My first family dinner 

Ciao,

I officially have less than a month here now. It’s so crazy how fast the weeks are going now. Things are starting to get hectic in my classes again; exams, presentations and papers are all catching up. I’m not looking forward to finals week! But I do still have some time here so I’m going to make the most of it.

Last week, I went to my first family dinner and I regret not doing it sooner. I went to an Italian family’s house for a home cooked meal and it was so much fun. The son, mother and sister spoke some English. I thought they spoke English very well but every now and then they would apologize for not knowing a word or understanding and the father spoke very little English.

When we got there, Simone showed us their garden with fresh vegetables and from their backyard you could see a beautiful view of the mountains and valleys behind. We had a traditional Italian meal with pesto spaghetti, salad, turkey and then for dessert we had biscotti cookies we had brought and a traditional cake they eat around Easter that is shaped like a dove and has almonds on top and dried fruit inside.

All the food was so good and they were so nice and welcoming. The mother wanted to know about American Thanksgiving and how much we make and what we eat. She was so amazed by how large the turkeys we eat on Thanksgiving are. Then the daughter told the father in Italian what Thanksgiving is and I could follow most of what she was saying but then she told us again in English. It was really cool to hear about how they learn our history in school.

After dinner we played card games with Simone. He taught us two tradition card games. One called Ruba Mazzo and one called Scopa. I was really good at Ruba Mazzo. We also taught Simone how to play Go Fish. It was so funny trying to explain why we call it Go Fish.

The family dinner was an experience I will never forget and I wish I had went earlier. I am hoping to go to at least one more family dinner before I leave.

Tanti Saluti da,
Jess