gaga, they are not huge fans of Gaga herself–too strange, says Martina. (I’ll try to explain, Jason). They are absolutely adorable and I’m so lucky Stanford was able to match me with one of the few families with younger children.

Dinner was, of course, incredible. Pesto pasta, diversi salumi, and caprese ensalata! Alessandra said this dinner was simply a “presto” (quick) meal. If this is presto, I really don’t think i’m ready for the non-presto meals. Also, she apologized for not having made fresh pesto…

After dinner, Alessandro/a took us out to show us the bus/walking route we will be taking to and from the Stanford Center. We’re one of the furthermost home stays from the center, and the total commute is somewhere around 30 minutes, but it’s definitely the most beautiful and easy commute anyone could ask for. They showed us the exact route we’ll be walking every day, coached us on how to order espresso (NEVER SIT DOWN!), and showed which gelaterias weren’t worth the 4 or 5 euro (basically all of them). Their guidance was incredibly helpful and so appreciated at the late-ish hour. I can’t imagine trying to figure everything out without the help of our family and the Stanford center. We are truly lucky to be in Florence through Stanford and with the families that the Stanford Center staff has spent hours matching us with.

My roommate, Sarah (from Riverside, coincidentally), is headed to sleep so I’m going to sign off, but I should have a new post (with pictures, hopefully) soon!

Also, for those who’ve asked me how to subscribe to the blog, there should be a box you can check if you click on the comments link at the bottom of any post. It should say: NOTIFY ME OF SITE UPDATES. You might have to leave a comment in order to do this, but that’s not the worst thing, is it?

Love,
Tessa